· A parliamentary election to break the political quagmire?
· Rapid rise in witch hunt of government critics
By Lankathilaka
The government is on the horns of a dilemma. The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam conveyed the party’s line that the Prime Minister must resolve the country’s economic crisis before addressing the political one. Kariyawasam’s statement was prompted by the draft of the 21stamendment which the government has been labouring to bring to parliament with its different factions wanting their own pound of flesh. It is expected to be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers today.
The 21st A draft which aims to transfer power from the executive to parliament, has become a bone of contention. At its minimum, it continues to allow the President to retain powers to assign ministries, subjects and functions to himself as well as the power to prorogue and dissolve parliament which crucially, will undermine the powers of the Prime Minister who is a one- man political party in the legislature. The draft’s retention of the prohibition on dual nationals entering parliament has evoked the most objections. Last week Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapaksa, who has ownership of the draft, said it was the group of SLPP independents who wanted this provision left in while Basil Rajapaksa die- hards who have the capacity to whip up majority support for the 21st A in parliament want the provision taken out. Basil, who is President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s younger brother and a citizen of both Sri Lanka and the USA, reportedly has designs on the premiership or presidency and removing this clause will make him ineligible for the hustings.
The government pussyfooting around the 21st A could be a clear signal that it’s intentions to see it through parliament are less than genuine or even if it does, it will be a shadow of what has been touted by the likes of the main opposition and the Bar Association of Sri Lanka. As yet, even parliamentarians are in the dark about what the final draft which will be presented to the Cabinet today will contain. Some are of the view that it should be postponed because of the lack of agreement to it among the SLPP’s own party members which exposes it to the risk of it being defeated when it is taken up for a vote in parliament. Such a delay will allow the country breathing space to address the economy. However there are others who are of the view that the economy will straighten itself out as soon as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the other Rajapaksas who are in governance step down. One case in point is the emphatic refusal by the Sri Lankan diaspora, especially migrant workers, to remit money to the country until the Rajapaksas resign. The Rajapaksa desire to cling onto power and refusal to hear the clamour of the people for them to resign, is deepening and dragging out the economic crisis and is making the political conundrum an irksome one.
In the midst of this quagmire are rumblings of the need for a parliamentary election. Under the 20thamendment, the earliest in which an election can be held will be after a parliamentary tenure of two and a half years which will be February next year. But parliament can pass a resolution with a simple majority which will allow the President to dissolve it before this date.
While the government ponders its chicken or egg situation, for the people it has been a stark question of survival. The queues for petrol have gone down but the queues for diesel have gone up. There are regular reports of road- blocks demanding gas. The daily power cuts have resumed and the devastation in the health sector has started to be overshadowed by the impending crisis of food shortages.
Agriculture experts predict its onset around July and that it will continue until 2023. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who is being blamed for the coming food crisis because of his rash decision to ban chemical fertiliser and agro chemicals which resulted in a drop in paddy production, tea exports and the cultivation of other food crops, pressed the panic button last week. With concern growing whether the government will have enough money to import rice for the shortfall with the current financial crisis, the usually reactive President announced a crash plan to meet the food crisis. He instructed officials in the Agriculture Ministry to launch a public-private partnership. whether the government will have enough money to import rice for the shortfall, with the current financial crisis is questionable.
Sri Lanka needs 2. 4 million tons of rice every year. With a combination of providence, a good harvest last year and a bit of help from friends the country has managed to pull through so far. At the time of the fertiliser ban which has been lifted now, there was an excess of 800, 000 tons of rice in the country. Rice bailouts from China and India and government imports of .65 million tons of rice helped to absorb the threat but luck is running out.
The area of land which is usually cultivated in the Yala season is about 500, 000 HA. Experts guesstimate that about 100, 000 HA of land will not be cultivated this Yala which started earlier in March this year and will end in May.
While this shortfall will have an impact on paddy production it will also affect seed paddy production. Unlike rice, seed paddy cannot be imported because of the risk of it bringing diseases into the country which could destroy entire cultivations like what has happened with maize and coffee plantations in the past.
The discernible trend of summoning protesters at the GotaGoGama site and critics of the government to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) continued. Last week YouTuber and social media activist who is a familiar figure at the GotaGoGama protest site Rathidu Senaratne, more popularly known as Ratta, was arrested after he reported to the CID. The allegation against his was the alleged obstruction of duties of police officers during a protest near the Fort Magistrates Court on 25th April. Ratta was lalter released on bail. Another social media activist Darshana Handugoda who has become legendary for his exposes about corruption in government returned to the CID where he was questioned about alleged incitement during the state backed violence on 9th May. The Secretary of the Committee to Protect the Rights of Prisoners (CPRP) Sudesh Nandimal was summoned to the CID for making a statement to the media about the participation of prisoners in the 9th May attacks. Meanwhile, the President of the CPRP and Convenor of the Lawyers Forum For The People, Attorney at Law Senaka Perera who was asked to report to the CID last Friday will be going today. He has been at the forefront of the support to GotaGoGama and has filed several plaints in recent weeks. Soon after the violence on 9th May, he filed a private plaint in the Colombo Magistrates Court for the arrest of former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and several others for their alleged involvement in the violence which took place that day. The other defendants in the case are Johnston Fernando, Sanjay Edirimanna, Sanath Nishantha, Mayor of Moratuwa Saman Lal Fernando, Senior DIG Deshabandu Tennekoon and the Inspector General of Police C. D Wickremeratne. The contention of Senaka Perera who is the petitioner in the case is that the defendants violated close to 20 provisions of the Penal Code. In his plaint, he asked the CID to arrest and produce the defendants in court and also to investigate the violations of the Penal Code. On a slightly earlier occasion he petitioned the Supreme Court that the use of spiked barricades by the police to prevent protests is a violation of the fundamental rights of protestors.
