Governments in power take crucial decisions from time to time for the benefit of the people at large. It is common knowledge that in Sri Lanka, governmentswhich came to power from 1947 took controversial political decisions under compulsion. History will record and amply deal with such situations in retrospect. However, when the brunt of the issue came to a head it gradually shifted to the bureaucracy. Political decisions always have an influencing effect on bureaucrats and virtually get immersed in such controversies. It is a timeless phenomenon.
Today, news is agog with the decision of Secretary to the President P.B Jayasundarato quit his post. The President is not happy with the decision. Despite being in an unenviable position, he defended Jayasundara. Many decisions alleged to have been taken by P.B Jayasundara on numerous occasions have not been his own. The President emphasised that they stemmed mainly from him. Many in the higher echelons of the government knew that a revolt against Jayasundara was brewing. Ministers alleged that Jayasundara blocked their way and barred them from meeting with the President. Chamal Rajapaksa, the elder sibling of the Rajapaksas, gave leadership to the revolt, but the more virulent criticism came from Wimal Weerawansa.
Others have opined that Jayasundara has a virtual weakness when it comes to PR matters concerning the handling of the affairs of the President. The critics though ruthless in their attacks, secretly admit that he was a good officer trained under S Paskaralingam during the times of President Premadasa. Paskaralingam was the Treasury Secretary at the time of late R Premadasa.
Chandrika Bandaranaike appointed Jayasundara as the Secretary to the Treasury and Mahinda Rajapaksa followed suit when he became the President. During the 2001-2003 regime of Ranil Wickremesinghe, he remained the Chairman of the Public Enterprises and Reforms Commission (PERC).
As the Chairman of PERC– the government’s privatisation arm between 1997 and 2002– Dr Jayasundara led the privatisation of Sri Lanka Telecom, SriLankan Airlines, the plantations sector, petroleum and gas, insurance and several manufacturing enterprises. However, his chequered history as the strong man of the government came into serious scrutiny by then Chief Justice Sarath N Silva, who passed strictures on him. The Supreme Court held that he is unfit to hold any governmental position. Jaysundarasubsequently gave an undertaking to the Court through an affidavit. Mahinda Rajapaksa, who held governmental reins at the time, took exception to the decision of the Court. He waited for the departure of the Chief Justice to file a revision application in the Supreme Court to review the decision. It was Chief Justice Asoka De Silva who restored Jayasundara’s status quo.
P.B Jayasundara was subsequently reinstated and assumed duties in his substantive position until 2015. Jayasundara had a knack to twist figures and balance the budget according to the whims and fancies of the persons holding on to power. On several occasions, people have found that several loans obtained by the State did not reflect in the budget butwere meticulously concealed elsewhere to reduce the budget deficit. Jayasundara was so helpful to the Rajapaksas that it will be rather difficult to fathom their survival without Jayasundara. Hence the President has offered him a senior advisory position that may require him to shoulder a myriad of problems and responsibilities of the State. Jayasundara may have a chip on his shoulder, being unable to be subservient to most of the novice, and inexperienced ministers of of the government. The best therefore, is to keep him away from mingling with the ordinary and exploit his talent for statecraft. He will then make a difference either for the good or the bad. When the Rajapaksa name is a synonym for Jaysundara, will it augur well for the establishment to let him go?
Besides, what ails the Rajapaksa administration is the severe food shortage ahead of us unless proper measures are afoot to address the economic issues. The future is bleak despite the rhetoric of Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal that he has been able to secure US$ 3.1 billion by the end of the year as promised. Cabraal, to whom the word transparency is not in his lexicon, stops short of naming the source of the money although his duplicity has now been blown with the revelation by Samagi Jana Balewageya MP Dr Harsha De Silva and former governor of the southern province Keerthi Tennekoon that the money is from a currency swap promised by China earlier in the year. Interestingly, Cabraal has remained mum about the expose of his misleading statements. Meanwhile, China too issued a receipt for the handout which was given in Yuan and comes with limitations. Contrary to expectations Sri Lanka will not be able to use the money to buy food, fuel and medicine for which India is reportedly working out a package. China has instead stipulated that the Yuan must be invested in Chinese Treasury Bills and can be used only to transact with China. The money cannot be converted into dollars nor can it be used to pay Sri Lanka’s debts.
For the moment, Sri Lanka can sail through all odds, despite the acute dollar shortage. The country can meet the debt servicing requirements that will crop up by mid-January when US$ 500 mn will have to be paid towards a sovereign bond.
If Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa is the panacea for all economic ills, we can be sure of the younger Rajapaksa making another visit to India in January. This time it will be for an extension of talks he had with the Indian Finance Minister and the Foreign Minister. A crucial second round of talks with the Indian authorities could seal the package for financial aid and credit line for food, medicine and fuel.
Basil will also meet with prospective investors from Gujarat. He will leave for India on the 9th or the 10 of January and is expected to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for what is billed a ‘fruitful meeting’. This will make a change from Basil’s last visit to India earlier this month when Prime Minister Modi was not available to meet with him.
Despite proclamations by government ministers to the contrary, the current economic crisis plaguing the country is a direct result of the imprudent decisions taken by the government when it assumed office in November 2019. Government politicians are trying to pin it down to the Covid-19 pandemic and the misdeeds of the previous regime. Some others attribute the same accumulated debt mountain to the seventies to generalise the problem. This contention appears to be a mere misconception among government politicians gradually trying to shirk their responsibility. Patali Champika Ranawaka, a former Minister of the previous regime, discounted the argument.
He said nearly 75% of debts are due to Rajapaksa mismanagement from 2005 to 2015. ‘Careful analysis will tell you that the Senanayakes, Bandaranaike, Jayawardene, Premadasa, Kumaratungewere not responsible for the present crisis. A bulk of the responsibility lies with the Rajapaksas commercial loans that created an irreparable dent in the economy’, he said.
What is now left for the government is to sell its assets if the Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) are not forthcoming. Against this backdrop, the impending visit to India of Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa bears some significance. The Gujarat business magnates are now awaiting the arrival of the Sri Lankan delegation in January to work out necessary modalities. Alas, the Bureau of Investment Chairman Raja Edirisuriya has chosen precisely the time he is needed the most to go on holiday to California.
Nevertheless, a BOI delegation will be present to work out the business models. At the same time, India will also accede to a business proposal to refurbish the remaining tanks of the Trincomalee oil tank farm in China Bay. The government will float a new company for this purpose. It will enable Sri Lanka to fetch nearly 400 million US$ by April 2022 for debt servicing requirements since several sovereign bonds are likely to mature by mid-year.
Meanwhile, several government parliamentarians have met with the President to make him aware about the predicament faced by the people. The assurance given to them was that the government will launch accelerated programmes within the next two years to bring matters under control. State Minister Dilum Amunugama told the media what transpired between the parliamentarians and the President. He attributed the shortage of foreign reserves to the mismanagement of the previous regime, in particular the bond scam and the heist at the Central Bank. Mr Amunugama has conveniently forgotten what happened to the Central Bank bond issuances since 2008. There is a forensic audit to substantiate the bond scams since 2008 that have not reached the public domain yet. The State Minister has forgotten the hedging deal and the Greek bond scam during the Rajapaksa regime.
That apart, the enormous amounts of commercial loans put the country in bad shape economically. The white elephants such as the Mattala airport, the Hambantota port and conference hall and the Suriyaweva cricket stadium, are a few other projects that ruined the economy. The massive tax relief granted to government cronies is yet another unwelcome move where the country lost revenue flowing into the government coffers.
Ministers must talk the truth before the media without imparting packs of lies to save their side and mislead the people. Both the main political parties are at fault for robbing the country, and the people must find which party is less corrupt.
Be that as it may, people are worried and perturbed over the latest draconian regulation imposed by the government on marriages. According to the new prescription, if a Sri Lankan is to marry a foreigner, it is mandatory to get clearance from the Ministry of Defence. The new regulation has evoked pithy public comments that even though a couple who are over the legal marrying age will not need their parents permission to marry, they will have to get it from Sri Lanka’s defence secretary. The foreign partner will be required to get a certificate of clearancefrom the country of origin for which a record of his conduct and health status will be essential. The validity period for it will be six months.
Whether or not the partner has gone through the vaccination process for Covid –19 is yet another requirement.
The government explanation is that this information is essential to monitor money laundering efforts and terrorism and that foreigners may use it under the guise of a legal marriage.
However, this amounts to curbing the fundamental freedoms of individuals to marry a person of choice.
Politicians in the opposition believe that the move by the government violates the fundamental freedoms of the people.
The matter is most likely to end up in courts as a matter of public interest.
Besides, there are a myriad of challenges the people face on account of the government inaction.
Cooking gas shortages and soaring food prices, scarcity of rice and other essential items such as milk has seen the cost of living soar. The present situation may ferment into violence if timely action is not forthcoming. People are not concerned about Cabinet changes or any other changes in the government. What they want is peace of mind to live with content after a bout of virulent Corona pandemic that kept them virtually incarcerated for two long years. Governments come, and governments go, but the country should remain for the posterity to live peacefully. Make it a better year for the people who have endured untold hardship over the years.
.–ALAKESWARA
