Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Was JR an opportunist, a racist, both or neither?

Looking back at JR’s Kandy march…

B-C pact was a milestone episode in the long history of Ceylon
Indo-SL accord guaranteed certain rights to Tamils
nKandy march was toabrogate the B-C pac

“Irony is wasted on

the stupid”
- Oscar Wilde

2017-05-10

I have already penned many a column on wide-ranging political moves, policies and principles of

Junius Richard Jayewardene (who is commonly called JR), the first Executive President of Sri Lanka. The heading might suggest that the object of this column as an exercise in judgment. It is far from it. Judging belongs to historians yet to come. I do not wish to malign JR’s personal character in the least. Never have I attempted to damage any political leader’s personal character. While acknowledging that each individual’s personal character does contribute immeasurably towards shaping and defining the whole-man, I do not hesitate to say that those who abuse their literary powers to do any character-assassination belong in another pool of dirt. Yet, an exercise in uncovering factual data about the man or woman, his or her place in the socio-political montage in each era, his or her parental background, the prevalent social shades etc. is, I presume, justifiable and pardonable. However, branding political leaders is essentially the job of politicians and they invariably inherit that from communication experts, journalists and advertising gurus. In fact, JR was one political leader in Sri Lanka who managed to reverse the first round of character-assassination and suffered the ill-effects of another round of such nasty branding which he could not overcome until his peaceful passing away in 1996.

One crucial issue that defined JR’s political career was the famous Kandy March. As per his own reasoning and justification of the Kandy March as related to this writer by JR himself is thus: In 1956 the United National Party (UNP) received a crushing defeat at the General Elections. This defeat weighed heavily on JR. He lost Kelaniya, his constituency, by a majority of 23,000 votes, a whopping margin of 72% to 27%. The party that was acknowledged as the one which was instrumental in gaining Independence had lost its lustre within eight years. The leaders of the UNP could not stomach that. The son of the ‘Father of the Nation’, Dudley Senanayake who succeeded his father as Prime Minister in 1952, by this time had retired from politics. ‘So my priority number was to revive this party’, said JR.

Sir John Kotalawela who assumed leadership of the UNP at the retirement of Dudley Senanayake accelerated the process of the party’s decline in the electorate. His cavalier attitude towards power, his injudicious conduct among ordinary men and women, his personal angst against his political rivals, his flip-flops on the ‘Sinhala-only’ issue and numerous other ridiculous manners of public conduct, quite unbecoming of a Prime Minister, contributed towards the thrashing that the UNP had got in the ’56 elections. JR was again the second-in-command of the party and the government. This position he held since the death of D. S. Senanayake. Even in the period in which DS was ruling the affairs, technically, by virtue of him being the Minister of Finance, JR was second only to the Leader of the House which position SWRD Bandaranaike held before he left the UNP. These historical facts are essential factors when one appraises JR Jayewardene’s political life.

What is inescapable when one looks at JR is the distrust in which he was held by his Tamil rivals of the time. That, I presume, is entirely based upon the way he tried to sabotage the (in) famous Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam (Banda-Chelva) Pact which was initiated by Bandaranaike at the insistence of the Federal Party and its leadership in the 1950s.

The pact was a milestone episode in the long history of Ceylon. It signified, for the first time, the leaders of the two main ethnic groups in the country reached a mutually agreeable political ‘Pact’, aimed towards satisfying the needs of the parties. Concessions were made and by agreeing to sign the ‘Pact’ Chelvanayagam, the leader of the Federal Party, to the ire of his party cadres, opted to accept less than Federalism. Bandaranaike agreed to render substantial powers to the regional councils which were to be created as prescribed in the ‘Pact’. Doubts remained and the Federal Party stalwarts managed to contain their cadres to an acceptable notch. Despite these initial doubts, the agreement seemed reasonable and a compromise between both sides.It was believed, at the time of signing, that both Bandaranaike and Chelvanayagam entertained a sufficient amount of trustworthiness in their own communities to see the passage of the ‘Pact’ through. Chelvanayagam certainly had credibility among his supporters. Whether Bandaranaike had it is to anticipate events to come.

JR Jayewardene, the ultimate student of history and politics saw the Banda-Chelva (BC) Pact as a golden opportunity to rally his party around a cause that really mattered to the majority Sinhalese Buddhists in the country. At the time of the signing of the BC Pact the UNP was still in the doldrums. It had not awakened from the defeat at the General Elections. They managed to secure only eight (8) seats in Parliament and many leaders, including JR himself were outside looking in. M. D. Banda who secured his seat in Mathurata was the Parliamentary leader of the party and despite the fact that Banda was a gentleman to the core, was not a charismatic leader who had the stamina, creativity and stoicism who could lead the UNP at the time. Sir John, although elected from Dodangaslanda was living in England more than in Ceylon. For all practical purposes, JR was the unofficial leader of the party. In the BC Pact, JR saw his chances of galvanizing his party and the issue being a ‘Pact’ conceding Regional Councils to the Northern Tamils, he also saw an opportunity to change the image of the party from a Colombo-based one to a pro-Sinhalese Buddhist one.

JR’s, strategy on the one hand, offered a rare opportunity for a slumbering political party to awaken and be reckoned with again and on the other, tarnished his image among the Tamil leaders, not to forget the general Tamil population, as an untrustworthy Sinhala leader. As a measure of opposition to the pact, In September 1957, JR declared a 72-mile march from Colombo to Kandy, the seat of the Temple of the Tooth - the zenith of religiosity of the Sinhalese Buddhists in Ceylon. In explaining the purpose of the March, he said that he would invoke the blessings of the Sacred Tooth of the Buddha for the abrogation of the BC Pact. What transpired when the March began is another story.
History plays ironic games with personalities and events. In such an irony, it was JR, who conceded, instead of Regional Councils, Provincial Councils by way of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution consequent to an accord signed between Sri Lanka and India. It was signed by JR Jayewardene and Rajiv Gandhi, President of Sri Lanka and Prime Minister of India respectively. The man who organized a march from Colombo to Kandy against granting of Regional Councils to the Tamil ultimately ended up enacting an amendment to our Constitution that guaranteed Provincial Councils with wider powers that what would have been guaranteed by something more akin to a Memorandum of Understanding (although it was called a ‘Pact’) between Bandaranaike and Chelvanayagam in 1958. While the so-called BC Pact has been collecting dust for more than six long decades, JR-Gandhi accord was a living document which guaranteed certain rights thereto not extended to Sri Lankan Tamils.

The man who was distrusted by the Tamil leadership through two generations delivered while the so-called leader of the common man Bandaranaike reneged on the pledges given by him to our
Tamil brethren.

At the time of signing BC-MOU, Bandaranaike was quoted thus:“In the discussion which the leaders of the Federal Party had with me, an honourable solution was reached. In thinking over this problem I had in mind the fact that I am not merely a Prime Minister but a Buddhist Prime Minister.” What Bandaranaike meant in the context of this quote was ambiguous. Did he mean to be as compassionate and just as preached in the Sacred Dharma or did he mean to say that he could offer no more because the majority of the country, being overwhelmingly Buddhist, would oppose if he offered more?

In the ultimate analysis, JR Jayewardene was a man more sinned against than sinning. In the context of history, it is still too early to assess the politician JR. He was not a racist as most Tamils think he was. He was certainly an opportunist in the context of political manoeuvring. I would rather call him a realist who was too late to assume the leadership of Sri Lanka, two decades, too late.
The writer can be contacted at vishwamithra1984@gmail.com

Sri Lankan president invokes Buddha, asks opposition to drop protest plan during Modi visit

Maithripala Sirisena

By PTI | Published: 06th May 2017

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena invoked Lord Buddha's principles to convince the joint opposition to drop their plan to show black flags to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit here next week.

"Are they Buddhists?" Sirisena asked with regards to those calling for the protest during Modi's visit on May 12 to Sri Lanka, a Buddhist-majority nation.

The joint opposition has called for a black flag protest during Modi's visit to take part in the celebrations marking the UN 'Vesak Day', which commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and death of Buddha, the Colombo Gazette said.

Sirisena said everyone must understand that strengthening the Indo-Lanka ties established since introduction of Buddhism in Lanka, does not mean that Lanka is bowing down to India.

The president asserted that he will not sign any deal with any country which is detrimental to Sri Lanka.

He said that he came into power not to hand over a part of the country to another country or to annul the privileges and rights of the citizens by signing unfavorable agreements with other countries.

Joint opposition Parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa had said Modi was to discuss a deal with the government during his visit.

Weerawansa said India and Sri Lanka are discussing a deal on Trincomalee which he says must be opposed, the report said.

The Sri Lankan government had earlier said that it will go ahead with plans to sign a deal with India to jointly operate a strategic oil facility in the eastern port district of Trincomalee despite opposition from other parties.

Weerawansa urged all those who oppose the deal to raise black flags in protest of Modi's visit.

"They are trying to sell Sri Lanka to India," he said.

He also called on joint opposition supporters to take to the streets and push for an early election.

Former president Mahinda had described the proposed deal as a "betrayal" of Sri Lanka's national asset.

Modi is due to visit Sri Lanka on May 12 to attend the UN Vesak Day celebration in Colombo.

On the sidelines of the celebrations, he is expected to attend a series of religious and other events including the opening of a new hospital in Dickoya, funded by India.

According to a report in a local media, nearly 6,000 police officers have been deployed to provide security for Prime Minister Modi and for other related events during his visit to the country.

The deployment includes ordinary police officers, the Special Task Force (STF) and the officers who have specialised knowledge in VVIP security.

"No acts of sabotage can be carried out during the Indian Prime Minister's visit. The Police have been strictly instructed to pay special attention to the matter," Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara was quoted as saying.

COLLECTIVE CALL BY CHIEF MINISTERS TO MAKE PROVINCIAL COUNCILS MEANINGFUL

Image: This years’ Chief Ministers Summit was held at Habarana and President Maithripala Sirisena participated as the chief guest.

09/05/2017

A collective call has been made to President Maithripala Sirisena to devolve more power to Provincial Councils and make them meaningful by Chief Ministers of all nine Provinces at the 33rd Convention of Chief Ministers.

The Convention was held with the participation of the Chief Ministers of the nine provinces including Chief Minister of the Northern Province C.V. Wigneswaran at Cinnamon Lodge, Habarana last Saturday (6).

It was interesting to note the unstinted unity of the Chief Ministers voicing together to devolve more power to Provincial Councils.

The Provincial Council system which came into effect following the signing of the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord remains as the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

With fervent calls made by the Chief Ministers of the Northern and Eastern Provinces to devolve more power to Provincial Councils, the general impression prevails that Chief Ministers of the Northern and Eastern Provinces are particular about devolving more power to the two provinces which would be a challenge to the unity and integrity of the country.

However, realizing the significance of Provincial Councils and the necessity to make them vibrant, all nine Chief Ministers have emphasized the need to devolve power to the nine Provinces.

The views expressed by the Chief Ministers at the Habarana Convention clearly highlight that despite the introduction of the Provincial Council system as a measure to devolve more power to the provinces in the country, the system hardly remains effective as far as administration on crucial issues such as Police powers and land powers are concerned.

The North and East Chief Ministers have already indicated that their hands were tied as far as resolving various post-war humanitarian problems including land issues in the two provinces.

From the views expressed by the Chief Ministers unanimously urging more power to be devolved to Provincial Councils, it is clear that Provincial Councils remain without adequate power and exist merely as symbolic bodies under the 13th Amendment.

The Chief Ministers pointed out that as a result of not having adequate power, Provincial Councils were losing significance. They also brought to the notice of the President that power meant for devolution remained mostly with the Central Government.

Northern Province Chief Minister, C .V. Wigneswaran making a stark pointer told the President that Rs 1,500 million allocated to the Northern Provincial Council by the Central Government last year, had not yet reached the Council.

Despite introducing the Provincial Council system, to reap the benefits of power being devolved to all nine provinces in the island, to make the democratic system more vibrant by strengthening peace and reconciliation, the strife had aggravated further with Provincial Councils in the Northern and Eastern Provinces being defunct.

As the ruthless war continuing for nearly thirty years aggravating from the time the Provincial Council system was introduced, the Central Government taking a firm stance in restricting power to the provinces and converging power to the centre, remained inevitable to deal with one of the most ruthless militant outfits in the world, the LTTE.

However, it is high time the Provincial Council system was revived in a meaningful manner with power meant for provinces under the 13th Amendment.

While urging to devolve more power, the Northern and Eastern Provinces even urge to go beyond the 13th Amendment to make power-sharing between the Centre and the provinces more effective and meaningful.

The convening of the Chief Ministers at Cinnamon Lodge, Habarana has clearly indicated that the Provincial Council system in the country has to go a long way, to prove itself effective and the Chief Ministers have done their part standing above political differences emphasizing the need to devolve power extensively, to make Provincial Councils meaningful.

Ceylon Today

TISL Gets Knickers Twisted Over Good And Bad Whistleblowers

May 9, 2017

Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL), in a classic case of ‘what’s sauce for the goose is not sauce for the gander,’ has taken to task the Customs Department for sending Assistant Superintendent W.M.R.P. Wijekoon on compulsory leave on allegations of leaking information to the media, citing Section 40 of the RTI that protects whistleblowers.

TISL Executive Director Asoka Obeyesekere

TISL has expressed concern that the said provision has not been considered prior to disciplinary action being taken under the Establishments Code. The provisions of the RTI, however, override all other written laws including the Establishments Code.

The Sunday Times reported on May 7, 2017 that “Mr Wijekoon and his team from the Customs Central Investigations Bureau (CIB) (had) recently raided an unauthorised vehicle reassembling yard in Minuwangoda after obtaining a court order. The importer had allegedly made a false declaration to the Customs and was bringing dismantled vehicles in containers, declaring them as used vehicle parts. This was apparently to pay less as Customs duties.”

The officer was reportedly sent on compulsory leave “for violating the Establishments Code by using a trade union as a conduit for providing information to the media“.

Section 40 of the RTI Act – the whistleblower provision – reads as follows:

“Notwithstanding any legal or other obligation to which a person may be subject to by virtue of being an officer or employee of any public authority, no officer or employee of a public authority shall be subjected to any punishment, disciplinary or otherwise, for releasing or disclosing any information which is permitted to be released or disclosed under this Act”.

TISL, accordingly, has urged authorities to reflect on the provisions and principles of RTI and consider the whistleblower protection clause in the case of Assistant Superintendent W.M.R.P. Wijekoon.

What is remarkable about the position taken by TISL in this case is that TISL itself has shown scant regard in for the whistleblower protocols it campaigned for in general and Section 40 of the RTI in particular. TISL recently punished three staff members (Jagath Liyanaarachchi, Shan Wijetunga and Ananda Jayasekera) after they had employed the whistleblower provisions to complain about numerous malpractices that were rampant in the organization.

It is ironical that the moralizing on the Customs Department issue has come in the form of a communique signed by the very officer who was instrumental in showing the above mentioned staff members the door, namely Executive Director Asoka Obeyesekere.

The following is the statement issued by TISL:

Customs Whistleblower: TISL Flags Protection Clause in RTI Act

Reports that a senior Customs investigation officer Assistant Superintendent W.M.R.P. Wijekoon has been sent on compulsory leave on allegations of leaking information to the media, have raised concerns over the protection of whistleblowers.

Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) is concerned that the provision within the Right to Information (RTI) Act which seeks to protect whistleblowers, has not been considered prior to disciplinary action being taken under the Establishments Code.

The provisions of the RTI Act override all other written law, including the Establishments Code.

According to The Sunday Times report of 7 May 2017, “Mr Wijekoon and his team from the Customs Central Investigations Bureau (CIB) recently raided an unauthorised vehicle reassembling yard in Minuwangoda after obtaining a court order. The importer had allegedly made a false declaration to the Customs and was bringing dismantled vehicles in containers, declaring them as used vehicle parts. This was apparently to pay less as Customs duties.”

The officer was reportedly sent on compulsory leave for violating the Establishments Code by using a trade union as a conduit for providing information to the media.

TISL believes that due consideration has not been paid in this matter to Section 40 of the RTI Act – the whistleblower provision – which reads as follows;

By all means, it is time for this lamebrain to take off from the most sensitive area in the country. Donkey is not capable of doing what horse is obliged to do!

by Our Defence Correspondent-May 9, 2017
May 9, 2017
( May 9, 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Despite all professional qualities earned by the senior security personnel through genuine experiences in the relevant subject matter, there are some who are riding the ladder out of empty poses and big words merely through their political affiliations. This has reached the pathetic level which never was the case in the past. Therefore most of the time in the National Security Council and other defence related meetings by the ruling government, the order confirms one to recall sadly the wise words of Plato who lived centuries ago and enlightened us with the following discovery:

“Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something,”.

Let’s beat the drum over the so-called “defence Think Tank” initiated by the Ministry of Defence under the “patronage” of the incumbent Secretary of Defence. We do not have any personal disagreement or vendetta with the secretary; in fact we believe he was installed in a repugnant place, whereas he would have done much better and made healthy contribution to our motherland if the authority had taken the trouble to work out a proper position in the area he has specialized in.

Let’s highlight certain portions from the history book to understand the importance of appointing a person in the order of his knowledge. “Despite the abundance of irrigation constructions in Sri Lanka, Yoda Ela or Jaya Ganga, an 87 km long water canal carrying excess water from Kala Wewa in Polonnaruwa to ThissaWewa in Anuradhapura, is a construction dependent on remarkable instrumentation precision. Its gradient of 10 to 20 cm per kilometer still baffles experts today for its minute precision.” (Quoted: www.srilanka.travel/yoda-ela ) This wonderful project, according to written history, was initiated by King Dathusena in fifth century AD.

When we read such fascinating parts of thousands year old history in this country we can do nothing better than to sadly mourn by singing, “Oh when will they ever learn, oh when will they ever learn?”

Today, the country is suffering from worst drought after four decades. Millions are without clean water. Aftereffects of this worse crisis could be extremely dangerous. Our irrigation system has been dismantled and abandoned. Mega development projects carefully ignored the core notions of true development principles. Why? That is what is proven in action by the Ministry of Defence by having unsuitable persons in most sensitive chairs.

Positions are dignifying so long as the person holding the position has reasonable understanding about what needs to be done in relation to the core purpose of the institution.

We would again like our people in Sri Lanka to know that the recent initiative by the Ministry of Defence on “Think Tank” is not only wastage of public money and opportunities but also a black mark on the reputation of the nation which has vanquished the most brutal reigns of terror that lasted for decades.

None of the countries around the globe have succeeded in countering the insurgencies in recent past though they are spending million times bigger budget than the people of this country have allocated to conquer the Tamil Tigers.

Take the situation in India, where Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Kashmir are burning every hour, though India has promulgated the draconian laws like Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts (AFSPA) since 1958. Similar situation in Pakistan over Balochistan, Nepal over Madeshi, Maldives over corrupted extremism and so on.

But, Sri Lanka is different. That does not mean the country should allow all matters to be taken lightly and everyone to craft the pot of National Security as per their taste.

Why do we have strong criticism about the Institute of National Security Studies of Sri Lanka, Premiere National Security Think Tank of Sri Lanka. As we clearly mentioned in our previous account, unanswered questions need to be asked once again;

What are the qualifications of the representatives of this Tank to be the policy makers or representatives of the state on the subject (National Security)?

What exactly is the director of this tank is thinking and what is the true motivate of the director in holding the position with authority to influence policy on such sensitive subject?

How do they appoint the “Researchers” or “Senior Fellows”?

Do they follow the basic principles of the administration or have they allowed “personal favour” to play key role in selecting the personalities?

Can Think Tank provide the details related to the public interest under the RTI?

Why are many genuine security officials either avoiding or being avoided?

What is the uniqueness/ differences of this Think Tank from other Think Tanks?

Do they check the background of those resource persons and their previous activities?

Are the members of this Think Tank truly capable enough to enhance the National Security and related areas?

You will get nothing but negative answers to all these questions if you have a chance to dig into the details. Let’s have a careful look into just one “opinion” written by the director of this Think tank on Sri Lanka-Russia relations during the President’s official visit to Moscow.

The article was published without any disclaimer whereas others’ thoughts have gone in with disclaimers.

Therefore, we believe that the small opinion on Sri Lanka- Russia relations by the director of this Think Tank is expected to be taken as the stance of both INSSSL and the Government of Sri Lanka. What is his tiny brain trying to calculate as the policy of the President?

“…… This was Sirisena exercising his own foreign policy, carefully calibrated in the right direction. No previous Sri Lankan president has held in high esteem the values and teachings of Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx. In contrast, their pictures are placed in the main boardroom of the current president’s residence. This is a clear indication of the deep socialist values that President Sirisena holds”, he entertained the readers.

Is this writer trying to say that the President Sirisena is Marxist? If so, what is the relevance of his point to National Security? Will this irrational romanticizing produce anything good? What will happen when teachers are forced to learn from a student?

Sri Lanka as a member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) kept high moral on “non-aligned foreign policy” while keeping all concerned parties as “friends”. It was a strategic move by the governments; therefore they could earn support from all. This is exactly what happened when internal insurgencies erupted in the country.

But, what is this lamebrain trying to portray as policy of the President or the government?

He has gone further;

“These values probably echo in reminding the president not to sell any state resource. If the United National Party (UNP) is the pro-Western business-oriented party that advocates joint ventures, Sirisena is the inward looking farmer attempting to advocate the importance of an indigenous economy. Russia, with its gilded chambers suffering from the imperial hangover, is a reminder of deep nationalistic values. Neither the US, Europe or China want it to be strong. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s gesture of handing a 19th-century sword belonging to Sri Lanka to President Sirisena was a reminder of the need to preserve the Sri Lankan values and historical treasures smuggled or taken out of the island nation,” he argued.

Are these two paragraphs by the Director of this Tank the stance of the Government?

This, we find to be not only folly thinking but also attempt to divide the coalition government based on an extremely poor reading of the present political context. This is yet another example out of thousands this Think Tank has no idea where it is heading and what could be the consequences by pouring words from lamebrain as state policies.

By all means, it is time for this lamebrain to take off from the most sensitive area in the country. Donkey is not capable of doing what horse is obliged to do!

What can one expect from a “nation of sheep, ruled by wolves and owned by pigs?”

RELATED LINK: Sri Lanka: Defence Think Tank in Colombo — Who’s whom?

Have anything to say on this issue; write us at feed@srilankaguardian.org

Reforming public debt management: Lesson from the Colombian experience

Tuesday, 9 May 2017

The guidelines for Public Debt Management, published jointly by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) defines public debt management as the process of establishing and executing a strategy for managing government debt in order to raise the required amount of funding at the lowest possible cost over the medium to long run, consistent with a prudent degree of risk.

Over the years, the practice of public debt management has undergone numerous changes. Governments around the world have implemented many structural reforms in the area of public debt management with the aim of reducing vulnerability of government balance sheets to financial shocks. The experience from those countries suggest that such reforms have resulted in increasing its resilience to financial shocks and improving the efficiency of debt management operations. The World Banks has provided technical assistance to many member countries in overcoming the systemic weaknesses of public debt management.

Review of examples of such reforms and their subsequent benefits to those countries are helpful for us in understanding the need of undertaking reforms in public debt management. A representative from the Colombian Government Treasury, made a presentation at the 2017 Government Bond Market Conference, held at the World Bank headquarters in Washington DC and shared their experience on the above subject. (Online link to the presentation: http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/805121493405002015/bonds-conf-2017-Ana-Carolina-Diaz-The-Design-of-issuance-calendars-and-the-impact-on-secondary-markets-Colombia.pdf).

Accordingly, this paper intends to study the lessons that are to be learned from the experience of public debt reforms in Colombia. The Republic of Colombia is a country situated in the northwest of South America. Sri Lanka and Colombia share several similarities in terms of being under colonial rule, tropical weather and a democratic government with presidential system.

Colombia went through a series of improvements in their system of public debt management with technical assistance from the World Bank. Prior to the said reforms that had started in 2003, the country had inherited fragmented institutional arrangements for public debt management – with responsibilities divided between the Ministry of Finance and the Directorate of Public Credit.

Formalising the institutional framework of the Debt Management Strategy

An evaluation of the existing institutional arrangements carried out by experts from the World Bank had uncovered that the country had lacked an overall strategy for domestic debt market development, including the issuance of both short and long-term debt, because each directorate had different priorities.

On the advice of the World Bank, Colombia undertook consolidation of debt management and treasury functions in order to reduce the coordination and information requirements, eliminate the duplication of functions, strengthen accountability and thereby facilitating the development of a strategy for managing the aggregate domestic debt portfolio through the formation of a debt management unit (DMU) named as the Directorate of Public Credit and National Treasury.

Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS)

According to the World Bank, the Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS) is a plan that the government intends to implement over the medium term (three to five years) in order to achieve a composition of the government debt portfolio that captures the government’s preferences with regard to the cost-risk tradeoff. Objectives of public debt management is to meet the financing needs and payment obligations at its lowest possible cost consistent with a prudent degree of risk.

The MTDS plan helps to document and establish an operational framework for achieving the above objective. The Colombian MTDS focuses on achieving a public debt portfolio comprising 65% of local debt and 35% of foreign currency debt which will optimise the overall cost of the debt portfolio while minimising the market risk (both interest rate and exchange rate) and refinancing risk. It further focuses on avoiding the bunching of debt maturities while maintaining the upper bound for annual amortisations at 10% of total outstanding debt.

Publishing of the Auction Calendar with issuance of Benchmark Securities

The Debt Management Unit (DMU) publishes an auction calendar for the issuance of domestic debt instruments on the website of the Ministry. This auction calendar is a time schedule of all the auctions that will be realised during the following year. At the beginning of the year, the On-The-Run Bonds are announced to the market (Primary Dealers or PDs), while the amount per auction (not per bond) is announced to the market at the beginning of every quarter.

DMU issues two type of long term bonds in local currency – plain vanilla treasury bonds (TES COP) and inflation indexed treasury bonds (TES UVR). Issuances of bonds are limited to benchmark securities in each category - i.e. 5, 10 and 15 years for bonds denominated in local currency (Colombian Pesos – TES COP) and 5, 10 and 20 years for bonds denominated in Units of Real Value (TES UVR). The issue of benchmark securities not only enhances liquidity in the secondary market but also avoids the bunching of future maturities of public debt in a particular year.

The published auction calendar and the issuance of the public debt according to the published calendar enhances the transparency, predictability and the consistency of issuance of public debt. This issuance practice has reduced unwanted speculation about the amounts and bonds issued at the auction, while helping market participants (PDs) to prepare for the next auction by selling down the portfolios.

Reintroduction of treasury bills

With the resumption of issuing treasury bills, the Central Bank of Colombia (Banco de la República) discontinued the issuance of securities for monetary control purposes. The objective of the issue of treasury bills is to fulfil the requirement of a short term treasury instrument in the market.

Liability Management of Public Debt

Liability Management is the process of restructuring outstanding borrowing(s) in order to improve the composition of the public debt portfolio. The liability management function for both local and foreign denominated debt aims to improve and smoothen the maturity profile of public debt by extending the average life and minimising maturity concentration in specific periods.

Key liability management strategies such as bond Buybacks and Exchanges are widely used in the government securities markets for management of refinancing and liquidity risks. This is closely linked to the implementation of a benchmark issuance policy. Bond Buybacks enable issuers to retire an outstanding debt before its maturity date against a cash payment. Bond Exchanges achieve the same result but in combination with the issuance of new debt. Both transactions are liability management operations. They provide no additional funding, but they affect the composition of the debt portfolio by restructuring an outstanding debt.

These two functions are closely connected. On one hand, retiring illiquid off-the-run bonds from the market offers additional issuance opportunities, which enables the faster building of benchmarks. On the other hand, the gradual buyback of bonds as they approach maturity mitigates the refinancing risk and, as a result, enables the issuance of benchmarks of a larger size. The principal functions of bond buybacks and exchanges are to enhance market liquidity and to mitigate refinancing risks. Switching of debt with market participants have paved the way for Colombia to increase liquidity of securities in the secondary market and reduce refinancing risk.

Lesson to Sri Lanka

The reforms in public debt management has led to deepen the domestic government bond market in Colombia. It further resulted in broadening and diversification of the investor base for government securities through an increase in foreign investor participation in the government securities market. As a result, the share of foreign investors in Treasury Bonds had increased from approximately 6% in 2011 to 18% in 2015

The institutional framework and structure of public debt management in Sri Lanka is at least a decade behind countries in the peer group due to slow or no progress in reforms. As a result, the country has inherited unmanageable levels of debt, high interest cost and a fragile institutional framework which is not capable of dealing with challenges emerging in public debt.

The reforms in public debt could facilitate reaching towards the objective of meeting the financing needs of the government at the lowest possible cost over the medium to long term, consistent with a prudent degree of risk and thereby achieving fiscal consolidation. The outcome of the public debt reforms of Colombia are encouraging and such experience should be used as case studies and guidance for undertaking reforms in our public debt management.

(The writer is a CFA charterholder with local and international capital market experience. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any institution.)

New finding by the well-behaved, disciplined Gnanasara Thera!

May 09, 2017

International media is portraying Buddhists as terrorists in the conflict that Islamists from Bangladesh have created by traveling to Myanmar and murdering Buddhist monks there for many years now.

This is the new face of Islamizing the world by ignoring the history and distorting the truth. The media and NGOs are involved in an anti-Buddhist campaign by using international migrant laws, and it is clear the attempt is aimed at human trafficking and Islamizing the world.

It is a policy of Buddhists to help the helpless. We can agree with that irrespective of religious differences. We have certain issues with regard to the group claiming to be Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim refugees that was arrested in the north and produced before courts recently.

1. East chief minister’s statement – He opposes the construction of temples even in traditional Buddhist areas in the province, and makes refugees out of Sinhala Buddhists in the east. Without knowing the facts, he is making statements that are racist and religiously-extremist, to protect the Muslim migrants.

2. Local Muslim leaders and certain international media target Bodu Bala Sena and describe Sri Lanka as a country where Muslims cannot live as they are subjected to harassment by Buddhists. Using this, Muslim leaders obtain international aid and make the country of the Buddhists a destination for Muslim refugees.

3. We have come to know that this group had not fled Myanmar due to any sudden clash, but that they had fled Bangladesh and arrived in India four years ago and illegally arrived in Sri Lanka in a human trafficking racket. It is clear they were brought here with the intention of keeping them at Wilpattu in Mannar or Batticaloa until they are sent to Australia or some other country.

4. At present, more than 14,000 such persons are staying in India with the same intention. They will become agents of human trafficking or Islamazing the world.

5. Had they not been detected by the law enforcement authorities, it is clear what would have happened. They would have been registered as Sri Lankan citizens and settled in the Muslim colonies being built with the destruction of jungles in Mannar or elsewhere in the east.

6. We suspect that such groups have come to stay in Sri Lanka in the past few years.
7. When Saudi Arabia, a Muslim country, rejects them, it is ridiculous for their local agents here to shed crocodile tears on their behalf.

8. It appears that the east chief minister is involved in this human trafficking racket. Intelligence units should look into that.

9. The government should immediately reject such persons, just like Saudi Arabia and Australia do. Until then, follow what Australia does and detain them safely in some island. More than 1,500 persons who had fled Pakistan and are staying in Negombo should immediately be investigated.

10. Search operations should take place across the country, especially in the Wilpattu area, and the Navy should be deployed to patrol our seas.

Cop killed, four more injured in Piliyandala shooting

By Binoy Suriyaarachchi-May 9, 2017

A police constable was killed and four others were injured in a shooting incident near a bank in Piliyandala, police said.

According to police spokesman, the shooting occurred a short while ago on Tuesday evening.

An unidentified person who arrived in a motorcycle had opened fire at the cops, it was reported. The deceased has been identified as a cop attached to the Police Narcotics Bureau. Police say three bystanders were also injured during the shooting.

The police added that an investigation is underway to identify and arrest the involved suspects.

The injured persons have been admitted to the Colombo South hospital for treatment.

Easy Access To Credit Triggers Violence Against Women In Sri Lanka

By Mithula Guganeshan –May 9, 2017

Mithula Guganeshan

Microfinance was introduced to provide affordable financial services to women from low-income households with an objective intended to finance income-producing activities, build assets, protect against risks and thereby fight against poverty. It is widely believed that microfinance would benefit the poor by eradicating poverty and result in financial inclusion, encourage savings, job creation, provide education, improve health & welfare and finally empower women.

However, evidence from research studies on Microfinance shows that there is a lack of robust evidence to prove the strong impact of microfinance on poverty alleviation and women empowerment (Duvendack et al, 2011). There is lack of quantitative assessment on Microfinance Institutions in Sri Lanka besides the biased results published by MFI’s. Due to ignorance or lack of sufficient understanding on the impact of microfinance, Government and policy makers fail to introduce solid measures to adequately monitor and regulate the microfinance industry.

Microfinance tends to target women borrowers as they are statistically proven to less likely to default. Nevertheless, borrowing a sum of Rs. 25, 000 would lead to Rs. 1,000 weekly repayments for 10 months resulting in an interest rate of 72% per annum. Such high interest rates loans were borrowed and used for consumption rather than any income generating activity. Unlike the rich or the middle class, women from poor backgrounds primarily borrow to meet their basic needs for survival especially food and shelter due to the lack of employment opportunities and marketable skills.

Women are subjected to domestic violence as micro loans are easily accessible and exclusively available only for the women. So, the men from low-income families are exploiting the opportunity offered and pressurize the women to obtain credit to finance household consumption along with their own personal consumption needs such as alcohol, tobacco etc. As a result female borrowers were unable to hold full control on credit. Opening channels to provide easy access to credit has resulted in tensions within the household leading to abuse and violence against women.

Men rarely take any responsibility or are held accountable to repay the installment once the money is used for household/personal consumption needs. Women are often subjected to humiliation and harassment by the credit officers as they are unable to settle their debts on time.

Therefore, women are increasingly facing gender oppression by institutions (representatives of the institution) within the public sphere as well. Generally, when it comes to violence against women greater emphasis has been given to violence against women inflicted within the domestic space by individuals involving personal relationships. Public humiliations by representatives from institutions are often under-reported where institutions are rarely held accountable for causing psychological and economical abuse on women. They are being subjected to insults and embarrassments as the credit officers are trained to collect the interests/repayments through any means.

Recent news on a suicide of a woman and her 2 year old baby from Northern Province displays the severity of the credit issue. The woman committed suicide following the visit of a loan officer requesting for the monthly payment of Rs.1, 900, which later resulted in an argument between the couple. Women in debt are subjected to violence within closed doors and harassed in public as well.

Microfinance has taken a detour from its original intention and objective, to alleviate poverty. Only a handful of microfinance institutions are charging low interest rates and working with the objective of alleviating poverty. The major flaw in microfinance is when the loans are offered without providing any training and expecting the vulnerable women to transform into successful entrepreneurs overnight. The irony is when majority of the graduates are working as employees whilst, the poor & uneducated women are expected to succeed as entrepreneurs overnight.