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Back at square one?

11 Sep 2022

It is becoming quite clear that the persecution of those who were involved in the protests has now transformed into a full-blown operation to exert revenge for the downfall of the previous administration. Even though the President has laboured to portray a ‘no-nonsense, I-mean-business’ sort of attitude, the events of last week have exposed him to be a mere spectator in the larger scheme of things, where strings are seemingly being pulled by an invisible hand. The return of the former – deposed – President to a hero’s welcome, the appointment of a hefty contingent of ministers from the SLPP, a junior minister having the gumption to offhandedly reject the given portfolio and appoint himself to a subject of his choice, and the appointment of a Rajapaksa family member to ministerial ranks to test the waters all point to a new chapter of governance by proxy. It also appears that those pulling the strings are once again oblivious to the general disillusion and growing discontent among the people, much the same way as the last time, where even the former President was taken by surprise when millions turned up outside his gate. If the administration continues its high-handed tactics to trample on personal freedoms despite the clear lack of a popular mandate, Sri Lanka could well be heading for yet another sociopolitical impasse via a second wave of protests.  The Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights in a statement issued last week emphasised that the Government must guarantee people’s economic and social rights, notwithstanding the economic crisis. The report stated that a culture of impunity had led to the economic crisis, which has undermined the rights of all communities. The fact that such a statement was warranted from the Office of the Commissioner itself is a direct indictment of the administration and signifies the deteriorating human rights situation in the country. More importantly, the report urges the President to prosecute those responsible for economic crimes that bankrupted the country. That surely will be an acid test for a President who has so far studiously avoided the subject, being beholden to those very individuals for his political survival. Therefore, a confrontation on this matter seems inevitable later this month in Geneva.  Meanwhile, the Governor of the Central Bank issued a chilling message to Members of Parliament on both sides of the divide, when he was invited by the Speaker to brief them on the current state of the economy. The Governor stated that Sri Lanka was on the cusp of an acute food crisis as a consequence of the economic crisis and, if not tackled immediately, the result would be the birth of a far more deadly Aragalaya, the likes of which would make the first one look like child’s play. The Governor’s ominous warning was justified by news days later that the country’s official reserves had slipped further – from $ 1,800 million in July to $ 1,700 million in August, with $ 1,500 million of it being an unusable Chinese swap facility. While any other administration would have by now switched to austerity mode by default, given the severity of the crisis at hand, it is not so in Sri Lanka, where the President – who is also Finance Minister – proceeded to appoint 37 new state ministers while three more are expected to be named this week in addition to 10 more cabinet ministers, making up a grand total of 70 for a country of just 65,610 square km and 22 million people.    Notwithstanding the attempted eyewash by the new ministers that they will refrain from accepting a ministerial salary, the specifics of the ‘remuneration package’ point to the actual ‘sacrifice’ being insignificant compared to the allowances on offer – all of which are being grabbed with both hands. For instance, the salary of a minister is around Rs. 72,000, while that of an MP is around Rs. 55,000. At the end of the day, these MPs will only ‘sacrifice’ the Rs. 17,000 difference between the two while accepting up to three vehicles per minister, allocations for three personal staff members including another three vehicles for their use, an official house maintained at State cost, a phone allowance of Rs. 40,000, a fuel allowance of over Rs. 300,000 per vehicle used by the minister, and a hefty postal allowance, plus a host of other benefits – all of which is expected to cost taxpayers upwards of a billion rupees annually.  To add insult to injury, the 37 who were appointed as state ministers are the very same ones who were responsible for creating this mess and were comprehensively rejected by the people over many months. Now, by re-appointing these individuals as ministers, the President is rubbing salt into the wounds of the public. Add to this toxic proposition the benefits being accorded to the deposed former President, who, unlike any of his predecessors, only managed to complete half of the term and resigned while having fled the country and was singularly responsible for the current predicament. As to why the people should be beholden to such an individual for the rest of his life, after having all but destroyed the nation, is the billion rupee question.  During the recent meeting with IMF officials, the President had recalled that when he was born, Sri Lanka had no debt and had sufficient reserves to even lend to the UK, which was recovering from the Second World War. “We had made enough out of our rubber and tea and we built our first reservoir out of our own initiative through the Government of Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake. And he believed in one principle – that a nation and a person should be debt free.” What the President failed to mention was that D.S. Senanayake and his Cabinet did not feed on the public as the present day parasites do. They in fact spent and then bequeathed all of their wealth to the nation and public welfare – a far cry from the status quo today. In fact, part of the system change envisaged by the public envisions a return to the DS era governance style, where political leaders serve the nation on an honorary basis.  According to media reports, some politicians whose houses were burnt in the recent violence have inflated their compensation claims by adding bogus assets. It has been reported that some, instead of one house, are claiming the destruction of two houses, putting the assessors in difficulty. One MP is reported to have made a claim for Rs. 1 billion for his burnt house. Based on this media report, a TNA MP requested the Speaker to name this particular claimant, but the request seems to have fallen on deaf ears. It is in this light that public displeasure is being expressed over the Social Security Contribution Levy Bill that was passed in Parliament last week. The new tax of 2.5% will be imposed on top of the already-increased VAT of 15%, meaning the cumulative effect on all goods and services will be over 20%, further adding to the already unbearable cost of living.  Among the ministers appointed last week are the alleged chief instigator of the violence directed at the Galle Face protesters on 9 May, the main suspect in the mass murder of monks in Arantalawa, a drunk who terrorised prisoners, a man who threw chilli powder at MPs in Parliament, one who destroyed the Speaker’s chair in Parliament, and another with a passion for ganja cultivation, among many other interesting characters. The reappointing of these individuals is a slap in the face for the people of this country, who just two months ago showed them the door in the hope of a fresh start and putting the country on the right track. All that has now been turned on its head.  Given the adverse public reaction to the latest round of appointments, there is every likelihood that the Sri Lankan expat community, which in recent times has effectively leveraged their collective economic clout via remittances to pressure the administration to commit to better governance, will most likely continue to withhold funds and keep up pressure as indicated by the remittance figures for August, which were released by the Central Bank last week and showed no significant improvement from the month before. With public perception being that at least some of these funds will eventually go towards the upkeep of political parasites, there is a distinct possibility of remittances through official channels shrinking further.  In addition, while it appears that Sri Lanka’s human rights record has had a minimal impact on the IMF Staff-Level Agreement, it is believed that it will be a different story when it comes to obtaining approval for fund disbursement from the IMF Executive Board. Adding to the confusion is an admission by the Leader of the House that there is only a verbal agreement with the IMF for the anticipated bailout. This was revealed when the Opposition demanded a copy of the draft agreement. It will be recalled that the present President demanded a similar copy when in Opposition earlier this year from the then Finance Minister and kicked up a storm when it was refused. With old wine in new bottles the order of the day, Sri Lanka could soon be back at square one or worse, if there’s no genuine push for change and accountability.


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