The government ends up with egg on its face

The main opposition political parties who viewed the event as an independence extravaganza, boycotted it. The Samagi Jana Balawegaya marked the day with a low-key ceremony at the Polwatte temple.  The party’s General Secretary RanjithMadduma Bandara said ‘we decided to keep away from the main ceremony as we opposed the move to hold a grand ceremony which displays aircraft and other military equipment at a time the country is facing a crisis especially in the economic front’     On the fourth of February the government celebrated the country’s 74 th year of independence with the usual rituals at Independence Square. The parade by the tri forces, police and Civil Defence Force, a fly past and a cultural show were watched by amply proportioned VIP men who exuded prosperity and women of splendour draped in the finestcotton and silk sarees. The fly past had already flown into controversy even before the day. There were many voices that raised the questionabout how much money will be burnt to fuel the aircraft at a time the government itself is calling for austerity by the people.  Last week the Minister for Environment Mahinda Amaraweerasaid his ministry is taking steps to promote the use of bicycles.  One of the reasons for this measure is to save money on fuel purchases.  The forex crunch has started to tell on the continuity of  fuel supplies and the first casualty has been the country’s power stations which are now struggling to supply power without interruptions. The main opposition political parties whoviewed the event as an independence extravaganza, boycotted it. The Samagi Jana Balawegaya marked the day with a low-key ceremony at the Polwatte temple.  The party’s General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandarasaid ‘we decided to keep away from the main ceremony as we opposed the move to hold a grand ceremony which display aircraft and other military equipment at a time the country is facing a crisis especially in the economic front’. The National Peoples Power (NPP) and Tamil National Alliance were also absentees at the event. The reason for UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe’s absence was unclear but he had made it known that he was against having an elaborate affair with a high cost. President Gotabaya Rajapakse, in his third Independence address to the nation, once againcommitted to give leadership to the country’s governance. ‘I am always ready to provide the necessary leadership to overcome any challenge facing the country. What the people expect from leaders is to manage all these crises and take the country forward, but not to escape from problems’, he said standing on the traditional red decked dais encircled by the commanders of the forces. The president’s short tenure has been beset by national crises and his readiness to give leadership to the country has been a recurring theme in his speeches.

He went on to explain that ‘when steering the country in the right direction, we know that the support of each and every person in the country cannot be expected. We are not ready to abandon our plans for the country’s future prosperity by looking upon those who will not change. Our objective is to do what is right by the country, and not to please everyone.  Pessimists do not change the world. They do not even have the capacity for it. Those who habitually criticize without proposing a solution to a problem do not have a vision for the future’.

Last year, President Rajapakse decreed that Sri Lanka must stop using synthetic fertiliser and agro chemicals and switch to the use of organic fertiliser. In August last year it allocated 3.8 billion rupees to purchase organic fertiliser from local producers to facilitate this change. But not before the overnight ban, which went contrary to expert advice, threw the country’s agriculture sector into disarray and left thousands of those who depend on it for their livelihoods, stranded. It has also set the stage for a national food crisis in the coming months. Although the move was justified in the name of the president’s election pledge to put Sri Lanka on the road to prosperity and splendour, the truth as claimed by many is that the Treasury was running short of dollars to pay for the import of synthetic fertiliser which in 2020 cost the government the equivalent of atleast 56 billion rupees. Despite the government having to renege on its own synthetic fertiliserban to repair the fallout from the green agriculture fiasco, the president in his speech said ‘there will be no changes in the policy framework we presented in regard to identified priorities such as green agriculture’.

Another crisis that is in the wings and which will be of apocalyptic proportions will be the government’s aversion to take timely and effective measures to address the current forex issue which is having a domino effect on the availability of essential commodities, cooking gas and fuel. A multitude of advice has fallen on deaf ears and the nation watches as the Finance Minister Basil Rajapakse and Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal play cat and mouse games about which path the country should take to salvage its cliffhanger economy.

Alluding to the current financial crisis during his speech, the president said that ‘rather than go back many years into the past searching for reasons for the economic problems that the country faces today, what is more relevant is to find both short and long-term solutions for such. This is what we as a government is focused on’.

He beseeched expatriate Sri Lankans to invest in their homeland to build the country’s futurestating that foreign exchange to the country is a major resource. According to available data overseas remittances, the country’s main source of foreign exchange, fell 22 percent to $ 5.5 bn last year.

The president went on to say that the country cannot accelerate economic development without encouraging entrepreneurship and removing obstacles faced by entrepreneurs. ‘We have a responsibility to be more respectful and friendly to entrepreneurs who start their own businesses amidst various vulnerabilities and provide employment and income opportunities for others as well. Government officials should fully understand the contribution of entrepreneurs to the country’s development and provide all assistance they require expeditiously within the legal framework. By preventing major delays in business registration and investment approvals, we can mobilize the entire economic process in the country’.  

‘We need to improve all three sectors of agriculture, industry and services in order to strengthen the economy of Sri Lanka. Special attention must be paid on ways and means to enhance export revenue whilst encouraging local production. This is what we as a government is focused this stance, there should be more active participation in all sectors in implementing them’.

‘Investment is an essential factor in the development process of our country. While the government is constantly working to encourage investments, we need both local investments as well as foreign investments. Foreign investment is especially important for large scale projects, industries requiring modern technological know-how and new ventures that open up global market opportunities for us. People need to be more vigilant of those who attempt to propagate incorrect public opinion against foreign investments, based on political motives’.

The president did not mention Sri Lanka’s foreign policy nor the state of its foreign affairs during his speech.

The NPP camp is agog after a failed attempt to throw eggs at its leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake during a convention in Kalagedihena, Gampaha on the 30th of January. The government had to end up with egg on its face after two suspects who were apprehended by a crowd who were at the meeting and were handed over to the police revealed during interrogation that they had been paid 5000 rupees to carry out their mission and inferred that Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatungaknew about it. Ranatunga, who is a SLPP MP from the Gampaha district, denied any involvement and wrote to the president for a probe into the attack and for the offenders to be punished.

During the course of the police interrogation it also transpired that the two suspects are employees of Avant Garde, a security service company whose chairman NissankaSenadhipathi is a close associate of the president. Senadhipathi shot to notoriety after his connections to a floating armoury on board the MV Avant Garde off the Galle coast came to light.  The Attorney General filed 7573 charges against him and seven others for the illegalpossession and transportation of 203, 395 live ammunition without a licence on board the ship and financial loss to the state of 11. 4 billion rupees by granting approval to Avant Garde Maritime Services to operate the floating armoury between August 2012 and January 2015. Last year, a permanent high court trial atbar acquitted and discharged him and seven others of the charges. The JVP claim is that Senadipathi is using his company to carry out attacks on opposition political parties.  

Meanwhile the two suspects who were apprehended and who were in the custody of the Nittambuwa police have gone missing from the Wathupitiwala Base Hospital where they wereadmitted to soon after the incident.

The National Peoples Power (NPP) has gone into top gear with its nationwide peoples’ outreach and is climbing the popularity stakes fast, parallel with the government’s rapid decline into the abyss of unpopularity. NPP stalwart and MP Vijitha Herath has said that its three percent share of the national vote has now risen to eight percent. With the disillusionment that has set in with the mainstream SLFP/SLPP and UNP/SJB political formations failing to deliver on their promises many see the NPP, despite being driven by the old guard of the JVP, as the more dependable and credible party they would like to give a chance to.  Dissanayake’s point is that they are the solution, not the option.