Colombo (News1st): Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is scheduled to visit India on the 19th and the 20th. The Hindu newspaper reported that the Premier will hold talks with his counterpart Narendra Modi.
The Hindu report details the following projects as “priority projects” from an Indian perspective
- the Mattala airport, near the China-controlled port in the Southern Hambantota District
- the Palaly airport in Jaffna in the Northern Province
- the Trincomalee oil tank farm in the east
- the Eastern Container Terminal at the Colombo Port
- Liquefied natural gas plant in Kerawalapitiya, north of Colombo.
It says despite bilateral discussions and joint agreements on development cooperation and commercial partnership, none of the projects have taken off the way they were envisaged. However, over the last few months, New Delhi and Colombo have put out conflicting messages on the Mattala airport, sparking speculation on whether India’s interest to run it would actually materialize.
Colombo-based officials, who had spoken to The Hindu on condition of anonymity, had said that the delay was due to political reasons in some cases, and bureaucratic issues in others. The Hindu says during the upcoming discussions, officials on both sides might look to accelerate the projects.
What is the motive behind Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's visit to India?
According to the Hindu report, agreements will be reached to accelerate the slow-paced India-aided projects in the island.
What power does the Prime Minister have to reach into agreements?
The Prime Minister is not the leader of the state nor the head of government or the cabinet of ministers. The current Prime Minister holds the portfolio of Minister or National Policies and Economic Affairs. He does not have the authority to reach into agreements on behalf of the country.
The citizens of this country, the President nor the Cabinet of Ministers have vested him with the power of making such decisions. It is evident that Ranil Wickremesinghe changed critical systems on numerous occasions to fulfil his own requirements.
In most of the situations where systems were changed, what usually followed was a departure from due process and a hotbed for fraud and corruption. When the government came into power in 2015, the Prime Minister took over the Central Bank which was under the Ministry of Finance.
A few days later, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, amidst disapproval from President and the Cabinet of Ministers, appointed his close associate Arjuna Mahendran as the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. The Central Bank Bond Scam took place following the appointment of the new governor after the system was changed by the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister had instructed to change the system of issuing bonds into a complete auction-based system without consulting the monetary board of the Central Bank. This lead to the first Central Bank Bond scam in 2015 and the second bond scam in 2016.
The Prime Minister also appointed a Cabinet Committee on Economic Management with a group of Ministers and few other close officials deviating from the due procedure. Large-scale projects were presented to the cabinet of ministers through this committee, and the current state of SriLankan Airlines is a good example of the fate the committee creates.
The Sri Lanka Singapore Free Trade signed with the Premier's friend Malik Samarawickreme is also a good example of deviating from the due procedure. Minister Malik Samarawickreme finally admitted that the general public was not fully aware of the Sri Lanka Singapore Free Trade Agreement when it was signed.
What is the Prime Minister, who has taken decisions that are unhealthy to the country, expecting to accomplish in India?
National organizer of the All Ceylon Farmers' Federation Namal Karunaratne speaking regarding the matter stated that all agreements the Prime Minister has signed, especially the one with Eric Solheim ruined the country.
When the Prime Minister signed the Singapore agreement the people of the country nor the Parliament knew about it. When everything was done Malik Samarawickreme apologized, said Namal Karunaratne. He added that the Prime Minister should know that there is no point in apologizing after signing the agreement.
The leader of the Nation Unity Front Azath Salley also commented in this regard. He stated that the Prime Minister has admitted in parliament that it was he who instructed to move to another option at the Central Bank.
Later the PM signed the Singapore agreement and the negativity of this agreement towards Sri Lanka was discussed on several platforms, said Salley. He added that thereafter, they managed to handover the Hambantota port to China, the Mattala Airport to India and later visited India only for the people to realize that they have signed another agreement.
"What is the Prime Minister now trying to sell to India?" - Azath Salley.webp){kind=logo}
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