When a safe haven turns into nightmare… Girls of Darun Nusra allege continued abuse

By Shaahidah Riza, Ruwan Laknath Jayakody and Kavindya Chris Thomas-2018-01-07

A young girl, aged 12, stands outside the probation office in Hulftsdorp. Her tattered abaya flutters in the wind, her manner desolate. She is one of the victims among 18 who were allegedly abused at the Darun Nusra Orphanage, run by Dr. Mareena Reffai. This young girl was at the probation office to complain about the cruel treatment she had allegedly undergone at the hands of the recently appointed matron in the orphanage. "The probation officer had no sympathy for me. Instead, she yelled at me, indicating that she could not help me," she alleged.When the initial complaints were made to the probation officers, they had arrived at the orphanage and had a lengthy audience with the caretaker and the matron. According to the girls at the orphanage, following this visit, the attitude of the probation officers towards the girls was rather bias.

"The probation officers insisted that our personal accounts should be written in Sinhalese. However, nearly all 18 of us are Tamil literate. Therefore, we were compelled to narrate our stories to those who can write in Sinhala. We couldn't give our entire story as we were ashamed and shy to tell it to another. However, if we wrote it in Tamil, we could have been clearer," one of the girls told Ceylon Today.

This young girl had a story to tell. "There were 18 of us at the orphanage. We were taken to Uncle's office and abused. The orphanage had CCTV cameras installed in all quarters, including his office. Uncle had the CCTV in his office disconnected," she alleged.

No sympathetic ear

When the girls had reported to the matron, Zahira, about what was taking place, she had allegedly scolded the young girls and had refused to heed their complaints. Subsequently, when Dr. Reffai was informed of this, she too had turned a blind eye.

Speaking to Ceylon Today one of the girls claimed, "When we told Doctor Aunty (Dr. Reffai) she insisted that it would have been a mistake. Perhaps his hand might have accidentally touched us. However, there were 18 girls who had the same complaint." The young girl also alleged that 'the uncle's' friends and relatives regularly visited the orphanage and stayed over. As soon as the girls returned from school, they were expected to help with the preparation of meals.

"Doctor Aunty hardly ever visits the orphanage. She doesn't look into our needs," one of the girls said. She added that most of the girls were struggling with their education as they were uprooted from stable education and then transferred to Al Asafeer International School, which is run by Dr. Reffai's organization, Al muslimaath.

"Girls who were doing well in State schools in the Tamil medium were removed and put in lower grades of the international school. Some girls were removed from their Grade 5 Tamil medium class and put in Grade 2 of the international school," one of the victims claimed. When these girls turn 18 they will be in Grade 9, their education will be incomplete. The orphanage expects the girls to leave as soon as they complete 18 years, leaving them underequipped to face society.

"Doctor Aunty's daughter-in-law is the principal of the international school. When we told her that we cannot cope with this change, she assured us that she herself adjusted to a new environment at the age of 24," a girl said. A guardian of one of the girls added, "The principal is from an affluent environment, and these girls are from a lower social stratum. Her experience is different to ours."
Despite all these, the girls continue to live at the orphanage, and all of them complain that the incumbent matron, Jiffry miss, is "exacting revenge from those of us who complained of our plight to the authorities."

More allegations

One of the girls, who were more vocal in her complaint, alleged that she was administered psycho-active pills. "I was told by the matron that one of the pills was being administered as a nerve in my brain had gotten smaller," she alleged. However, her guardian was told that she was given the pill to ensure that she sleeps at night. The guardian alleged, "Due to the effect of the pills, the girl was suffering severe psychological side effects that caused her to self harm that ultimately resulted in her being admitted to the accident ward in the National Hospital. The doctors there had advised against her taking the pills." One of the girls told Ceylon Today, "We suffered a lot at the orphanage. We are sent to school even when we are sick, and we are not taken to the doctor. There was this girl who was very ill, but she was sent to school. She collapsed in school and then was rushed to the doctor. When we tell Doctor Aunty she keeps saying that she sent her children to school in rain or shine and insisted that we go to school whatever our circumstance is. There is an ongoing Court case. I hope we get redress."When Ceylon Today contacted Dr. Reffai, she declined to comment.

A temporary carer's
narrative
A clinical psychologist who wished to remain anonymous and his wife who had volunteered at the Darun Nusra orphanage, said he had taken the girl children at the orphanage, to and from school for a period of several days over the course of two weeks in the months of July and August, last year.
This had been subsequent to the arrest of the former matron at the orphanage and her husband, on 24 July 2017, (the latter a driver by profession, who has been accused of sexually abusing certain children at the orphanage premises and since been enlarged on bail).

The doctor and his wife had been involved in looking after the children when they were temporarily kept at the Kohuwala Police Station premises.

He said that during the period the Gangodawila Magistrate's Court had granted temporary custodianship of the children to his wife and a volunteer teacher at the orphanage on or around 26 July 2017.

He confirmed that children who had been in Grade Five at the State school, had since been placed at the International School, and put in Grade Two. He also noted that the school did not have the facilities of a proper school but in fact a house, which was in turn, visited by a few teachers whose standard of spoken English was poor.

"It is like a madrasa (a Muslim religious school teaching Islam). The teachers do not use proper English. The grammar used by the teachers is horrible. The education standard is really poor.

It is not really even Grade Two, because the education that they are receiving there is below even Grade One. There are no proper standards," he alleged.He also described the venture as an entity established for the purpose of making money as opposed to emphasis being placed on the aspect of educating the children.

"Al-Muslimath which operates the Darun Nusra orphanage, drums up a lot of publicity by selling the idea that they cater to orphans, and elsewhere to elders, and also the fact that they have a religious teaching component to the programme, to potential donors, in order to gain funding, of which they get a lot."

Lack of cooperation
from Police

The Department of Probation and Child Care Services (Western Province) said that action had since been taken via a departmental directive to remove the matron involved in the alleged assault of the girl, as assault is not an action the Department condones in any way, even for the purposes of disciplining children or warning them to refrain from certain behaviour and conduct.

A top Departmental official who wished to remain anonymous said that they were of the view that a child's education should not take a regressive path (of moving backward in one's education where for an example, a child studying in Grade Five in the Tamil medium need not and should not be placed in Grade Two in the English medium), and that therefore if a child facing such an issue requests a transfer from where they are presently studying at, such would be arranged for by the Department.
However, she added that there was a question regarding the facilities available and afforded to the child, in that the Department could not guarantee the facilities available in one orphanage in another, even within the same area, owing to the fact that the majority of the orphanages were maintained privately and therefore there were disparities in the sources of funding. For an example, one orphanage in Kaleliya may not have a continued water supply, while another in Dehiwala would have an ample water supply.

Furthermore, the official bemoaned what she claimed was a lack of cooperation on the part of the Police when it came to notifying the Department of Probation on certain matters, even though they are legally bound to do so.

Section 17(1) of the Children and Young Persons Ordinance holds that the Police, specifically the Officer-in-Charge of the Police Station to which the child in question has been taken to, should notify the relevant Probation officer/s of the area coming under the said Court's jurisdiction, in the event a child or young person is to be produced before a Court in relation to a child or young person in need of care and protection. Section 17(2) of the said Ordinance further states that upon receipt of such notification, it is the relevant Probation officer/s who should investigate the matter and assist the Court by making available to the Court information pertaining to the home surroundings, school record and health of the minor in question. In this particular instance, the Probation officer/s had provided the Police officers who visited the orphanage with their contact numbers, yet on the date of the Court hearing, the Probation officers had not been informed, she explained. "Even if the Probation officer living in the area is at fault or the people who deal with the officer in question do not have any faith or trust in the said officer, there is a procedure in informing such. Yet, the Department never gets the complaint. It is the Police who get the information. In this process, we are unfortunately being bypassed despite the legal provisions being in the place. For an example, if the alleged assault on the child, although the nature of her injuries are not known to us, if such had been informed or reported to us, in such an instance, we would definitely take action including legal measures, against the matron in charge."

MMDA, ACJU & Pussyfooted Reformers

By Ameer Ali –January 6, 2018

The need for reforming the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act is long overdue. After a long gestation the Sri Lankan Government, quite appropriately, appointed a committee of Muslim experts in the field, chaired by a Supreme Court Judge, to make recommendations. The All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama, a conservative religious body with close ties with Saudi Arabia and Gulf States, appears to have scuttled that committee’s original recommendations and forced a dissenting report with the support of anti-reformers in the committee. Now there are two reports, and, yet a third “divided report”, which should have been finalised in December last year has not seen the light yet. In the meantime the Regional Councils Elections have caught up the attention of Muslim politicians and nothing may happen until that circus is over. However, one outcome is certain from this prolonged saga. There will be a legislation in the Parliament sometime this year which will only reflect centuries old Muslim matrimonial status quo with perhaps some cosmetic changes in the name of reforms.    

  

In reality the issue facing the Muslims is much deeper and more challenging than what this legal tug-of-war over MMDA entails. The ACJU always takes refuge under the cover of the so called sharia (Divine Law) for whatever that it advocates, which makes the challengers pussyfooted for fear of being branded as heretics by ACJU hierocracy. ACJU also claims that it has the ultimate say in interpreting what sharia contains and instructing how it should be implemented. It is time that this fallacious posture is intellectually countered and demolished so that a liberal, discursive and pluralistic environment, like that existed between the 9^th and the 11^th centuries, is created for introducing constructive reforms to be implemented for the sake of Muslim community’s progress, peace and prosperity.

The term sharia is opportunistically exploited not only by organizations like ACJU and others who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo but also by Muslim governments and Muslim politicians who employs it as the last resort to rally mass support to their otherwise dwindling popularity. It is the general contention of Islamic orthodoxy that what it calls as the sharia law is celestially authored and no terrestrial body has the power to change it.  This is factually and historically erroneous because firstly, nowhere in the Holy Quran, which is believed to be the word of God, could one find a comprehensive list of laws governing all aspects of a Muslim’s life to be called Divine Laws. Even a few that are found scattered in the text would look more like an option than a prescription if the Quran is contextually analysed. The Quran is definitely not a legal document. In fact, according the Syrian-born Islamologist Bassam Tibi, whose evidence comes from Mohammed Said al-Ashmawi’s masterpiece Usul al-Sharia (The Origins of the Sharia), the word sharia occurs only once in the Quran and that too not in a legal but ethical and moral sense. In chapter 45, verse 18 the Quran says, “Then We put thee on the (right) Way of religion: so follow thou that (way), and follow not the desires of those who know not.” The “(right Way)” is sharia, as Yusuf Ali translates. Also, Muhammad Assad in his Message of the Quran, elaborates the literal meaning of this word as “the way to a watering place”. Therefore, to link sharia with law is factually incorrect. Even if we accept for argument sake that sharia is Divine Law who in the world would know those laws better than the Divine itself. Even the Prophet did not have that privilege.

 

However, the Quran has signs and guidance for humanity from which humans could derive laws to conduct themselves in the “right way”. Historically, Muslim jurists and the ulama of the golden era of Islam who were not only well versed in religious knowledge but also in other intellectual disciplines – a condition largely ignored by today’s ulama – used their critical mind and thought process to derive such laws that have come to be known as fiqh. Within Sunni Islam there are now four eponymous fiqhcorpuses named after their authors. The one that is largely adopted in Sri Lanka is that of Muhammad Idris bin al-Shafi (767-820).

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First ever open heart surgery in Jaffna

By Ananth Palakidnar-2018-01-07

The Jaffna Teaching Hospital which suffered greatly during the war has now proved itself to be one of the premier medical institutions in the Island with a successful open heart surgery performed at the hospital a few days before Christmas on 20 December last year.

In the mid eighties, there were plans to shift the hospital from its present location, due to clashes between the Armed Forces and Tamil militants.

One of the wards in the Jaffna hospital was also damaged severely when a mortar shell pierced its roof. However, on that occasion, the patients in the ward escaped without any physical injury.

But in October 1987, a worse fate befell the hospital when over 60 people, including several senior doctors and patients were gunned down by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) who moved into the premises after taking control of Jaffna city from the LTTE.

The Hospital, for students of the Jaffna Medical Faculty also saw a significant number of senior lecturers migrating to foreign countries due to the war.

The gunning down of Forensic expert Dr. Rajini Thiranagama in 1987 was another tragedy for Jaffna's Medical Faculty.

Elite club

However, despite the many hardships and tragedy, Jaffna's doctors proved their brilliance with the open heart surgery performed two weeks back.

Cardiothoracic Surgeon Dr. Sithamparanathan Mukunthan, who headed the successful team of doctors as well the other doctors who carried out the surgery are products of the Jaffna Medical Faculty.

By carrying out this surgery, Jaffna Teaching Hospital has joined an elite club of only four national hospitals which have performed open heart surgeries successfully, according to Hospital Director, Dr. T. Sathyamoorthy.

Sathyamoorthy also spoke of the cardiac unit which functioned thirty years ago at the hospital where eminent doctors such as Dr. Stephan, Dr. R. Natkunam and Dr. Rudra Rajaratnam had rendered their services until 1984.

According to him, one of the pioneer surgeons in the country, the late Dr. A. T. S. Paul had arrived at the Jaffna Hospital in the late sixties to perform heart surgeries.

Heart surgeries were carried out in the past under the Closed Mitral Valvotomy (CMV) system (PDA Ligation ASD Closure).

However, under the latest system, the functions of the heart and the lungs could be stopped completely and surgeries could be performed for long hours.

This particular new method of heart surgery is carried out with the help of a Cardio Pulmonary Bypass Machine.

Cardio Pulmonary Bypass (CPB) is a technique that temporarily takes over the function of the heart and lungs during surgery, maintaining the circulation of blood and the oxygen content of the patient's body.

According to Senior Cardiologist, Dr. Poopalan Luxman, the successful team was led by 47-year-old Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon Dr. S. Mukunthan and consisted of Consultant Anaesthetists, Cardiologists and operators of the CPB Machine with the support staff of theatre nurses and attendants.

Tireless effort

Sathyamoorthy added that when Mukunthan assumed his duties at the Jaffna Hospital a year ago, the latest facilities to operate a fully-fledged Cardiac Surgical Unit were not available at the hospital.
However, Mukunthan had made a tireless effort to create a state-of-the-art surgical theatre within a period of one year with equipment such as the CPB machine.

The nurses and other support staff of the Cardiac Surgical Unit of the Hospital were trained in Colombo on his directive.

Dr. Sathyamoorthy thanked the Minister of Health Dr. Rajitha Senaratne for his immense contribution towards developing the Hospital and the enthusiasm expressed by him in creating a well equipped open heart surgery unit with the latest equipment in Jaffna.

He also pointed out that there are only two beds available at the Intensive Care Unit to treat patients after heart surgeries and emphasised the need of creating a more spacious environment and more support staff.

There are already 360 patients who have registered with the Jaffna Teaching Hospital to undergo heart surgeries.

Therefore with the help of the Government, the Jaffna Teaching Hospital intends to expand its Cardiac Surgery Unit this year in order to perform Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery (CABG) and Valve Replacement Surgery and to obtain all the necessary, latest equipment.

As part of the successful team, chief heart surgical theatre nurse Christopher Rameshkumar and Consultant Anaesthesiologist Dr. S. Premkrishna also contributed in a significant manner.

The first ever highly successful open heart surgery at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital was entirely supported by the Ministry of Health.

Local Elections and Bond Effects:How wounded is the PM? How wound up is the President? What of Basil’s SLPP?

Rajan Philips-January 6, 2018, 7:07 pm 

The pundits have already declared the February 10 local government elections as a national referendum on the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government. The President’s statement on the findings of the Bond Commission report now provides a specific context or framework for that referendum. The implications of that framework will be endlessly parsed and presaged by pundits. But what effect will the President’s revelations from the Commission report have on the voting public? That is the question that will keep political junkies curious for the next four weeks. A no less curious question is how the report and its handling by the President will change the internal dynamic within political parties/alliances, and between them – especially within the government and between the Siamese twins that the SLFP has become. The ‘internal dynamic’ may or may not be significant enough to influence the local vote, but the results of the local vote will have quite an impact on the post-election relationships within and outside the government. Even the continuation of the Sirisena-Wickremasinghe government might come into question.

The uniquely depressing aspect of the whole political business of today is that it is not at all about anything seriously political. There are no serious political issues, ideas or programs driving this so called national referendum over national politics. There is nothing in it that is comparable to the great political controversies of the past. The country and its politics may have taken, and they sure did take, the wrong turn at critical moments, but political leaders in the past were serious about the positions they took. And however politically mistaken past leaders may have been in their positions, there was nothing in it for them personally or for their families as it is so crassly now. There is nothing seriously political that differentiates one party or alliance from another. It is a sad commentary on contemporary politics to see seasoned commentators, yours truly not excluded, formulating current electoral politics in terms of old political questions. What we are really doing is trying to re-live the serious politics of the past in the crass and charlatan politics of the present.

Political Superstructure

It is futile to look for underlying social and political forces to make sense of the ongoing political parody. The political superstructure has got a surreal life of its own. The electoral base can only play with the candidate cards that are dealt before it by political party leaders and their servile party bureaucrats. We have seen how inconsequential the nominally historic victory of January 2015 and its sequel in August 2015 have so far proved themselves to be. So it is fair to ask the question as to what worthy consequence can we expect from the February elections to local bodies – the lowest rung in the political ladder. Nonetheless and at long last there will be local elections at considerable expense and effort, election campaigns with no less expense or effort, and there will be results. There are a host of questions to excite the politically excitable. Who will win the largest number of local bodies, and who is going to end up third? What will be the national vote breakdown between parties and alliances? Who will win control of the prize municipality of Colombo and other major urban centres – Galle and Kandy? How will the elections play out outside the seven provinces – in the North and East?

In the aftermath of the bond report, there will be equally exciting questions about the campaign tactics of the President and the SLFP, the rearguard defences of the PM and the UNP, and the palpably wrong-footed and unexciting campaign start of Basil Rajapaksa’s SLPP. The larger speculative question is about the effect the report will have on the shifting voting trends from 2006 through 2011 to 2015. More importantly, what impact will the bond revelations have on voter enthusiasm and voter turnout? The most responsible national concern ought to be about the gross neglect of local issues and local priorities in local government elections. None of the political parties or alliances, perhaps with the partial exception of the JVP, is taking any interest in local issues. All of them are officially considering the local election to be a national referendum to flex their muscle and throw mud at one another.

This will not be first time that local elections are going to be a parody of national politics. The rot started in 1988 when the system of local government based on municipalities, urban and town councils and village councils was replaced by a plethora of Pradeshiya Sabhas, and the election of ‘ward members’ gave way to voting for a list of party candidates. Local government was uploaded and centralized, and local democracy was usurped by party bureaucracy. The February 10 elections are going to be on a system of mixed representation – 60% comprising first-past-the-post ward members, and 40% according to proportion of votes in each local body. And 25% of the elected officials are guaranteed to be women. Will their presence in the campaign and in elected councils make a difference? Or, are they to be mere appendages to male-dominated party establishments?

Any prospect for fundamental changes will not depend on who wins a majority of the local bodies – but how the campaign and the results will change the internal structure and dynamic of the UNP, the SLFP(s) and their alliances. To be brutally frank, can any one of the main parties be of any promise to the country so long as their current leaders remain in leadership positions? Do these parties have the rebellious resources to push out the old and bring in the new? Do the old fogey leaders have the wisdom to prepare for orderly succession and avoid disorderly exits? It is too much to expect the local elections and the bond report to trigger any or all of these changes. But they could at least show us which way the country and its politics are heading.

Voting trends and prospects

In the last two local elections in 2006 and 2011, the UNP was simply decimated. The Rajapaksa juggernaut did to the UNP what the UNP juggernaut under JRJ and Premadasa had been doing to the SLFP in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. In 2006 and 2011, the SLFP virtually swept the board in the seven provinces and made gains in the Eastern Province through its minority proxy parties. The only oasis of respite for the UNP was the Colombo municipality, where the Rajapaksas came up short despite fielding star mayoral candidates: Vasudeva Nanayakkara from the Left in 2006, and Milinda Moragoda from the Right in 2011. The situation is reversed now, with the UNP as the leading government party and aiming to do well in the local elections overall, while also eying to keep its big trophy in Colombo and parading Rosy Senanayake as its star candidate for Mayor.

It is reasonable to expect the UNP to do better in 2018 than its performances in 2006 and 2011. It cannot do worse even if the bond scam is the only election question. But how much better can the UNP do? Ordinarily, UNP strategists would have taken much comfort from the vote shifts between 2011 and 2015. But they would be stupid to take anything for granted in light of the Bond Report and the stink it has created. This is what anyone could glean from the vote shifts between 2011 and 2015.

In the 2011 local elections, the UNP alliance hit its absolute nadir in national vote, polling only 2.7 million (32%) against the SLFP/UPFA’s 4.8 million (56%). All the others combined for a total of one million votes. The total valid votes were 8.5 million representing 65% voter turnout. The UNP won majority in only nine local bodies as opposed to SLFP/UPFA’s massive 270. Even the TNA fared much better than the UNP with 32 local bodies for a vote tally of 255,000.

Fast forward to 2015 January presidential election and the parliamentary election in August: In the presidential election, Mahinda Rajapaksa polled 5.8 million votes against Maithripala Sirisena’s 6.2 million votes, and the total valid votes were 12.1 million. In the August parliamentary election the SLFP/UPFA vote (including both Rajapaksa and Sirisena factions) dropped to 4.7 million, a million lower than in January, and 100,000 lower than the local elections in 2011. The vote for the UNP alliance shot up to 5.1 million in contrast to its 2011 nadir of 2.7 million. The total valid votes in August were 11.2 million (about a million less than in January), and the non-major parties totalled 1.3 million with the TNA and the JVP each polling over a half a million votes. The voter turnout in August 2015 was 77%, 12% higher than in the 2011 local elections.

Now there has been much commentary that the UNP alliance’s 5.1 million votes in August 2015 should not be taken as votes in the bank for the UNP in the upcoming local elections. The breakdown of votes between different parties presents a more optimistic picture at least for the UNP about its support base. The 6.2 million votes polled by Maithripala Sirisena as the common opposition candidate drew from multiple parties but the vast majority of the votes came from the UNP. In the August election almost all the other common opposition parties contested separately amassing a grand total of 1.3 million votes. There were not significant vote gathering parties in the UNP alliance in August 2015 to make a claim to a significant portion of the alliance’s 5.1 million votes. The only unknown, to my mind, is the number traditional SLFP votes that may have gone to the UNP alliance. Admittedly, there were a handful of SLFPers who were contesting as UNP alliance candidates but the vast majority of the SLFP votes would have stayed with the SLFP/UPFA alliance.

My point in all this is that ordinarily, the vote shifts between 2011 and 2015 would have placed the UNP in a pretty comfortable position for the upcoming local elections. The split of the SLFP base between Sirisena (SLFP/UPFA) and Rajapaksa (SLPP/JO) would have been an additional fillip to UNP fortunes. The partial (60%) re-introduction of the first-past-the-post system would also have been of advantage to the UNP. While the UNP could not have repeated the SLFP/UPFA sweeps of the local bodies in 2006 and 2011, the UNP could certainly have done much better than it did either in 2006 or 2011. Of the three main contestants, the UNP could have won control of most of the local bodies.

However, in the aftermath of the Bond report and revelations, the UNP cannot take anything for granted and nothing is certain for anybody. The UNP’s predicaments do not necessarily give much advantage to the SLFP/UPFA or the SLPP/JO. The latter two have their own problems. Overall the elections in the seven provinces are a three-horse race, but none of the three horses are fit and ready for the race. In the North, the TNA will have to deal alone with its provincial detractors, while in the East the TNA is likely to have electoral arrangements with Muslim parties to keep its detractors at bay. The bond issue is unlikely to be echoed in the two provinces, but the TNA will be forced to show what benefits it has obtained for the war-affected areas and victims. Equally, it will be asked to outline its plans for the future in light of the goings-on in Colombo.

Bond Effects

There is no question the Bond Report is hurtful to the UNP. The effects will be two fold – among the party organizers and in the party’s support base. It was already known that there were rumblings among UNPers that the first bond scandal cost the party its parliamentary majority in the August 2015 election. How much more rumblings there will be if the UNP fails to win control of a majority of the local bodies on February 10? It is unlikely that UNP voters will vote with their feet by going over to Maithripala Sirisena or Mahinda Rajapaksa, but if they are disgusted enough by the bond scandal they may end up not turning out to vote at all. Voter apathy was certainly the main factor in the low vote tally of 2.7 million in the 2011 local government election. Along with apathy, there could be real anger this time over the bond scandal.

But there is also the difference that the UNP is now a governing party unlike in 2006 or 2011 when it was hopelessly out of contention for power. It would be instructive to see if the UNP leadership would try to counter the fallout from the bond scandal by displaying its governmental power to its supporters. That could backfire the way it did when Mahinda Rajapaksa brazenly tried to run for a third term in office. The UNP version of the Rajapaksa brazenness would be to allow Ravi Karunanayake play a leading role in the local election campaign regardless of the Bond Commission’s damning findings against him. Obviously, the Prime Minister has not shown he has the gumption to fire the former minister from the party hierarchy. The question is if the PM will at least show moral sensibility and ask Ravi Karunanayake to stay out of the election campaign. There have been reports that several UNPers have started asking to cut loose Karunanayake from the campaign team. Will their prayers be answered? How will Rosy Senanayake rate her chances in the Colombo mayoral contest with Ravi Karunanayake as her campaign chaperon?

As I indicated in the title of this article, how wounded is Prime Minister Wickremasinghe by the bond scandal? There is no question that the political responsibility for the whole sordid mess is his and his alone. He may get away with the local government election, but he is far too much damaged to be a future presidential candidate. He may not be the most appropriate person to lead the party even in the next parliamentary election. In British parliamentary politics, political parties devour their leaders even when they are Prime Ministers. There is a long list of consecutive Tory Prime Ministers from Churchill to Thatcher brought down by their own parties. That is not the tradition in Sri Lanka. Nor is there a tradition of voluntary retirement from party leadership. Wouldn’t it be apt and decent for our party leaders to start such a tradition and work out their own orderly succession?

For all its predicaments, the UNP can still count on the difficulties of its adversaries. President Sirisena has deservedly carved out a yahapalanaya niche for himself by launching the Bond Commission and reaping its findings. But his efforts are not obviously helping him to consolidate the SLFP. Nor are they sufficient to make an impact on the local elections. He must be relentless in seeing through the full implementation of the recommendations of the Commission including the indictments. He should equally initiate and persist with other probes into misdoings both before and after 2015. But he runs the risk in overplaying the bond scam and the Commission’s findings for electoral purposes. Beyond a certain point, his use of the Bond Report is not going to help the SLFP garner more votes or win more local bodies. But the risk in overplaying it is in alienating the Prime Minister and breaking up the partnership between the two.

The difficulties facing the Rajapaksa camp are not surprising. Like Prime Minister Wickremesinghe pretending that it is all business as usual for his side of the government regardless of the bond scandal, the Rajapaksas have been pretending to themselves that they can just slide back into power regardless of their own scandals simply by holding rallies and fielding candidates. The unpopularity of the government would be enough to storm them back to power – that has been the premise. The new party (SLPP) that Basil Rajapksa and GL Peiris (what a pair!) launched has hardly taken a flying start to this campaign. It has run into all kinds of organizational difficulties and internal acrimonies. Those who were gung ho about a JO victory have gone quiet. They are even quieter about the fact that Gotabaya Rajapaksa, their prize fighter for the next presidential election, has taken leave of absence from Sri Lankan politics and is now resting in the US until the local elections are over. Apparently, he was not happy with the way his brother Basil handled and botched the unity talks between the two SLFPs.

No one should be surprised if the voters return a ‘hung verdict’ – no one emerging as a clear winner and each party claiming selective victory. A hung verdict will be most pleasing to President Sirisena, that is to say he can save face if he is in a pack of three with close tallies rather than ending up a distant third behind the other two contenders. The reality is that after the election and for the next two years, just as it is now, President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe cannot be without one another. One cannot get rid of the other, and the two need each other to remain officially relevant. They are also the only two people with an agenda for government that most Sri Lankans can relate to and hold them accountable far. The bond scam has scuppered the agenda and whatever prospect there was for good governance. Regardless of the outcome of the February 10 elections, the President and the Prime Minister will have two years left to see if they can salvage something before their day of reckoning finally arrives.

Has Bond Commission ‘Cleared’ PM Of Any ‘Involvement’?

By Amrit Muttukumaru –January 6, 2018

Although we the commoners have to await the Bond Commission Report being placed in the public domain prior to commenting whether there is a silver lining for our beloved country wallowing in the mire of virtual unrestrained corruption, Cabinet Minister Faizer Mustapha has affirmed:

“Bond Commission had clearly said that there was no involvement whatsoever by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in the bond controversy.”

This is preposterous since at the core of the alleged Bond Scam are the following indisputable facts:

 

Core of Bond Scam

1) ‘Conflict of interest’ arising from then Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran’s son-in-law, Arjun Aloysius – owning/controlling PTL (Perpetual Treasuries Limited) – a Primary Dealer.

2) Arjuna Mahendran – a foreign national being handpicked for the position of Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) by the Prime Minister although aware of the ‘Conflict of interest’. The PM himself confirmed this in his affidavit and while testifying before the PCoI.

3) The CBSL the issuing agency for Treasury Bonds which normally falls under the Ministry of Finance being brought under the purview of the Prime Minister.

4) The PM continued to have Mahendran as CBSL Governor although he was aware that Mahendran had reneged on his ‘assurance’ to him that his son-in-law (Arjun Aloysius) will sever all links with PTL prior to his appointment as CBSL Governor.

 

5) The PM robustly defended and endorsed Mahendran for a second term despite the widespread perception of Mahendran’s role in the alleged Bond Scam.

6) Being fully confident on the propriety of the issuance of Bonds, the PM robustly defended the same in Parliament despite the evidence that subsequently transpired before the PCoI.

7) During his testimony at the Bond Commission the PM stated: “Mr. Aloysius did say to me he need bit of time to dispose his share holding to get good price. (shares of Perpetual Treasuries Ltd or shares he held in other entity in the name of PTL). I met him (Aloysius) at one or two parties, and there he told me that he was pursuing his interests in Mendis distilleries.”

What is at issue is the integrity of the CBSL. How can the PM who is also responsible for the CBSL even consider a “bit of time” to resolve a ‘conflict of interest’ concerning the Governor and that too articulated “at one or two parties”?

Other Issues

1) R. Paskaralingam is Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister.

It was revealed by the Chairmen and senior officials concerned of the Bank of Ceylon, People’s Bank and National Savings Bank during their testimony at the PCoI that then Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake had ‘instructed’ them at two meetings convened by him in March 2016 “to make bids at the treasury bond auctions at lower interest (yield) rates” resulting in their respective banks being deprived of ‘substantial profits’. It was alleged during their testimony that these ‘instructions’ were given in the presence of the PM’s Senior Advisor, R. Paskaralingam.

The PM in his affidavit denied any knowledge of such meetings and in his testimony also denied any knowledge of his Senior Advisor attending such meetings. If indeed Mr. Paskaralingam attended these meetings, would it not have been SOLELY in his capacity as Senior Advisor to the PM? Is there not a major management failure in this respect? Surely the country does not need the services of McKinsey & Company to arrive at this conclusion!

Those who testified included: Chairman, Bank of Ceylon (Ronald Perera), Chairman, People’s Bank (Hemasiri Fernando) and Chairman, National Savings Bank (Aswin de Silva)

2) Dr. Harsha de Silva is Deputy Minister, Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs where the Prime Minister is the Minister in charge.

On his role in the controversial ‘footnotes’ saga in the alleged Treasury Bond scam, ‘The Sunday Times’ of 30 October 2016 reported as follows:

“As is clear, the thrust of these footnotes is to make clear that Mahendran has not been responsible of any impropriety.

The UNP is confident that it can, through the documentation Deputy Minister Harsha de Silva has received, prove its case that its man Arjuna Mahendran is not to blame.”

Response to Journalist on ‘Footnotes’

“Minister do you at any point now regret the footnotes on that COPE report? Going by what is being revealed now, do you regret it or was there a lack of information at that point?”

Watch his response from (21:25:40) – what does it indicate?

Although requested, to date Dr. de Silva has not clarified this position.

3) Ms. Rosy Senanayake is Deputy Chief of Staff in the Prime Minister’s ‘Core Team’ at ‘Temple Trees’.

It was alleged at the Bond Commission that COPE documents relating to PTL CEO Kasun Palisena’s testimony was given to ‘PTL owner’ Arjun Aloysius by “Rosy’s son” identified as “Kanishka Senanayake”.

This has been denied by Ms. Senanayake on the grounds she was not a COPE member after the August 2015 parliamentary elections. Does not the question arise whether in her capacity as ‘Deputy Chief of Staff’ in the PM’s ‘core team’ she would have access to COPE reports? Although requested, to date she has not clarified this position.

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A shameful saga of monumental corruption

 

Sunday, January 07, 2018
Auspicious times or not, Sri Lanka certainly rang in 2018 singularly inauspiciously as damning revelations of the monumental financial scam right in the bowels of the nation’s Central Bank were revealed to a badly shell-struck public even as the New Year had scarce been allowed to draw its breath.

Fairy tales on battling corruption

The contrast could not be more grotesque. On the one hand, grizzled farmers stood in the scorching sun, pitifully roaring that they were being reduced to beggars as they could not farm their paddy lands without fertilizer. On the other hand, Colombo became the epicenter of a perfect example of how millions can be plundered by slick crooks in immaculate suits and designer watches.

Even as the revelations unfolded, who could be blamed for being cynical regarding promises to recover the loot of the Rajapaksas stashed away in foreign banks? What credibility, the reform of the law couched in abstract if not esoteric terms when even existing laws on gross corruption are deliberately undermined in order to serve selfish political agendas? Who believes these fairy tales?

Those in power may bluster that they will continue to hold on to power till 2020. But they have frittered away an enormous amount of goodwill with which the Government was elected into power. As each crisis unfolds on top of another, the cumulative impact is disastrous.

Cover-up bad as the scam itself

President Maithripala Sirisena’s summarizing of the final report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the issue of Treasury Bonds of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) this week illustrates one stage of an utterly disgraceful saga of events. Let us not forget that the attempted cover up of the scam was as bad as the scam itself. For that, the Government must take full responsibility, include those ‘talking heads’ of the United National Party who inserted ‘footnotes’ in the earlier report of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) headed by JVP parliamentarian Sunil Handunnetti on the Treasury bond matter.

At that time, unconvincing protests by these ‘talking heads’ on national television were that, at best, what had occurred between the father-in-law (former Governor of Central Bank, Arjuna Mahendran) and the son-in-law (head of Perpetual Treasuries Arjun Aloysius) was a petty conflict of interest. Outrage was expressed and scandalized eyebrows were raised at the very idea that financial skullduggery had been committed.

Well, now with the findings of the Commission out in the public domain, it is clear that these excuses were a weak cover-up for what had actually transpired. Let it be said that attempts to cover-up were equally as disgraceful as the behavior of those named by the Commission for being directly implicated in the scandal.

Enormity of the fraud

The enormity of the fraud that had been committed will no doubt, take time to sink into the nation’s consciousness. As the statement by the President reveals, the Commission’s findings were deadly. Its mandate was to inquire into the issuance of treasury bonds during 1st February 2015 to 31st March 2016, to ascertain the facts regarding allegations of corruption and mismanagement and to recommend steps to be implemented in the future.

Former Governor of Central Bank, Arjuna Mahendran was castigated for interfering into Treasury bond auctions ‘through a process of incorrect and unconventional methods.’ Affirming that he was responsible for providing internal information to outsiders, allowing his son-in-law of Perpetual Treasuries to obtain undue and illegal monetary gains of an extent that is monumental, CBSL officials and ‘some external parties’ were also held to be implicated.

The Commission recommended criminal and civil court action by the Criminal Investigations Department and the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption against the implicated individuals including against former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake. This barefaced robbery of public funds was assessed as having started even earlier, from the time of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2008. It was recommended that the Central Bank of Sri Lanka conduct a forensic audit with regard to alleged fraud and corrupt practices from 2008 onwards with legal action to be taken consequentially. It is stated that it was during this time that funds of the Employment Provident Fund (EPF) had been mostly lost.
No ‘political’ directions required

Meanwhile the question as to what legal consequences should follow from the Commission findings led to much scratching of confused heads, some of it engineered but some undoubtedly genuine. Should the President ‘direct’ the Attorney General to take action on the report? And what meanwhile of the Prime Minister whose response was that the report of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) headed by JVP parliamentarian Sunil Handunnetti on the Treasury bond matter had been referred to the Attorney General on October 31, 2016, (compromised footnotes and all, we would presume)?

The law itself is, of course, clear. The President or the Prime Minister is not required to ‘direct’ anything in terms of the law. Neither is the media required to speculate on that basis. Section 23 of the Commissions of Inquiry Amendment Act, No 16 of 2008 categorically states that ‘it shall be lawful for the Attorney-General to institute criminal proceedings in a court of law in respect of any offence.-based on material collected in the course of an investigation or inquiry or both an investigation and inquiry, as the case may be, by a Commission of Inquiry appointed under this Act.’ Importantly, this is affirmed as operating ‘notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, No. 15 of 197 9 or any other law.’

It was precisely due to the impact of the Commission proceedings on an eventual criminal prosecution that the head of Perpetual Treasuries Arjun Aloysius was permitted by the Commission to plead the privilege against self-incrimination when an imaginative counsel advanced the same on his behalf before the Commission. Opinions may differ on whether Aloysius should have been allowed the benefit of that privilege or not as the case may be. But the fact that the law must now be activated is without a doubt.

Rascally politicians must not be allowed to escape

No doubt this is perhaps the very first Commission Report which took Sri Lanka metaphorically by its neck and forced it to see an ugly truth. But it must not end there. A hapless Attorney General must not be left to hold the blame with rascally politicians wriggling clear of the consequences.

The President cannot merely talk of corrupt politicians from both major parties and pledge that he ‘would not hesitate to take steps to recover the loss’ caused to the government and take legal action against the offenders.’

The reservoir of good faith with which promises were believed in the past has now run dry. There is a serious crisis of public confidence in both the Presidency and the Government. That must be addressed forthwith.

CB governor alleges political ulterior motive in campaign against him

* Slams DEW and Jayaratne
* Defends son-in-law’s primary dealership
* Justifies BoC bankrolling Perpetual Treasuries bids
* Refuses to divulge details of primary dealers’ bids
* Claims economic growth accelerated after change of govt.

 

By C. A. Chandraprema-May 19, 2016, 12:00 pm 

Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran’s term of office ends in June this year. There have been calls from opposition politicians as well as good governance activists for the government to investigate alleged malpractices in the issuance of treasury bonds during his tenure before reappointing him for another term. One of the bond issues was investigated by the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) but parliament was dissolved just before the day on which the report of the COPE sub-committee headed by D. E. W. Gunasekera was to be tabled inP. In this exclusive interview with The Island, Governor Mahendran contests the allegations against him.

CB governor alleges political ulterior motive in campaign against him.docx by Thavam on Scribd

P.M. to the fore to implement Bond Commission report recommendations! Perpetual Treasuries barred for 6 months !

(Lanka-e-News - 06.Jan.2018, 10.35AM) A discussion chaired by Prime minister (P.M.)  Ranil Wickremesinghe was held at Temple trees on the 5 th with a view to expedite the recommendations made in the Bond Commission report .

The P.M. gave instructions to the Central Bank Governor to commence  implementation of  the recommendations after  holding discussions with the Finance Committee as soon as the full report is out.

In addition a forensic audit inquiry shall be conducted in accordance with the recommendation in the report towards which a suitable local or foreign Institution is being sought , the Central Bank governor revealed. 

As the Commission has recommended that all the corruption and malpractices during the period between 2008 and 2015  shall  be investigated and legal action be taken ,  the need to preserve and protect the Central bank files was  discussed at the meeting. This task was entrusted to the Committee comprised of the Central Bank Governor , Secretary to the Treasury and secretary to the Ministry of law and order. 

Finance minister Mangala Samaraweera , Law and order as well as Southern development minister Sagala Ratnayake , State minister for national policies and economic affairs Niroshan Perera , State minister of Finance Eran Wickremeratne ,Deputy minister of national policy and economic affairs Dr. Harsha De Silva , Secretary to P.M. Saman Ekanayake , Treasury Secretary Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunge , Secretary to national policy and economic affairs K.D.S Ruwanchandra, secretary to ministry of law and order  and Southern development Padmasiri Jayamanne , and Central Bank Governor Dr.Indrajith Coomaraswamy attended the discussion . 

Following the discussion ,  it was decided that the Perpetual Treasuries Co. be precluded from the Central  Bank’s  primary marketing for the next six months with effect from yesterday (05).  The business of the Company  was suspended earlier on.

Meanwhile the chairman of the Flower Bud party Dr. G.L. Peiris addressing a media briefing said , legal action cannot be filed against the former Governor of Central Bank Arjun Mahendran. He reminded everyone  that Arjun Mahendran was appointed by the president and no other.

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by     (2018-01-06 05:13:05)

Happiness In The End What Matters To People

By Lacille De Silva –January 7, 2018

Our parliamentary system, at a glance,  was a straight forward modus operandi at the time we got independence from our colonial masters, the United Kingdom. In the past therefore we had elections and bye-elections at regular intervals. The process had been deviously transformed since 1970s, by corrupt politicians, which is far more complicated now in both theory and practice. They introduced the preferential voting system. In my view, it is not the people they represent now. They represent their political parties, their unions, families, friends, businesses and their well-being. In this regard, a political commentator had defined representation – “as a set of procedures or rules that select people to formulate and legislate the public in an accountable way…. representation is the accountable aggregation of interests”.  They concealed all the shortcomings and deviously ignored values and ethics.

A representative democracy is often poetically described as a government “of the people, by the people, for the people”. They thought the purpose of the public service was to deceive the General public. They create the ground to elect a breed of representatives of the calibre that suits the rulers to strengthen their political power. They had introduced amendments to the Constitution and other laws to strengthen the government in power. In post-war Sri Lanka , we now need consensus not majoritarian approach. Our representatives should be capable of finding solutions through consensus. Mrs. Navaneetham Pillai, the then UN – High Commissioner having visited Sri Lanka in her report had stated  in her report – “the war may have ended, but in the meantime democracy has been undermined and the rule of law eroded (….) Sri Lanka, despite the opportunity provided by the end of the war to construct a new vibrant, all embracing state, is showing signs of heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction”.

They nevertheless celebrated recently the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Parliamentary system in 1947. Since gaining independence, Sri Lanka, classified as a developing country, has experienced two major armed conflicts, involving Sinhala youth and a war involving Tamil youth, mainly from Northern and Eastern provinces. Due to these ordeals, thousands of lives, properties etc., had been lost. The roots of all these problems lay in the political weakness, absence of altruistic politicians, misrule, corruption, evil motives, their greed for personal aggrandizement and power. Systemic corruption has corroded the entire public sector, undermined the public interests and reduced funding for education, health, transport etc. The country now needs an efficient, effective and exemplary public service.

 

We could presently experience a virtual collapse of the state or the institutional structure. I would believe it was not so bad even during the war. Economic growth is inadequate to create employment opportunities. Democracy too has been compromised. The political system has failed to create necessary reforms to achieve development and growth. The art of practicing continuous deception has paved the way for a gloomy future full of troubles. They have continuously failed to find the best possible ways to ensure harmony and progress for the countrymen, the society. Aristotle had said “At his best,  man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice, he is the worst”. In Switzerland, probably because of the nature of the human beings, they have taken steps to enshrine their development policy in the Federal Constitution – “shall contribute, among other things, to giving relief to populations in need and fighting poverty as well as promoting the respect for human rights, democracy,  peaceful co-existence between peoples and conservation of natural resources (Article 54 (2) of the Swiss Constitution.

Having ended the war, how did the former regime fail to transform Sri Lanka to become the “WONDER OF ASIA”, as promised. Shouldn’t they have learnt lessons from the post-war transformation in Japan, because it was a miracle.  Japan was a ‘phoenix rising from the ashes’. A single minded commitment to economic recovery and growth of the country’s leaders have produced dramatic improvements in the lives of Japanese people. Unlike Sri Lankan politicos, the political stewardship which was honest and patriotic, has protected and safeguarded the commitment to democracy, while pushing through a massive institutional reform programmes to uplift the society, polity and the economy in Japan. Numerous political reforms including positive reforms to secure ‘democratization’, education, anti-monopoly, and deconcentration measures to extend ownership and control of big business and finance, land reform to widen land ownership etc. The civil code was revised. Freedom of belief, political activity, Labour rights etc. , strengthened and basic standard of life guaranteed. It was such a re-awakening programme that ensured and provoked tremendous opportunities to grow and prosper in the face of a lack of natural resources and a high degree of dependence on raw material imports.

We need therefore a system of government that would look into the question beyond development and economic growth. Such a system should address both material and non-material well-being. The leadership therefore should ensure a harmonious growth in areas such as economic, social and emotional. Lord Buddha has preached that if the ruler observes the Ten Royal Virtues (DASA RAJA  DHARMA), the subjects too would be also of excellent moral qualities and would find the Court houses empty. The Buddha in a Sutta had defined that if the ruler is righteous,  so are the ministers, priests, townsfolk and the villagers; moon, sun and stars move along the right path, winds blow favourably; and the devas, happy with the ruler’s virtuous reign, bestow sufficient rain. William Menninger had said – “Six essential qualities that are the key to success: Sincerity, Personal Integrity, Humility, Courtesy, Wisdom, Charity”. We now need to create a country that works for all, not only for those who hold political power, similar to countries like Switzerland.

JRJ during the elections campaign (1977) had said “today the rule of law had become a dead letter. Due to this fact, some politicians in the country had become lawless elements, and amongst them were drunkards, womanisers,  rogues and vandals”, and added “A future UNP government would take steps to introduce a code of conduct and discipline for MPs and totally outlaw nepotism”. 

They had  disregarded the fact that the well-being of the people cannot be achieved without sustainable and equitable development being balanced well with environmental, cultural preservation and good governance. They had overlooked the fact that it is important to be honest because it contributes to create a positive mindset and promotes morally acceptable behaviour. How did they disregard the fact that religions too had played a crucial role in the lives of the majority of Sri Lankans, whether they are Buddhists, Hindus or Muslims.

Our leaders since independence did not respect the values of moral and ethical principles, such as honesty, respect for others, loyalty, responsibility for personal actions, generosity and many more. We need to establish upright behaviour and ethical standards to take the country forward. After Singapore became independent, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had pledged to rid Singapore of graft. Members of his government had worn white when they were sworn in, as a signal of purity of their intention. The Minister of Development Teh Cheang Wan in LKY government had been accused of bribery. During the investigations, Wan had committed suicide, having left a note addressed to LKY which read – “It is only right that I should pay the highest penalty for my mistake”. It is unfortunate our politicians too dressed in immaculately white NATIONAL COSTUME, do just the opposite. They rob public money worse than pick-pockets. By the time Lee stepped down as PM, Lee was able to transform Singapore to be one of the best managed countries in the world with zero tolerance for  corruption.

 

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Bond scam Commission’s report starts year with a dynamite bang

President reveals shocking details of Commission’s findings

Sunday, January 07, 2018

Not all the fireworks that exploded on New Year’s Eve in the Lankan sky to herald the advent of 2018 AD could have matched the political bang the Presidential Commission report on the Central Bank bond scam made this week.

SIRISENA: Takes public to his confidence and reveals report

But first, credit where credit is due. And it’s due to President Sirisena in great measure. Unlike some of his predecessors who appointed grandiose commissions to inquire into some scandal or another but kept its findings secret, the Yahapalanaya President chose to take the nation into his confidence and share with the people its dramatic and damaging, dynamite findings. And that, too, not even three days of the report being handed over to him.

True, the President appointed the Commission to inquire into the Bond issuance of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka over the alleged Rs 5 billion Central Bank bond scam only in February last year — two years after the event which occurred end February in 2015. True too that the Commission took well over eleven months to hand over the final report to the President requesting extension after extension.

RANIL: Proper appointment of Governor but he should have thought better

But the fact remains that it was well worth the wait. They presented a thorough report — 1267 pages long with many annexures. And to the Commissioners Supreme Court Justice T. Chitrasiri, the chairman of the commission; Supreme Court Justice Prasanna Sujeewa Jayawardena, and Mr. Velupillai Kandasamy, retired Deputy Auditor General who worked tirelessly for ten long months to sit almost on a daily basis and hear witnesses give evidence before them and sacrificed the seasonal rest and cheer of December to compile their report, the people salute today.

RAVI K: Legal action should be filed for bribery and corruption

And the same goes to the lawyers in the Attorney General’s Department, especially to Senior Additional Solicitor General Dappula de Livera whose relentless line of questioning perhaps brought forth revelations from witnesses that may not otherwise have surfaced. And the same must go to the spirited defence exhibited by the counsel who appeared on behalf of some of those questioned by the prosecution. To all of them the nation must owe its thanks for all the participants in the arena gave an avid and lively performance to ensure that all in the dock were adequately represented by the best legal brains in town.

Now that the credits have been done with, let’s see the flip side: The people whom the commission’s report damned. According to the president’s statement issued on Wednesday eve,

• IT DAMNED: Ravi Karunanayake, the then finance minister when the scam took place. The Commissioners referred to the allegation against former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake regarding the payment of rent for the penthouse apartment paid for by Aloysius and the Karunanayake family subsequently buying it through their Walt and Rowe Company and stated that Mr. Karunanayake was responsible for that and recommended that the government should take necessary action against Mr. Karunanayake under the section of bribery and corruption law and further legal action under the penal code for giving false evidence at the Commission.
• 
  
• IT DAMNED: Arjun Aloysius, the Perpetual Treasuries boss, the man at the epicentre of the bond storm and recommended legal action against him and other relevant officials including Kasun Perera, responsible for the fraud ,
• IT DAMNED: Arjun Mahendran, father-in-law of Aloysius. The Commission held Mr. Mahendran has made interference into bond auctions through a system of incorrect and unconventional methods and he was responsible for providing internal information to outsiders. One party has used such information to obtain undue monetary profits.
• 
  

ALOYSIUS: In the dock

But though Ranil Wickremesinghe’s political opponents had been expecting the commission to impute blame on him, the Commission didn’t. Instead it exonerated the Prime Minister and declared, as the President said reading out his statement:

“The Commission report said that the Honourable Prime Minister’s responsibility in the appointment of Mr. Arjuna Mahendran as the 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 Mr. Mahendran believing in the facts presented by Mr. Mahendran and Mr. P. Samarasiri, especially the promises made by Mr. Mahendran.”

The only fault, the Commission found in its report, as the president said in his statement, was that the Prime Minister should not have done that.

But if the Commission, according to the President had stated that the Prime Minister should not have listened to his officials, it is to his credit and serves as a redeeming factor that he had sent the COPE Bond report to the Attorney General on October 2016, according to a statement issued by the PM’s office on Thursday.

MAHENDRAN: Leaked inside info

The statement further said, the AG had been assigned with the responsibility to institute legal action on the bond transaction by the Prime Minister in December 2016.

And as for Ravi Karunanayake, one cannot but help feel sorry for him. His response, as reported in the Daily Mirror on Friday, was to say, “I am completely at a loss to understand why I am named as a suspect.” Again another case of ‘I don’t know’, perhaps?

According to the President’s statement, the Commission, among others,

• RECOMMENDED that the Attorney General and the Bribery or Corruption Commission must take legal actions to implement the recommendations of the Commission.
• 
  
• RECOMMENDED that a Parliamentary Legislation could be passed and the money could be recovered in a speedy manner through a Parliamentary procedure.
• 
  
• RECOMMENDED that all the expenditure occurred for the Commission must be recovered from the Perpetual Treasuries Limited.
• 
  

In answer to these recommendations, the president declared in his statement that “I have already submitted a copy of the Commission Report to the Attorney General and he will identify the persons against who the legal action must be taken and initiate necessary criminal or civil legal action to implement the recommendations of the Commission”. He also affirmed, “I would like to specifically state here that I would not hesitate to take steps to recover the loss of Rs, 11,145 million and take legal action against the offenders and punish them.”

And in his statement Sirisena gave his word that “I assure that any hesitation would not occur in filing cases against the offenders. Furthermore, I wish to state that this is the final report of the Commission.”

Though members of the previous regime often accuse both President Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of carrying out a vendetta against them whenever they are questioned or arrested over allegations of frauds and bleat to the public the familiar ‘this is nothing but political revenge’, the establishment of the Bond Commission comprising two Supreme Court Judges and a retired Deputy Auditor General to inquire into a bond scam that took place under this own government’s watch, with the Prime Minister himself questioned by the Commissioners and by the Attorney General as to his role, if any, in it; and its subsequent findings made public within seventy two hours of the report being handed over to the President, serves to add credibility to Sirisena’s oft made declaration, and reiterated only last week, that he will crack down on corruption wherever he finds it, be it in his own ranks or elsewhere.

Only one little thing is needed to confirm his will: To bring the crooks to book as soon as possible.