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People live in uncertainty while some politicians live in luxury: Dr. Susil Premajayantha

01 Jan 2022

  • Govt. is facing a unique set of challenges that no other government has faced
  • Achieving governance and performance are up to Ministers, Ministry officials
  • SL should have entered into a long-term agreement with oil-producing countries
  • Don’t think necessary steps taken to address issues faced by the country
  • Govt. should look at restructuring its loan repayment and seek IMF assistance
  • Doubts present whether new Constitution will be presented this year
By Sarah Hannan Although many of us want to start the New Year on a positive note, the same cannot be said about the present situation in Sri Lanka. The rising cost of living, the general economics of the country facing turmoil, a political coalition pushed to the verge of breaking over differences in opinion, and a lack of accountability has filled Sri Lanka’s citizens with uncertainties about their future. So what seems to be the root cause of it all? Can the people’s representatives, who we, in great faith, appointed to govern us, find a solution for these issues? Can we be hopeful that our country’s economy will bounce back? To find answers to these issues and more, The Sunday Morning spoke to the State Minister of Education Reforms, Promotion of Open Universities, and Distance Learning Dr. Susil Premajayantha, who shared his views on the present economic and political situation in the country, the issues faced by the governing coalition party the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), progress in drafting the new Constitution, and last but not least, the progress in introducing the proposed education reforms. Following are excerpts of the interview: The Government seems to be facing challenges on many fronts, especially in the economic front. As a politician with many years of experience, what is your take on the present situation of the country? This Government is facing a unique set of challenges that no other government after independence has faced, mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation. But Covid-19 is not the only reason. After the last General Election and the forming of the Cabinet by appointing Ministers, State Ministers, Ministry Secretaries, Chairmen, and other officials, the current Government started its governance, and we noticed issues regarding policy, governance, and performance. Let’s consider three key areas. First, in the agricultural industry – where one-third of the country’s population engages in agriculture be it paddy, vegetables, fruits, and other plantations – we face issues with the ban on chemical fertiliser. It was a policy decision to use organic fertiliser by banning urea, pesticides, and weedicides, whereas implementing that policy decision became the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and related institutions. We did have a proper implementation framework to ban all chemical fertilisers, pesticides, and weedicides, but we did not have the required organic fertiliser at hand to implement the policy decision that we made, although there were facilities to produce organic fertiliser locally. At that time, 30% of the farming community in Sri Lanka was already using organic fertiliser for their cultivations. Moreover, after taking the policy decision and setting up the implementation, we should have run a pilot project testing the success of organic fertiliser in cultivations such as paddy. Through the pilot project, we could have provided the necessary alternative fertiliser products to the farmers from a selected area and found out what the shortfalls were. If we had taken this step, we could have easily found a solution for the challenges the farmers are currently facing, at least by the next cultivation season. We also lacked adequate awareness programmes – on the benefits of using organic fertiliser and improving their yield over time – for both farmers and the public. Without such a programme, when we abruptly stopped importing chemical fertiliser and pesticides, the farmers were affected more. Our paddy cultivation was moving towards self-sufficiency, especially after the 1970s, and we achieved that in 2014 during the tenure of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Because of this paddy self-sufficiency, after the Presidential Election in 2015, the then Government had to use the Mattala Airport hanger to store the excess paddy stocks. We are amidst the Maha season, farmers have started to cultivate various crops, and they are in need of suitable fertiliser and pesticides. The Minister of Agriculture meanwhile stated: “We are not in a position to import fertiliser and urea, and even if the Government did order the fertiliser stocks, they would only arrive after a month and a half, by which time the cultivation season would end.” What are the farmers supposed to do? At present, farmers are not getting organic or chemical fertiliser, and Professors in Agriculture and Agrarian Department officials have predicted that there will be a decline in yields during the Maha season. This translates to a shortage of food in the country. Although we made correct policy decisions, we are lacking in governance and performance. Achieving the governance and performance are up to the Minister, Ministry officials, and those who are engaging in implementing these policy decisions. We have the necessary workforce, but unfortunately, many of these officials are unaware of the policy decision, how to implement it, or carry out awareness programmes for the farmers. As a result, most of the farmers have refused to use organic fertiliser. In a way, it is not the best method to introduce organic fertiliser, even though it is environmentally friendly. On the other hand, we are seeing a similar crisis in the energy sector. If we take the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), they are in debt to two state-owned banks and several other banks amounting to $ 3.3 billion, which has placed them in a challenging position. This in return is burdening the banks, as they are finding it difficult to provide the necessary foreign currency to purchase essential items for the country such as pharmaceuticals, milk-based foods for infants, raw materials for industries, and crude oil. By September 2020, the price of a barrel of crude oil was $ 38, and it went up to $ 85 last year, in 2021. At present, it has decreased to $ 72 per barrel. At the time, when crude oil price was $ 38 per barrel, I believe Sri Lanka should have entered a long-term government-to-government agreement with the oil-producing countries. If not, we should have applied the proper instruments to avoid facing this type of challenge in the energy sector. If we do not have oil and if the drought sets in over the coming months, the country will also face power shortages. One-third of the country’s power requirement is fulfilled by coal and the rest of it is based on oil, so if we do not have oil and do not have foreign exchange to import oil, we will face an energy crisis. This will also affect the water supply as well as the manufacturing sector of the country, thereby halting production. We need to get together with the experts and heed their views and prepare short, medium, and long-term plans to overcome this crisis. The economic challenges faced by the country are expected to increase further this year, including the food shortage. People are unhappy with the statements made by government members regarding these issues. How would you respond to it? As the Government, it is our responsibility to explain to the citizens that we are facing challenges. I have not seen effective discussions taking place, even in state-owned media. Even the politicians or parliamentarians or other officials who take part in these talk shows do not discuss the matters but make it a point to debate and fight each other. All they do is pass the blame to each regime. However, this is not what people expect. People expect meaningful and effective discussions, not a mudslinging campaign. What I would suggest is that parliamentarians should equip themselves with facts when participating in such talk shows. You hardly observe such parliamentarians debating or expressing their views. In one such talk show, I observed one of the key ministers state: “There is a possibility of further increasing food prices.” What can people do when such statements are made? To whom are they supposed to go and share their grievances? It is up to the Cabinet of Ministers to take a decision on price control to ease the burden of increasing the cost of living. When I was a member of the Cabinet, under former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, which was during the last stages of the civil war from 2004-2009, even then, we had so many challenges but we managed them. We expressed our views and concerns after which we were entrusted with some tasks, which we tried to do to the best of our abilities. Therefore, as responsible politicians and people’s representatives, you cannot just make statements, but you should be in a position to explain them to the people. My position is that the Government, within their ruling party and the coalition, should discuss the key issues they are facing by summoning the parliamentarians and ministers batch by batch, to get feedback from their respective electorates or areas as to what the public has to say. You cannot wait until the last minute. You have to get ready for the challenges, but the people do not see that. We are not part of a task force, we are not consultants, and we are not in a place where decisions are taken. Do you believe the Government has taken the necessary steps to address the issues faced by the country? I do not think so. First, we must be in a position to select the right person for the right position. If we take the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry Secretary has changed four times since September 2020. The Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminals Ltd. (CPSTL) Chairperson resigned recently, and then the Litro Gas Chair was removed a few months ago. The newly appointed Litro Gas Chair said that there had been losses during the previous chair’s time amounting to several billion. So all these stories are coming out, and this is not good for the Government. Should the Government look at restructuring its external debt and seek International Monetary Fund (IMF) assistance to resolve the present issues? Definitely, as an experienced banker who served the banking industry from 1977-1985, an Attorney-at-Law who practised criminal law thereafter, and one who entered politics and served as a Parliamentarian as well as a member of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) and the Finance Committee, I have been constantly going through these records every week in the Parliament. Based on my experience, what I can say is that this situation was not created by loans taken by the present Government alone, but the loans that we have taken over the past two to three decades by respective governments for investment purposes and consumption, which is recurrent expenditure.  However, the accumulated foreign currency debt is amounting over $ 3 billion. Then, there are some sovereign bonds that were issued which we need to pay in time, as these payments cannot be postponed or restructured. Apart from that, there are some loans taken by the previous governments for projects for which installments and interest are still being paid. With the limited foreign reserves and earnings at hand, we need to give priority to paying the sovereign bonds. The rest, of course, we have to negotiate with the respective governments or the institutions, and restructure all our remaining debts. That will allow us to reduce the installments that we will have to pay during one particular year. For 2022, I believe we have to pay over $ 6 billion in installments that is for sovereign bonds as well as loans. The world is aware that the pandemic is still present and Sri Lanka is not in a position to gain sufficient foreign currency reserves from remittance services, exports, and tourism. Therefore, we need to negotiate and reduce the commitment we have towards loan installments in the coming years, and give priority to settling the sovereign bonds. Then, of course, we need to have sufficient funds to purchase essential items such as pharmaceuticals, vaccines, milk-based foods for infants, and crude oil. We can also look at saving some foreign exchange by restructuring long-term debts. Many governing party allies, including key coalition partner the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), are posturing to contest separately at the next elections. Do you think the governing alliance is facing an imminent split? My position is that this Government has a two-third majority in the Parliament through a coalition. However, this is not a real coalition, because the thing is, all parties got together for the last General Election to contest through one symbol, technically forming one party. So all these allied parties are under the Secretary of the SLPP, and not like the alliance formed among the party secretaries under the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) from 2004-2011. The membership was considered under each corresponding party secretary forming the alliance. The issue that the SLPP is facing is that we have to iron out issues faced by the coalition parties within the Government. Otherwise, of course, we are giving the wrong message to the people, to other countries, to other agencies, or to the international community. We need to iron out these matters through negotiations or discussions. However, I do not see such discussions taking place. Come 2024, we have to face another Presidential Election and a General Election any moment after the 20th Amendment comes to effect, which might be two years after that in February 2026, or after they continue for five years. Therefore, first, we must try to keep all the leaders of these allied parties together. That is the main responsibility of the leadership of the SLPP. If they fail to do that, they must get ready to face all these challenges. Now we are facing challenges with Covid-19, possible shortages in the food supply, and crisis in energy supply, unemployment issues, and the uncertain future for the country’s youth. It has come to a point where the youth is leaving the country for better opportunities, youth that are reading for degrees in foreign universities had to return to Sri Lanka at the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and have not been able to return to the universities because they cannot remit their tuition fees. Therefore, it is a loss for our youth. We had insurrections in 1971 and 1980, yet even at that time, the youth of this country did not face such challenges. It is not going to be easy to control the 18-40 age group, which also makes up 60% of the country’s voter base, who are a deciding factor in the elections that will be held. Today the youth are reluctant to join any political party, but as we have noticed during the previous elections and the upcoming elections, this voter base will decide on policies, opinions, and not the manifesto of a political party. As the ruling party, the SLPP has to be careful to have a S.W.O.T. (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis every six months or every month to address this issue. I do not see that type of attempt being made. Is the governing party committed to holding the alliance together or do they prefer to build as a single party without coalition partners? That we cannot say, because the SLPP was founded in late 2017 and won the majority at the General Election in 2018. After that they won the Presidential Election in 2019, and then the General Election again in 2020. That was done  in a short period. However, today that is not the same situation here. At that time people were talking about national security, which was a foremost priority. Now national security is not the issue. Now the issue is food security and the energy security, unemployment issue, and uncertainty. These are the core issues at present. There are some factors that the Government cannot control alone, especially the Covid-19 pandemic. But, there were several issues that we were voluntarily trapped into. Therefore, governance is the main issue. To run a Government now, you need people with some knowledge, experience, and skill. From time to time you do a reshuffle, but we are reshuffling the same card pack. Do you think the Government is in a position to honour its pledges given to the people at the 2020 General Election? That is a difficult question to answer. At the time, the country was not facing a pandemic crisis. However, gradually our foreign reserves started to dwindle due to the limitations on exports. Our socio-economic pattern, not only in Sri Lanka, but in other countries, changed drastically. We do not know what will happen the next day because of the pandemic and the political and economical state both here and outside. So, we must be in a position to predict that or get ready for that. Even an average person who will have many challenges in the future should have an idea as to what they could do. They should understand the alternatives. So each government must have such a plan be it short-term, medium-term, or long-term. We cannot wait until the last minute, and then we will not be able to do anything. Will the Government be able to present the proposed new Constitution, as promised, this year? I doubt it. People are not concerned about a new Constitution, their main concern is food, energy, and fulfilling other societal needs. It is true that the Government restored the national security of the country, but on the other hand, 40% of the people are living in fear because of gas explosions that are taking place and claiming lives. There was a video clip in which small children were running away from a gas explosion; who is going to assess the mental trauma that the child would be going through? Later on, such incidents will affect them. On the other hand, people are living in uncertainty while some of the politicians are living in luxury. People will not tolerate that type of behaviour by politicians. We faced a similar issue during the 2015 Presidential Election, so we need to set some examples for society. Has there been any discussion on the proposed Constitution within the Government? The new Constitution is very remote at the moment, but I definitely know that once the draft is tabled or given to the Parliament, since none of the parliamentarians participated in drafting the new Constitution and they do not have their ownership, they will have different opinions. The best example is abolishing the executive presidency. A set of parliamentarians say that they are in favour of abolishing the executive presidency, and the others say that they want a president with executive powers. Then the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, some people say the 13th Amendment should be fully implemented and some have requested to abolish the 13th Amendment. So these are the challenges we have to face once the new Constitution draft is tabled in Parliament. I think before that we have to appoint a select committee in the Parliament representing all the political parties and hand them the interim report of the expert committee and let them discuss the contents and come out with a final solution. Otherwise, they would argue that they have not seen the contents of the draft constitution and that they do not have ownership. If they do not have ownership over its contents, they will not vote in favour of the new Constitution. Introducing a new Constitution with drastic amendments will take time, and as I said earlier, people are not concerned about a new Constitution as much as they are concerned about their lives. What do you think is the main issue faced by the Government? Number one is the political issues, which we have to settle within the ruling coalition. To an outsider, the issue within the coalition looks very ugly. I have experience as the Secretary General of a legal coalition for 11 years under three presidents. Therefore, I know how difficult it is to solve these issues. One must have the political maturity to tackle all these issues. Then the governance issue was when appointing ministers, state ministers, secretaries, and chairmen who are capable to do the tasks. You can have an assessment of this by now. The third is the performance, when any of the above-mentioned officials have failed to complete a task they can be asked to resign or a new person can be appointed. This should not be done for the sake of removing the person, but they have to think about whether the right person is appointed for said position. If we do not address these three key issues, we will be in a dire situation in the next couple of months. Many experienced politicians like you have made public statements expressing their frustrations on the Government’s actions. How frustrated are you with the present system? We are not consulted; we do not have a place to explain our position. However, what we can do is express our concerns in Parliament or during media interviews. That does not mean that we do not want this Government. We acted as partners to establish this Government and bring the current President and Government to power. We have devoted our time, spent whatever money we had for propaganda work, persuaded people, and held meetings to gain votes. Therefore, we are partly responsible for some of the issues we are facing today. Even though we are not in a position to express our views when decisions are taken by the SLPP, we express our views and concerns at suitable forums to take this Government on the right path. We definitely know that this President will be there for the next three years, and we cannot allow the people to suffer for another three years.

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