The oxymoronic fact that what is common about common sense is that it is not common at all became yet again evident last week when, in the midst of myriad national crises negatively affecting virtually all aspects of daily life and a Government that is not only doddering from one crisis to the next but one that has also run out of ideas, the head honcho presiding over a Sri Lanka saw it fit and thought it wise to sack two cabinet ministers, namely Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila and Industries Minister Wimal Weerawansa, and reshuffle the Ministers in charge of Energy and Power, by making Power Minister Gamini Lokuge the new Energy Minister and Transport Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi the new Power Minister.
As of late, the former duo has vociferously broken ranks with that cherished principle of the Cabinet of Ministers’ collective responsibility, particularly when they had the gall to oppose in court, a power plant-related controversial deal pushed through by Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa. Since then, Gammanpila and Weerawansa have been thorns in the Government’s hide, what with their increasingly vocal criticism of the Government’s ludicrous policies and wayward path. Most recently, Gammanpila, whilst complaining of state banks not allowing the opening of letters of credit for the import of fuel and the Government not providing any financial assistance or relief in the form of easing the taxes imposed on fuel, called on the Government to get its priorities, such as payments for essentials like fuel and medicines, straight. “Will we stay in the dark while eating imported apples, grapes, and honey and drinking imported water without fuel for our vehicles or will we sacrifice them? The Government must take a decision on this and it is due to the failure to do so that we are in the current situation.” Weerawansa, for his part, has uncharacteristically called for expert assistance to be sought for a way out of the economic crisis and most recently had the cheek to question whether Basil Rajapaksa’s ignorance of related matters was because he is conceited or stupid.
However, the straw that broke the camel’s back, or more specifically, incurred the President’s wrath, was not any public airing of dirty laundry or sub-par performance, but 11 political parties, which are constituent partners of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP)-led Government alliance, launching a separate national manifesto-cum-policy statement, containing proposals to, as claimed by them, steer the country into the straight and narrow path of economic righteousness.
This launch was sufficient to warrant the sacking of both Weerawansa and Gammanpila, despite both being instrumental in US citizen Basil Rajapaksa’s entry to the Parliament, when they acquiesced to the President’s request to permit dual citizens’ involvement in parliamentary politics through the 20th Amendment to the Constitution on the condition that such would be abolished through the proposed new Constitution. Since the sacking, however, both Gammanpila and Weerawansa have referred to Basil Rajapaksa as the “ugly American”, a reference to the 1958 political novel by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer.
When analysing this sequence of events and state of political affairs as far as governance is concerned, it cannot be overstated that the President’s reshuffling of those within the government camp in this hour will not make an iota of positive change but will in fact aggravate the situation as both Lokuge and, more precisely, Wanniarachchi will require some time to acclimatise themselves to the roles and functions of the said ministries and aligned subjects, and the unique processes and procedures associated with such. There is no need of mentioning the “scientific” basis underpinning Lokuge and Wanniarachchi’s appointments to the said portfolios. This is costly, “back to square one” time that neither they, who have to start from scratch, nor the Government, nor the country, can afford. As Weerawansa himself explained the “miracle” of their sacking in a post-sacking press conference stated: “Now that we have been removed, US dollars will procreate, fuel will be generated, and power cuts will stop.”
Moreover, the President has made no bones about taking the jackboot approach to completely stamping out all dissent and, most importantly, leaving no room for dangerously constructive criticism, preferring instead the “yes, sir, yes, sir” of the bobble heads. Therefore, the question has to be posed as to whether he intends to apportion the wrath equally and thereby mete out the same “One Country, One Law: treatment given to Susil Premajayantha, Gammanpila, and Weerawansa in the form of punitive action, to all those who participated at the launch of the said manifesto-cum-policy document including among others, Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara and non-ministerial Government Parliamentarians such as former President and Sri Lanka Freedom Party Chairman Maithripala Sirisena, Prof. Tissa Vitarana, Asanka Navarathna, and Gevindu Cumaratunga. Is it that in this Orwellian Animal Farm, to use a hackneyed trope, although all are equal, some are more equal than others, and that therefore, it is politically expedient to keep a former nemesis like Sirisena closer than afar, owing to the dirt that the latter possibly has on the ruling family or due to considerations given to factors such as the number of votes garnered and the hard currency of the number of parliamentary seats obtained? There is also a question of severed ties, and whether Gammanpila and Weerawansa et al. will abandon the sinking ship of the Government and join the Opposition or stay on in the Government.
Perhaps, in the midst of all this chaos, there is a lesson to be learnt somewhere about how to balance the Cabinet’s collective responsibility, by occupying that no man’s land between the polarities of speaking out as if one is not part of the Government, or not speaking out at all no matter what and instead forever holding the peace out of fear of suffering a personal loss of some kind or due to believing that nothing will change for the better through such a verbal intervention, or simply keeping one’s mouth shut because one does not have the first clue about the matters at hand, or simply because one does not give, to quote the former UK’s House of Commons Speaker John Bercow, “a flying flamingo”.
Ultimately, for those masses who still turn on the idiot boxes to watch the evening news or whose electronic devices’ battery charge has not run out due to power outages, such Trump-esque “you are fired” antics of the President, which are self-serving for both the person doing the firing and the persons at the receiving end, provides but small mercies, for which the appropriate response would be, as Weerawansa laconically responded in the wake of the President’s letter informing of his sacking, “thank you”.
In the meantime, a clarification needs to be made about the operative definition of the changing misfortunes of the economy – it is no longer a crisis, but a, as Weerawansa aptly described, “national disaster”.Trumpian firings as nation burns
07 Mar 2022
Trumpian firings as nation burns
07 Mar 2022
The oxymoronic fact that what is common about common sense is that it is not common at all became yet again evident last week when, in the midst of myriad national crises negatively affecting virtually all aspects of daily life and a Government that is not only doddering from one crisis to the next but one that has also run out of ideas, the head honcho presiding over a Sri Lanka saw it fit and thought it wise to sack two cabinet ministers, namely Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila and Industries Minister Wimal Weerawansa, and reshuffle the Ministers in charge of Energy and Power, by making Power Minister Gamini Lokuge the new Energy Minister and Transport Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi the new Power Minister.
As of late, the former duo has vociferously broken ranks with that cherished principle of the Cabinet of Ministers’ collective responsibility, particularly when they had the gall to oppose in court, a power plant-related controversial deal pushed through by Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa. Since then, Gammanpila and Weerawansa have been thorns in the Government’s hide, what with their increasingly vocal criticism of the Government’s ludicrous policies and wayward path. Most recently, Gammanpila, whilst complaining of state banks not allowing the opening of letters of credit for the import of fuel and the Government not providing any financial assistance or relief in the form of easing the taxes imposed on fuel, called on the Government to get its priorities, such as payments for essentials like fuel and medicines, straight. “Will we stay in the dark while eating imported apples, grapes, and honey and drinking imported water without fuel for our vehicles or will we sacrifice them? The Government must take a decision on this and it is due to the failure to do so that we are in the current situation.” Weerawansa, for his part, has uncharacteristically called for expert assistance to be sought for a way out of the economic crisis and most recently had the cheek to question whether Basil Rajapaksa’s ignorance of related matters was because he is conceited or stupid.
However, the straw that broke the camel’s back, or more specifically, incurred the President’s wrath, was not any public airing of dirty laundry or sub-par performance, but 11 political parties, which are constituent partners of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP)-led Government alliance, launching a separate national manifesto-cum-policy statement, containing proposals to, as claimed by them, steer the country into the straight and narrow path of economic righteousness.
This launch was sufficient to warrant the sacking of both Weerawansa and Gammanpila, despite both being instrumental in US citizen Basil Rajapaksa’s entry to the Parliament, when they acquiesced to the President’s request to permit dual citizens’ involvement in parliamentary politics through the 20th Amendment to the Constitution on the condition that such would be abolished through the proposed new Constitution. Since the sacking, however, both Gammanpila and Weerawansa have referred to Basil Rajapaksa as the “ugly American”, a reference to the 1958 political novel by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer.
When analysing this sequence of events and state of political affairs as far as governance is concerned, it cannot be overstated that the President’s reshuffling of those within the government camp in this hour will not make an iota of positive change but will in fact aggravate the situation as both Lokuge and, more precisely, Wanniarachchi will require some time to acclimatise themselves to the roles and functions of the said ministries and aligned subjects, and the unique processes and procedures associated with such. There is no need of mentioning the “scientific” basis underpinning Lokuge and Wanniarachchi’s appointments to the said portfolios. This is costly, “back to square one” time that neither they, who have to start from scratch, nor the Government, nor the country, can afford. As Weerawansa himself explained the “miracle” of their sacking in a post-sacking press conference stated: “Now that we have been removed, US dollars will procreate, fuel will be generated, and power cuts will stop.”
Moreover, the President has made no bones about taking the jackboot approach to completely stamping out all dissent and, most importantly, leaving no room for dangerously constructive criticism, preferring instead the “yes, sir, yes, sir” of the bobble heads. Therefore, the question has to be posed as to whether he intends to apportion the wrath equally and thereby mete out the same “One Country, One Law: treatment given to Susil Premajayantha, Gammanpila, and Weerawansa in the form of punitive action, to all those who participated at the launch of the said manifesto-cum-policy document including among others, Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara and non-ministerial Government Parliamentarians such as former President and Sri Lanka Freedom Party Chairman Maithripala Sirisena, Prof. Tissa Vitarana, Asanka Navarathna, and Gevindu Cumaratunga. Is it that in this Orwellian Animal Farm, to use a hackneyed trope, although all are equal, some are more equal than others, and that therefore, it is politically expedient to keep a former nemesis like Sirisena closer than afar, owing to the dirt that the latter possibly has on the ruling family or due to considerations given to factors such as the number of votes garnered and the hard currency of the number of parliamentary seats obtained? There is also a question of severed ties, and whether Gammanpila and Weerawansa et al. will abandon the sinking ship of the Government and join the Opposition or stay on in the Government.
Perhaps, in the midst of all this chaos, there is a lesson to be learnt somewhere about how to balance the Cabinet’s collective responsibility, by occupying that no man’s land between the polarities of speaking out as if one is not part of the Government, or not speaking out at all no matter what and instead forever holding the peace out of fear of suffering a personal loss of some kind or due to believing that nothing will change for the better through such a verbal intervention, or simply keeping one’s mouth shut because one does not have the first clue about the matters at hand, or simply because one does not give, to quote the former UK’s House of Commons Speaker John Bercow, “a flying flamingo”.
Ultimately, for those masses who still turn on the idiot boxes to watch the evening news or whose electronic devices’ battery charge has not run out due to power outages, such Trump-esque “you are fired” antics of the President, which are self-serving for both the person doing the firing and the persons at the receiving end, provides but small mercies, for which the appropriate response would be, as Weerawansa laconically responded in the wake of the President’s letter informing of his sacking, “thank you”.
In the meantime, a clarification needs to be made about the operative definition of the changing misfortunes of the economy – it is no longer a crisis, but a, as Weerawansa aptly described, “national disaster”.Kapruka
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Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Automobile, Mother and Baby Products, Clothing, and Fashion. Additionally, Kapruka offers unique online services like Money Remittance, Astrology, Medicine Delivery, and access to over 700 Top Brands. Also If you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.Send love straight to their heart this Valentine's with our thoughtful gifts!