Sri Lanka’s current political impasse: Some additional thoughts

Photo courtesy News In Asia

Editors note: Read in conjunction with Sri Lanka’s deepening political crisis: Not losing an opportunity to lose another opportunity by the same author.

PROF. JAYADEVA UYANGODA on 07/04/2017

Sri Lanka has entered another phase of political crisis. It is a three-fold crisis. The first is at the level of the regime. The second is a crisis of governance. The third level of crisis is visible in relation to the broad political process of transformation.

In the first, the yahapalanaya regime is finding itself unable to move forward as a government. Its major initiatives for corruption free governance, political reform through constitutional change, and rebuilding ethnic relations through minority rights are now halted.  The government seems to be happy with achieving minor gains, here and there. While the regime’s popular support has base significantly eroded, its leaders have no strategy to maintain the backing and loyalty of its own support constituencies. With increasing public disenchantment, and progressive isolation from the electorate, the Sirisena-Wickremasinghe regime’s political survival at future elections — local, provincial and national — is likely to be at serious risk.

Governance Crisis

The crisis of governance – the second level – is manifested at a variety of levels. Its everyday manifestation is the collapse of the municipal governance. The inability to resolve the garbage problem, along with the rapid spread of flu epidemics leading to citizens’ lives at grave risk – exposes the ineptness of the central government, the provincial councils and local authorities in carrying out even most elementary functions of a government.

The incompetence of the government is manifested by its inability to carry out another major function expected from a democratic government – managing and resolving competing demands and aspirations of different social classes/groups though dialogue, debate, negotiations and creative compromise. The unresolved and worsening problem associated with the SAITM issue is the worst example of how the Sirisena-Wickremasinghe administration mishandled a problem the creation of which is not its responsibility at all.   SAITM is a problem created by the previous regime. Yet, showing its undiluted loyalty to the private entrepreneurs involved in the business of education, the government ignored one its fundamental duties to society – management of social conflict and tension through creative compromise and policy innovation.

Now the SAITM conflict seems to have entered a stage beyond a peaceful settlement within the framework of rule of law and democratic accountability. A regime that allows social contradictions to sharpen and move into the level of violent confrontations can only regret its prevarications, sooner than later.

Process Crisis

The third level of the crisis is processual. It entails the present government’s continuing failure to consolidate and institutionalize the gains of the process of democratic transition that began with the electoral defeat of the Rajapaksa regime in early 2015. Usually, the replacement of an authoritarian rule is only the beginning of a democratization process. The fulfillment of the agenda of democratization becomes the responsibility of two political actors – (a) the new democratic regime which has access to the control of state, its institutions and resources, and, (b) the social forces that are involved in defending and resuscitating the democratic process.

The government’s record of consolidating the democratization process is poor.  Its democratic victories have been largely negative gains, in the sense of refraining from everyday repressive practices through state agencies. As indicated in the recent handling of clashes with anti-SAITM protesters, even that face of government behavior is now coming to an end.

The real crisis dimension of this democratic failure of the government is being felt at a different level. It entails the real political risk of relapsing to authoritarianism either by this regime itself, or by the next government of the Joint Opposition. In the case of JO, returning to authoritarianism will have some popular support as well. Return to authoritarian and illiberal governance with popular backing would mark a very negative phase of Sri Lanka’s contemporary politics.

Was it avoidable?

Now, the question is, would this triple crisis with their negative political consequences have been avoided? What preventive action would the President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremasinghe have taken?  Is it too late now to take any remedial action that can reverse the crisis path?
To answer the first question, yes, the crises could have been avoided and their consequences could have been managed, subjected to one condition. The yahapalanaya coalition should have prepared itself for governance, that is, to make a transition from being an oppositionist entity to a political body charged with the primary function of running and managing a state in a volatile society.   The record of most of the ministries, from the President and the PM downwards, show that we have a regime which is least prepared for governance.

To answer the second question, the government should have avoided its over-emphasis on the agenda of regime survival through the coalition with a section of the SLFP. It is this UNP-SLFP coalition that has politically and administratively paralyzed the capacity of the government in both its everyday governance functions as well as in fulfilling its reform agenda.  The President and PM could have maintained a balance between regime survival and regime stability. Similarly, the paralysis in governance could have been avoided if the expansion of the ruling coalition, that took place after January 2015, led to a policy dialogue and consensus between the UNP and the Sirisena faction of the SLFP. Being a pragmatic and opportunistic coalition, this alliance could only ensure regime survival at a nominal level, and not regime stability at a political level. Such a pragmatic coalition would have been politically successful only if the leadership was as autocratic as the previous President, who was, incidentally, a master in the art of forging and maintaining opportunistic coalitions for survival.

Early Warnings

None of these are actually new ideas. Government’s civil society supporters from the very first month of its formation have been suggesting similar ideas to President Sirisena Prime Minister Wickremasinghe, both directly and indirectly, even warning the possible policy and governance paralysis.  Maduluwae Sobhitha Thero was in the forefront of the civil society campaign to rescue the new government from the onset of an early process of political decay. But the new leaders had no time, or inclination, to listen to its sympathetic critics. The problem then is not the lack of good will and critical inputs available, but the government’s lack of seriousness about its own political and policy commitments.

At its mid-term turning point, the government’s challenge is to extricate itself from the present state of paralysis.  It is not easy though. There are no potential sources of democratic political energy in the Sri Lanka society at present for the government to re-invent itself.  Thanks to the yahapalanaya paralysis, the new political energies developing in Sri Lanka are favourable mainly for another phase of retreating from democracy. Neither are there impulses from within the regime to take any new and innovative initiatives that can turn the political tide in its favour. Bare survival as a regime with a combination of political manipulation and repression is likely to be the easiest path available to the government.

What a sad story of a transformative potential that the regime change of January 2015 opened up for Sri Lanka!

A way out?

Is there a tenable way out from this impasse? Actually, it is not easy to think about one at the momentum because Sri Lanka’s politics seems to be in a flux. While the political balance for forces is no longer in favour of the government, it is not yet clear whether the electorate will opt for an overwhelming shift in favour of the Rajapaksa leadership. The local or provincial elections, if held soon, will indicate the general lines of electoral trends.

Even though a way out is not clearly discernible, let me think about a distant possibility that can be explored by the government, subjected to a few conditions. The JO, despite its apparent abundance of resources and rhetoric, suffers from a serious setback. It is the fact that the JO is pretty hollow in terms of a political programme of reform and transformation that can ignite the political imagination of the Sri Lankan voters across ethnic boundaries. Its only appeal is the former President’s authoritarian personality and his type of clientelist rule.

It is in the JO’s lack of a political programme of democracy and the unrepentant commitment to autocratic and majoritarian politics that the Sirisena-Wickremasinghe coalition can potentially exploit to reverse the current trend and improve its electoral chances. But, if the government leadership were to succeed, it has to undertake four immediate tasks:

1. Re-build and re-consolidate the present coalition with a push for a re-invented democratic reform agenda, with a few possible goals to achieve, to be implemented within the coming one year;
2. Take immediate steps to overcome the present crisis of governance thorough a new and genuine cabinet reshuffle, making it small, effective and governance-capable.  This step should be immediately followed up by a shake up of the bureaucracy;
3. Manage the increasing levels of social tension through dialogue, compromise, and policy innovations, affecting a clear break from the UNP’s neo-liberal policy arrogance;
4. Articulate a body of political ideas that can effectively counter the emerging arguments for illiberal, authoritarian political alternatives. That body of political ideas should also be rich enough to cement the ruling coalition ideologically and ally Sri Lanka’s diverse communities with a modernizing vision of change.

This is probably too idealistic a proposal for our President and Prime Minister even to have a serious look at. Yet, there is no harm in telling them that this is what they should actually be doing, while engaging in everyday fire fighting.

An open letter to Minister of Justice Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe

Dear Dr. Rajapakshe, -Tuesday, 4 July 2017

During your early political career, I considered you to be one who could contribute to the country constructively within a good team of likeminded politicians. When I wrote that the ‘Young and the bright should lead Sri Lanka’ to The Island, Colombo Telegraph and the Sri Lanka Guardian in September 2012, after calling for a ‘Peaceful Regime Change,’ you were in my mind with some others.

I recollect your visit to my office as the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) of the University of Colombo in late 2004, to register for your PhD and our conversations on many matters both academic and political. I also recollect thereafter your visit to present copies of your published books, admirably of a handful, to the faculty and to me personally. I was cautiously impressed by you.


Salakuna interview

However, when I happened to watch your interview with Hiru TV Salakuna programme (26 June) on YouTube, on the topic of reconciliation, I was completely disappointed and ashamed. However faulty your views were on reconciliation and its root causes, you maintained some decorum during the first 30 minutes of the interview. Then you lost your cool and started attacking the signatories as ‘mad men’ to a statement published against the rising communalism and religious extremism, when questions were asked about that matter.

I was one of the signatories to that statement. As you openly admitted, you had not seen the statement by then! But continued to attack the signatories and the two organisations that sponsored the statement. Is that how you interpret and execute ‘justice’ in your Ministry of Justice? Or is it ‘Summary Justice’ you and your ministry believe in?

The two organisations that sponsored the statement were (1) the National Movement for Just Society (NMJS), initiated by the late Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero and (2) Purawesi Balaya (People’s Power). Both were key civil society organisations that brought a democratic change in this country in January 2015 and paved the way for the present Government in which you are a key minister. Among the signatories also was Dr Jayampathy Wickramaratne who is also a key member of the present Government.  

Perhaps you were cornered by the TV hosts who questioned about your inaction as the Minister of Buddha Sasana in protecting the ancient Buddhist sacred sites identified by the Buddhist Commission Report of 2002 which are in peril or danger. That is however not a reason to attack others and vilify people and organisations. I am completely of the opinion that if there is any danger for these sites, those must be preserved and protected. If there is any vandalism, the perpetrators should be punished.

However, none of the above would refute the need to be alarmed by the rising incidents against the minority religious groups and business organisations, particularly of Muslims and Evangelical Christians. That is the message of the statement requesting the Government and the relevant authorities to bring the suspected perpetrators before the law and punish them if they are guilty. There is a clear dragging of feet and hesitation to take measures to implement law and order on these matters. There is no indication in the statement, whatsoever, of ‘summary justice’ as you advocate for the messengers who alarm the country of visible violations. The statement also places these matters within the context of primary need for ethnic and religious reconciliation in the country which you express your cynicism about.


Your claims

When the statement was brought to your notice, quoting only five sentences and mentioning the names of the two organisations, and the first signatory as Ven. Dambara Amila Thero and Professor R. S. Perimbanayagam as the last in the list, of among 173 signatories, the following was what you said: “There is a need to examine the brains of those who have signed the statement… This is an example for the fact that all those who should be in the Angoda mental hospital are not in there.”

This type of a vilified dismissal of a public statement, primarily without reading it, is shameful of a minister who has pledged for good governance, democracy and freedom of expression. Your objection thereafter was for the number which was mentioned (as more than hundred) in the statement as attacks on ‘Christian prayer centres.’ The statement very clearly mentions the period as from January 2015. I have myself seen the Incident Reports compiled by the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL) and the number mentioned in the statement is in fact an understatement.

These are matters that Ministers like you, particularly as the Minister of Justice, should impartially consider and inquire and not condemned or vilify off hand, including those who bring these matters to the public attention. Your behaviour shows the nature of the political culture that prevails among the ministers and politicians, whoever they are from the Government or the Opposition.

You dismissed the statement as ‘false propaganda’ (boru prachara) and said these should not be allowed in the country. When a TV host asked the question ‘Aren’t these the ideologies (mathavada) that inflame the country?’ you readily agreed. When the key TV host raised the issue of the civil society statement in the first place, his argument was that ‘while the Government is taking action against some Buddhist monks, no action is taken for these kinds of statements’.

As far as I know, no one is taken into custody or taken action against, for issuing a public statement like what I have signed. Issuing a statement and incitement to violence or insult to courts are two different things, even a person like Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka would agree. The first is part of freedom of expression and the second is part of a possible criminal act. But you didn’t have courage or sincerity to explain the difference although you are a President Counsellor. Or you may be of the same opinion. Even before raising the issue of the statement, you opted to criticise the NGOs, left and right. I couldn’t understand the context. I have not affiliated with any NGO in Sri Lanka. Although I am not affiliated, I consider both the NMJS and Puravesi Balaya as legitimate civil society organisations.

Your accusation against NGOs was about taking dollars from foreign sources. They may be. But I believe that they have to account for those monies. But many of our politicians thrive on and sometimes hoodwink our people’s money. Is this correct or not?


Your responsibilities 

Let me ask you another question. During the interview, you revealed that you are still a practicing lawyer. You said that even ‘today’ you filed a case! Am I correct? Did I hear you wrong? You have two important ministries under your charge. How come that you perform your duties properly as a Minister, if you are still a practicing lawyer? Therefore, to me, there is no wonder why the recommendations of the Buddha Sasana Presidential Commission Report is not implemented.

So, if there is any displeasure or unrest among the Buddhist monks or prelates on the related issues, then you could be primarily responsible for that at present. It is hardly possible that other religions or at least their dignitaries are responsible for that. There can be misunderstandings or even disputes. As I have suggested previously, there should be interreligious dialogues to resolve them. That is what I am suggesting even now.

I also understand that there have been insults levelled against Buddhism and the monks in general in the social media. At my age, I hardly check the social media and therefore I have not seen them. The culprits should be apprehended in the case of insults. The mere criticism or denouncement is not enough. But that should be differentiated from democratic criticism that anyone could express against anyone, including the monks or any other religious dignitary. The proviso is that they should not be insulted. Even in writing signed articles in electronic journals/newspapers, I maintain that we all must be careful.

In your interview, you have given different figures of course to what was mentioned in the statement. According to your submissions, all incidents related to communal/religious nature during the last two years have been only 29. They are: nine against Sinhalese/Buddhists; 15 against Muslims; four against Christians and one against Hindus. Therefore, in your opinion, everything is hunky-dory except misinformation from some ‘lunatics.’ These lunatics included one Buddhist Monk at the top of the list and then a Christian Bishop.


Verify the facts    

During your submissions, it was my observation that you tried your best to down paly the ‘incidents’ against the Muslims and the Christians. At one point, you clearly said that ‘one incident against the Muslims was just a stone throwing.’ To substantiate your argument, you quoted a Catholic Cardinal, Rev. Malcolm Ranjith. It may be true that there can be some confusion about the exact figures and the civil society statement has given only an approximate indication. It does not say churches in the traditional sense, but ‘Christian prayer centres.’ However, the NCEASL reports give 223 incidents since January 2015 and reference numbers are given for 29 attacks/incidents. This is far beyond what you have quoted.

The best policy for the Government might be to consult the NCEASL, which I believe legally established since 1952. I also wonder what the Minister for Christian Affairs is doing under these allegations! There can be allegations that he is looking after only the Catholics. This is also a predicament of having different Ministers for different religions. By doing so, the impression is given that the task of each Minister is to safeguard his/her own religion or denomination. As I have mentioned previously, in Indonesia there is only one Ministry, with Directorates for different religions, including for Buddhism. When you have such an arrangement, the Minister is compelled to keep a balance. This is more favourable for interreligious amity than having different Ministers. There are around 25 countries having Ministries for Religious Affairs, but Sri Lanka is the only country that have different Ministries for different religions yet unsatisfactorily.

As the President has told the Inter Religious Council on 31 May, ‘all religious leaders should come to a single stage to solve religious conflicts’. I believe this is correct. Implementing of such an ‘Interreligious Dialogue’ should be your responsibility with the other Ministers, without vituperatively attacking the civil society organisations or those who have come forward to point out some of the extremist campaigns and attacks going around in the country.


My last point 

Let me raise a last point. In your submissions at the beginning of the Salakuna interview you claimed that ‘it was Professor A. J. Wilson who drafted the 1978 Constitution’. This is completely wrong. I was also surprised why did you make such a claim and then quoted his book ‘The Gaullist System in Asia: The Constitution of Sri Lanka (1978)’ to say that this constitution would end up in anarchy? Perhaps your ignorance.

Your quotation is correct, but your claim about his authorship of the constitution is wrong. If you again go through his Acknowledgements, you might be able to dispel your misunderstanding. In July 1978, he was asked to comment on the Draft Constitution. I was very close to him at that time. He was extremely polite, but his advice was not taken into proper consideration in finalising the constitution. The constitution was promulgated in September 1978. Please don’t blame him directly or indirectly for this obnoxious constitution.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Laksiri Fernando

(The writer is a former Senior Professor in Political Science and Public Policy, University of Colombo.)

Specialist Dr. Ananda Samaresekera who gave bogus autopsy reports in Thajudeen murder and several others gets lenient punishment !

-Senile outgoing Carlo does the needful

(Lanka-e-news -03.June.2017, 11.30PM)    The license of former chief judicial medical officer Ananda Samarasekera ( medical specialist) who issued a bogus medical report and therefore committed a most heinous crime during the nefarious murderous decade of brutal corrupt Rajapakses,  following  his  first post mortem examination  conducted by him in connection with  the brutal murder of popular Rugby player Wasim Thajudeen  is to be suspended for six months , the Sri Lanka Medical Council decided on 30th May

It is worthy of  note this  Medical council’s decision is not its own or on its initiative  , but  because the court had issued the order , and mind you the council took over one and half years to implement even the court order which was issued as far back as beginning of the year 2016.  Besides only on the day senile Carlo Fonseka retired from  the post of president of the Council 30th  , this long overdue decision was announced. 

It is now very evident  it is Dr. Ananda Samarasekera  despite being a  medical specialist and chief judicial medical officer who has  initially painted the picture that the ruthless murder of Thajudeen in the prime of his life  , is a death by accident .  This criminal attitude of Dr. Samarasekera is typical     of  the ruthless strike maniacal medical doctors(GMOA)  in Sri Lanka presently  .  Dr .Samarasekera  not only furnished a bogus  medical report to suppress the murder , he even caused the leg  bone taken from the body of Thajudeen to go missing  while it was in his custody  , after having known that was the main piece of evidence because before  Thajudeen was killed even his leg was   attacked most brutally and its bones were broken.

It is to be noted  all these facts came to light only after the advent of good governance government , and on a second post mortem examination conducted after exhuming Thajudeen’s body . Believe it or not Dr. Samarasekera  took as long as  two and half years to furnish his bogus autopsy  report , and only after the court issued four notices in that regard.

This demonic  Dr. Samarasekera the so called specialist who gave falsified autopsy report in Thajudeen’s murder ,even pertaining to murders in the Alutgama incident gave decisions to suit the needs of Rajapakses.  This rascally specialist declared the murders in the Alutgama criminal violence were  caused  by  sharp instrument ,but  subsequent examinations proved those were caused by the bullets  fired using  T 56 weapons. During that period those weapons were in the hands of the security forces sent to the scene of violence by Gotabaya a byword for ruthless murders.  It is unfortunate the investigations into those crimes  are not being conducted .  

No matter what ,  with regard to the investigation into the heinous criminal   offences committed by Dr. Samarasekera (who disgraced himself and the profession thereby )  in the Thajudeen murder,  the Colombo magistrate  gave the order  to the Medical council the appropriate body to probe into it. That was in the early part of the year 2016.  Sadly,  the Medical council went on procrastinating  without issuing its report , which necessitated the courts to issue directives to the council not to delay . Finally the council delivered its decision 30th May.

Can you beat that ! The Medical council after taking two and half years ,  decided that Dr. Samarasekera is  guilty only for losing the bone which was in his custody in connection with  the Thajudeen murder . While  not giving a verdict on the bogus autopsy report deliberately furnished by Dr. Samarasekera  in Thajudeen murder or his falsified autopsy reports in the Alutgama cold blooded murders , the Medical council delivered a verdict only in regard to his losing the bone taken from Thajudeen’s body . Little  wonder the medical profession has gone to the dogs when there is such a sinister Medical council and a comic strike mania Medical   officers association. 

The Medical Council finally on its so called  findings has decided to suspend Dr. Samarasekera’s license for  six months only . 

 It is the general  consensus this lenient decision was delivered on the day Carlo Fonseka its president was resigning in order  to forestall his successor from meting out a graver punishment . 

It is an unequivocal fact that Dr. Samarasekera despite being a medical specialist  has shamelessly prostituted his official position ,and has acted worse than an IRC (Re convicted criminal) . Hence he deserves the worst punishment – either the license shall be cancelled permanently or suspended for  a minimum period of five years (so that it will also serve as a deterrent to other doctors too) . Yet the Medical council which is hostile  to the government, by meting out  a lenient punishment to such a dangerous criminal Dr. Samarasinghe and treating his most heinous crimes so trivially , has only demonstrated to the people what deplorable , despicable and  disgraceful level  the Medical council has descended to .   This is clear testimony how low and  sinister the so called professionals in SL are ethically and  morally that they will readily  sacrifice their souls and professional dignity  at the altar of monetary gains and selfish personal propulsion. 

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by     (2017-07-03 19:05:38)

On Proposed Law To Enable Foreign Countries & International Criminal Tribunals To Prosecute Sri Lankans

By Mahinda Rajapaksa –JULY 2, 2017

Mahinda Rajapaksa

A Bill has been gazetted to incorporate into the law of Sri Lanka, the provisions of the ‘International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances’ which was hurriedly signed and ratified by the present government. Clause 8 of this Bill enables foreign countries to seek the extradition of a Sri Lankan who is suspected, accused or convicted of having caused enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka. When such a request is made, the government of Sri Lanka is obliged to inform the foreign country of the measures it intends taking to prosecute or extradite that person. Clause 21 empowers the executive arm of the State to oversee the full implementation of this international convention in Sri Lanka and Clause 23 states that this new law is to override all other written law.

Articles 10 and 11 of the International Convention against Enforced Disappearances empowers any member State to arrest anybody, even a foreigner present within its jurisdiction on suspicion of having been involved in enforced disappearances in any other country. The State that carries out such an arrest can prosecute the suspect without extraditing him to his own country. Most significantly, a suspect arrested in that manner, can be handed over to an international criminal tribunal even if the suspect’s own country does not come under the jurisdiction of that international tribunal.  

Article 32 of the international Convention (which the Sri Lankan government has accepted by a separate declaration) enables any member State to complain to the ten-member ‘Committee on Enforced Disappearances’ in Geneva that Sri Lanka is not fulfilling her obligations under this Convention and the Committee can investigate such complaints. Countries like the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada, never even signed this Convention. Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Ireland and India signed it ten years ago in 2007, but never ratified it. Many countries have kept away from this Convention altogether for the obvious reason that its provisions have the potential to violate the individual rights of citizens of the States that join it.  

No one who is prosecuted in the courts of a foreign country or by an international criminal tribunal which is funded and maintained by interested foreign governments in relation to a crime allegedly committed in that person’s home country, can really expect justice. Such prosecutions are always politically motivated. All the elements that relate to an enforced disappearance – abduction, illegal confinement, murder and the illegal disposal of dead bodies etc are more than adequately covered by the Penal Code and the existing criminal law in Sri Lanka. The only real purpose of this proposed law will be to give interested foreign parties an opportunity to interfere in the justice system in Sri Lanka. Fortunately, according to our legal system and the judgement given by the Supreme Court in Nallaratnam Singarasa v. The Attorney General (2006), even an international convention that is signed and ratified does not become law in this country unless it is expressly incorporated into local law by Parliament.

Even though the government in its folly has signed and ratified an international convention that wiser nations have steered clear of, Parliament can reduce the damage to some extent by not passing the legislation to incorporate it into local law. The proposed law is an attempt to subject our armed forces to international war crimes prosecutions without using the term ‘war crimes’ and rephrasing it as ‘disappearances’. The use of the word ‘disappearances’ makes this look like an innocuous attempt to trace missing persons. However the purpose of this proposed legislation is not to trace missing persons but to hunt down and prosecute those who won the war against terrorism.

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CORRECTION: IN REFERENCE TO THE RTI COMMISSION IN A REPRODUCED ARTICLE IN SRILANKABRIEF

03/07/2017

Correction by RTI Commission of Sri Lanka of Wrong Reference to the Commission in Sunday Leader article ‘Sri Lanka: Departments Under Law And Order Ministry Ignore Request Under RTI’

This is in reference to news item 16 on the list of news items in Sri Lanka Brief – http://srilankabrief.org/2017/06/sri-lanka-departments-under-law-and-order-ministry-ignore-request-under-rti/. The RTI Commission is kindly drawing your attention to the fact that the article in the Leader of June 25th, 2017 contained a number of factually inaccurate references regarding the Commission in regard to which a response was sent by the Commission which was published by the Sunday Leader in its issue of 2nd July 2017 (yesterday).

This article by Ms. Nirmala Kannangara (also carried by online media) had stated that the RTI Commission had not responded to Ms Kannangara’s email query sent to the Commission on lapses on the part of the Police Department in responding to RTI requests.

However, in direct contradiction to this claim, A D E Bernard, Coordinating Secretary to the Commission informed the Sunday Leader that  he had responded to the email sent by Ms Kannangara (dated 28th April 2017) on 25th May 2017.

She had been informed that that an information officer had been appointed by the Department of the Police and had been further apprised that the Commission has been intervening with the nodal agency, the Ministry of Mass Media to ensure compliance by Public Authorities with the RTI Act, No 12 of 2016.

Furthermore, Ms. Kannangara was informed that her email cannot be accepted as an ‘appeal.’ The Commission is bound by Rule 13 (2) of the RTI Rules (Fees and Appeal Procedure) ( Gazette No. 2004/66, 03.02.2017) issued in terms of Section 42 of the RTI which states that appeals to the Commission may be made only through the medium of registered post or in person. This requirement has been clearly stated by the Commission in its Public Statements and clarified on its website: www.rticommission.lk.

Ms Kannangara was asked to resubmit her appeal in accordance with the Rules on Appeals as provided for. She was also informed that, if she wishes, any further clarification could be sought from the Commission through email or by phone.

The Commission has observed that it is surprising that her article referred to above contains no mention of this fact. The Commission has copied the response to the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) given that the SLPI is engaged in carrying out trainings for journalists on Sri Lanka’s RTI Act and to web media re-publishing the incorrect reference.

In its response, the RTI Commission has also noted that it is encouraging to see that many Public Authorities are complying with the RTI Act. However, it has pointed out that if any Public Authority is found culpable of wilfully disregarding the Act, the Commission will be acting directly in pursuance of its statutory powers, to the fullest extent of its authority.

I am instructed by the Commission to forward this to other online media also carrying this same factually inaccurate article.
Thanking you,
……………….
for and behalf of the RTI Commission,
ADE Bernard
Administrative Officer/Coordinating Secretary
Right to Information Commission of Sri Lanka

Mangala is right: Why Sri Lanka needs to relax liquor laws?

2017-07-04

Mangala Samaraweera, the new finance minister wants to open liquor shops on Poya Days. In an opinion poll in the Daily Mirror website, 69 per cent of readers agreed with him. If the government wants to have a pulse of the people, it ought to take a note. Daily Mirror may not be read by many millions whose right to a decent education was plundered by misplaced Swabasha education policies, however still a sizable, aspirational and often bilingual community read it. Sadly though, the government policies in our independent history have gradually degenerated into something akin to the blind leading the blind, as successive governments driven by electoral considerations became overly keen on appeasing a regressive majority, rather than implementing policies that would have helped them come out of the gutter.  
Mangala Samaraweera by opening liquor shops on Poya days cannot address those long entrenched problems in our system. However, his proposition is not a bad one, after all. One would hope the government has political courage to make that happen. Our illiberal and highly prohibitionist alcohol laws are a relic from a different time. Like many other vestiges of a bygone era, be it the colonial era Vagrant laws (which were periodically used against homosexuals) or other by-products of an early independent and post independent cultural awakening, which itself later went haywire, destroying much of the relative advantage the country had at the time of independence, those laws continue to distort reality.   

"Religious leaders, of course, have reservations about the booze.  Conservative elites often oppose due to their vested interests, though  many of them have a shot or two within their trusted circles."

They do more harm than any good. For instance, only beneficiaries of closing bars and wine stores on Poya Days are illicit moonshine brewers and bootleggers who sell the stuff from the backdoor. However, consequences of those highly prohibitionist laws run deeper.  Government slaps too much tax on legal alcohol, forcing the vast majority of public to drink illegal brew, which obviously has a much greater health hazard. An average Sri Lankan drinks 8.5 litres of alcohol, according to industry estimates. And 65 per cent of that is illegal brew, 35 per cent is legal hard liquor and five percent is beer. (According to WHO estimates of 2010, average Sri Lankan alcohol consumption is 3.7 litres ,of which 85 per cent is spirit). Those numbers themselves are sketchy for a large part of the industry is conducted illegally.  
Recently a government minister went on record calling for a price reduction of a certain brand of arrack used by the low income earners; he warned that high taxes had driven the poor to ‘Kasippu’, exposing them to greater health hazards, and seriously depleting the disposable income of those families. He was right. Alcohol taxes in Sri Lanka have already gone well beyond the taxes in countries of relative per capita purchasing power parity.

"Recently a government minister went on record calling for a price  reduction of a certain brand of arrack used by the low income earners;  he warned that high taxes had driven the poor to ‘Kasippu’, exposing  them to greater health hazards, and seriously depleting the disposable  income of those families"

After a certain limit, which is already passed, only behavioural adjustments that those taxes could enforce upon the boozers are desperate choices that make things worse for them and their families. Sri Lanka’s alcohol taxes themselves are lopsided, and is an anomaly of the standard international practice. Beer (soft alcohol) is taxed almost equally as spirit, making the former unaffordable to most low income earners. That by extension is fostering a culture of hard liquor. Then when further taxes are piled on legal spirit, the poor are forced to flock to moonshine dens. At the current prices, the government is imposing taxes amounting to Rs.315 per litre of strong beer and Rs 190 on mild beer.
Then there are highly restrictive and politicized alcohol licences, which are generally awarded as the pinacle of political favour to the most trusted political acolytes. The hypocrisy in this is that the politicians who publicly decry the ‘sinful’ industry, are in private jealously guarding their privileges emanating from it. The economic dimension of this however is that the politicization of the whole thing retards the growth of an entertainment industry in this country, which can provide gainful employment to many hundreds of thousands of local youth. For a country of which young men and women toil in the Middle East under less than ideal conditions, squandering such an opportunity is a crime. Also, a vibrant night life could also serve as a modest way of income redistribution. It would also make tourists spend more.  

"Also, a vibrant night life could also serve as a modest way of income redistribution. It would also make tourists spend more"

Religious leaders, of course, have reservations about the booze. Conservative elites often oppose due to their vested interests, though many of them have a shot or two within their trusted circles. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who enforced a total ban of alcohol in Pakistan in the 70s, in order to curry favours with the Islamists was known among Islamabad’s elites as a binge drinker. When his friends inquired, he has reportedly said, it was not meant for them, the elites, but for the masses on the streets. Those masses, who were radicalized through policies driven by petty personal and political calculations of Ali Bhutto and his successor Zia ul Haq, (who, interestingly enough, hanged Bhutto) have now turned Pakistan into an unhappy place for its moderates.
Leave aside all the above. There is one last reason to go soft on the booze. It has evolved to be part of our culture. Few dispute that, except those who have lived too long in their insular little cocoons. Trying to project a hearty drink as a major sin, only compels the people to live a lie.   

Follow Ranga Jayasuriya @RangaJayasuriya on Twitter  

SC ORDERS STATE TO PAY RS.2 M COMPENSATION

Lakmal Sooriyagoda-Tuesday, July 4, 2017

The Supreme Court has ordered the State to pay a sum of two million rupees as compensation to the parents of two youths who were allegedly subjected to torture and killed while they were in Police custody in 2008.

The Supreme Court further ordered the former OIC of Batticaloa Police station to to pay compensation of Rs.50,000 each personally as damages to the two families for violating their Fundamental Rights.

The three-judge-Bench comprising Chief Justice Priyasath Dep, Justice Upaly Abeyratne and Justice Anil Goonaratne made this order persuant to a Fundamental Rights petitions filed by parents of deceased youths.

The Supreme Court has ordered the state to pay compensations of one million rupees on each family after observing that the state is responsible and accountable for the violation of the Fundamental Rights of the petitioners’ sons.

Selvarajah Gunaseelan (26) and K.Kugadas (26) were arrested along with six others on October 3, 2008 by Batticaloa police. The petitioners, the parents of deceased stated that they went near the cell on October 3,2008 and saw all the seven detainees were still there without being released.

The petitioners stated that they were told by the first OIC of Batticaloa Police that their sons will be released on that itself and thereby they left the police station. The petitioners stated that their sons were taken out from the cell by Police personnel attached to the above said Police station at 12 mid night on October 4, 2008, subjected to torture, killed by them while in their custody and tied to a concrete post along with the body of the deceased and were thrown into the sea hoping that the bodies will get drowned and that these boys will get added to the list of the disappeared.

The first respondent T. S. Wickremesinghe was the officer in charge during a search operation by them in which the first respondent also took part and detained by him at his police station under the Emergency Regulations.

The petitioners cited the former OIC of Batticaloa Police and four others as respondents. The petitioners stated that their deceased sons’ arrest, detention are wrongful and illegal and that he was subjected to torture and that his fundamental rights guaranteed by Article 11, 13(1), 13(4) and 17 of the constitution were violated by the respondents.

President’s Counsel Saliya Peiris appeared for the petitioners. Senior State Counsel Madawa Tennakoon appeared for the Attorney General. 

Boniface who is seeking illicit avenues to become army commander involved in grave fraud ! CID investigates siphoning off of Rs. 10 million of flood relief funds !!

(Lanka-e-news -03.June.2017, 11.30PM)  Major General Boniface Perera who is leaving no stone unturned to secure the post of army commander is an ace crook based on his fraudulent and corrupt activities  following detections made  by the CID , according to reports reaching Lanka  e news inside .

When Boniface Perera was the governor of Eastern province , he has misappropriated a sum of Rs. 10 million that was allocated by the government as  flood relief funds to be used  for   the victims of the flood disaster .

Flood relief fund amounting  to Rs. 10 million has been credited by Boniface Perera to his Peoples bank Welimada branch account as his personal fixed deposit ( this is reminiscent of the colossal Tsunami funds that were siphoned off   into ex president Mahinda Rajapakse’s account ).  If those were funds allocated for use by   the army , and if there is a balance remaining , that balance should have been credited to the Army welfare fund, at least.  Therefore Boniface Perera opening a personal fixed deposit account utilizing  these funds constitutes a most grave fraud. This crime is all  the more because  he is a Major General in the army !

Boniface who feared that his fraud would be discovered had made this personal fixed deposit  a ‘Call deposit.’  A Call deposit in the people’s bank is identified by a number and not by name.  Subsequently , this sum of Rs. 10 million has been invested by him in Central  bank treasury bills . Those bills too  are under a number and not under a  name .  Now this sum of Rs. 10 million has snowballed under treasury bills together   with  interest .

Following a complaint received by the CID , this grave fraud committed by  Boniface Perera  was  detected based on its investigation .

 Unbelievably , it is while this serious investigation is under way Boniface Perera is moving heaven and earth to get himself appointed as the next army commander.  Perhaps he must be hoping like in the manner other misfits were appointed which is the present trend  , he too would stand a chance. 

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by     (2017-07-03 18:46:42)

Blue Sky Mining

 Featured image courtesy NewsFirst

“We are aware of the great difference in carbon dioxide that is emitted from biological sources and carbon dioxide emitted from fossil sources. One has sequestered rates measured in thousands of years while the other in millions of years.  Yet the cost is still the same. We would request the IPCC to address the relative costs of each. (Sri Lanka Country Statement COP21)

RANIL SENANAYAKE on 07/04/2017

We are moving into very dangerous times. The statement above, underscores the importance of differentiating between the biotic and non-biotic compounds that we add to the atmosphere. This is an observation that should have been incorporated into planning and costing responses to climate change. We should be informed of the emerging data and planning responses. We know that the mean temperature will rise, but the speed of that increase may be much more than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has computed, because they left out the most significant contributor to keeping our plants warm, water vapour. On average, water vapour accounts for about 60% of the warming effect and is the largest contributor to the Greenhouse effect. It is the natural blanket that has kept the atmosphere warm enough to sustain life. But the IPCC ignores water vapor as a contributory cause of the warming trends by assuming humans don’t change it measurably. They wrote, “Water vapour is the most abundant and important greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

However, human activities have only a small direct influence on the amount of atmospheric water vapour”. This stand is dangerous and must be questioned. They have focused on the carbon from fossil and biological fuels and in doing so, might have done the planet a great disfavour.

First, water vapour is the most important greenhouse gas it regulates and is maintained by the atmospheric temperature which limits the amount of water vapour in the air;  but if something else that causes the temperature to go up is added, the increased temperature causes more water to evaporate. Because the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere limits the maximum amount of water vapour the atmosphere can contain, the water vapour cycle has helped maintain an equilibrium of temperatures in the past.

Water vapour is a by-product of respiration in plants and animals. Its contribution to the pressure increases as its concentration increases, as the total air pressure must remain constant. The presence of water vapour in the air naturally dilutes or displaces the other components of air. Thus the output of water vapour can have a direct effect on the oxygen concentration in a local area.

Life on earth learned how to maintain gas and material flows, optimum for the evolution of biodiversity. Carbon dioxide, although essential to the process of life, was being introduced into the atmosphere by volcanic processes at disruptive levels, throughout geologic history. But the gas has not concentrated in the atmosphere, because it was sequestered by living things and put away out of circulation from the biosphere of living carbon. This store of carbon was fossilised and has been slowly accumulating over the last few 2 hundred million years.

Through these processes, which are still active today, carbon that enters the lithosphere (rocks) is removed completely from the biological cycle and becomes mineralised into pools aged hundreds of millions of years. This is why it is impossible to be carbon neutral by planting trees that live for a few hundred years at best, to make up for releasing carbon that has been locked away for millions of years.

The major exchange of carbon with the atmosphere results from photosynthesis and respiration. During the daytime in the growing season, leaves absorb sunlight and take up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In the oceans the planktonic cycle operates a similar photosynthetic cycle. Both create biomass.  In parallel, plants, animals and substrate microbes consume this carbon as organic matter, transform it in the process of respiration and finally return it as carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. When conditions are too cold or too dry, photosynthesis and respiration cease along with the movement of carbon between the atmosphere and the land surface. The amounts of carbon that move from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, respiration, and back to the atmosphere are large and produce oscillations in atmospheric pressure, water vapour and carbon dioxide concentrations.

 This was the difference in value that Sri Lanka addressed in Paris, yet two years later have we yet held the IPCC or the scientific community responsible  for ignoring such a fundamentally important fact? The bureaucrats attending the meeting seem still unaware that the carbon emitting from burning fossil fuel is ‘new’ carbon, fossil carbon that has entered the atmosphere for the first time. It could be termed Newly Formed Oxides of Carbon (NFOC), this is accompanied by an equal volume of Newly Formed Water (NFW) as the fossil hydrogen atom released joins with oxygen to form water which enters into the atmosphere for the first time. These molecules, because they are chemically the same as those of living water and cycling carbon are not taxed for degrading atmospheric stability.

While fussing with the carbon cioxide emitted by burning fossil fuels, the fact that an equal volume of water vapor is emitted into the atmosphere seems to have been missed in the assumptions.  With more water vapor in the air the warming effect will increase. Which in turn reduces the percentage of the other gasses that the atmosphere holds.

A clear distinction between fossil and biotic energy and a placing of differential values on the two sources, will go a long way to expose these addicted economies and assist ‘developing nations ‘ to avoid the pitfalls.

The ‘fossil subsidy’ extended to fossil fuels, includes the cost of emitting NFOC’s and NFW, the fossil cost of steel and cement production required for the creation and operation of future ‘development’ projects, should become cost criteria for acceptance or rejection of future ‘development’ projects.  The current Government thinking of pinning our development to Oil, Gas and Coal, is dangerous and propels us into a very uncertain future.  The inability of the bureaucracy to respond to the changes is seen in the inability to advise on simple issues. The storage of drugs and medicines with a temperature threshold is a case in point.  We all know the misery that dialysis patients go through, but their medicines that were once stored in hospital stores, now require  air conditioned rooms to maintain their effectivity. With current temperatures now rising well above their temperature thresholds, such open storage will make these medicines degrade.  Who is there in the government to advise the various arms of government on such issues?

The extreme danger to us all by allowing the burning of fossil fuels as an energy source is not just the injection of fossil carbon and fossil hydrogen into the atmosphere it is the disturbing fact that it is using a diminishing resource, that all life depends on, oxygen.

Oxygen is the second most abundant substance on earth, but only four percent of it or 1.2 x 10 15   is found in the atmosphere and in living things. This component cycles through the biological system in about four thousand years. The total amount of atmospheric oxygen is maintained at about 21 % volume constantly, by the action of plants and the phytoplankton of the oceans.  All the oxygen in our atmosphere present has originated from some plant or green microorganism.

Normally, the oxygen volume is about 21.9% globally, this level of concentration is critical to all of humanity. Negative effects begin to be felt below 19%, at which point thinking and attention becomes impaired. As levels drop to 16 % there is reduced coordination, decreased ability for strenuous work, at 14% poor judgment, faulty coordination, abnormal fatigue upon exertion, emotional upset and cardiac stress, while a volume of just 10-12% results in very poor judgment and coordination, impaired respiration, heart damage, nausea, fainting and even death.

The current global concentration is about 21%, however this figure often dips to 19% over impacted areas and is down to 12%-17% over some cities.  In cities with many trees such as in Alabama, U.S.A it is 22% -19%. In cities with very low greenery and heavy urbanisation such as Mexico City it is 17% – 14%. As many will point out there is still a huge stock of oxygen in the atmosphere. But the trends are disturbing. The figure below shows the decline of oxygen concentration globally, but the disturbing bit is how closely it matches the rise in carbon dioxide concentration. This oxygen not only supports a human population that uses about 6-7 billion tons per year to breathe, but also supports all of industry, shipping, aviation and land travel and the only thing that produces oxygen are the green matter in vegetation.  We use this resource without one penny’s worth of investment in the producer of oxygen.

As previously mentioned, the term ‘fossil subsidy’ extended to fossil fuels, including the cost of emitting NFOC’s (Newly Formed Oxides of Carbon) and NFW (newly Formed Water). These new destabilising compounds that mimic natural chemicals are adding greatly to the forces that drive climate change. But the greater tragedy is that these compounds are formed by using up the natural oxygen stock of the world which if not replenished will rob the air that we will need to maintain our health.

To understand the real nature of what is being done to us, the generalised chemical formula to describe the burning of fossil fuels is very clear. So much so that it could well be termed the ‘Satanic Formula’. It reads thus:

CH4f + 2O2l à nCO2 + nH2O + energy (heat)

where f = fossil, l = living, n = new to the atmosphere

Meaning that a molecule of fossil hydrocarbon, containing fossil carbon and fossil hydrogen (f) that never belonged in the atmosphere. i.e. they were never in the air, but always in the rocks, are combined with biologically derived oxygen (l) to produce, the destabilising new gasses (n) into the atmosphere, it tends to lock up the biologically derived oxygen away from living things. All these changes are created for the production of heat to drive our motors. The Poet Blake when he wrote of the  “dark Satanic Mills” of the Industrial Revolution, may not have known, but he very clearly pointed to the life destroying operation of the Satanic Formula.

Oxygen is a primary material formed through billions of years of the operation of life, it is replenished on a small scale by photosynthesis but remains a primary material. Extracting primary materials is an activity that is termed mining. “This includes extraction of any non-renewable resource such as petroleum, natural gas, or even water.”

The blueness of the sky is the result of sunlight scattered by tiny oxygen and nitrogen molecules. They scatter short-wavelength light, such as blue and violet light. As extracting primary materials is mining, will those who mine our blue skies for their profits, think a little about the effects of their mining and invest in assisting the replenishment of that oxygen, allowing us to keep our blue skies?

Applying the Satanic Formula for development is destroying everyone’s future.  Instead of mining that ancient buffer of oxygen can we not look at profiting from the supply of the ecosystem Service, oxygen in particular, as we invest in massive re-vegetation programs, to compensate for our consumption, given that oxygen is so crtitically important to human industry and human life?

Readers who enjoyed this article might find “After Sampur” and “Addressing climate change: COP 21 and Sri Lanka” enlightening reads.

Projects to check growing garbage crisis

Garbage is not a problem only in Sri Lanka, but also in the rest of the countries. What is vital in this case is not how muck is collected in countries, but how the collected garbage is properly managed and recycled. It is evident how the garbage issue has affected our people and the country owing to the lack of management mechanism to utilize garbage. 

2017-07-04

I don’t want to reiterate the tragedy and the trouble caused to the people. It is pointless to claim how much garbage is collected. The governing body and its institutions should address the issue positively and take prompt actions to manage and recycle garbage.  
It is in fact heartening to say that the Western Provincial Waste Management Authority (WPWMA) has been vocal on this issue and has launched two major projects to recycle garbage and generate electricity. In a discussion with Daily Mirror, the Director of the Western Provincial Waste Management Authority Nalin Mannapperuma said that there has been a drastic change during the past few decades in the physical environment in the country especially in the Western Province. He highlighted that one of the main reasons for this transformation is garbage.  
“The main factors that relate to garbage generation are the population and the economic status. It has been analyzed that the economic status of the people living in the Asian and the Asia-Pacific regions will enhance in few decades; consequently there will be a boost in the resource consumption. Hence, there is a tendency for the considerable inclination in the garbage generation in a few decades. It has been estimated that in lower /lower middle income countries (which includes many Asian Countries) waste generation rates will more than double over the next 20 years. We as an Asian country have to face this situation. We can’t avoid it. The Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in Sri Lanka has been estimated at 7000 Metric ton per day. The contribution from the Western Province to the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is 60% (3500 Metric tons per day). The annual growth rate of garbage generation in Sri Lanka is regarded as around 1.2-2.0%,” the Director said.  

"The main factors that relate to garbage generation are the population and the economic status"

The fact is coherent that Sri Lanka is experiencing a massive garbage crisis and therefore productive actions need to be taken before the condition worsens. Moreover, it is identified that there are 25 dumpsites in the Western Province which are piled up with various types of dirt without a solution for the recycling process. At the same time, it is pleased to know the mapping of a master plan known as the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management which will be set to embark in 2018. Until it will be put it to practise, there are ongoing waste management practices as follows. 
 

• Reduction of garbage generation   

• Source segregation   

• Reusing   

• Recycling   

• Collection   

• Transportation   

• Small /Medium Scale Composting (140 IN SL, 25 in WP)   

• Small/ Medium Scale Bio gas production (no of units 150,000 unit in SL)   

• Small/medium scale Recycling centres   

• Turnkey basis   

• Public Privet Partnership basis

When considering the above actions, we can see that the Western Provincial Waste Management Authority (WPWMA) as a supporting agency to the Local Authority has done a sensible job in monitoring effective methodologies to find solutions to the garbage crisis.   
“We have tried on several occasions to find solutions for the garbage issue. But our attempts were unsuccessful due to public protests and the high capital cost. Then we have to seek private and public aid. Therefore, we have endorsed two agreements with Fairway Waste Management (pvt) Ltd which will merge with Germany and Denmark companies and Trilogy ETC (pvt) Ltd. which will merge with OPUS Clean Energy Alliance.” The Director said.  
He said that the fist company will commence the project with the garbage capacity of 500mt per day in Karadiyana which would generate 11.5 megawatt (MW) and this will release 89mn kilowatt to the grid per year. As a result of that, it will be adequate to generate electricity for 35000 families. Apart from the generation of electricity, the project is also equipped to generate 41000 tons of liquid fertilizer and 75000 tons of solid fertilizer. The total investment on this project is 73 USD.    Then the second company will commence the project with the garbage capacity of 95mt per day at Gampaha, Dambuwatta which would generate 3.4 megawatt (MW). The technology which is to be used for this project is gasification i.e. burning the garbage. The total investment on this project is 30 USD.   
In conclusion, the Director of WPWMA expressed his thanks on behalf of the authority to Isura Devapriya, the Chief Minister of the Western Province for the instructions given and the support rendered towards the upcoming project proposals and the issue of garbage. Nevertheless, the Director requests the general public to cooperate with local authorities in segregating and disposing their garbage at appropriate places, so that the muck collectors could collect them conveniently.