Editorial

‘Workers of the World Unite’, a battle cry coined by Karl Marx urging the working class to rally together to upend the capitalist system has long been relegated to the dustbin of history, not least by the countries that espoused such catchy slogans.

Those words were even entrenched in the former Soviet Union (USSR) Constitution and its state emblem only to be discarded with its collapse in the 1990s by its successor, the Russian Federation.

May Day next Wednesday is dedicated universally to the working class. In Sri Lanka, however, it is a political party fest and workers march to different drums carrying politicians on their shoulders hoping to install them in power and place. If their party is elected, union leaders end up on the directorates of public enterprises, and the foot soldiers who do all the placard-carrying and shouting in the hot sun end up back at home left in the lurch. Exclusively non-political workers’ trade unions of the past, like the Ceylon Mercantile Union (CMU), which knew how to negotiate and resort to strike action as a last resort, are a handful nowadays.

To win the backing of the workers, political parties, especially when in Opposition, play to the gallery, so to say. For instance, they stall all possible efforts at divesting state enterprises, especially loss-making ones, or even PPPs (Public-Private Partnerships) wanting the status quo to remain. It is one thing to prevent SOEs (State Owned Enterprises) from being sold to unscrupulous private parties, yet another to place roadblocks on genuine efforts at maximising efficiency and reversing balance sheets so that they are no longer a burden on the public purse.

Interestingly, a delegation from the Communist Party of China visited the JVP/NPP leaders in Colombo this week. From all accounts, the local combine is in the process of transformation from what was once a revolutionary party, later a Socialist party and now what appears to be a Social Democratic party. They say the world has changed, and so have they; an admission that their old brand of socio-political-economic theory was a flop.

The ‘Nava’ Chinese CP itself has dumped its old economic theories and embraced a Social Market Economy (SME) which has a dominant role for state enterprises, but permits private ownership and business. It does not allow independent trade unions, however. All must come within one umbrella trade union controlled by the party, in a one-party state. Strikes are not encouraged in China as it pursues its goal of becoming the world’s leading trading partner. Exceptions are few, and mostly allowed at foreign-owned factories. Whether the JVP/NPP intends following the Chinese economic model and their policy outlawing organised independent trade unions has yet to be spelled out.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s labour issues have already been exported. The European Union has linked them to the grant of their GSP Plus facility. At the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the UN Special Rapporteur’s report on Sri Lanka, under the heading, ‘Contemporary Forms of Slavery’ no less, concentrates on working conditions in the garment industry, plantation sector and in micro-financing schemes. These are being painstakingly responded to by the Sri Lankan Government. The scrutiny also includes calls for the protection of Sri Lanka’s migrant workers, human trafficking and exploitation.

Next Wednesday will see political parties leading their respective trade unions along the streets of Colombo flexing their political muscle on the eve of elections. It is all a numbers game; the number of buses that can transport greater numbers to their rallies.

Slogan shouting against low wages and high taxes, IMF conditions, and Government plans of divesting itself of state holdings, these parties will have to be mindful of what they will inherit and whether they will be able to deliver on the promises they make from their platforms on Wednesday if and when ensconced in office.

The Iranian visit

The opening of the multimillion dollar largely Iran-funded Uma Oya project was ostensibly the reason for the whistle-stop call, but the sizeable delegation accompanying the President pointed to Iran’s interest in keeping in touch with its friends abroad when they have become more than an irritant to others due to the inflammable events unfolding in the West Asian region. That he visited Pakistan and Sri Lanka skipping India was of diplomatic significance in itself reflecting this geopolitical divide.

The Uma Oya project was clinched by President Mahinda Rajapaksa back when Iran had thawed its relations with the West and signed a nuclear agreement with the USA. The pact, later unilaterally abrogated by the US, caused Iran to be subjected to economic sanctions – without UN Security Council approval. This impacted even countries like Sri Lanka. The multi-purpose project was delayed for years as a result.

Due to faulty geological surveys and engineering in the meantime, the now completed project while providing the bone-dry South with water from the Central Highlands has deprived the people of the Uva province of water they already had. Hopefully, these shortcomings will be rectified sooner than later. Importantly, the project escaped allegations of corruption that plagued the then Sri Lankan Government which had entered into several such mega projects with foreign countries during its tenure in office.

On international affairs, the unfolding genocide in the Occupied Territories of Palestine and continuing economic cooperation amid sanctions imposed on Iran seem to have taken centre stage in the bilateral talks.

Unfortunately, Iran does not seem to subscribe to the two-state solution of Palestine and Israel side-by-side as a means to an end to the conflict, a position Sri Lanka has consistently supported. Iran believes in the ideal one-state solution where all communities live together.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe referred to the common features in the relations emphasising that both countries belong to the Global South seeking their own identity and independence.

High-level officials are to meet to iron out the modalities of working within and outside the sanctions slapped on Iran, in the backdrop of moves by the Global South for the de-dollarization of the world economy.

The US dollar’s status as the international reserve currency and the weaponisation of it to coerce countries like Iran and Sri Lanka to bow down to the US worldview, will no doubt, be on the table.