Columns

• Economic crisis spinning out of control; food shortages continue, prices soar; food aid appeal by UN for first time
• Despite disputes with President, Premier Ranil makes confident speech highlighting mismanagement and mishandling of economy
• 21A runs into questions as President says he  wishes to complete his term with full powers
• GL dropped from SLPP delegation for  21A talks with Premier

Business tycoon Dhammika Perera obtaining SLPP membership from party secretary Sagara Kariyawasam

By Our Political Editor

To procure more fuel to keep vehicles running, the transport services operating and cooking gas (LPG) for most households and restaurants, resources are dwindling. The lack of diesel has curtailed bus services. Only a few lorries are operating to Colombo with vegetables and fruits from economic centres in the provinces. The result is two-fold — prices of what is locally available have risen and fresh produce is rotting. An example: a kilo of tomatoes costs between Rs 900 and Rs 1000. Medicinal drugs, including insulin widely used by diabetics, are not available or in short supply.

Rice is scarce in some areas, like for example Matara, and prices are skyrocketing. All varieties went up by Rs 30 yesterday. Government officials are examining whether to introduce rationing in the weeks ahead to enable a possible equitable distribution. On Thursday, the United Nations team in Sri Lanka and non-governmental organizations launched a joint Humanitarian Needs and Priorities (HNP) Plan, calling for US$47.2 million to provide life-saving assistance to 1.7 million people worst-hit by the economic crisis over a four-month period, from June to September. This is in response to the Government’s request. Never has Sri Lanka sought food aid from the United Nations before.

Hanna Singer-Hamdy, a senior UN diplomat and Resident Coordinator in Colombo, told the Sunday Times, “The current economic crisis threatens reversing many of the gains, including the peace dividends. The enjoyment of basic human rights (to food, to adequate health) is at stake for many and this could ultimately impact social cohesion. Therefore, we need to show solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka and support the Humanitarian Needs and Priorities Plan to provide life-saving assistance to the women, men, and children most affected by the crisis now. If we don’t act now, we will see Sri Lanka slide in front of our eyes into a humanitarian crisis.”

People who have been yearning for relief from these horrendous hardships, were either momentarily distracted or were force fed with a non-essential of humongous proportions. That is the impending introduction of the 21st Amendment to the Constitution. There has been an information overload, under different pretexts, by pundits who make Sri Lankans believe that it was the answer to all their travails.

Its author, Justice, and Constitutional Reforms Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe declared earlier that 21A would prevent former Minister and the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna’s chief ideologue, Basil Rajapaksa from becoming President. An abolition of the executive presidency now, he opines, will not only be an expensive process but also lead to anarchy. He does not say how the continuing shortage of essentials, unlike 21A, would sure lead to that. At least, Basil Rajapaksa has taken the wind off the sails of that misleading campaign. On Thursday he told a news conference that he had quit Parliament. Hence, the question of his becoming President from there does not arise.

For all purposes, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa also declared this week that he was not in favour of piecemeal constitutional amendments. A President must have full powers, or the executive presidency should be abolished, and the country should go for a Westminster style parliament, he told Bloomberg (online business news daily and television channel) in an interview last Monday. Much more importantly, he asserted that he would not leave office until he ended the next two years, the remainder of his five-year term. That was the first formal response to protestors demanding that he quit. Why then is 21A such high priority as against the other burning issues that threaten the survival of Sri Lankans?

No doubt some eyebrows were raised. Only early last Saturday, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had a meeting with President Rajapaksa. Accompanying him were Ministers Rajapakshe and Nimal Siripala de Silva, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party’s senior vice president who abandoned his party to take up a ministerial portfolio. The delegation, a source familiar with the near two-hour-long talks said, came back with the “feeling that the President supported 21A.” President Rajapaksa has declared thereafter that he is not in favour. And, this week’s political developments are not only casting some doubts on the passage of 21A but also lays bare new political developments that may change the course of events.

It all began on Saturday (June 4) evening. President Rajapaksa had a one-on-one meeting with his brother and ex Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa at the Janadipathi Mandiraya. Fuller details of what they talked is not known. However, those who are familiar with the dialogue said it centered on 21A as well as Basil’s political future including his resignation from Parliament. The latter move came in the backdrop of his summoning meetings of SLPP grassroots level organizations to re-activate the party. Most members kept away delivering the message that the SLPP support base was fast eroding. Believe it or not, in a few areas, this has seen SLPPers now wooing the UNP’s emaciated grassroots level bodies, certainly bad news for the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB). The younger among them were rallying behind the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) led National People’s Force.

Whilst the meeting was under way, President Rajapaksa asked the switchboard operator to connect him on the telephone to Minister Rajapakshe. He told the Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister not to take up for discussion the final draft of 21A at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on Monday (June 6). The copies, he said, could be distributed at the end of the meeting. Thereafter, he said, it could be taken up for discussion tomorrow (Monday, June 13). Rajapaksha abided by the presidential order. Ministers received their copies almost as they finished the ministerial meeting.

The Sunday Times has seen a copy of the final 21A draft distributed among the ministers. Significant highlights of this document, based on the meetings Premier Wickremesinghe had with political party representatives (and reported exclusively in these columns last week) appear in the later paragraphs.

The discussion then shifted to who would succeed Basil Rajapaksa in Parliament. The ex-Finance Minister suggested two names — Dhammika Perera, businessman cum casino owner, and Renuka Perera, a former chairman of Milco, a dairy company. He is a confidant of ex-Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa. President Rajapaksa picked on Dhammika Perera, who in recent months, has been coming up with proposals in the media to boost the country’s foreign exchange earnings. In fact, he had sought support for his palns that covered foreign exchange inflow to the country. Accordingly, President Rajapaksa had chosen to appoint him as Minister of Technology and Investment Promotion. Subjects already gazetted under this Ministry are:  Board of Investment, Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC), Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT), Colombo Port City Commission, Sri Lanka Telecom, Lotus Tower Management Company, Techno Park Development Company, IT Parks – Jaffna and Mannar, Industrial Technology Institute, Institute of Nanotechnology and the Standards Institute of Biotechnology.

A Ministry of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment has also been gazetted. Pavithra Wanniaratchchi, who last held the transport portfolio, is tipped to take over this position. At present, there is no female minister. On Wednesday, the minister-designate Dhammika Perera drove to the SLPP office at Nelum Mawatha in Battaramulla to pay his subscription and obtain membership of the party. His appointment as a national list MP was gazetted on Friday night and he is due to be sworn in before the next sitting of Parliament. One of the first assignments he has slotted is a meeting with Premier Wickremesinghe.

If President Rajapaksa, on his own volition chose Ranil Wickremesinghe, the only UNP member in Parliament, to be his Prime Minister, he was neither informed nor consulted about the proposed appointment of Dhammika Perera as a national list MP or cabinet minister thereafter. It is the view of some senior UNPers that the induction of a businessman with casino connections could lead to a conflict of interest and therefore unwelcome in the private sector. This sparked speculation, mostly among the UNP hierarchy, whether the two brothers were in an exercise to reduce the operational space of the Minister of Finance, the portfolio currently held by the Prime Minister. They argue this could lead to friction. This is notwithstanding any subjects being taken away from him. “Such moves can only stultify the Government’s own efforts and deliver a wrong message, here and abroad, that there was no stability in the present ‘interim’ government,” said a UNP senior who did not wish to be named.

His remarks dampen the enthusiastic efforts by some Colombo-based western envoys who are keen to ensure the passage of 21A. They feel it is a right step in the direction of further democratization and proof that the new Government could deliver. The need for a stable government apart, the present composition itself has raised questions. Among those in the cabinet, particularly from the SLPP, are proven extortionists, bribe takers facing allegations in courts and others with a criminal past. Another segment, former ministers including S.M. Chandrasena, P.B. Ratnayake and S.B. Dissanayake, who missed out on the ministerial stakes are now seeking positions even as state ministers.

Disagreements between President and Premier

That frictions exist in some areas between President Rajapaksa and Premier Wickremesinghe is no secret. An example is the working of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) where Premier Wickremesinghe had expressed strong reservations over actions at the leadership level. He in fact had earmarked his own nominee for the position. As reported last week, President Rajapaksa had to assure CBSL Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe and another member of the Monetary Board that he would not allow any ‘political interference’ in the ‘excellent work’ they were doing. In fact, a stakeholder asked President Rajapaksa whether he was under pressure to relieve the Governor of his responsibilities. His reply, “I don’t know about that. When the letter extending his term is on my table, I will sign it.” The stakeholder reminded him that it must come from Premier Wickremesinghe as Finance Minister (the CBSL has been placed under him). There was silence.

The Basil faction has been miffed by their perception that Premier Wickremesinghe was now ‘running’ the country. An effective communication machinery has thrust Wickremesinghe to the limelight, both here and abroad. He has also seized that opportunity to identify and publicise the many defects in the current administration. Even the main opposition Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) led by Sajith Premadasa has been slow or ineffective in this effort. This has led to Champika Ranawaka, a former minister in the yahapalana government and an SJB frontliner quitting the alliance to sit as an ‘independent’ member in the opposition benches. “I will muster the support of those in Parliament and outside in a campaign to save Sri Lanka from further economic ruin,” he told the Sunday Times. Towards this end, he said, he was formulating a ‘common minimum agenda’ which his backers could agree upon.

Wickremesinghe is reaping the benefits from the new publicity wave. They come as bonus to rejuvenate the United National Party (UNP). However, he must ensure corrupt groups under his fold, like ghouls, do not feed on the misery of the people, by resorting to corrupt practices. President Rajapaksa too had conveyed a note of caution to him through his Chief of Staff, Sagala Ratnayake in this regard. As reported last week, he named a UNP stalwart. A failure could boomerang on him again. Of course, this must also be viewed in the backdrop of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, isolating himself in a room at the Janadipathi Mandiraya with little or no contact with the outside world barring a handful of visitors, mostly diplomats. He has cut himself off even from his 6.9 million voters.

President Rajapaksa did write to Premier Wickremesinghe a letter on the contents of 21A, as revealed last week. It was drafted by Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris, who is a constitutional expert on the SLPP side. The Sunday Times learnt that it related to the allocation of ministerial subjects by the President, to remove references to the words “on the advice of the Prime Minister” when appointing cabinet ministers and replace it with the words “in consultation with” and, a new provision to remove the Prime Minister.

Foreign Minister Peiris’s moves, the Sunday Times learnt, led to a heated exchange of words between him and Basil Rajapaksa. The latter accused him of playing hide and seek. He had pointed out that he was Chairman of the SLPP but had not the elementary courtesy to keep the party informed of the letter he had written on behalf of the President, that too in the name of the party. That was to see the SLPP writing to Premier Wickremesinghe that it was not invited to the discussions on 21A. The SLPP has said that FM Peiris was taking part in his capacity as a Minister. Therefore, an SLPP delegation was absent during the last round of talks Premier Wickremesinghe held.

Upon receipt of a letter from the SLPP, the Premier gave them an appointment for last Sunday afternoon. A 13-member delegation led by Basil Rajapaksa met the Premier and Minister Rajapakshe. SLPP Chairman G.L. Peiris was dropped from this delegation. Wickremesinghe was apologetic and declared he had thought the SLPP was represented when a letter was sent by party chairman Peiris. There had been the wrong assumption that the SLPP was taking part. Other members of the delegation included General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam, Rohitha Abeygunawardena, Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Sanjiva Edirisinghe, Sarath Weerasekera, Wimalaweera Dissanayake and three retired military officers. They were due to hand in their own observations on 21A.

This week in Parliament, Basil Rajapaksa was on a charm offensive. He went from table to table at the MP’s canteen talking to groups of MPs cracking jokes or asking them about the welfare of their families. He asked Sisira Jayakody (Gampaha District) whether he still wanted to see the closure of the canteen. The MP had once declared that the Parliament canteen should be shut down. Parliamentarians who back him say Basil Rajapaksa will leave for his home in Los Angeles to return after some time. His wife, Pushpa left on Thursday.

Significant highlights of 21A

Here are a few among the significant highlights of 21A in the 37-page draft circulated to ministers at the end of the cabinet meeting last Monday. It will be taken up for discussion by ministers tomorrow:

•  The appointment of ministers and in the allocation of subjects:  substitution of the words “in consultation with the Prime Minister, where he considers such consultation to be necessary” with the words “on the advice of the Prime Minister.”
• On the President holding portfolios: Marked in red, the proposed change says:

“(2) The President, shall be the Minister in charge of the subject of Defence and may exercise, perform, and discharge the powers, duties and functions of any minister of the Cabinet of Ministers or any Minister who is not a member of the Cabinet of Ministers, subject to the provisions of the Constitution, for not exceeding fourteen days during a period within which any subject or function is not assigned to any such Minister under the provisions of paragraph (1) of this Article or under paragraph (1) of Article 45 and accordingly, any reference in the Constitution or any written law to the Minister to whom such subject or function assigned, shall be read and construed as a reference to the President.”

• On the removal of the Prime Minister: Article 47 is amended to include: “Provided, however, where the President is of the opinion that the Prime Minister has lost the confidence of Parliament during the period commencing on the date on which this Act comes into operation and ending on the date of dissolution of the ninth Parliament, he may remove the Prime Minister from office.
• Amendment of Article 91 of the Constitution to prevent dual citizens from being MPs.

Last Tuesday, Premier Wickremesinghe made his fourth public statement since assuming office one month ago, this time in Parliament. It did come for criticism from two left leaders, Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Wimal Weerawansa. Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Dissanayake accused the premier of “exaggerating” matters relating to the economic crisis to his own advantage. The National Freedom Front (NFF) leader, Wimal Weerawansa, likened it to a forecast by the Meteorological Department. He added that such comments could have been made easily by a media spokesperson instead of the Premier. What was required, he noted, was action to bring the country out of the current economic catastrophe. Nevertheless, Wickremesinghe did make some salient comments which highlighted mismanagement and how badly the country’s economy has been handled. Here are a few examples:

• “Many government agencies do not have proper financial management. Therefore, new methods need to be introduced. The Road Development Authority (RDA) is an example. Although it had the funds, it failed to manage those funds in accordance with Treasury regulations”

It is now all too well known that many government agencies do not manage funds in accordance with Treasury regulations. It is significant that Premier Wickremesinghe chose the Road Development Authority (RDA) as his example to emphasise his point. Is this a coincidence or was he trying to imply that road development activity has remained a subject where there have been widespread corruption allegations? Coming under severe criticism has been the then Highways Minister, Johnston Fernando, who until 6 p.m. last Thursday was a fugitive. Police spokesperson Nihal Thalduwa declared several Criminal Investigation Department (CID) teams had been deployed to arrest him. The once efficient CID could not trace him. In the Magistrate’s Court, an Attorney General’s Department official sought a warrant for his arrest and that was allowed. Fernando petitioned the Court of Appeal which directed him to surrender before 8 p.m. on Thursday. He did surrender at 6 p.m. and was granted bail.

• In our efforts we must pay close attention to our foreign relations. To increase our international support.  We are becoming a marginalized country in the world due to poor foreign policies. Changing that position will not be easy. But we have to do it somehow.

The catalogue of foreign policy failures, debacles and the absence of a professional approach are far too long to list here. The faux pas began within days of Gotabaya Rajapaksa being elected President in 2019. During his first state visit to India, he gave an interview to the Chennai-based HINDU newspaper. He was less than diplomatic when he said: “I am usually very frank, so I hope to tell India honestly if I can’t do something, I can’t; and if I can, I will do it soon” He added that it was necessary to build a consistent relationship with India, and to be clear about which projects in Sri Lanka were viable and which were not, including those in the April 2017 MoU signed by (former Prime Minister) Ranil Wickremesinghe on port and oil farm projects in Trincomalee.”

Indian projects were left in the backburner and then in February 2021 the East Container Terminal (ECT) agreement was reversed. By hindsight, it is clear President Rajapaksa began by delivering the wrong message not taking into consideration the foreign policy nuances. This is besides India being Sri Lanka’s closest neighbour. As the economic catastrophe hit, Colombo turned to New Delhi in desperation for help. Their first response, it is now known, was to ask that the government fulfils the promises that were outstanding. That was done. The rest is history. It is India’s help that has helped to minimise the ill effects of the economic disaster. How long could this remain?

UNHRC process

In February 2020 – Sri Lanka withdrew from the co-sponsorship of US-backed resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council on Sri Lanka Resolution 40/1.  In March, the same year, the Council adopted a resolution successfully with wording that Sri Lanka could not control or negotiate on the matter. Since then, approaches to UNHRC sessions have been ad hoc and have led to a litany of blunders. A retired foreign service career officer said the attempt to withdraw from the resolution was a ‘grave mistake.’ That saw the birth of resolution (41/6) which, he claimed was “intrusive, damaging to the country and even the military.” This included provisions for countries to use universal jurisdiction to deal with human rights violators. Otherwise, he argued, there was still room to negotiate on the words in Resolution 40/6.  The Foreign Ministry or more pointedly the Minister should have evolved a strategy after studying the various aspects. Instead, it was replaced by rhetorical speeches studded with criticism of other countries. Nevertheless, news releases gave an entirely different version.

In the latest development on the UNHRC just this week, US Senator Bob Menendez, Chairman of the US Foreign Relations Committee, called for unity among Quad (United States, Japan, India, and Australia) at the UNHRC “upon receiving the High Commissioner’s report on war crimes committed during” what he called “Sri Lanka’s civil war.” Calling for greater focus on Sri Lanka in a letter to the Quad leaders, Menendez said, “Under the Rajapaksas, Sri Lanka has been left on the brink of financial ruin and humanitarian catastrophe.” He noted that “today, Sri Lankans of all backgrounds are rising up to make clear that it is time for a change.”

In March 2020, during the COVID epidemic, the government decreed that bodies of Muslim victims be cremated. This outraged Muslim nations around the world, particularly in West Asia. So much so, none of the oil producing countries among them was willing to help Sri Lanka in the current fuel shortage. Emissaries from Colombo went secretly to plead but the answers were clear. Sri Lanka had antagonised all these countries. It took a visit to Colombo by then Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan, to have the decree withdrawn. Burials were then allowed.  By that time hundreds of bodies of Muslims had been cremated. Some Muslims even refused to take charge or pay transport fee for burial of their near and dear leaving the bodies to remain in the morgue for days. They alleged that cremation was an act of revenge by President Rajapaksa since Muslims had not voted for him en masse.  This, however, was denied by the Government which claimed that there were fears of the waterbed being polluted. Christian countries were enraged by the Government’s slow and tardy response to bring to book the criminals involved in the 2019 Easter Sunday massacres. The Vatican has expressed serious concern over this.

How did these foreign policy blunders occur? Firstly, it is abundantly clear that the conduct of foreign policy has almost entirely been through news releases. Some of the contents of such material have been factually incorrect too. An example is the claim by FM Peiris that the World Bank was to spend $ 700 million in the coming months on Sri Lanka. The World Bank flatly denied it. Exacerbating the situation was the appointment of a Foreign Secretary, a retired Navy officer, who had no training in diplomacy, or conduct of foreign relations.

This situation has been made worse further by the appointment of inexperienced persons to key diplomatic positions. They were mostly rewards for their personal loyalty to President Rajapaksa in particular. Preference was for members of Rajapaksa’s Viyath Maga. Shining the light on one such posting was the recent temporary seizure of an Aeroflot aircraft at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA). The Sri Lankan envoy in Moscow, summoned by the Foreign Ministry there, had been a member of Viyath Maga.  She had not been familiar with the issue involved. An official statement issued by the Foreign Ministry on the subject also came in for criticism since it was devoid of facts.  It took the Justice Ministry to set the record right.

Another Sri Lankan envoy, also a political appointee, caused embarrassment during an international conference in Switzerland by raising an unrelated subject — a call to that government to make a global effort to monitor all activities of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). These were by monitoring reports in the social media. Switzerland is liberal with the social media and allows self-regulation. In another leading European capital, Sri Lankans there complain that the embassy cannot be reached even during office hours. A reported defect in the telephone switchboard had not been rectified.  Their workload had almost doubled after a consulate in this country was shut down due to the foreign exchange crisis.

President Rajapaksa’s declaration in the Bloomburg interview that he would remain in office for the next two years has no doubt placed the protestors who want him to quit in a dilemma. How can they force him out when he has so clearly and publicly declared he will stay?

“I cannot go as a failed president,” he exhorted.  He admits that as of last Monday, he has been a failure by default. That is a remarkable admission by a President. Will there be more of those in the next two years too from one who has forfeited so much public confidence? So, it seems.