A government without checks and balances

        With the country’s worsening economic situation begins to bite, Sri Lankans have started to flee across the Palk Straits to seek refuge in India.  Last week, 16 Sri Lankans including children were found in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.  They told the authorities there that they left Sri Lanka because there is no way to survive in the country. Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian MA Sumanthiran told Wednesday’s All party Conference (APC) which was chaired by the President that they fled because of starvation. While Sri Lanka faces the shame of an exodus off its citizens because of the inability of the State to provide them with the fundamentals to live, Tamil Nadu is preparing itself to receive them. With Sri Lanka’s economic crisis expected to take atleast another seven months before it can get better and with no immediate end in sight, Tamil Nadu is expecting an estimated 2000- 4000 Sri Lankans. Their status will be determined after discussions between the Tamil Nadu state and the central government of India.  Indian media reported that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin who spoke about the Sri Lankan economy in the state’s assembly said that he had observed the suffering of the Tamils who were going there. A Tamil legislator told Counterpoint that while residents in the Jaffna peninsularhave learnt to be self- sufficient with produce from their home gardens the Wanni population is in a precarious situation. Despite the availability of money, there are no good to buy and unemployment is high. Farmers in the district have not been able to cultivate their paddy land for two seasons because of the shortage of fertiliser.  In April last year, the government banned the import of synthetic fertiliser in pursuit of an overnight conversion to the use of organic fertiliser jeopardizing the livelihoods of 1. 8 million farmers countrywide. The disastrous policy has cut the paddy harvest by two thirds and a conservative estimate of the cost of it at USD 2 billion.   Fishing, another mainstay in the Wanni, has been affected because the fishing nets that are used by fishermen get entangled in trawlers and get damaged.  This legislator pointed out how the earning capacity of the small entrepreneur has been reduced because government departments such as the Forest Department, Wildlife Department and the Archaeology Department are carving out land arbitrarily and getting the locals to leave. The government meanwhile is like a runaway train. Its mismanagement of the economy has swamped people in an avalanche of apocalyptic proportions, but it has shunned all checks and balances for impunity to prevail and accountability to fall by the way- side. Take the recent boycott of the Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) by the Governor of the Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal and members of the Monetary Board despite being summonedto it. Adding insult to injury has been Basil Rajapakse’s three- month absence from parliament to avoid answering questions about the state of the economy. The impunity with which these servants of the people act, is a telling one on the Presidentwho himself has distanced himself from the country’s economic crisis.  In his address to the nation two weeks ago, the President stated albeit unconvincingly, that he is not the architect of the current crisis. The President who has been severely criticized by both his supporters and opponents for his lack of empathy for his fellow countrymen during these times, was publicly shamed last week after he tweeted his condolences to the families of the victims of a Chinese plane crash but failed to acknowledge the deaths of elderly Sri Lankans in fuel and gas queues. At least four people died in one week after collapsing while waiting in queues. Aware of this criticism, the President’s opening line in his address to the nation was an acknowledgement of the hardship of the people. To overcome these difficulties, the opposition has asked the government to revamp this year’s budget toprovide more relief for the people and to put development on the backburner.   But ruling party MPs Basil Rajapakse and Johnston Fernando have made statements that development will continue, which will worsen the plight of the people.   The public’s lack of confidence in the ability and capacity of the government to steer the country’s economy into calmer waters and its deafness to the advice of economic experts are driving more and more people and entities to join the fray to make it see sense. Yesterday, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka filed two Fundamental Rights applications in the Supreme Court seeking orders to direct the respondents to immediately consult with all relevant stakeholders and independent experts to formulate and implement policies to provide uninterrupted access to essentials such as food, medicine, fuel, gas, and electricity. They also sought an order to provide concessions in relation to the prices of essential goods and services to the people including LP gas, fuel, electricity, milk powder, medicines and food.

The applications by the BASL note that the failure to provide essentials goods and services to the people of Sri Lanka without any shortage, and at a reasonable price, is a violation of the people’s Fundamental Rights enshrined in the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

The Attorney General, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Governor of the Central Bank, the Secretary to the Treasury, Secretaries to several Ministries, the Ceylon Electricity Board, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and the State Pharmaceutical Corporation among others were named as Respondents.

The Petitioners complain that Sri Lanka is currently facing an unprecedented economic and financial crisis resulting in acute shortages of fuel, electricity, gas, food, milk powder, and medicines. They said that they are compelled to come into court due to the severe shortages in essential goods and services, that are considered vital for the survival and existence of the citizens of the Republic in whom is guaranteed the fundamental right to equality, equal protection of the law and the right to life under the Constitution.

The Petitioners also asked the Court for directions on the Respondents to immediately formulate and implement short term policies and measures to ensure that the people have adequate access to such essentials and for Respondents 1st – 28th which comprise the Cabinet of Ministers and/or any other Respondents to immediately consult with all the relevant stakeholders and independent experts including the International Monetary Fund to formulate and implement policies to provide uninterrupted access to essentials and report such findings/recommendations and their implementation to the Supreme Court.

The Petitioners also asked the Court fordirections on the Cabinet of Ministers to formulate an urgent national policy to provide immediate relief to the people and businesses affected by the present financial and economic crisis and to formulate and implement urgent policies to prioritize projects and programmes, to alleviate the foreign exchange crisis, guarantee uninterrupted supply of goods and services, control inflation, and reduce the cost of living and for directions on the Cabinet of Ministers to formulate and implement urgent policies to promote the production of local agriculture, dairy farming, and animal husbandry to ensure food security and for directions on the Respondents in consultation with stakeholders, to formulate new systems, processes, rules, and regulatory frameworks which assure transparency and good governance practices in respect of future public debt management.

The applications were filed by the President of the BASL Saliya Pieris PC, Deputy President Anura Meddegoda PC, its Secretary Rajeev Amarasuriya, TreasurerRajindh Perera and the Assistant Secretary Pasindu Silva.

The Petitioners will be represented by Dr. K. Kanag Isvaran PC, Uditha EgalahewaPC, Suren Gnanaraj and PulasthiHewamanne instructed by G.G. Arulpragasam.

At the APC, Minister Sumanthiran pointed out that the country is in an urgent situation which requires the economy to be stabilized. He put on record that Sri Lanka has to restructure her debt and start negotiations with creditors.  He pointed out the need for Sri Lanka to have her own plan for reform and growth to be in a position to negotiate with the IMF and to avoid having to abide by the IMF’s prescription which may not be to the linking of the country. Like his other colleagues in the opposition, he too emphasized on a revamping of the current budget to make it one of relief rather than development. He went on to tell the APC that the TNA will support the country and that it is ready to act as the bridge for diaspora funding butthat development and devolution must go together. He said that a statement with proposals for a way forward from the current economic quagmire had been tabled in parliament.  The statement had been signed by 12 parliamentarians. He said he is also tabling this letter at the APC. Meanwhile the latest to join the bandwagon of political party protests was the United National Party. Yesterday evening they held a satyagraha in Hyde Park in Colombo. It was led by its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, party seniors and supporters. The reason for the satyagraha, the theme of which was bringing light to the darkness, was to urge the government to formulate a national policy for the current crisis. Among matters that were discussed when a group of Tamil legislators met with President Gotabaya Rajapakse last week were the impasse with the drafting of the new constitution, the land grab in the former conflict areas and the situation of political prisoners.  The President had told the delegation of MPs that he is waiting for the report on the constitution which President’s Counsel Romesh De Silva is writing and that he will get back to them after he has read the report.  When the parliamentarians had raised the issue of land grabbing that is taking place in the former conflict areas the President had told the MPs that he is not aware of it and that he will follow up on it.  Another topic which the delegation had brought up was the fate of political prisoners. The President had asked Justice Minister Ali Sabry and TNA MP Sumanthiran to find out how many had been in incarceration for long periods oftime and had said that he will see what he can do about it. The President had invited only the TNA and its constituent parties to the meeting. The PLOTE did not attend the meeting. Among those who were at the meeting were MA Sumanthiran, Mavai Senathirajah, S. Sridharan and ShanakiyanRasamanickam.

The President’s meeting with the TNA came soon after his meeting with United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland.  She arrived in Colombo last week with an interagency delegation for meetings with the government as well as business and civil society leaders to discuss their roles in creating an environment in which all Sri Lankans can thrive.

The US embassy in Colombo said in a statement that during her meeting with the President she will discuss the challenges posed by the global pandemic and ways to strengthen the U.S.-Sri Lankan partnership.

The statement went on to say that Under Secretary Nuland and Minister of Foreign Affairs Prof. Gamini Lakshman Peiris will co-chair the 4th U.S.-Sri Lanka Partnership Dialogue which will address strengthening democratic institutions, human rights, sustainable economic development, mitigating climate change, deepening trade and investment ties, regional security, and educational cooperation.

Other senior members of the interagency delegation include Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Amanda Dory