Writers For Rajapaksa

By Shyamon Jayasinghe –JULY 29, 2017

Shyamon Jayasinghe

This is most interesting! Whenever a hole seems to appear in the armour of this government that replaced Rajapaksa, writers sympathetic to the Mahinda Rajapaksa camp jump up like jack in the box! Out of their hibernating slumber, they prowl again. Mr Sarath De Alwis’s latest in Colombo Telegraph, under the rubric, “Preaching Good Governance From A Penthouse,” is just such a comical drama piece. The fantasising is reminiscent of Disney Land. We used to have Dr Dayan Jayatilleka, our political analyst, before but for some reason that writer is hushed. Who can conjecture on that?

Highly enthused over the Ravi Karunanayake wreck, Sarath De Alwis starts off with little pretence when he says, “we made a terrible mistake on 8th January 2015.” The writer hasn’t a mask this time. But he went too far and received a wonderful comment from respected commentator, Emil van der Poorten. Here’s what Emil has to say:

“You have not answered my basic question: what did you write in criticism of Mahinda Rajapaksa WHEN HE WAS IN POWER, proving that neither he nor his acolytes resorted to violence, inclusive of white vans, in rebuttal. As someone who wrote a regular column in the Sunday Leader from the time that Frederica Jansz took over as editor and till very shortly after she had to run for her life, I would be most obliged if you could give me the links to the pieces you wrote for the Sunday Leader or any other publication (now that you do have a computer) in criticism of Mahinda Rajapaksa while he was in power.

You say, ‘My statement that the Idea of MR as PM under a Sirisena Presidency was only a desperate howl to stress my despondency over the betrayal by this lot.’ Talk about armchair rubbishy pontification, if not downright hypocrisy!

As for being ‘disappointed’ in you, I am always disappointed in any human being that displays self-interest at the expense of a semblance of ethics, morality and principle. Why? Because, as perhaps the eternal optimist, I will always believe people to be honest, ethical moral etc., until and unless they prove me wrong.“

I think Emil lost patience when Sarath De Alwis poured forth out of his exultant heart the preposterous  suggestion  that a return of Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister to work with Maitripala Sirisena as President would be the best option. I thought to myself this is going too far along the logic line from Ravi Karunanayake’s isolated moral howler. The line of reasoning did not lead to such a conclusion. Rather, the gap was filled by the writer.

Besides, we have the commonsense to imagine what Mahinda would do if ensconced as PM in the manner Sarath suggests. He would gather his cronies and crooks in Parliament, like the man called Prasanna Ranatunga who the other day sat in the President’s chair in Parliament during yet another unruly JO fracas. Mahinda has enough money to tempt the doubters and fence-sitters. They will all come together and oust poor old Maitri by a 20th Amendment to our already hacked constitution. Maitri always had fears that he would be sent six feet under the ground if Mahinda wears his power boot again. This time, it won’t be just Maitri but Ranil and the whole lot. Mohan Pieriswould be back in the CJ seat to render unto the King what the latter wants!

Sarath De Alwis, like all Rajapaksa band wagoners, assume that his audience are fools who cannot conceive this realisation.

Caught in his own flawed zeal, Sarath now says he uttered that judgment only in desperation! He has dug a bigger hole and fallen into that! I have witnessed better honesty in Dayan Jayatilleka who  simply sticks to his gun and never prevaricates and swallows his own judgments.

This isn’t the first time. The last occasion I remember was when Sarath De Alwis had attended the Joint Opposition Galle Face May Day rally that filled the breezy green. “Mahinda’s return cannot be averted,” Sarath stated then. Like Dayan Jayatilleka at Nugegoda, Sarath was so impressed by the crowd that also kept chanting to Gammanpila’s oratorical lie: “Our true patriot, Wimal Weerawansa is in jail! Why? Because he fights for his country!”  That was a patriotism that gave away houses built of poor peoples’ taxes to his kith and kin. It was a patriotism that allocated to his cronies government vehicles for their pleasure pursuits  and spent millions in fuel out of Treasury money. Sarath seems to aver that shame is a defining quality of the current government and not with the Rajapaksa regime.

Well, that was the government of Mahinda Rajapaksa under whose watch high profile murders took place and state terror had been unleashed. Lasantha Wickrematunge, fearless Sunday Leader editor, had been brutally murdered after that newspaper came out with alleged fraudulent deals over the MiG purchase of Gotabaya. Prageeth Ekneligoda was sent missing. Keith Noyahr was assaulted. Many other journalists, went missing. Some like our man Uvindu Kurukulasuriya had to leave the island! The man who commandeered our war to victory on the real battlefield-General Sarath Fonseka, was dragged away like a dog and thrown to prison where he had to put on jumpers and eat out of a tinplate. The list of Rajapaksa misdeeds will need a whole book to describe. The yahapalanaya government has not yet come anywhere an inch to such a list of crimes. Can you not see that Sarath de Alwis? Things like what Ravi has done were done by every Minister under the Rajapaksa government. Ravi, really belongs to the Rajapaksa mind set.

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The delicious ironies of idiotic democracy

Friday, 28 July 2017

Life, as a musically-inclined poet of a previous age once essayed, is what happens when you are planning to do something else. Well, the same may be said for the intentions of Good Governance: that the best-laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley; as another poet-philosopher had it. There they are – perhaps still planning to do what is best… for themselves, their near and dear, and the nation at large – and not necessarily in that order.

The delicious ironies of idiotic democracy.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Ravi Karunanayake – Fall Guy Or Savior Of The Monarch?

“Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned” – William Congreve

(Lanka-e-News - 28.July.2017, 7.22PM) Educated and highly focused, the introduction of Miss Muthukudarachchige Anika Vinodhini Wijesuriya (AW)and her testimony at the Commission to Inquire into the Bond Scandal (CIBS) has indeed created a storm and without a doubt. Born to a Singaporean businessman of Sri Lankan origin, and whose fortune was made through questionable deals using his connections at the highest levels of successive governments in power, it may be a little too late now for Miss. AW to realize that she bit much more than what she can actually chew, when she decided to try her hand in tilting the scale in a game of thrones.

Raised in a broken home and having grown up on the wild side, Miss Wijesuriya’s various relationships with various men in power and stature is her business alone. But if her recent actions originated as a result of a romantic relationship gone sour or at the behest of her father whose inner circle of friends include the likes of Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, raise does it not more questions than for reasons she made her way into the said Commission?

Sri Lanka’s political culture has changed very little since the time the Late Mr. J.R. Jayawardena introduced the open market economy. Power corrupts and all of them politicians are in it either for power, money or for both. And not surprisingly, strange bedfellows they make politicians and businessmen. While it is no secret that members on both aisles of the parliament have loyalist friends amongst the business community, hesitate they do not to forge an alliance even with the enemy, should there be a mutually beneficial opportunity up for grabs. In this context, I believe no parliamentarian is free from such associations or righteous enough to live by a certain code of honor.

Enter Mr. Ravindra Sandresh Karunanayake (RK), Minister of External affairs, ex-Minister of Finance and the man of the moment, tried and convicted by sections of the media and awaiting ‘execution’. While my attention was drawn to this ‘trial-by-media’ circus when seeing attempts being made to vilify RK as the fall-guy for this entire ‘Bond Scandal’ episode, now that a Presidential Commission has been established to look into possible illegal acts, shouldn’t the passing of verdicts of guilt, innocence or complicity be the sole task of its highly respected panel of judges?

Being an investigative columnist and an activist, I was one of the first to expose the Bond Scandal as early as in March of 2015 through social media (Facebook). Having crossed swords with Mr. RK on numerous occasions on public platforms and in private over matters of national interest, I too believe RK should be investigated if there is enough evidence to prosecute him, and for him to be punished if found guilty. No dispute there. And adopting a holistic approach in addressing the matter, I sure wish learned readers or concerned officials would take note of following observations and questions or respond to same,

1/ Was it not PM Ranil Wickremasinghe (RW) who appointed Mr. Arjun Mahendran as the Governor of Central Bank in the first place? And was it not the same RW who defended vehemently the good name of Mr. Mahendran when the Bond Scandal was first exposed?

2/ If Mr. Arjun Aloysius (AA) of Perpetual Treasuries Limited had manipulated laws and profited out of it due to his connections to then-Governor of Central Bank as alleged, how did the Ministry of Finance get all involved in this web of deceit in the first place, directly or as an accessory?

3/ Though the Central Bank falls under the purview of the Finance Ministry, If there were no allegations of wrongdoing against officials of the Ministry of Finance over a possible or direct involvement in the scandal, on what basis or grounds was Minister Karunanayake being summoned to the Commission to inquire into the Bond Scandal?

4/ According to laws in existence, it is not a criminal offense for parliamentarians to be friends with members of the business community or to seek their assistance even in matters of personal nature. In this context, as claimed by her, if Miss AW was not willing to transact directly with politicians for reasons best known to her, would leasing out her apartment to a third party through a mutual friend (AA in this instance) be tantamount to a criminal offense by either party?

And now that the payment made by the family of Mr. Karunananayake to Miss Anika Wijesuriya through Mr. Aloysius for the lease of the apartment at Monarch residencies has been sensationalized by the news/social media, the way I see it, the hypocrisy of our countrymen is such that I find the latest developments and the hype surrounding it to be quite nauseating. I mean, where was the outrage when UNP heavyweight, MP Mr. Daya Gamage was heavily involved with the corrupt Rajapaksas in building roads or when the Rajapaksa acolyte Mr. Sumal Perera of Access International being given large scale government contracts by big wigs of the present government? The list of such instances is too long to publish here, but I believe it is a new low when vested interests drag down names of prominent and unconnected politicians and try linking them with infamous and highly controversial cases, solely to bring down the government they represent. If at all, I believe individuals should be tried individually in a court of law for their individual conduct.

5/ As claimed by her in her testimony, if Miss Wijesuriya was all skeptical about leasing out her apartment to the family of Mr. RK through Mr. Aloysius, why did Miss. Wijesuriya show the apartment and the functions of keys to the family of Mr. Karunanayake in the first place and using a similar sales pitch as that of a used-car salesman? And why did Miss. AW state her uncorroborated OPINION in a manner that is favorable to the prosecution side at the CIBS two plus years after the deal was done and dusted?

6/ Though educated in a reputed foreign university, could it be possible that Miss. AW missed out on the business school lesson on ethics where it was taught not to betray one’s customers or to implicate them negatively especially AFTER earning a hefty profit through them? If the trust placed on her by her business associates can easily be broken by her with regards to confidential information, could the possibly be malicious testimony of Miss. AW still be admissible in a court of law?

7/ Did Miss. Anika Wijesuriya or did she not have a sexual/romantic relationship with Mr. Aloysius at some stage in their lives? And if the answer to this question is in the affirmative, could it be possible that her testimony against her ex-lover resulted from her desire to avenge her bitterness over an intimate relationship gone bad?

While there may be some truth in Mr. Arjun Aloysius intervening and getting the lease under his name or under a company that he owns…, to imply that the upfront costs of the lease was borne entirely by Mr. AA and to prematurely castigate the Karunananayakes as ‘free loaders’ or accuse them of never repaying the original amount to Mr. AA is simply a malicious accusation as per my understanding. And absurd is it not to accuse someone of not having the funds to lease an apartment when he/she is rich enough to purchase it outright? To be fair to the family of Mr. Karunanayake, I believe Mr. RK too should be given an opportunity to present his case and for him to explain the timeline of events pertaining to the lease and purchase of the apartment in question.

While the opposition may want to use Mr. Ravi Karunanayake as their trump card, it should also not come as a surprise when self-promoting fellow parliamentarians from the same UNP push him towards the altar of sacrifice expecting him to take the blame for all their collective failures in good governance.

With new entrants and destabilizing forces acting behind-the-scene in the political arena, the need to investigate the likes of Sumal Pereras, Jayawardena’s of House of Fashion fame and Nahil Wijesuriyas among others for possible large scale fraud and financial improprieties becomes all too urgent and important. Furthermore, I believe the ploy of bringing the Bond Scandal into limelight by interested parties is none other than to buy time or to avoid being prosecuted for crimes committed during the Rajapaksa regime.

Come August 02, 2017, all eyes will be on Mr. Ravi Karunanayake to listen to his side of the story at the CIBS. Come what may, the guilty should be tried, punished and laws of the state upheld. In the same light, actions of a few individuals should not be causes for overthrow of a democratically elected government or to destabilize a government that gives hope to millions.

By Muhammed Fazl

watch the related video 

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by     (2017-07-28 15:43:28)

Preaching Good Governance From A Penthouse

By Sarath De Alwis –JULY 27, 2017

Sarath de Alwis

In his famous polemic on morality and its place in human society, Trotsky said that morality is relative to each society, to each epoch, and is above all, relative to the interests of the different social classes.

So, the morals of our Prime Minister and the Minister of Lotteries and Foreign Affairs are different from the morals of this writer.   

We made a terrible mistake on 8th January 2015. We replaced a tyrannical autocracy with a shameless clique that delights in moral hypocrisy.

With Mahinda we only had to keep our mouths shut. With the new bunch, to retain our sanity, we have to keep our minds shut. They think we are imbeciles.  Probably they are right!

A Sirisena presidency with Mahinda as prime minister may not be a bad idea after all. In a fortnight this writer will reach seventy five. It is an age at which it is possible to forgive Mahinda for his undoubted trespass on some of our freedoms. It is far easier than reconciling with the brazen bamboozling we are subjected to by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who promised a million jobs and a Volkswagen plant.

The Bond fiasco commenced on 27th February 2015. Eighteen days later, on 17th March 2015 Prime Minster Ranil Wickremesinghe addressed parliament on the subject. Tanks to digital archives in this age, we can listen to him whenever we need to refresh our memories of those promising days and also to refresh his own recall. 

Some extracts are reproduced. They provide an insight in to the integrity of the speaker at the time and in hindsight, an authentic measure of his subsequent performance. 

“I must tell this House that there is something happening in Sri Lanka at the grassroots level. Change is happening. Instead of poverty, corruption and injustice people see hope of prosperity, good governance and justice. For, a decade they have faced the darkest of demons and impossible odds and as one people they have spoken in January for a better way. I now speak in this House on their behalf.”

There are no facts, only interpretations said Friedrich Nietzsche. The Prime Minster eloquently demonstrated his confluence with Nietzsche.

“As a result of past misdeeds, the Central Bank has now been forced to embark on the task of re-building their credibility and standing as the country’s most credible financial institution. This is no easy task, since the spin masters have turned the institution into a wasteland. They left behind a legacy of mismanagement and misrule. They have been adopting a system of private placements of bonds. The criteria they adopted allowed the Central Bank to cut deals with Primary Dealers. Rebuilding international confidence and credibility has become an uphill task. Who are the people who are responsible for this mess? We have may be a half a Trillion to a Trillion Rupees worth of commitments made on highway projects.”

It is natural for a leader to defend his decisions. But if arrogance prevents conceding error in the light of subsequent misery he forfeits his right to lead.  The Prime Minster unreservedly defended Arjun Mahendran.

“When the Governor of the Central Bank was informed that over Rs.20 Billion bids have been received, he instructed the Public Debt Tender Board to select bids up to Rs.10 Billion. He did so in the presence of two Deputy Governors. The claim that the Governor interfered with the work of the Tender Board is not true. Thereafter the Tender Board submitted their recommendations, which were approved by the Governor without any changes.”

The Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has remained studiedly tightlipped with Minister Ravi Karunanayake cavalierly dismissing the startling disclosures before the commission of inquiry in to the bond scam. A  company called Walter and Rowe, a subsidiary of the holding company of Perpetual treasuries, now under investigation has paid the entire lease amount close to Rs.9 Million for the Penthouse apartment that was used by then Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake and his family.

The silence of the Prime Minister and the defiance of the Foreign & Lotteries Minister tells us that this government is far worse than the one we had before.

Mahinda’s financial profligacy was terrible. Gota’s surveillance state was unnerving. True, Mahinda appointed his brother in law the Chairman of the National Carrier. May be he wanted to please his wife. But, he never claimed his playboy brother in law to be a wizard in commercial aviation as is the present case with the balderdash dished out about Suren Ratwatte, the brother of the Prime Minister’s advisor turning around the airline. 

Mahinda did many things wrong. He had many faults. He deserved to be voted out. That said, we must be honest enough to admit that he did not regard the citizenry with contempt. Mahinda Rajapaksa was many things but not a humbug.

Ranil Wickremesinghe and Ravi Karunanayake should be held to account on what they have pronounced publicly. When we match their promises available on record, it is clear that they have embarked on a trajectory that will alter the public framework of what is left in our moral values in public life and public probity. Ranil and Ravi are in self-service and not in public service.

On 29th January 2015, presenting the interim budget of the first hundred days of the ‘yahapalanya’ this is what the future tenant of the Penthouse atop the Monarch Residencies told parliament. The ‘Yahapalana’ Finance Minister was the epitome of ethical propriety and probity in public life.  This is what he said.     

“The system of “Crony Economics” created a segment of the society which was ultra-rich enjoying a life of supreme luxury. They were flaunting not only their ill-gotten wealth but their muscles too. A mere two per cent of the entire population continued to prosper at the expense of others. What of the balance 98%. They were requested to tighten their belts way back in 2005 and they had to continue. Their families fell apart due to economic hardships, jewelry pawned, family heirlooms sold to ensure that home fires continued to burn. Some were facing abject poverty. Naval guards had to be stationed at the Matara Mahanama Samaraweera Bridge and at the Kaluthara Bridge to save our mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters from jumping into river to end their lives, stricken with unbearable poverty.”

The Nilwala and Kaluganga continue to flow quietly to the Indian Ocean. The Ocean view in the interim has been so mesmerizing that the tenant paid a good one hundred and sixty million baksheesh to buy the damned penthouse outright. Our ‘mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters no longer jump in to those rivers as was alleged by the yahapalana financial wizard who promised a mansion tax on the wealthy. Instead they beat their collective breasts in utter revulsion of those who swindled their franchise on 8th January 2015.

Their revulsion is authentic. This is how Ravi Karunanayake prefaced his homily on good governance and financial discipline.

“Honorable Speaker, exactly 21 days ago, on 8 January 2015, the people of the country voted for a change in favor of Honorable President Maithripala Sirisena. They gave a clear mandate emphasizing that they desperately need a change. A change that goes far beyond party politics and individual aspirations to create a new political and economic culture in the country.”  

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Ravi’s penthouse bought from funds without origin

2017-07-28

The Rs.145 million used in making the initial payment of Rs.16.5 million and thereafter to pay the monthly loan installment of Rs.11 million for the controversial purchase of the Monarch Residency Penthouse in Colombo by a company owned by Minister Ravi Karunanayake's family, has no origin nor has it been accounted for according to what was revealed at the PCoI today.

Testifying at the inquiry, Chief Financial Officer of the Global Transportation and Logistics Pvt Ltd (GTLPL), Mr B.R. Chinnaiya explained the manner in which the Monarch Residencies Penthouse had been purchased.

The witness, who has 36 years of experience in the banking field had been also appointed to the Board of Directors of the BOC in 2015 by the then Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake for a period of one year.

* ASG Yasantha Kodagoda hints at money laundering

* Rs.145 million unaccounted money in GTLPL Chairman Lakshmi Kanthan’s safe

* GTLPL Chief Financial officer B.R. Chinnaiya makes startling revelation at inquiry

It was earlier revealed that Minister Karunanayake and his family occupied a Penthouse at the Monarch Residencies for eight months on a lease basis and the monthly lease rental of Rs.1.45 million was paid by Arjun Aloysius.

Subsequently the penthouse had been purchased for Rs.165 million by GTLPL, in which Minister Karunanayake’s wife Mela and daughter Onella were directors.

According to the witness, the GTLPL has two major share holders, 30% acquired by a foreign company headed by the GTLPL Chairman and 70% owned by a company known as OSM Holdings, in which Ms. Karunanayake and their daughter Onella are directors.

The witness said he was instructed by these two directors to obtain a loan and purchase the Penthouse in July 2016 for the use of the Chairman and the family or to be uses when foreign guests are required to be accommodated.

The witness said he then negotiated with the Seylan Bank for the loan but had no negotiations with the price at which the GTLPL would buy the apartment.

It was told that there was an advance payment of Rs.16.5 million had to be paid to the owner of the Penthouse.

However, it was revealed during the evidence that the GTLPL did not have that much money in there account at the time.

He said directors Ms Karunanayake and daughter Onella, instructed him to get the Rs.16.5 million from the Chairman’s safe at the company and pay the initial payment as they had obtained his permission to do so. Mr. Chinnaiya said there was Rs.25 million in the Chairman’s safe.

Later, a loan of Rs.150 million had been granted by the bank on a mortgage to buy the Penthouse.

It was also revealed that the witness had told the bank that the Company wished to buy the Penthouse to rent it out and the rental payment would be directly allocated into the repayment, though it never happened.

The GTLPL agreed with the bank to repay the loan in 15 installments of Rs.11 million each.

The witness said nine installments had been paid so far using the liquid cash available at the Chairman’s safe at the GTLPL.

In a shocking revelation, when he was questioned about the origin of the money, the witness said Chairman ‘Lakshmi Kanthan’ who resides in Britain had arrived at the Company on two occasions in February 2016 and 2017 and dumped cash amounting to Rs.145 million in the Chairman's safe.

The witness said that the Chairman had handed him Rs.70 million to be kept in the safe in February 2016 and later another Rs.75 million had been given in February 2017.

It was revealed that the witness had accepted the cash on the two occasions and it had not been supported by any documentation or receipt issued to Mr. Kanthan neither were there any entries in the GTLPL accounts books regarding these two cash inflows.

It seemed that the Commission and the Additional Solicitor General Yasantha Kodagoda who led the evidence were shocked with the comment of the witness and continued to question him about the origin of the money.

The witness said he never questioned his Chairman Kanthan over how the money was generated.

Justice Prasanna Jayawardena and Justice KT Chithrasiri asked the witness on what basis, being a prudent banker himself, had accepted the money by not verifying its origin. And the Commission also questioned the possibility of the practice that such a large amount of money being kept in a safe without allocating it to the business.

ASG Kodagoda was also of the view that there could be criminal aspects, such as money laundering, deriving through such practices.

On being questioned by the ASG, the witness said the Chairman's safe was of medium size and that he had brought the money in two parcels to be placed in the safe.

Adding some amusement to the query, ASG Kodagoda commented, “the chairman’s safe is like a Perpetual Treasure Box”.

Refering to the statement of accounts presented by the witness of the GTLPL, Justice Jayawardena also questioned the witness relating to the Rs.145 million given by the chairman. The witness was unable to find such an entry in the company's statement of accounts.

The ASG finally explained to the commission that the initial payment of Rs.16.5 million and the installment of Rs.11 million for nine months had been paid from the money (Rs.145 million) placed in the chairman’s safe by Mr. Kanthan himself, while the origin of that money was not reflected in any documentation. (Shehan Chamika Silva)

‘Politicians never hit by strikes’ 

Dr. Nishan de Mel

by Hiran H.Senewiratne -July 27, 2017, 9:37 pm

Very critical institutions, such as those in the health and petroleum sectors, must resort to strike action once other settlement mechanisms are exhausted.. If not  the people have to suffer and not the politicians, Director, Economics, Verite Research Dr. Nishan de Mel told The Island Financial Review.

He said that all workers of such institutions should strike a balance between rights and responsibilities. 'This has to be considered by every worker.'    

'This strike has crippled the country's day to day activities but the most important fact is that the government must also act with a sense of responsibility when dealing with these sensitive and critical issues, de Mel said. 

The recent petrol  strike resulted in a halt in fuel distribution in the country, sending motorists into a fuelling frenzy, with all fuel stations within Colombo running dry. To meet the hike in demand for fuel, the Indian Oil Company (IOC), which caters to 15 percent of the market in the country doubled its fuel supply from its Trincomalee-based storage facility.   The country's day to day activities came to a stand still but its economic loss cannot be quantified at the moment, a top economist said 

Media reports said IOC has agreed to build a second refinery with a capacity of at least 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) in Sri Lanka, while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 pledged to establish a petroleum hub in Trincomalee.The trade unions at the  Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) said handing over the tanks to Lanka IOC would give it too much influence over fuel stations.

State Enterprise Minister Kabir Hashim told the media recently  the unions were giving false information, as India and Sri Lanka had agreed to hand over 10 tanks to the CPC while 74 were expected to be developed under a joint venture between the CPC and Lanka IOC.A Lanka IOC official said  that due to trade union pressure, the CPC would be allowed to use 10 of the 84 tanks earmarked for the joint venture between the two companies.

Anti-Grift: Hoping for Lanka’s Pakistan moment

Whether the judicial decision against PM Sharif will help Pakistan with its campaign against corruption remains to be seen. People in this part of the world are gluttons for punishment; they have a remarkable propensity to suffer corrupt politicians gladly. It may even be another false dawn for Pakistan.

by Prabath Sahabandu- Jul 29, 2017

Jul 29, 2017

( July 29, 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Sri Lankans have been adopting models of all sorts. Their legal system is based on the Roman-Dutch law with borrowings from other sources. They got the Westminster model of representation from Britain. The presidential system is an executive hotchpotch, to say the least. They have an Indian make of devolution system. Now, they are trying to adopt the German electoral model. Other models such as 5S of Japanese origin are also in vogue here. Never has Sri Lanka given serious thought to adopting any model from Pakistan, which has had more than its fair share of trouble including military rule and terrorism, all these decades.

But, now it is clear that Sri Lanka has got to take a leaf out of Pakistan’s book, where fighting corruption is concerned. The Supreme Court of Pakistan yesterday disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from holding public office over corruption. Leaked Panama Papers has brought about his downfall. This, however, is not a new experience for him; he has been stripped of that post twice previously.

The court ruling has said specifically, among other things: “PM failed to disclose his un-withdrawn receivables from Capital FZE, UAE in 2013 nomination papers.” Sharif has stepped down. Opinion is divided in Pakistan on the Supreme Court judgment. Opposition activists are dancing in the streets, distributing sweets. The Shariff loyalists are naturally incensed. However, the apex court ruling is bound to have a deterrent effect on all political leaders, present and future.

It is unthinkable that a sitting President or Prime Minister will ever be arraigned on corruption charges in this country let alone removed from public office. Even the ordinary ruling party parliamentarians are above the law. When it becomes too embarrassing for the government in power to defend some of its MPs arrangements are made for them to enjoy the bail-on-arrival facility, as it were, in Courts.

There have been a handful of instances where politicians in power had to face legal action, but the judicial system was manipulated for them to escape. It may be recalled that under the Rajapaksa government a minister who pleaded guilty to a cheque fraud got away with the serious offence, which would have landed an ordinary citizen in jail; he only paid state costs! None of the rogues in the previous government notorious for bribery and corruption and abuse of power have been thrown behind bars though two and a half years have elapsed since the beginning of the yahapalana rule.

This year has also seen another head of state suffer a devastating judicial gavel blow over corruption charges. South Korean President Park Geun-hye was impeached, subsequently arrested and jailed over a high-profile corruption scandal. Charges against her pale into insignificance when compared with the allegations against politicians in this country.

Whether the judicial decision against PM Sharif will help Pakistan with its campaign against corruption remains to be seen. People in this part of the world are gluttons for punishment; they have a remarkable propensity to suffer corrupt politicians gladly. It may even be another false dawn for Pakistan. But, a prerequisite for a nation’s war against corruption is to let its political leaders and others in high positions know, in no uncertain terms, that no one is too big or powerful to be caught and punished. The Pakistani judiciary has done just that and the onus is now on others to take it from there. Breaking the twin evils of corruption and abuse of power is half the battle in developing a nation.

Having been taken for a right royal ride by a bunch of wily politicians who promised to usher in yahapalanaya, Sri Lankans must be hoping for the ouster of the crooks living off the fat of the land at their expense.

( The writer is the editor in Chief of the Island, a Colombo based daily newspaper, where this piece first appeared)

Yoshitha’s leg becomes sick again!

 Jul 28, 2017

Yoshitha, second son of ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa, was due to report to the CID in Colombo at 10.00 am today (28), but he has informed the CID through his lawyers that he could not be present as he had undergone surgery in a leg. Yoshitha said he has decided to take strict bed rest as doctors have advised him not to do ‘risky travelling’ until his leg healed, and sought another date to be present at the CID, police headquarters sources say.

Junior Navy officer Yoshitha previously applied for an easing of bail conditions imposed against him by the magistrate’s court to go to Australia for a surgery in a leg. Two days later, he was seen running in a marathon from Colombo to Negombo, as pictures posted on social media showed. Those closest to him told us that it was not for a surgery he had intended to go to Australia, but to meet his girlfriend.

 

Well knowing the truth about Yoshitha’s sick leg, senior officials of the Attorney General’s Department instructed the CID to issue summons to Yoshitha and his mother Shiranthi to appear before the CID next week. Shiranthi’s lawyers asked the CID to give a date in September, saying she has to prepare documents. However, the AG’s Department has instructed the CID to get them down next week anyhow and record statements from them, failing which to report about it to courts.

 

Sources close to the Rajapaksa family say Shiranthi has met several astrologers and obtained advice that Yoshitha and herself would have a very bad period in August and to get hospitalized to avoid trouble and obtain a date in September. 

 

Mahinda and Namal are trying, through various middlemen, to meet the president and the prime minister, who have so far not interfered with affairs of the AG’s Department and the CID. The law and order minister too, should be commended for taking a similar line.