Education in Sinhala and Tamil Medium vs English

By Siri Gamage-January 4, 2018, 10:20 pm 

I read with interest a series of recent articles covering the merits of education in the medium of English as conducted in a bygone era prior to 1956 and the problems associated with the delivery of higher education in Sinhala and Tamil medium afterwards. Discussion covered the merits of 1956 changes to official language policy introduced by former PM SWRD Bandaranayake as well as their negative consequences when the teaching of English was given low priority. The latest in the series of these articles is by Uswatte-arachi in The Island (02.01.2017) where he comments on the role of Central Schools as well. He states that the problems in education started when the teaching in Sinhala and Tamil media was started in the university. Lack of reading material in these languages at the time is mentioned as a contributing factor to the deterioration of education. He highlights the continuing practice of teaching in English in the medical, engineering and some science faculties in comparison to teaching in social sciences and humanities where the medium change to Sinhala and Tamil was religiously adopted harming the advantages that would have been gained otherwise. He even suggests that the undergraduates should have been given instruction in English language study during first two years in the university. In writing this short article including my experiences, the aim is to show that this is a highly complex issue requiring systematic inquiry by the authorities.

I entered the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya in September 1968 from Walasmulla Maha Vidyalaya. I was among two who were fortunate enough to enter the prestigious university, the other being former professor of philosophy at Kelaniya university, V.G. Kularathne. The closest Central School to my place of residence was at Weeraketiya where the study of science was available at the time. I had no knowledge of science subjects at Horewela Primary School and the only other opportunity available for me was to get admission to Walasmulla Maha Vidyalaya. Following the trend at the time, I spent one term studying in the science stream in that school but I was not able to cope with the sudden exposure to an alien subject and the challenges it posed without prior preparation. Tasks associated with lab work, use of science texts with a lot of technical terms etc. and even learning the science concepts and principles were difficult. The principal Mr. Jayawickrama called my father to his office and courteously advised both of us that it is better if I join the arts stream as I was the last in terms of one term results in the science stream. We accepted his advice and the rest is history. I excelled in studying subjects such as Buddhist civilisation, history, government/political science, etc for the HSC in 1967. We had not only university graduate teachers who were qualified to teach in the school but they had a passion for teaching. However, the English teacher used to sleep on the table keeping his head on it as students showed little interest in learning the language. By the time I entered the university, I had little to no knowledge of English and even avoided those who spoke English in my first year to avoid embarrassment.

I was among those who were taught in Sinhala medium during the early 1970s. In fact HL taught me sociological concepts and theory in my second year. Other reputed teachers such as Ralph Peris (had no skills in teaching in Sinhala), Gananath Obeysekera, Kitsiri Malalgoda, Sunimal Fernando did their best to explain different aspects of sociology and anthropology. Mr. J. P Delgoda, commissioner of prisons taught criminology as a visiting lecturer. He brought practical experience to the classroom compared to some others who had field research experience e. g. Obeysekera. Arm chair thinking was anathema to anthropologists and sociologists who advocated the merits of empirical field research and data collection. In sociology, positivist research methodology dominated whereas anthropologists emphasised other methods such as participant observation to gather information. We were taught to look at our own society, people, culture, religion, economy, education etc through the concepts, theories and methods from these disciplines which had their origins in Europe and evolved later in the US.

My story of learning English at the university to be able to qualify and undertake a special degree in Sociology is an unusual one characterised by personal commitment ,hard work and desire as well as peer support. Therefore I would not try to generalise my experience for the time. The university had English classes but their emphasis was to give us reading and comprehension skills. However, teachers we had such as Hemamali Gunasinghe, Mrs Gunawardene (wife of an engineering professor) taught us the value of communicative English also. Most of all, their teaching approach helped us to eliminate fear within us about speaking in English. Additional tutorial classes in Gampaha (duringuniversity closure due to 1971 insurrection) and in Kandy privately conducted by a talented Tamil teacher from Trinity helped me to further my English language skills. The encouragement received from my seniors was invaluable. But my main intention here is to throw some light on learning in Sinhala medium and later teaching sociology and anthropology in Sinhala and English medium until 1986(for more read Gamage 2014).

There is no doubt that if I had better English knowledge when I entered university or in the first year it would have been much easier for me to learn and absorb alien disciplinary knowledge, principles and methods and research findings as all our text books, reference books and journal articles were in English and some in German and French. Even though our teachers at university did their best to translate and present knowledge originally available in English and other European languages, comprehension of Sinhala translations was not easy as we had to use a lot of technical terms that were not in the vernacular. However, my colleagues in the sociology classes such as Tudor Silva, Amarasiri de Silva, Jayantha Perera, and my senior Sarath Chandrasekera were generous in sharing knowledge in the discipline. I was fortunate enough to grasp the fundamentals of the disciplines with perseverance and burning mid night oil. Learning English language and Sociology/anthropology at the same time was an uphill task that I had to overcome. As I had set my personal academic goals clearly by then, such perseverance and commitment were not obstacles but vehicles for future success i.e. getting an upper second class in the honours degree.

Nonetheless, most of my colleagues in a batch of 700 were only able to complete a general degree studying 3 subjects such as history, political science, Economics, Sinhala, Buddhism and others. Their exposure to disciplinary knowledge in the English medium or for that matter English language was highly limited unless they had come from city schools or central schools. They relied on translated knowledge by their lecturers and tutors. I might add that such translations at the time were of the highest standard compared to what we observe in universities today. There was also a common view at the time that university graduates had an all round knowledge not limited to the subjects learned. For example, an arts graduate would have knowledge in how the body functioned, world affairs, bureaucracy and government, how to make decisions in troubled circumstances, psychology, dealing with police, art and culture, city matters etc. Later on recognising the importance of providing undergraduates knowledge in several fundamental fields of study, a Foundation year was introduced. The degree obtained by these students was called Foundation degree due to this and it acquired some notoriety among the undergraduates as a result. However, I attended some lectures by Osmond Jayarathne, E.R. Sarachchandra etc. delivered as part of this foundation year on my own choosing. They were excellent introductions to subjects they dealt with. For example, Osmond talked about the universe.

The point about higher education emphased by previous writers to The Island such as Elmo, Samaraweera, HL,Karunanayake and Uswatte-aratci is whether the country would have been better if university education was provided via English or Sinhala, and Tamil mediam? There is no question about the merits of having a knowledge of English and for that matter other European and Asian languages. Such knowledge theoretically at least can open the young minds to global knowledge and literature,achievements in science and technology, history of civilisations etc. However, we should not forget the fact that the social science disciplines and humanities to some extent were subject areas with colonial trappings in their origin, introduction to Ceylon, and translations to Sinhala and Tami student audiencesl. The knowledge taught thus was/is not universally applicable or value free. It needs to be adapted to local context,it's needs,culture and even nation building exercises. In short, such disciplinary knowledge needs to be decolonized. This has not happened to the extent that the generations of young people who received free education in Sinhala and Tamil deserve.

Instead of text books with original ideas,concepts,theories,paradigms or methods by our social scientists,what we still see in Sociology at least is Sinhala and Tamil translations of texts published decades ago in English.( This is not to say that there are no excellent edited collections of papers,especially as felicitation books for retiring academics,published in English). An academic dependency on western and American knowledge inherited from a previous era still dominates our social sciences(see Gamage 2016). We do not have centres of excellence in teaching and research in cutting-edge fields such as post colonial studies,critical feminist studies, post development, Southern theory that focus on recent developments in Asia, Africa, Latin America etc.along with theorisations from the global south In such an environment where translation of old knowledge in the disciplines, rote learning for passing examinations etc are encouraged instead of critical examination,evaluation and adoption or rejection of received disciplinary knowledge,can we expect an innovative nation to emerge? Can we expect a knowledge hub to succeed? Can we expect our social science graduates to be on par with the bilingual graduates of a bygone era in terms of their intellect and skills set?

When discussing the merits of education in English compared to Sinhala or Tamil, we need to remember how a class of English educated was nurtured by the British government and missionaries during the pre 1956 era. This class lost knowledge of local culture,religion, language,customs etc. in the process of trying to imitate Western style of life and fit in with the British administrators. They imbibed in and imitated Western ways of living,religion,language,customs and more for the benefits and privileges received from the colonial government and missionaries. It was the locals who learned In Sinhala or Tamil while acquiring a knowledge of English and in some cases Sanskrit and Pali who made a critical contribution to the nationalist revival,free education and gaining of independence,e.g Sir Baron Jayatillake. Intellectuals of this category are called bilingual intellectuals(see Ranjani Obeyesekera 1984).

A concerning aspect of higher education today is not only the depleting number of bilingual intellectuals but also the lack of teaching about our own knowledge traditions contained in our cultural,philosophical,literary and religious traditions or even a knowledge of our history and language. This is partly due to the heavy reliance of our social scientists in universities on Western disciplines unadulterated. Thus even though the universities teach social sciences in Sinhala and Tamil, the graduates are not only incapable of accessing wider knowledge in English but lack a grounding of indigenous or local culture,history,religions,literature,arts,music etc. Thus they disown their inherited identity and subjectivity plus heritage and acquire a modern identity and subjectivity,though many struggle to achieve even this due to the class and city-village divide. The former is in line with colonial designs originally set in place by the British and being continued up to this day by our higher education system via the Western and American disciplines translated. This has deep and far reaching consequences for the country.This is another reason for a concerted effort by authorities to reform higher education with decolonisation of curriculum and teaching as a central focus instead of parroting the merits of internationalisation of education and the English language per se.

Before the country prepares graduates in social sciences and humanities for the global economy or market with free education, it needs to prepare graduates with a sense of pride in their own identity, culture, history, religion, art, literature and collected wisdom. If not, we will be training graduates whose first preference is to leave the country at the first opportunity to be a migrant in an English speaking country thereby denying their services to the country that trained their hand. Unfortunately, some misguided youth who did not enter the universities also try to follow the same path even by boats.I think the loss to the country as a result of not reforming higher education to country's current needs is even more in billions lost compared to the bond scam. Gamage.S. 2014.Changing Patterns of Anthropology and Sociology Practices in Sri Lanka in the Context of Debates on Northern and Southern Theory, Social Affairs, Vol. 1(1).

Gamage,S. 2016. Academic Dependency on Western Disciplinary Knowledge and Captive Mind among South Asian Sociologists, Social Affairs, Vol. 1(5).

Obeyesekera,R. 1984. The Bilingual Intelligentsia: Tgeir contribution to the Intellectual Life of Sri Lanka in the Twentieth Century, in Honouring E.F.C. Ludowyk Felicitation Essays (eds) Percy Colin-Thome and Ashley Halpe, Thisara Prakasakayo, Dehiwala.

Saying One Party Is No Good Does Not Imply An Assertion That An Alternative Is Good – Reply To Rajiva Wijesinha

By Shyamon Jayasinghe –January 4, 2018

“I agree, however, with Rajiva Wijesinha on one point here, namely when he charges Ranil Wickremasinghe of showing backingto Arjuna Mahendran as Governor of the Central Bank, ….despite obvious misdemeanours. Ranil does have a weakness of supporting old Royalist classmates etc and turning a blind eye at their misdemeanours.” That is his bad kamma and he will pay for that.

Flawed Logic

Rajiva Wijesinhasays I bear an “intellectual pretence.” Being curious to know what an ‘intellectual’ is like, I looked at the Cambridge English Dictionary in my possession. It says, “relating to your abilityto think and understand things, especially complicated ideas.” I don’t think this is a special gift that persons like Rajiva possess. Most of us readers have that. It is just that some cloud their intellect with emotions and prejudices that distort their perspective in making judgments about men and matters. Pardon me, Rajiva has a serious problem here as is evident in his response piece to my article that appears in the Colombo Telegraph.

For one, he is illogical in his reasoning. The very central theme of his criticism of my referenced article represents flawed logic. This is because he believes that my repudiationof the SLFP’s record implies I am an “apologist for the UNP,” one of thatparty’s competitors.

Hang Up

I haven’t said any of that sort. Rajiva has a hang-up in this whole political business, namely that he possesses an old family grouse with Ranil Wickremasinghe. This prejudice has clouded his reasoning faculty. Unless he is mindful of this limitation he is unlikely to be productive in his political thinking.

Rajiv’s most recent row with the Prime Minister is over his role as State Minister in the newly-formed Unity Government. Everyone in Sri Lanka knows that the portfolio of ‘State Minister,’ is humbug. It has been a strategic device to keep MPs happy by giving the latter the title to impress their networks and the accompanying perks like STF security, official luxury cars and so forth. For decades, our politicians have been kept content by this trick. Our political leaders don’t bother hat this is being done at the expense of taxpayers. The typical Sri Lankan craves for ‘thaththvaya,” and that greed must be satiated.

However,Rajiv aWijesinghe apparently couldn’t grasp that subtle situation and he went on to pretend to be a fully-fledged minister and kept overriding his Cabinet Minister by giving officials various policy lines to work on, monitoring their work and so on. What Rajiva should have done was to sit pretty with the title and go about like a peacock displaying its colours.

Rajiva’s action annoyed his Minister and a bit of a dispute occurs. He went up to the Prime Minister and complained.Ranil Wickremasinghe, in his usual low PR-style, asked his cousin to go and read a book titled,”The power of the Impossible.” This vexed Rajiva and he threw away his portfolio unnecessarily. In his article Rajiva claims to have done a “good job.” That is an assessment, again, that should have been left for others to make. However, Rajiva, even being a genuine ‘intellectual,’ unlike me, cannot realise that.

I Am No Party Man

So off he goes to keep criticising the UNP component of this government headed by Mainripala Sirisena. He is so sensitive about it that he has jumped to the conclusion in my case, namely that by my criticising the SLFP I am showing up as a UNP man.

I am no Party’s man. I can assure readers that.Any support I give to any Party or political leader is only conditional upon that entity doing what is expected of it to do. The simple reason is that one has to make such conditional decisions at some time or another in political life. On the other hand, if one gives unconditional backing, then one is a confirmed party man and an ‘apologist,’ for that party.

Read More

CUSTODIAL VIOLATIONS STILL AN ISSUE

Friday, January 5, 2018

Human Rights violations of those in Police detention continues to be a major issue as the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) yesterday pointed out that it still remained the most frequent complaint received by the Commission.

The HRCSL between January and September of 2017, received 5,614 complaints. Of that number, the majority at 1,174 were regarding custodial violations.

The Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Deepika Udagama who reviewed the complaints at a media briefing at the Commission noted that; 249 were complaints on torture (mainly police),

171 on harassment (with complaints of alleged intelligence officers harassing civilians in the North), 323 against threats (mainly from police) and 298 on arbitrary arrests and detention.

“This is a major problem. On the one side, we see progress in the freedom of expression, association and assembly. But on the other side, one of our continuing concerns is in custodial violations. This clearly shows that we need strong Police reforms,” Dr. Udagama said.

She however noted that the government’s ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) last month was nevertheless a positive step to overcome problems in detention. The government has also assigned the responsibility of implementing a local mechanism to monitor those in detention to the HRCSL.

The HRCSL which already has the mandate to conduct raids on police stations, etc... will now receive greater authority to look into violations while in custody.

The Commission however complained that many of their investigations were being delayed due to a lack of human resources and bureaucratic red tape which have slowed down implementation of their plans.

“This is a common problem all Independent Commissions are facing and we have informed the Constitutional Council of this,” Dr. Udagama added.

Another area with high complaints was in administrative injustices, with 770 complaints being made by people regarding the arbitrary manner in which administrative justice was meted out.

Petitioners had made 436 complaints against the police and 334 against other government institutions for having not noted down the complaints made. In addition, 1002 government officials have complained against their own offices with regard to issues of administrative injustice.

Interestingly, one of the main administrative complaints, revolve around school admissions, Dr. Udagama said.

“We had close to 500 complaints with regard to children not being admitted to popular national schools. These complaints are mainly from the middle class and not what we consider a human rights violation”, said the Chairman.

She further noted that violations in the right to education would include complaints made regarding the lack of facilities in remote schools or inadequate access to schools but these complaints were very few.

More worryingly, the HRCSL noted an increase in the number of violent disciplinary action taken by teachers against students and the rising trend of expelling students from schools, even for minor violations.

Dr. Udagama said they have requested from the Ministry of Education to have discussions with principals and teachers of national schools (to start off with), along with psychologists and psychiatrists to discuss ways in which discipline can be enforced in a more humane manner.

“We don’t think we can produce the kind of democratic citizens through a system based on exams. We need to revise the whole curriculum”, she noted further, explaining that their Education Policy Sub-Committee report on the matter would be released this year.

Predictable Crises All Round Either way, the results would leave very little possibility for the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Government to continue, except as a coalition of two very shameless opportunist camps

2018-01-05

The popular question that is making the rounds is “Who would come on top, at this election?”
They mean “Which party?” Will MR and his SLPP (Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna) outnumber Sirisena’s SLFP and the UPFA? What most, want to know in advance is the outcome of the elections.
The winner for sure will not be decided by the voter.

If the party that takes control of the most number of LG bodies is counted as the “winner” that will be decided within hours and days by elected men and women, who would ‘leapfrog’ to create majorities in LG bodies.

This election would leave many frustrated and disgusted voters away from polling booths.
Bloated and ballooned aspirations that accompanied the January 2015 euphoria shrank and were deflated even before the 100-Day Programme was over.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was “dethroned” seven months before, bounced back strong, leading the SLFP/UPFA campaign.

He campaigned for the SLFP/UPFA with the horrible disadvantage of having a President (Also the President of the SLFP) who threw every spanner, every hammer against his campaign that yet gave the SLFP/UPFA the 95 seats in the present Parliament.

It was also evident in Wickremesinghe and his UNP with many allies calling themselves the United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) failing to win the minimum 113 seats required for majority rule.

The President, who promised to be the servant of the people, who promised to be non-partisan and would leave after the first term, would do away with the Executive Presidency, is nowhere to be found in political terms

In terms of voting, with 77.6 percent polled, Rajapaksa gained 42.4 percent while Wickremesinghe led UNFGG polled 45.6 percent.

Two years and five months later, the situation is worse.

The President, who promised to be the servant of the people, who promised to be non-partisan and would leave after the first term, would do away with the Executive Presidency, is nowhere to be found in political terms.

So is the UNFGG leader Wickremesinghe who promised “clean” and transparent governance, promised to roll back all Chinese projects the Rajapaksas began and promised ‘fast track investigations’ on corruption against all in the previous regime including Rajapaksa.
As the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has failed with his Government in resurrecting an ailing economy, he keeps blaming the Rajapaksas for.

Yet, his Government has taken over all Chinese projects that during 2015 Presidential Election campaign were condemned as unsolicited, worthless projects.

His UNFGG Government is seen and talked of as corrupt as the Rajapaksa regime or even more. It is publicly labelled as wholly inefficient too.

The synergy of all those negatives in society will not see 77 percent going to polls t February 10 LG Elections have never generated enough enthusiasm to bring large numbers to vote.

At the last LG elections with a post-war exuberant Rajapaksa Presidency in 2011, the total polled was only 65.5 percent. This time, it would be an unexplainable miracle, if more than 60 percent decides to vote.

There is also the possibility of counting a higher percentage of “rejected votes” than usual. The biggest disadvantage of a large percentage drop in voting would be for the UNP and the ITAK.
Burdened with a terribly discredited government accused of mega corruptions, Wickramasinghe led campaign will not be able to maintain the 45 percent they previously got out of the total polled. Within the UNP there is also the cold and dejected feeling of running elections with Wickramasinghe at the head. All of it would leave the UNP vote this February around 35 percent of the total polled.
So would it be for the Sampanthan - Sumanthiran led TNA. The TNA started off with fractures. Suresh Premachandran EPRLF, the well-spread organisation from among former armed groups, has allied with Ananda Sangaree’s TULF.

At the local level, this new combination could be the recipient of frustrated and dissenting Northern votes.

Meanwhile, the ITAK leadership has over the past two years lost credibility by playing truant with this “Yahapalanaya” Government.

Unable to politically read this government as another Colombo based Sinhala Government, their blind faith in the UNP leadership has left them as betrayers of the war-affected Tamil people.
The TNA (In fact it is ITAK) leadership failed in securing release of youth detained without charges, failed to stand along with agitating women, who demand answers from the Government on disappeared relatives, failed in securing private land occupied by the security forces and they refrain from speaking about continued militarization of Northern and Eastern socio-economic life.
Nor will the promised political solution through a new Constitution that Sampanthan said would be complete before end December 2016 ever see the light of day even after December 2018.
Not even after the TNA leadership dropped the Federal solution promised in their 2015 Parliamentary election manifesto.

The TNA will therefore not be able to poll the percentages they had in North and East at the 2015 Parliamentary elections. At that election when Sampanthan wanted the hand of the TNA strengthened to make him a stronger bargaining power for Tamil people, the TNA polled 69.1 percent in Jaffna, 54.6 percent in the Vanni, and a total of 30.9 percent in the East with Batticaloa gaining 53.3 percent of the total polled in the district.

The EPDP and TULF campaigns would also add to the already heavy baggage of the TNA, especially in Jaffna and Vanni. Northern Province Chief Minister Wigneswaran playing it safe and his absence would not be for the advantage of the TNA either.
Bottom line is, the ITAK leadership will be clearly told by the Tamil people, they are not worthy of the war-affected Tamil people’s vote and what they poll is due to the absence of a viable alternate Tamil leadership.

In the Southern Sinhala districts, with a large percentage of Christian-Catholic vote traditionally going the UNP way despite its efforts to win more of the Sinhala Buddhist votes, the battle between President Sirisena’s SLFP/UPFA campaign and that of Rajapaksa with his SLPP is for the bulk of the Sinhala Buddhist vote.
Sirisena leading the SLFP/UPFA campaign cannot reach the UNP vote bloc. Even those local UNP leaders, who are disappointed with their own party leadership, will not choose Sirisena as an option.
President Sirisena, therefore, has nowhere else to go for votes but to the 4.7 million that Rajapaksa brought together for the SLFP/UPFA at the 2015 August election.
That is a totally anti-UNP vote.

President Sirisena’s leadership cannot address that voting bloc unless he stands as a strong anti-UNP leader. This is not possible with Rajapaksa and the SLPP targeting him as part of the UNP Government and him chairing Cabinet meetings during the next four weeks, taking decisions along with PM Wickremesinghe.

For that reason, he is charting an anti-corruption, puritanical path.
He perhaps believes that would make him attractive to the anti-UNP rural voter. Reading out a carefully written statement on the Bond Scam Report, President Sirisena on Wednesday made all attempts to sound his anti-corruption drive is non-partisan while promising all recommendations would be implemented and monitored.

He concluded by saying not only the Bond Scam Report but also the PRECIFAC Reports so far handed over to him would go through their due processes of litigation.

He also promised they would not be politically interfered with. Interestingly, while he refrained from naming persons, he nevertheless said PM Wickremesinghe’s responsibility for former Central Bank’s former Governor Arjuna Mahendran’s appointment and conduct had been established.
He also said former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake could be  held responsible for interference and could be further investigated on the Penthouse renting issue an indicted.

He thus laid the Bond Scam squarely on the UNP leadership though without much hype.
All that indicates, his own SLFP Ministers and campaigners would now go on an open anti-UNP campaign.

They may even name others, who are held responsible by the Commission for manipulations and cover-ups.

Political campaigns don’t end up one way. The SLPP campaign to retain their anti-Government SLFP vote bloc will not allow President Sirisena to go without responsibility in all corruptions alleged under this Yahapalanaya Government.

President Sirisena himself has been accused of a big “deal” over the purchase of a Russian Naval vessel and a much heavier spectrum deal that is said to be over Rs.03 billion given without any tender procedure by the TRC that comes under President Sirisena.

For both deals it is said two top men, the Navy Commander Admiral Travis Sinniah and ICTA CEO/MD Muhunthan Canagey were moved out most unceremoniously by President Sirisena.
It is any one’s guess, the UNP campaign would also have its share of name calling on corruption. The LG elections this time may be one that would expose many corrupt personalities.

In February when the LG election concludes, the future of the Yahapalanaya Government would also be decided by it.

If Rajapaksa with the SLPP retained the larger share of the 4.7 million anti-UNP vote, it would mean the SLFP has politically morphed into Rajapaksa’s SLPP. President Sirisena will then be left with a serious crisis in his own camp. Most would want Rajapaksa back again with the SLFP to face their own elections in mid-2020.

Either way, the results would leave very little possibility for the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Government to continue, except as a coalition of two very shameless opportunist camps.

As for the people both in the North and the South, the LG Elections would serve no purpose.
It would leave them with political instability amidst economic chaos and many episodes of political backstabbing at the high level.

A fast-moving year of predictable crises all around.  

Bond scams:Law must apply to one and all equally, says HRCSL

Deepika

By Shamindra Ferdinando-January 4, 2018, 10:35 pm 

Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Chairperson Dr. Deepika Udagama strongly asserted that the law should be applied to all citizens equally.

Dr. Udagama said so when The Island sought the reaction of the commission to President Maithripala Sirisena’s admission that members of the UNP as well as the SLFP had been implicated by justice K. T. Chitrasiri’s Commission of Inquiry and PRECIFAC (Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate and Inquire into Serious Acts of Fraud, Corruption and Abuse of Power, State Resources and Privileges), respectively.

The issue was taken up at a press conference called Dr. Udagama at the commission’s new premises at No 14, R. A. de Mel Mawatha, Colombo 4. In addition to Dr. Udagama, members of the commission, Saliya Peiris, PC, Ambika Satkunanathan and Dr. Upananda Vidanapathirana joined the media briefing. Member Hamid Ghazali Hussain wasn’t present.

The Island also raised the accountability on the part the commission as regards staggering losses amounting to Rs 8,529 mn suffered by the Employes Provident Fund (EPF), Mahapola Scholarship Fund, National Savings Bank and Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC).

Dr. Udagama said that wrongdoers could be dealt with according to Article 12 that guaranteed right to equality.

Responding to another media query, Dr. Udagama acknowledged that special status given to doctors as well as armed forces to accommodate their children at schools of their choice caused problems. Dr. Udagama asserted that it wasn’t fair for members of old boys’ associations and past pupils’ associations of various schools to receive privileged status in securing school admissions.

Dr. Udagama underscored the pivotal importance of addressing the difficulties experienced by the under privileged in securing school admission. The outspoken official revealed that her commission had made some recommendations to relevant authorities regarding problems caused by various groups given special status.

The Island brought to the commission’s notice how lawmakers had created an unprecedented special category for the benefit of those who had been rejected by the electorate to enter parliament through the backdoor, receive pension after completing just one five year term and received a range of perks and privileges at taxpayers expense.

Dr. Udugama declined to respond to query whether the commission considered President Sirisena’s statement on the treasury bond scam unfair by the UNP in the run-up to February 10 local government election. The human rights chief said that particular issue should be taken up with the National Elections Commission (NEC).

However, the Human Rights Commission would soon issue a circular in respect of the conduct of government servants in time of election, Dr. Udagama said.

The HRC Chairperson also referred to the recent move to introduce a gazette notification containing guidelines for media coverage of the forthcoming local government elections that would address the concerns raised by the media. The Island pointed out that the gazette was yet to receive parliamentary approval and the parliament was not scheduled to meet till January 23.

Dr. Udagama said women-headed households, particularly those in the Northern and Eastern districts were undergoing severe difficulties. She estimated such families to be about 20 per cent of the population. Asked by The Island why the difficulties experienced by those who had once fought for the LTTE and LTTE widows weren’t so far addressed nine years after the conclusion of the war while resources squandered on accommodating more women representatives in local government bodies, Dr. Udagama stressed that both received their attention.

The new electoral system would, besides enabling the election of candidates on the First Past the Post System, ensure that for the first time 25 percent of the seats in the various local bodies were allocated to female candidates.

Dr. Udagama expressed concern over the electorate repeatedly exercising their franchise in support of violent elements over the years with some receiving over 100,000 preferential votes at national level elections.

PM referred COPE report on bond issue to AG in 2016

2018-01-04

In the wake of President Maithripala Sirisena’s statement on the fraud involving the bond issue, the Prime Minister’s office said today that even Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe requested the Attorney General in December, 2016 to make recommendations on legal action against those officials responsible for the controversial bond transaction.

The statement said the Prime Minister referred the COPE findings on the bond issue to the Attorney General on October 31, 2016.

The statement said, “the Attorney General had been assigned with the responsibility to institute legal action on the bond transaction by the Prime Minister in December, 2016 and by the President in January, 2018. The Yahapalana government has been able to establish its law-abiding characteristic once again. It is expected that the Attorney General will initiate action.”

The Prime Minister’s Office said the government expected to probe the alleged frauds and irregularities that happened since 2008.

The Office said it was the duty of all to let the law prevail in this regard instead of resorting to mudslinging and character assassination.

The Prime Minister’s Office also thanked the Bond Commission for the fulfillment of its task.

President and P.M. to make special announcements separately today after holding private discussions yesterday !

Chandra Pradeep reveals background to president’s announcement

(Lanka-e-News- 03.Jan.2018, 11.AM) While the president is getting ready to make  a special announcement, the prime minister too is due to  make a special announcement today .The P.M. is making a special announcement at the general convention when he meets with the prospective UNP candidates of  the forthcoming local body elections  and the UNP organizers at the Sri Kotha this noon .

Prior to this ,yesterday night (02) the president and P.M. have had a private discussion , according to reports reaching Lanka e news. 

It is an incontrovertible fact ,  clowny clown   Maithripala Sirisena by now best known as a most mendacious, ungrateful , callous  and   unsuccessful president is   moving heaven and earth to avert a sure defeat at the forthcoming local body elections after  having failed to somehow grab votes of those who voted to the UNP including the UNF at the election  in August 2015  exploiting the so called treasury bond scam . This is the most undependable president who is now getting ready to demonstrate his purity to the nation by words after miserably failing  to prove that by deeds.

President Maithripala who even went so far as to courts to get the local body elections postponed , and could not succeed because of the Elections Commissioner’s rectitude and courage, most shamelessly went crawling  on all fours to form an alliance with Rajapakses ( notorious den of thieves) who were defeated not once but twice at elections  in 2015 by the pro good governance masses .  It was a sad spectacle to see Maithripala returning crawling when Rajapakses disdainfully rejected him . The Rajapakses point blank  told him to leave the consensual government before making any such move .  

Thereafter , Maithripala demonstrated his lowliest unscrupulous  traits when he went to the temple of Medagoda Abayatissa Thera , a rascally racist, and spoke to Basil Rajapakse on the phone to somehow help him form an alliance with the Rajapakse den of thieves. 

Sirisena who cringed and crawled before Basil Rajapakse while addressing that notorious fraudster  as “Sir’ during the Rajapakse era cannot forget or abandon his habit.. ‘Why cannot we work together minister Basil ?’ Sirisena had questioned almost in tears. Basil treating Sirisena like a Sillysena had plainly told him , ‘You carry on with yours  and we shall carry on with ours.’ When P.M. Ranil Wickremesinghe heard of this , he had phoned Sirisena alias Sillysena to take  a decisive stand. 

Are you going along with the Rajapakses  or are you going to be with the consensual government ? the P.M had questioned and told him to arrive at  a definite decision .  Subsequently ,Sirisena well noted for broken promises met with all the UNP cabinet ministers in Parliament and assured  he would be with the consensual government , while offering explanations to justify his treacherous moves in keeping with his  overriding trait -  indulging  in all the villainies and hypocrisies and then giving lame excuses.
 
Maithripala Sirisena who shamelessly  as president fell at the feet of Basil is now facing the  forthcoming elections like a dog with   excreta all over its body being led for  a bath. 

It is now Sillysena’s silly desire to portray to the people his slate is clean by fair or foul means   , and justify his actions . It is president’s aim to offer lame excuses and  flimsy explanations to the people , and make them forget his traitorous past including the exposure made by  Malith Jayatileke , a member of Sirisena ‘s own national list that two days after Maithripala  became president he held secret discussions at his Paget Road residence with Gotabaya Rajapakse after extinguishing the lights.  What ‘s more , even now Sirisena is safeguarding and rescuing  Gotabaya, and acting as his  guardian .

Maithripala is now  left with only  the treasury bond issue to  level  criticisms.  However  having realized if he allows mud to be slung citing the alleged bond scam alone  , his own callousness and craftiness will be known , what he did was  , called for the report immediately on the 17 corruptions during the Rajapakse era of the other Commission investigating grave corruption .

That report comprises 1135 pages. There is also another earlier report on 17 other corruptions  already with the president.  Though he has in hand 34 cases of corruption of the Rajapakse era during which period he himself held a cabinet ministerial post , he prefers to talk and blabber about the so called treasury bond scam for obvious reasons.

In any case, nothing  can be filed in courts directly based on the Commission reports . All these have to be again investigated by the CID , and cases have to be filed by the Police.

The cruel irony is , despite this scenario , the Maithripala group still goes on chanting without an iota of shame  that after the local body elections they are undoubtedly going to run  a local government administration joining with the infamous Rajapakse brigand. 

Believe it or not , it is  this, unscrupulous , rudderless , faceless ,policy- less Sirisena who is shamelessly going to display to the people today his so called threadbare purity !

By Chandra Pradeep  

Translated by Jeff 

Post scriptum 
The report of the Commission inquiring into the  17 corruptions handed over to president yesterday (02) pertains to  the following :
1. Water Filtration  of North Central province
2.Deyata Kirula of Amparai Municipal Council
3.Mahapola ship of Ports Authority
4.Research Institute of Hector Kobbekaduwa farming affairs
5.State pharmaceutical Corporation
6.Disaster management center
7.Polgolla Mahinda Rajapakse hall
8.Kidney diseases pertaining to Health Ministry
9.Kandy District hospital Director’s 0ffice
10.Kankesanturai Cement factory
11.Rupavahini Corporation
12.National housing development Authority
13. National Transport  Commission
14.Sathosa
15.Youth service Council
16.Health service supplies division
Along with these 17  reports , the number of reports handed over to the president pertaining to government Institutions is 34.
The President of this Commission is appeal court judge Preethi Padman Surasena , and its members are high court judge Vikum Kaluarachi , High court judge Piyasena Ranasinghe , High court judge Gihan Kulatunge and former Auditor general P. Pemathileke .

---------------------------
by     (2018-01-04 01:43:18)

Action against Karunanayake must be instituted under Bribery and Corruption Laws

2018-01-04

We publish below the entire speech made by President Maithripala Sirisena last evening on the Report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on Treasury Bonds.

First of all, I offer my best wishes for the New Year.

As the people of this country are waiting with bated breath, I wish to make a statement on the final Report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) into the Issue of Treasury Bonds of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, which was appointed by me taking into consideration the opinion of the people regarding allegations of corrupt practices and misdeeds during the period 2015 and 2016. The Report was handed over to me on December 30, 2017.

The Commission was mandated to inquire into the issuance of Treasury Bonds during the period 1 February 2015 to 31 March 2016 to find out the actual facts and to make recommendations as to the steps to be implemented in the future.

I thank the Supreme Court Judges and former Auditor-General who functioned as members of the Commission and its Secretary and staff, and those who assisted the work of the Commission, Attorney Generals Department, Police Department and other relevant organizations and individuals.

Forensic audit

The Commission is of the opinion that similar incidents as revealed in the Commission Report had happened even in 2008. The Commission recommends that the Central Bank of Sri Lanka should first conduct a forensic audit with regard to the alleged fraud and corrupt practices from 2008 onwards, and based on such findings, legal action should be taken.

The Commission states that funds of the Employment Provident Fund (EPF) were lost mostly during that period.

The Commission has submitted a full Report covering the period 2015 and 2016, comprising 1,257 pages and it is not an interim report. The Commission has taken 10 months for this task.

I have already submitted this Report to the Attorney-General and the Commission recommends that the criminal and civil Court action must be taken through the Criminal Investigations Department and the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption.

The Commission has clearly stated the structure of the Central Bank, Public Debt Department, direct issuance of Treasury Bonds and the pros and cons of the system of issuance of Bonds as well as Bond auctions. The Report stated that the Perpetual Treasuries Limited has earned profits through means that are not legal, with the involvement of Arjun Mahendran, Bank officials and some external parties.

In the auction held on 27 February 2015 alone, Perpetual Treasuries Limited has made a minimum profit of not less than

Rs 688 million. The Commission is of the opinion that further investigations could reveal that this amount could even be more than that. As revealed during the investigations, PTL has made an undue profit of Rs 11,145 million in the secondary market. In this, EPF and other government institutions had lost more than Rs 8,524 million or Rs 8.5 billion.

It is stated that senior officials of the Central Bank were inactive before the former Governor of Central Bank, Arjun Mahendran. The report states that, such false decisions have been made because these officers had become inactive.

Internal information

Mahendran has interfered into Treasury Bond auctions through incorrect and unconventional methods and he was responsible for providing internal information to outsiders. Such conduct has allowed one party to obtain undue monetary gains, the Report states. The Commission Report stated that the Prime Minister's responsibility in the appointment of Arjuna Mahendren as Governor to the Central Bank was proper. The Commission is of the opinion that the Prime Minister made his statement in Parliament regarding the appointment of Mahendran believing in the facts presented by Mahendran and Samarasiri, especially the promises made by Mahendran. The Report also says that the Prime Minister should not have done that. The Commission stated that, moreover, these facts were before the COPE committee and the Prime Minister had not stated this, as a result he had not taken action against Mahendran.

The Report refers to allegations against former Minister of Finance, Ravi Karunanayake, regarding the payment of rent for the 'Penthouse' apartment by Walt and Raw Company owned and controlled by the Aloysius family. Karunanayake was responsible for that and it is recommended that the Government should take necessary action against Ravi Karunanayake under Bribery and Corruption Laws and further legal action should be taken under the penal code for giving false evidence at the Commission.

The Commission mentions about the misuse of funds of the Employees Provident Fund and stated that a forensic audit examination should be conducted to find out the amount of losses of EPF. The report has stated that conduct of certain parties has led to the misappropriation of EPF funds. The people responsible for these frauds have been identified and the Commission recommends legal action against them.

The report recommends that legal action be taken against relevant persons and officials who are responsible for the fraud including Perpetual Treasuries Limited, Arjuna Aloysius and Kasun Palisena. It also recommends action to recover lost funds.

Accordingly, the Government is in consultation with the legal authorities.

Recommendations

*Considering the recommendations of the Commission, the government recommends adapting a new Monetary Law Act in order to avoid this kind of malpractices in the Central Bank in future. The existing legal provisions are old and need replacement.

*It is also recommended that the Registered Share Market Act must be replaced by a new legal act.

*Members of Monetary Board and Central Bank Governor must be appointed by the Constitutional Council in concurrence of the members. The regulations must be amended accordingly.

*The report recommends that there should be highest levels of supervision over the Public Debt Department. As auditing at the Central Bank has not been conducted in a proper manner, the Commission recommends that the Audit Department must be reorganized completely. A Legal Department must be established in the Central Bank and ensure that the Legal Department functions efficiently.

*As the Commission did not have the mandate to inquire into Treasury Bond issues from 2008 to 2015, the Commission had not done that. However, Commission recommends that there should be an investigation into that period too.

*The Commission recommends that the dealings with the Pan Asia Bank and the conduct of Chairman must be investigated into.

It also recommends that activities of the EPF must be looked into, and in order to bring the EPF into a proper order, steps must be taken to restructure the EPF.A code of conduct for the officials of the Central Bank must be introduced. The code of conduct for Primary Dealers must be revised and updated.

*The Commission has stated that the Attorney General and the Commission to investigate Bribery or Corruption must take the legal actions to implement the recommendations of the Commission.

*Under normal circumstances, recovery of money can be done through civil legal action. However, it is a time consuming method. As an alternative, the Commission recommends that a Parliamentary legislation could be passed and the money could be recovered in a speedy manner following a Parliamentary approval. We agree to that recommendation.

*The recommendation of the Commission is that all the expenditure occurred for the Commission must be recovered from the Perpetual Treasuries Limited.

*I have already submitted a copy of the Commission Report to the Attorney-General and he will identify the persons against whom the legal action must be taken and initiate necessary criminal or civil legal action to implement the recommendations of the Commission.

*I wish to clarify here, that a minor amendment to the Bribery or Corruption Commission Act must be enacted to take legal action on the recommendations of the Commission. For this purpose, experts at the legal draughtsman are already working on the required amendment.

*The steps needed to make the Commission to investigate allegations of Bribery or Corruption more active and efficient should have been done long time ago, and now we are taking required steps for that purpose.

The confidentiality, astuteness and auditing methods of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka were extremely weak. There are no tele-recording systems, electronic monitoring or even CCTVs. The current Governor of the Central Bank has already taken steps to remove weaknesses and rectify these errors.
Draft Bills must be speeded up

The Governor has informed that he has suspended some employees of the Central Bank after their malpractices were revealed in the investigations in the Commission and disciplinary action was being taken against those officers.

I expect the Governor to make a statement in the near future regarding the shortcomings in the Central Bank as revealed in the Commission Report.

I urge the Justice Ministry and the Attorney General to take early steps to draft the three Bills proposed by the Commission present them to Parliament, in order to make required changes at the Central Bank to ensure such corrupt practices, frauds and malpractices would not take place in the future.

I have informed my Secretary to hold monthly review meetings with heads of relevant departments and institutions to examine the progress in the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission to take legal steps against those individuals and take other required steps in an efficient and speedy manner.

I would like to specifically state here that I would not hesitate to take steps to recover the loss of Rs 11,145 million to the government and take legal action against the offenders and punish them.

The sum of Rs 8,529million of the total losses Rs 11,145 million was the funds of the Employees Provident Fund, Mahapola Scholarship Fund, National Savings Bank and Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation. The balance was from private institutions. Hence the loss to the public sector - EPF, Mahapola, NDB and SLIC was over Rs 8.5 billion. Perpetual Treasuries Limited has made this profit of Rs 11,145 million within a short period of five months.

Finally, especially I would like to mention that this final Report must be presented to Parliament and through this initiative the Report must be open to the public.

Legal steps

In the future, necessary as well as legal steps in this regard will be taken expeditiously according to the advice from the Attorney General. I kindly request to consider the openness of the facts of this Commission Report and I assure that there would be no hesitation in filing cases against offenders. Furthermore, I wish to state that this is the final Report of the Commission.

I have previously appointed a Commission and the Report of that Commission has been handed over to me. It is the final report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to investigate and inquire into Serious Acts of Fraud, Corruption and Abuse of Power, State Resources and Privileges (PRECIFAC).

This Commission carried out their respective duties during the past two and a half years. I extend my gratitude to the staff of the Commission and all the institutions including the Secretary and High Court judges for giving their support to this task. Already, 34 Reports of that Commission had been handed over to me and recently 17 Reports have been handed over and another 17 previously, the 17 Reports handed over previously have been submitted to the Attorney General to take necessary action through the relevant institutions.

By now, the Fraud and Corruption Commission, institutions, departments and Police have taken action to file cases based on the facts of these Reports. The Report was handed over to me two days ago. I will submit the Report to the Attorney General within this week to take appropriate action. I have to make special mention about taking action on this Report in the near future.

The Presidential Commission of Inquiry to investigate and inquire into Serious Acts of Fraud, Corruption and Abuse of Power, State Resources and Privileges has presented several major facts and it is the responsibility of the Government to implement facts presented at the Commission. I will explain to you regarding those facts for the information of the public. Training and appointment of suitable officials is also recommended as there is a lack of skilled well-trained officials to carry out investigations regarding fraud and corruption. This Commission emphasized that people without required qualifications had been appointed and only qualified persons should be appointed to essential positions including State institutions, Authorities and Constitutional Boards.

Public interest

The Commission revealed that the money spent by the Government for the establishment of this Commission has already been recovered through the cases initiated through the findings of this Commission. A system must be implemented to hearing the cases in the Courts in other areas as holding these cases only in Courts in Colombo is causing difficulties for those who travel from distances.

I must state a special thing, before I conclude the facts of these two reports, I saw a great eagerness and inquiring trend among the public regarding these Commissions. At the same time when the Commissions were appointed, especially before the appointment of the Bond Commission, some people commented, even in Parliament that nothing had happened to previous Commissions and the same fate would befall this Commission too. They also said the intention of the appointment of a Commission was to cover up the wrong doings.

But all of us must be pleased regarding the fulfillment of duties of these Commissions and once again I must thank the Judges and all those who contributed in this regard for their great service rendered while wining the confidence of the public.

Finally, I must state regarding the allegations levelled against me by some political parties for appointing these Commissions. I never appointed these commissions targeting any political party.

I must specially mention in future that when cases are filed in accordance with investigations and recommendations and information given by these Commissions, individuals belonging to the two main political parties will be among the respondents in the legal process. We must be happy with our independent and impartial Judiciary. I must state that all of us will provide our maximum support for this process.

Ranil Under Pressure To Sack Ravi K

author: COLOMBO TELEGRAPHJanuary 4, 2018

A group of senior advisors as well as a group MPs belonging to the United National Party (UNP) have launched a campaign against Ravi Karunanayake and are planning to request party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to sack Karunanayake from the post of Deputy Leader of the UNP and his position as head of the Rural Infrastructure Special Programme, Colombo Telegraph learns.

The call is for his removal for the offense of perjury, for Karunanayake has lied to both the CoI and to the Prime Minister. Conviction for other wrongdoings will have to wait on legal proceedings.

These moves appear to have been precipitated by President Maithripala Sirisena’s announcement last evening (January 3) regarding contents of the report submitted by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Central Bank bond issue scandal (CoI).

The Commission report refers to the allegation against former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake regarding the payment of rent for the penthouse apartment and stated that Karunanayake was responsible for that and recommended that the government should to take necessary action against Ravi Karunanayake under the section of bribery and corruption and further legal action under the penal codes for giving false evidence at the Commission.

Wickremesinghe earlier told the CoI that he believed that Karunanayake was telling the truth when the allegation was first made by MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage.

Read More

Unity Government Impaled By Bond Commission But Sri Lanka’s track record on Commissions of Inquiry has been disappointing and dismal

2018-01-05

Hard on the heels of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) headed by President Maithripala Sirisena and the United National Party (UNP) led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on the so-called National Government having lapsed on December 31, the President on Wednesday made public the findings of the report of the Presidential Commission on Central Bank bond scam, to the utter disappointment of the UNP.

The personal interest taken by the President to make the findings of the report public would surelyhave hurt the leaders of the UNP and worsened the already strained relationship of the two partners of governance, as the report incriminates directly and indirectly some of the leaders of the UNP for one of the biggest frauds in the Sri Lankan history.

Worse, the report is being released during the height of the campaign of an election at which parties led by the President and Prime Minister are contesting.

Also the Sri Lankan voter has a slavish mindset, which is always prepared to justify any crime committed by the leaders of his/her party

It is not clear as to what the direct impact of the findings of the report on the general voter, given the intricacy of bond transactions in general and the findings of the report in particular to the voter. 
Also the Sri Lankan voter has a slavish mindset, which is always prepared to justify any crime committed by the leaders of his/her party. 

Yet, the report can have some bearing on the educated people who voted for the UNP at the last Parliamentary elections.

However, it is too early to conclude that all wrongdoers including former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran, his son-in-law Arjun Aloysius and former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, as named by the report, would be punished or the more than Rs. 11 billion allegedly plundered through the controversial bond transaction, would be recovered by the Central Bank, given the Sri Lankan history against corruption.

The report is being released during the height of the campaign of an election at which parties led by the President and Prime Minister are contesting

It is noteworthy to remind that there had been criticisms even on some of the proceedings of this Commission as well.

Basically, Sri Lanka’s track record on Commissions of Inquiry has been disappointing and dismal.
Many past Commissions, as with the case of the Bond Commission, had made startling revelations during their proceedings, but ended up in flops.

Of around fifteen various Commissions that had been appointed by various governments since early 1960s, no justice has been meted out to anybody who had been suffered due to the incidents that had prompted the appointment of those commissions.

Nor was the legal system of the country benefitted by the findings of those Commissions.
The Commissions on the death of former Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, 1977 ethnic violence (The Sansoni Commission), killing of 67 civilians in Kokkattichcholai, in the Eastern Province in 1991, Batalanda Torture Chambers during JVP’s second insurrection in 1988/89, Killing of inmates of Bindunuwewa Rehabilitation Centre in 2000, ethnic violence in 1981, several Commissions on disappearances of people during armed conflicts and the commission on the failure of the Cease Fire Agreement of 2002 (Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission - LLRC) were the major Commissions appointed during the past 50 years in the country.

It is not clear as to what the direct impact of the findings of the report on the general voter, given the intricacy of bond transactions in general and the findings of the report in particular to the voter

The reports of all these Commissions were swept under the carpet by all Governments.
The Commissions on disappearance of people during armed conflicts were the worst in respect of the findings and follow up remedial actions.

There had been nine commissions inquired into the disappearances of people during the armed conflicts in the south as well as the north since 1991.

President R. Premadasa during whose tenure it was said that around 60,000 persons disappeared in the south, appointed three Commissions followed by another one by his successor President D.B. Wijetunga.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga appointed four Commissions on the same matter and her successor Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed one, the recent Paranagama Commission.
But, none of these nine Commissions could help trace a single man or woman said to have disappeared.

However, the reports of two Commissions have been different from the others. The report of the LLRC appointed by President Rajapaksa was internationally accepted, though with reservations and four resolutions were adopted at the UNHRC in four consecutive years, based on it, pressing Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of that report. However, the Government is still dragging its feet.
And now the Central Bank Bond Commission has issued a serious report with unprecedented recommendations to take legal action even against the bigwigs of the ruling party, the UNP.
However, there is still a long way to go through a complex legal process and promulgation of new laws, as the President vowed to do, before the culprits are punished and lost moneys are recovered by the Central Bank.

The UNP cannot give vent to their anger or disappointment in public over the release of the report or making public of some of the findings of it by the President, in the light of its claim that it has created a new culture with Ravi Karunanayake’s resignation from his ministerial post, soon after his relationship with Arjun Aloysius was exposed at the Commission and with the appearing of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe before the Commission.

It also cannot absolve itself from the allegation that it attempted to cover up the fraud from the very inception of the controversy.

However, both the President and the Prime Minister are in a tight corner over the matter, as being at each other’s throats would jeopardize the very survival of the government.

The President can play politics with issues but only to an extent that would not endanger the cohabitation of the two parties.
Thus, he seems to have attempted to pacify the UNP and justify his appointment of the bond commission by declaring that he would appoint a commission on the activities of the National carrier SriLankan Airlines and the Mihin Air, the outcome of which would be detrimental to the leaders of the former regime, especially the Rajapaksas.

On the other hand, despite the rhetoric by some ministers, the UNP too cannot take any drastic action against the President or his SLFP, since it has only 106 seats in the Parliament – seven seats shorter than what it requires to form a Government of its own. In case of a fall out between the two parties in the government, the UNP would have to win over or buy over President’s men or men from former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s camp to secure the Parliamentary majority. One cannot rule out such a possibility.

In the light of the current criticisms leveled against the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) by the Tamil nationalistic and extremist forces as well as a section of the Tamil diaspora for supporting the Government, it is unlikely that the Tamil coalition would come forward to fill the void and help the UNP to form a Government.

The maximum extent it can go to is to support a minority UNP Government from outside. But then it would give ammunition to the racist elements and the Joint Opposition to carry out harmful propaganda against the UNP during the future elections- Provincial councils, Parliamentary and Presidential elections.

Therefore, if the UNP did not resort to horse-trading with the President’s or former President’s men, the only option left with the Prime Minister, as well as the President, is to put up with the situation, until the next major national election is held, though it would be a bitter experience.