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By Sandun Jayawardana  

The government on Wednesday (22) presented two more key draft bills which it said is essential to continuing the country’s economic recovery. The opposition however, used the day’s adjournment debate to attack President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s administration over what it claimed was a serious breakdown of the rule of law.  

The Economic Transformation Bill and the Public Financial Management Bill have been described by the government as two significant pieces of legislation aimed at bolstering the economy. The Economic Transformation Bill aims to introduce the government’s “National Policy” on economic transformation while the Public Financial Management Bill seeks to make provisions to “Strengthen Accountability, Oversight, Management and Control” of public funds.

Opposition MPs meanwhile, moved an adjournment motion on the “Breakdown of the rule of law in the country,” and used the debate to attack the government’s track record on the law and order situation. They cited significant problematic issues from the time of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to President Wickremesinghe, including the Chinese fertiliser issue, the sugar tax scam and the more recent controversy over the outsourcing agreement for visa processing.

Opening the debate, Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella recalled that during a recent visit to Teldeniya in Kandy, President Wickremesinghe boasted that 75 new laws had been presented to the House under his administration. While that might be true, what’s important is not passing laws in Parliament but implementing them, he commented.

Mr. Kiriella stated that the current Chief Justice, when he was the Attorney General, had filed 42 cases during the Yahapalana government. “We don’t know what came of those cases after the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government came to power. These are all cases concerning economic crimes.”

The chief opposition whip also referred to the recent incident at the Bandaranaike International Airport where State Minister Prasanna Ranaweera assaulted a minor airport employee. “Where’s the law? I am asking the Justice Minister. He (the state minister) even admitted on television that he carried out the assault. If the law isn’t being implemented over such a minor incident, there’s no point in talking about its implementation when it comes to major cases,” Mr Kiriella said. He asked Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe if the law will be implemented against the state minister accused of assault.

“As one of the most senior MPs in the House, Mr Kiriella must know that it is not the Justice Minister who implements the law. The police must do their duty if they receive a complaint. If I had any power over the matter as Justice Minister, I would implement the law, but that power is vested with the police and not me,” Minister Rajapakshe said in response.

Seconding the motion, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Mujibur Rahman pointed out that the state had lost more than Rs. 15 billion in revenue owing to the sugar scam. He said the State Minister of Finance had told Parliament that 30% of the lost revenue can be recovered from the companies responsible. Though it had been months since the state minister made that statement, Parliament was still in the dark on whether those funds had actually been recovered, the MP stressed.

Mr. Rahman also referred to the US$ 6.9 million that was infamously paid to a Chinese fertiliser shipment. “The money was paid though our farmers did not see any of that fertiliser, nor did we get our money back,” he reminded the House.

Referring to the sugar scam, State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya stated that the Special Commodity Levy was imposed in 2008 with the intention of protecting consumers and farmers. However, the benefits of the levy did not translate down to the consumer. “There was a levy of Rs. 50 per kilogram of sugar. The government reduced this to 25 cents along with the levy of some other items. The intention was to reduce consumer expenses by about Rs. 500 a month. Though the price of sugar did reduce by Rs. 49.75, the consumer did not receive this benefit until sometime had passed,” he acknowledged.

Mr Siyambalapitiya said he appointed a special committee to recover the loss of state revenue from the sugar scam. The Inland Revenue Department has informed that the value that the state can recover from the companies involved through income tax amounts to Rs. 6 billion. About Rs. 500 million had been recovered so far. The committee is continuing its investigations while the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is conducting its own criminal inquiry, he told the House.

He said the Finance Ministry has also submitted a proposal to Cabinet to bring in a new levy that will be more transparent. This will be a seasonal tax that will be introduced from 2025.

The state minister pushed back against the opposition’s claims of a breakdown in rule of law. “For the first time in history, a Cabinet Minister has been remanded on charges of importing substandard medicines. I am not saying he is guilty but has there ever been a time in this country where a Cabinet Minister was brought before the law? Diana Gamage posed a serious challenge to the opposition, but is no longer an MP. I ask the opposition to say whether there has been any point in history where there has been this much rule of law?”

State Minister of Defence Premitha Bandara Tennakoon meanwhile, pointed out that it was the SJB that appointed Diana Gamage to Parliament as an MP from its National List. “The SJB is acting like it was us who appointed Diana Gamage. Had it not been for the political falling out between your party and her, this issue would not have even come up.”

The VFS controversy regarding visa processing was referenced by several MPs. United Republic Front Leader Patali Champika Ranawaka claimed the outsourcing agreement completely violates the government’s own procurement guidelines and the fundamentals of good governance agreed to with the International Monetary Fund. “This came as an unsolicited proposal,” Mr Ranawaka pointed out, adding that the agreement raises concerns on security, health and data protection. He further noted that the main party to the agreement wasn’t even the more recognised VFS Global, but two other entities; IVS Global-FZCO and GBS Technology Services. “This House and the country have been misled on this matter.”

Mr. Ranawaka, who is a Member of Parliament’s Committee on Public Finance, which is currently probing the matter, said officials who came before the Committee could not provide a clear answer regarding the US$ 18.50 and US$ 7.27 charged from tourists as “convenience” and “service” charges under the IVS-GBS-VFS deal. He claimed tourists were still paying up to US$ 100 for visas that used to be US$ 50 when one adds these extra charges. When one compares these charges to Sri Lanka’s tourism competitors in the region, it becomes clearly evident that not only does this discourage tourism, but that it is a clear case of corruption, said Mr Ranawaka.

The Economic Transformation Bill reads like an election manifesto, Freedom People’s Congress MP Prof. Charitha Herath stated. He said the government was going down a completely wrong path in presenting such a bill given an election was around the corner. A party’s election manifesto ends when it is voted out of power. An incoming government will not implement another party’s manifesto, he pointed out.

“What we are witnessing here is an attempt to incorporate the President’s dreams into law through a draft called an Economic Transformation Bill. It includes target dates he has arbitrarily come up with, such as 2027, 2032, 2048 and 2055. What is the scientific basis for coming up with these dates? The dates that the President dreams of have come into this draft as objectives to achieve under the bill. He dreams of the country achieving zero carbon emissions in 2048; that target becomes included in the draft bill,” said the MP. He said the first order of business if a new government is elected would have to be to repeal this Act if it becomes law since a new President would not be able to implement his agenda otherwise.