A Radical Shift Needed

COLOMBO; Most people in Sri Lanka are fully aware that a growing number of the republic are protesting and publicly complaining of a myriad problems. To be fair Sri Lanka’s economy has always remained a little over the danger zone and it would be safe to say it has been for quite a while in the amber zone. In the past growth was remarkable and principal indicators were resilient and stable. Indeed, such was the case throughout the Mahinda Rajapaksa Presidency with - for example - the exchange rate maintaining a position and not losing ground in any way to cause investor alarm. All this changed of course with the advent of a new government grandly proclaiming Yahapalanaya or Good governance to be the base of their outlook for Sri Lanka. Sadly, for the nation, the bunch of self-styled good-governance advocates instead quite literally helped themselves. There was the infamous Bond scam, there were the turning of the Nelsonian eye when it came to Excise collections, underpayment of duties for most anything including vehicles especially at the upper end, Minister’s actively discarding due process and established procedure and the list went on and on – except of course the manifesto promises were never kept. In between all of this no one expected a pandemic to come along and wreak havoc upon our shores. Claim and counter claim does its rounds but the fact is no one quite had the expertise to handle CV19 – a new global phenomenon. The impact on our Tourism industry and on our remittances from our expatriate workers has caused absolute havoc on our economy. The time may now be opportune for all our political parties to form a joint governance team to embark upon a radical change to our governance outlook. No amount of confident speak that is put out by the master at the Central Bank can overlook some of the happenings that abound in Sri Lanka. These happenings always – not almost – affect the decision-making processes of overseas based investors seeking new and better opportunities to maximise returns. The rule of law is always a hotbed of concern. Imagine would be investors studying that aspect of the Sri Lanka way: they will discover the strange goings on within the judicial circle. The Attorney General’s department having presumably studied case files decide to indict persons. At times these persons have temporarily lost their freedom being remanded. Thereafter the same Attorney General’s department decides to withdraw the charges. And (in a strange twist) the One-time Attorney General is now the Chief Justice. Most liberal minded persons may be unable to comprehend what is going on or will take a pretty dim view of the original indictments and wonder if they were suffering from political lesions. Of course, the Yahaplanists too departed from established procedure. They had a committee based around Temple Trees that basically decided which cases should be taken up by the then newly created FCID. There was a steady stream of persons going to the FCID, some remanded and it was a virtual circus of the clowns. To so arbitrarily decide whom to look at is a departure from process. It could be argued then that this government was only putting right what was a departure in the past! All of this is not by the way. It ought not to be so. Sri Lanka will need to up its ante when it comes to the application of the Rule of Law. All sensible investors with the medium to long term pitch in mind will want to feel secure that they are investing in a country that has people who are fairly well educated, where the infrastructure is also more or less par for the course, where the political stability is established and where they can if needed rely on the rule of law to protect their brand and their investment. At the moment the nation additionally appears to need stability of policy. Not a system where the government is ruling quite often by the issuance of Gazette notices and equally as often changing those notices or amending them within a short period. This indicates that there appears to be a lack of planning and 360-degree consultative processes. The move towards an all green economy is commendable and will have excellent benefits for our nation’s image in the future once we are well entrenched within a green economy, food, buildings, warts and all. Save of course that none of this can be done literally overnight. The President had no sooner spoken that the import of all non-organic fertilisers was banned. The reaction was spontaneous. Farmers protested, the tea industry was particularly concerned that their exports of 300 million kilos of Ceylon’s finest would be challenged in some discerning markets at least, including the Japanese market. Our Prime Minister, President Mahinda Rajapaksa the veteran politician that he is, was eloquent and on point when he called for unity within the ruling alliance which after all gave this government the majority they sought – a two thirds majority which they maintain is required for strong government. President Mahinda Rajapaksa pointed to the apparent exodus of the youth of Sri Lanka seeking opportunities in other territories. It is clear, that Sri Lanka is in an economic mire with the people of our country in an abyss of despair. President Gothabya Rajapaksa has not missed a beat: he too has alluded to the political disunity and has openly stated that there are two types of persona in so far as his governance is concerned. He has clarified what prompted him to appoint a monk who has been known to be controversial. No matter what the justification alluded to, the fact is that this appointment has caused much concern not only in our own Sri Lanka but amongst our trading partners whose inputs are essential to the progress of our nation. One rule one country is welcome by all of us here in Sri Lanka. However, to appoint a person who is considered a hardliner to the detriment of the minorities in our country is to stir the pot of disharmony and disunity. It could verily fan the flames of communal disharmony. After thirty plus years of a communally-driven near civil war all of us in Sri Lanka are only too aware of the damage this causes to the growth of our economy apart from the lost opportunities of communal unity. If we need one example it would be to study the phenomenal explosion of tourism in Sri Lanka post 2009. No liberal minded traveller or any corporate worth its salt, will wish to consider Sri Lanka if the country is again a de-facto war zone where personal security is at stake. President Gothabya called for and assured a revolutionary change. God bless him for at least saying that. It is exactly what we need on a number of fronts. Leading the package of revolutionary change will necessarily be the attitude of all governments to that perennial problem of corruption and politically sponsored impunity. Revolutionary change will need to address inclusivity: consultative processes may well be a tedious impediment to achieve fast-tracked development of government policies. It is unfortunately a case of that old but true adage, ‘Rome was not built in a day’. Any government will need to demonstrate real commitment to address corruption wastage and graft. Not mere words but action real at that is what is required. It really is quite simple. Sri Lanka’s economy has so very badly been affected that there is no leeway for development and corruption at the same time. Our economy has reached a sort of plateau. If we are to forge ahead we must have a zero-tolerance towards corruption and wastage – the twin impediments that are currently raging across all important sectors. The losses to state banks after having indulged politically exposed persons – read cronies of any government holding the reins of power – remains at an all-time high. The Minister of Finance has proposed that a principal amount of Rs 8,500,000,000 be returned to the Central Bank, calling it ‘illegally made money’. Most followers of that circus known as the Central Bank Bond Scam will no doubt be reminded that Perpetual Treasuries the company at the epicentre reported profits totalling more than Rs 18 Billion. A weekend newspaper reported that Corporates with cross-shareholdings and or directorships with Perpetual separately owed state banks and other state bodies sums greater than Rs 10 Billion. This may well be a smartmove by the Minister of Finance enabling President Gothabya to maintain that at least one part of his manifesto undertakings has been completed at least by 50 percent. Nevertheless the adventure that the former Guvnor of the Central Bank Mahendran embarked upon has cost our country very dearly indeed. It is unlikely that the principal shareholders have assets anywhere close to the monies our country has lost thanks to this escapade. The monies made have been distributed to several who also had a hand in this sordid affair and much of it would have taken flight to other jurisdictions. We are constantly reminded that the Guvnor who went back to his adoptive Singapore never did return to the land of his birth to answer questions that the Police in Sri Lanka would like very much to pose to him. We would not be surprised that if the rest of the profits found its way to friends, family and property and other fixed assets in other countries. It is not a Radical Revolution change we need, rather we need all the perpetrators not just those now indicted for this matter, be indicted and in the event a custodial sentence be ordered it would arguably perhaps be best if the keys to those cells be thrown into the Indian Ocean. President Gothabya was elected because the people truly believed that he would be able to emulate some of what he achieved at the Defence Ministry and the Urban Development Authority. The vagaries and intricacies of Sri Lankan politics dictated that he be nominated by a registered political party in order to contest the election for the presidency. Very unfortunately it is some members of that very party that propelled him into the throne room who have withheld his progress. And when it comes to family, there really is a thin line between family and anything else. Friends and hangers on attached mainly to the former President Mahinda are costing this President dearly in terms of plummeting popularity. Just like what happened to President Mahinda – admittedly in that debacle, members of the family played a key role too. The saving grace is that the government has approximately three more years to go before they will be obliged to go to the polls. Presumably before that time, the SLPP will want to put a few cases behind their back – like the Bond scam – sort out the food production and of course stabilise the forex rates. Much depends on the myopic nature of the Sri Lankan mind-set. If they forget about the hardships we have endured for the past three years they may neglect to elect a whole new set of people – emulating President Gothabya’s expressly stated advisory delivered recently. In which case what will be in store for us? More of the same? Can we really expect a Revolutionary Change? Hope springs eternal.