Sunday, September 24, 2017

Voter participation – Sri Lankan scene and benefitsof external pressure and international networks

September 24, 2017, 10:59 pm

A paper presented by Prof. S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole Member, Election Commission, Sri Lanka at the 8th Annual Meeting of the Forum of Election Management Bodies of South Asia, 23-27 Sept. 2017, Kabul, Afghanistan on the theme "Election and Dispute Resolutions & No Voter to be Left Behind."

For all of us to defend the institutions we represent is the human condition. Thus, country reports and like documents tend to gloss over the failures of our institutions. This enhances our view of ourselves. However, it is in owning up to these deficiencies that causative factors are resolved or at least ameliorated. None of us has a perfect democracy. We have ideals that we strive to achieve and move towards.

Sri Lanka’s is a multiparty democracy. We have our failures that have impeded our island nation’s progress towards democratic-franchise for all communities. Social, political and economic influences have undermined our democratic ideals. For example, five of our failures are provided below.

1) At independence in 1948, 11% of our population were Tamils of recent Indian origin enjoying the franchise. One of the first acts of Ceylon’s Parliament was to disfranchise them. Voters were left behind.

2) The Sri Lanka Freedom Party under its then leader Sirimavo Bandaranaike, enacted a new constitution in 1972, and used that effectively to extend her term by two years. She also did away with Article 29 of the previous constitution affording protection to minorities. The change made Sri Lanka a very different country from the pluralistic society previously envisioned.

3) In 1982 President J.R. Jayewardene, who had been elected in 1977, with his party commanding a two-thirds parliamentary majority, held a referendum on extending the life of parliament by 6 years without an election. According to the book by Paul Brass,"The December 1982 Referendum saw rigging on a grand scale, with UNP supporters – especially those in the party’s trade union – resorting to ballot stuffing, intimidation, and violence to ensure a UNP victory." Yet, our Department of Elections certified the result.

4) In the 1994 elections, the separatist group, the LTTE, ordered a boycott of the elections. It was understood that anyone who defied the ban would be executed. Thus, only one rival militant group was a key contestant and their members got elected to parliament with as few as 9 votes. We certified the result instead of cancelling it.

5) Perhaps the big success of the Election Department was the Jan. 2015 Presidential Elections. The story is yet to be told fully – and may never be unless the then Election Commissioner and present Chairman of the Election Commission writes a book as he promises to do upon retirement. As the incumbent president seemed to be losing, troops under the command of his brother were moving to the capital city of Colombo, where the nation’s votes were being counted under our watch. The Election Commissioner ordered the police assigned to him to "shoot aiming for the head." The Presidency changed hands peaceably.

The courts have now determined that the Secretary to the outgoing President with the former Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission had defrauded the state of Rs. 600 million to distribute religious clothing to Buddhists just before the 2015 elections. They have each been sentenced to three years in jail with a hefty fine. While it shows the sea change in high-ups being sentenced for the first time, the impunity that pervades Sri Lanka is seen to be difficult to shake off – both, although sentenced to rigorous imprisonment, were found to be "sick" in prison and given luxury quarters in the prison hospital. Curiously, that President in whose cause the fraud was perpetrated making him answerable, has not been touched. It shows that challenging impunity at top is a long process.

However, despite the monumental failures of our democracy, Sri Lanka is moving towards its ideals under international pressure. The President’s Secretary, effectively the Head of the Civil Service, being jailed was unthinkable till recently.

Global Community

We as the people of a country are best off operating in a fraternity of global partners sharing best practices. Examples are forums such as FEMBOSA, and the Commonwealth Electoral Network, as well as international organizations like the UN Human Rights Commission and INGOs like The International Federation of Electoral Systems. Not only do we learn from each other, but such forums bring likeminded partners to put pressure on offending parties and publicise problems. Methods used are often consultative and advisory, as with INGOs that need government permission for presence in a country, and at other times coercive and directly confrontational, as often necessary. Some call the latter colonialism in new forms but for those at the receiving end of a bad government, it is welcome relief.

Thankfully, due to the intervention of India and the political organization of our plantation workers, despite their statelessness all those rendered stateless have been offered Sri Lankan citizenship and their franchise. Thus external inputs are sometimes necessary to make a country do justice to its citizens.

Women’s participation in governance is an area where Sri Lanka fairs poorly with only 5% of our MPs being female. However, there has been a reversal of late. Parliament has enacted laws to force a 25% quota for women in Local Government. There is continued opposition and the Bill was gazetted, passed with substantial modification at the Committee Stage, and is again being modified as this paper is being written.

This sunrise as it were on women’s rights has been because of external criticism and advice. Field trips have been organized for MPs to visit countries that have successfully included women. Training programs have been funded for women encouraging them to be candidates. Foreign leaders have come to canvass our political leaders on this score. They made us do what we should have done by ourselves.

Caste is another frontier where obstacles exist but are not admitted, which makes a solution even more difficult. The agricultural castes dominate and the Executive Prime Minister and later the President have all been agriculturist Sinhalese – except when during a violent insurrection no one wanted to be President. The Northern Provincial Council of 38 has only two of depressed caste origin, while the provincial demography has over 50% from the depressed castes.

Such inequalities are entrenched in the socio-political order. It is a given that Sri Lanka is a Sinhalese Buddhist country where Buddhism is foremost and must be fostered by the state. As a new constitution is being drafted, this clause so inimical to concepts of democracy and an egalitarian order, will be retained, both the President and Prime Minister are on record as having said. Certain flags need to be waved to win elections.

That attitude asserting Buddhism has twisted Sri Lanka’s democratic fabric into a grotesque shape. Towards the end of the civil war with the LTTE in 2009, the UN estimates that over 40,000 Tamil civilians were massacred by the army. Others give a higher figure of over 70,000.The government, on account of pressure from the global community, had in 2014 cosponsored UNHCR Resolution 30/1 promising prosecution of war crimes through a credible transparent processoverseenby international judges.

The problem is that in our communalist polity, Sinhalese soldiers who killed Tamil civilians are national heroes. Punishing the killers is political suicide. Promises of prosecution thus becomea game of double-speakwhere we do not know what or whom to believe. The ruling coalition’s Malik Samarawickrama announced:

"The UNP welcomes the statement of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Prime Minister and the President to use the full force of the law against those causing religious tensions, racial hatred and undermining the efforts at reconciliation since the new government came to power."

(This paper reflects the author’s own views as a Member of the Election Commission and not necessarily those of the Election Commission or the Government of Sri Lanka.)

It is an uphill task for the Govt. to attain the envisaged targets

Vision 2025: Part 2

Analysis so far

Monday, 25 September 2017

In Part 1 of the article series on the Government’s Vision 2025 published last week (available at: http://www.ft.lk/columns/Vision-2025--Part-1--Need-for-moving-from-a-wish-list-to-a-concrete-plan/4-639757), it was pointed out that the present vision document was just the fourth of such visions pronounced by the Government during the last two year period.

These documents which started from the election manifesto of the United National Party presented to the electorate in August 2015 had one underlying theme.

That was the new economic philosophy of the Government which was styled as ‘Knowledge-based Highly Competitive Social Market Economy’, a concept adapted from Germany which had introduced it after the Second World War. Germany’s vision had been to have a third way, different from the Western capitalism and Soviet Union’s communism which had been ruling the world at that time and proved to be ineffective to meet the aspirations of all the people in a country. Apparently, UNP too had felt that it needed a new ideology, different from the extreme state expansion policy which had been adopted by the previous Mahinda Rajapaksa administration.

However, it was pointed out in the previous article that three shortcomings in the first three policy statements, namely, lack of consensus among the ruling coalition parties on economic policy, failure to sell it to people and the Minister of Finance taking the country in the opposite direction, had hampered their proper implementation. Hence, the need of the day had been identified as translating the wish list in the vision into implementable concrete plans.

V2025 has two time bound goals

As pointed out previously, Vision 2025 has two time-bound goals, four intermediate goals to be realised by 2020 and one final goal to be achieved by 2025. The four intermediate goals have been to increase the average income of a Sri Lankan, also known as per capita income or PCI, from the present $ 4,000 to $ 5,000, generate one million jobs, increase foreign direct investments or FDIs to $ 5 billion per annum and double the country’s exports from the present $ 10 billion to $ 20 billion. The final goal has been to make Sri Lanka a rich country by 2025.

Both goals are ambitious and challenging

These are highly ambitious goals and, therefore, challenging. They are specially challenging given the high growth rates which the country has to achieve over the next eight-year period if it is to become a rich country.

In the intermediate target of elevating Sri Lanka’s PCI to $ 5,000, the country has to maintain on average a continuous growth rate of 9% per annum in each of the years from 2018 to 2020. Similarly, to become a rich country by 2025, Sri Lanka should have a PCI of little over $ 12,000, according to World Bank’s classifications. That requires Sri Lanka to accelerate its growth rate to above 16% per annum during 2021 to 2025.

Sri Lanka’s efficiency of capita utilisation, known as Incremental Capital Output Ratio or ICOR, is so low that it has to on average use five units of capital to produce one unit of output. Thus, the annual investment requirement to attain the first target of 9% growth is about 45% of the total output, known as the Gross Domestic Product or GDP. In the latter target, it is an exorbitantly high level of about 80% of GDP.

No alternative; everyone should tighten belts

To maintain such a high level of investment, Sri Lanka has to, in the first place cut down its consumption drastically, known to economists as ‘austerity measures’ or to laymen, as ‘belt-tightening measures’. However, there is a limit to such austerity measures which Sri Lanka can safely introduce, given the high preference for consumption by all, ranging from politicians to bureaucrats to common men and women.

If belts cannot be tightened sufficiently, no alternative but use savings of foreigners

Hence, there will still be a gap between potential savings and the required investments. That gap, known as the savings-investment gap, has to be filled by using savings done by people in the rest of the world. Those savings are mobilised by a country by making foreign borrowings or attracting FDIs or allowing foreigners to invest in the country’s securities market, known as portfolio investments or simply getting foreigners to give free gifts or grants or by using all of them. In the past, Sri Lanka had tried to fill the gap mainly by borrowing from abroad but it had increased the country’s foreign debt to unmanageable levels.

Sri Lanka’s disappointing

growth record

Sri Lanka’s past track record with regard to economic growth has also not been very encouraging. On average, during the whole of the post-independence period, Sri Lanka’s annual economic growth has been at around 4.4%, as shown by Figure 1. In the first half of 2017, its growth has been still worse at 3.9%. Though the authorities have expressed hope that there would a bounce-back in the second half of the year, all the available indicators such as agricultural production and growth of exports have shown that the country would finally end up at an average growth of 4% in 2017.

High growth expectations amidst low performance

Though, in its latest projection, the Central Bank has expected that the growth rate would increase to 7% by 2020, as shown in Figure 2, the projection made by IMF has been significantly below that. In this scenario, the acceleration of the growth rate to a minimum of 9% per annum during 2018-20 and to 16% during 2021 to 2025 would certainly be an uphill task.

Linking accelerated growth targets to election cycle

In the case of the three previous policy statements, Sri Lanka still planned to be a rich country but it had assigned to itself a very long date for attaining that goal, namely, 2045. But in the Vision 2025, that long date has been advanced to 2025, a kind of an acceleration of the growth momentum planned previously.

As pointed out in the previous article, this acceleration had nothing to do with the country’s perceivable economic cycles. Instead, it had been linked to the country’s election cycle in which there would be two Parliamentary elections one in 2020 and the other in 2025. The Government’s wish to secure victory at these two elections is understandable. But the goals which it has set for itself and for sale to the electorate have been too challenging for its built-in capability.

A nation bent on consuming

and not saving

Sri Lanka’s annual domestic savings are on average at about 20% of GDP. This means that when a Sri Lankan living in Sri Lanka earns 100 rupees, he spends 80 rupees on consumption. This is comparably a high level of consumption, compared with high savers in the region like Singapore or China which have a savings record of about 50% of their income.

Relying on remittances to augment domestic savings is not advisable

Sri Lanka’s domestic savings are being augmented significantly by the inflow of remittances by Sri Lankan workers abroad. These remittances constitute about 8% of GDP; thus, the country’s national savings which include such remittances as well have been recorded at a higher level of about 28% of GDP over the last few years.

However, remittances are not a source of funding on which Sri Lanka can make too much of dependence since they are subject to constraints. On one side, Sri Lanka cannot send people out for employment without experiencing a labour shortage within the country. On the other, the employing countries also cannot do so continuously due to domestic political and economic problems.

Getting free money spending politicians to get a voluntary

cut is challenging

Hence, it is safe for Sri Lanka to rely on domestic savings rather than national savings to finance its target level of investments. But to do so, it has to force all Sri Lankans to cut their consumption at least by another 10% of GDP allowing the country to increase its domestic savings rate from the current 20% to 30%. However, it requires everyone – politicians, bureaucrats and ordinary citizens – to take a cut in the present welfare levels. The biggest challenge for the Government is to change the mindset of both politicians and bureaucrats to take this hit.

Avoiding the debt trap by going

for FDIs

However, even when the country’s domestic savings are increased to 30% of GDP through enforced austerity measures across the board, there will still be a sizeable savings-investment gap which has to be filled by using savings made by foreigners. Since the country is already in a foreign debt trap and the Government has made announcements that it does not want to increase these debt levels any more, the only available source has been the attraction of FDIs. In the intermediate targets set in Vision 2025, the Government wishes to increase FDIs from the present less than $ 1 billion to $ 5 billion by 2020. Based on the track record of the country, this is again an uphill task.

Sri Lanka should improve

its global ranking

What will go against the Government’s desire to attract FDIs is the general inefficiency of the public sector in the country, unpreparedness of the private sector for the changing global environment and the indecision of the political leaders. This has been demonstrated by Sri Lanka’s very low ranking in all the global indexes, as presented in Table 1. This is not a new development and the country had always been ranked low by those agencies even in the past.

Shooting the ranking agencies instead of shooting the rank

When these reports were out, the reaction of the previous Mahinda Rajapaksa administration was that those compiling agencies were biased, prejudiced and vindictive and were carrying on a mission to destroy Sri Lanka’s bright future.

Hence, every time a new index result was out, there were angry retorts and promises of compiling Sri Lanka’s own indexes to represent its true state to the rest of the world. However, they were only promises and none of these homemade indexes was release subsequently.

Poor FDI record

The result was that Sri Lanka could not attract worthwhile FDIs even after the end of the war when there was a lot of promise for such investments to take place. For instance, during 2005 to 2009, according to the Central Banking data, Sri Lanka had got on average an annual flow of FDIs amounting to $ 644. This number has slightly increased to $ 793 million during 2010 to 2014.

New Government’s track record of attracting FDIs is not better than previous Government

When the new Government came to power in January 2015, the promise of Sri Lanka as a destination of worthwhile FDIs was substantially increased on account of the pledge it had given to the rest of the world that it would usher an era of good governance, transparency, rule of law and law and order. Yet, FDIs it could attract during 2015 and 2016 amounted, on an annual average, only to $ 789 million, almost same as the country’s record during the previous post-war period.

In the absence of domestic savings, FDIs will be the saviour

Even then, during the two periods under reference, those FDIs were mainly for the hospitality and real estate sectors, and not for high tech industries that could have revolutionised the country’s production structure, the need of the day.

The present Government was expected to take measures to improve the country’s standing on these indexes. But no action was taken for two years and the country’s standing deteriorated further during that period. Now that the Government is planning to accelerate economic growth to a very high level during the next eight-year period and it plans to depend principally on FDIs, it cannot ignore the falling standing of the country in the eyes of foreign index compiling agencies.

Are the claims on job creation in V2025 are correct?

An important intermediate target of the Government during 2018-20 has been the generation of one million jobs. Vision 2025 claims that from January 2015 up to date 430,000 new jobs have been created within the economy.

However, this claim is not being borne out by the data that have been published by the Central Bank in its Annual Reports based on the data compiled by the Department of Census and Statistics. According to the Central Bank, as at the end of 2014, the number of people employed in the country had amounted to 8.424 million. As at the end of 2016, this number has declined to 7.948 million recording a decline of employment by 476,000.

Is it one or one and a

half million new jobs in the

next three-year period?

What it means is that if the Government’s objective is to create one million jobs over the level of employment that had prevailed at end 2015, it has to create nearly 1.5 million new jobs during 2018-20. This is again an uphill task.

Next part will analyse how exports should be increased

Vision 2025 plans to double exports from the current level of $ 10 billion to $ 20 billion by 2020. The next part will examine the nature of the challenge faced by the Government to attain this goal within a mere three-year period and the policy package it should implement if it is willing to adopt a long date for attaining that target.

(W.A. Wijewardena, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, can be reached at waw1949@gmail.com.)

A womb of one’s own: Life, abortion and motherhood in Sri Lanka

Photograph: Paul Mezzer/FRF/Getty via The Irish Times

MEGHAL PERERA-09/23/2017

From well-intentioned comments about our weight and skin colour, to the insidious experience of being followed as we walk on the street, women are wearily aware that their bodies are public property. The proposed change to the abortion law does little to address this, but at the very least it offers some relief to the victims of rape – the ultimate violence that occupies the dark end of a spectrum of suggestions, unsolicited remarks, straying hands and force.

Whether they acknowledge the patriarchy or not, opponents of abortion ultimately seek to maintain a status quo that limits women’s bodily autonomy and coerces them into permanent motherhood or life-threatening illegal procedures. While people who are against abortion do not need to have one, it is strange that they feel entitled to make this decision on behalf of every fertile woman in Sri Lanka, ignorant of context and untouched by the consequences of their actions.

It is possible to lobby to make Sri Lanka a better place for unwed mothers, to improve the quality of life of disabled people and demand that resources be allocated to improve existing systems of social care for children, but in doing so, you have to still accept that this debate happens in the gritty, unpleasant, cash-strapped version of Sri Lanka, not the utopian version we sell in our civics books.

Opponents of abortion might believe that life is sacred, and must be protected at all costs and to legalize abortion would violate the inalienable right to life. The consensus on when life begins is a murky area for scientists and ethicists alike, perhaps because defining the characteristics of life is a complicated endeavour. Whether it is at conception or on the basis of possessing a consciousness, spine, capacity for pain, or heartbeat, there is no clear or arbitrary basis by which we define when life starts.

But let’s just assume that life begins at conception. Are we forced to acknowledge that the foetus has the same moral standing as a human female in society? Why should the state apparatus prioritize a bundle of cells at the expense of the physical wellbeing, mental health, dreams and aspirations of an established member of society?

The pro-life stance posits that the right to life of a foetus outweighs the choice of the adult. But this choice severely impacts the quality of life of that individual for the rest of their life. We recognize that mere existence is not living, and human beings should have the right to a quality of life, which is why we try to combat poverty and envision a world without traffic. We even support efforts to curtail potential lives on the basis that quality is more important than quantity. When contraception and family planning is promoted, it is done so on the principle that more children is not always a good thing. We concede that children should not be born into families that are unable and unwilling to support them.

The right to life is considered so inalienable, because life is sacred. Who decides what is sacred and why, is a question which does not usually have a secular answer. Furthermore, it is clear from the abundant death and destruction around us, that not all permutations of life gain the sacred stamp of approval. In many countries it is legal for terminally ill patients to end their own lives, as tangible quality of life is more important than an abstract sacred concept of life. Moreover, an individual can sign orders instructing doctors not to resuscitate him, underlining the fact that people can choose in some way or form, to reject life. In Sri Lanka, we accept and even glorify, the ending of lives in war and in self-defense, where self-interest overrules sanctity. In instances where people are on life support or in a coma, some states afford their next of kin the choice to terminate care. These examples are not meant to trivialize life or suggest that murder is a desirable hobby, but rather to emphasize the fact that the blanket claim “life is sacred,” is simplistic and cruelly insulting to the individuals who have had to make these difficult choices. It is not a zero sum game. These decisions are not easy, but they are facilitated by state structures, thus entrusting those who know the most about their situation, to make a decision suited to them. It acknowledges the messy reality of life and trusts people to weigh costs and benefits and make complex moral decisions in a grey and confusing world.

The more interesting question though, is not if we are permitted to end life, but if we are obliged to save one.

Consider an onlooker who chances upon a man drowning in a river. He is not legally bound to jump in and save the drowning man, even if he is an excellent swimmer and the only person in sight; essentially the best and only candidate for the job. He may do so, based on his own moral code and values, but we do not dictate that he must suffer risks or even exert himself, to save the life of another. Scaling up this logic, the state does not require that we become compulsory organ donors upon our death, even if this would save multiple lives, at zero cost to our own for obvious reasons. States cannot compel us to be superheroes, because they realize these instances are so context dependent. Women are the only exemption. The same onlooker has no obligation to stop a woman getting raped, but once she is raped and pregnant, she is expected to sustain the life of a foetus, despite the risks and effects of pregnancy. Women are expected to bear the ordeal of pregnancy and the pain of childbirth, and put their dreams on hold, so that they can sustain another human.

They are forced to do so, because motherhood and pregnancy are still extolled as things that all women, deep down in their shrewish hearts, should want. We think that abortion is unacceptable because we do not entertain the notion that women’s reasons for avoiding motherhood are valid. It is worth considering that those who support abortion do not abhor motherhood. Rather, they consider it a life-changing decision that is too important to be left to whims of fate. Right now, motherhood hovers over every fertile woman in Sri Lanka, and we can do nothing but place our trust in the reliability of condoms and the goodness of men.

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Editors note: Also read The Abortion Debate: Mismatched and Misplaced?, The Abortion Debate: The Absence of Questions and Abortion, Women and Personhood on the same issue, published recently on Groundviews.

Sri Lanka: Yet Another Despicable Thief on the Run!

20th Minister Lakshman Kiriella convening a media meeting had said the tender for Japan’s Taisei Corporation was given with the approval of the cabinet.

Sep 25, 2017

( September 25, 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Committee On Public Enterprises (COPE) has directed the Auditor General to investigate frauds that have been committed in connection with the tender for the Central Expressway project immediately and make available the report.

COPE had asked for the report as several officials of Road Development Authority who were summoned by COPE had revealed certain conflicting information regarding the Central Expressway project.

On the 20th Minister Lakshman Kiriella convening a media meeting had said the tender for Japan’s Taisei Corporation was given with the approval of the cabinet.

This company had quoted Rs. 159 billion in its first and second tenders but they had brought it down to Rs.134.9 billion saving Rs.24 billion the Minister had said.

However, the Minister of Highways and Higher Education Lakshman Kiriella is making a drastic attempt to stop investigations COPE intends carrying out on this tender process and had informed COPE that he would not allow it to carry out the investigation.

As the Minister had said he would not allow the officials to participate in any inquiry by COPE the Speaker intervened to have a discussion between Chairman of COPE JVP Parliamentarian Sunil Handunneththi, the subject Minister Lakshman Kiriella and the Auditor General. This was revealed in Parliament recently.

“Construction of the Central Highway project is being carried out at present. As such, I would not allow the Road Development Authority to be questioned by COPE,” Kiriella had said during the discussion.

“I act according to standing orders of the Parliament. As the Chairman of COPE I can investigate not only accounts of a state enterprise but its procedure as well,” Hanunneththi had said reminding that COPE carries out its investigation based on information in the annual report presented by the Auditor General.

However, Minister Kiriella had said he would not send his officials to be questioned.

Handunneththi had asked why the minister was afraid if he had not committed any fraud or corruption. He had said if there was wrong information the officials could correct them.

Can you beat that ! Doctor who is running a sordid rest house backed by a conspiracy ,defies Minister’s order !

(Lanka-e-News - 24.Sep.2017, 7.45AM) The acting chief medical officer of the Prison hospital Dr. Nirmali Thenuwara ,the most infamously famous corrupt doctor who has been running a ‘sordid rest house’ for super prisoners of her choice for about three and half years was transferred by the Health minister Rajitha Senaratne because of her illicit activities . Yet , unbelievably this corrupt doctor’s transfer has not yet taken effect . Against this obstruction to the transfer the doctors within the prison hospital have staged a strike. Consequently , for the last about 5 days , no medical treatment is being provided to the patients.

This most abhorred mafia that is obstructing her transfer is so powerful that , while putting aside the minister’s transfer order , they are even leaving no stone unturned to get another equally or more corrupt scoundrel of a doctor who was earlier in the prison hospital back in her place ,based on reports reaching Lanka e news.

Dr. Wijesinghe the notorious corrupt scoundrel who was in the prison hospital before Nirmali was found unfit to treat patients , and he was therefore duly recommended for only administrative service by the Medical Council .The Medical Council arrived at that decision , because when he was in the prison hospital he faced charges of molesting women prisoners ,as well as taking out prisoners who were incarcerated on charges of sex workers who are unable to pay fines , and selling them in the night after taking them in his vehicle. There was an investigation into this and Wijesinghe was found guilty.

In addition , when Wijesinghe was a doctor at the Prison hospital , he was charged with robbing Tsunami donations and proved guilty. Because his vehicle was caught transporting Tsunami donations through the rear gate of the prison , doctors’ vehicles are now prohibited from using the rear gate . It is despite this putrid antecedence of Wijesinghe, efforts are being made again to get back this Doctor rascal to the prison hospital , and appoint Nirmali as his assistant with a view to cancel her transfer . There is a vicious conspiracy to appoint this Bonnie and Clyde (Wijesinghe and Nirmali) ‘doctor double’.

It is Dr. Jayasundara Bandara the Health ministry secretary ,Dr.Priyantha Atapattu Director health service , and Amal Harsha De Silva who have hatched this conspiracy completely ignoring the health minister’s orders, based on reports reaching Lanka.Priyantha Atapattu is vigorously opposed to the transfer of Nirmali , it is learnt. Nirmali who is not fortunate enough to have a legitimate husband however is in fact not that unfortunate. She has found in Atapattu widely known as her paramour the necessary tool to plant brinjals in her wildly growing garden full of weeds , no matter how illegitimate such arrangements are from the point of view of decent society.

Though Nirmali was transferred to National hospital with effect from 2017-01-01 , the GMOA and Atapattu have seen to it that is halted. Recently when the Neville Fernando hospital was acquired by the government , Atapattu was appointed as its Director.

After Dr. Lakshman Jayamanne and Dr.Malinda Wanasinghe were removed earlier when they were found guilty following a disciplinary inquiry , it was Dr. Nirmali Thenuwara who was appointed to the prison hospital. Nirmali instead of eradicating corruption and rackets in keeping with her inborn squalid traits preferred to perpetuate those which prevailed in the prison hospital under them . The main illicit activity was making the prison hospital a ‘Royal rest house’ for ‘super prisoners’ after collecting huge kickbacks.

She made that a sordid rest house. Producing false medical reports to courts , creating the environment in prison to commit sexual abuse on women prisoners and other illicit activities raged.

12 other doctors who are affiliated to the prison hospital staged a strike recently . After meeting with the Health minister Rajitha Senaratne they handed over a complaint with 26 charges . The Minister thereafter ordered that Nirmali be removed and another medical officer shall replace her.

Accordingly a suitable medical officer was appointed , but the corrupt mafia is resisting this appointment , and moving heaven and earth to appoint another notorious confirmed corrupt rascal .Consequently , the strike is continuing.

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by (2017-09-24 02:33:12)

New tax law exempts net income of small businesses and artistes up to Rs. 500,000 from tax

Sun, Sep 24, 2017, 09:28 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Sept 24, Colombo: The Ministry of Finance in a communique clarified that the net income of small businesses and artistes up to 500,000 rupees will be exempted from taxation under the new Inland Revenue Act.

Accordingly, with the implementation of the government's new tax act, the annual net income obtained by artists in literature, arts, music, and stage and film sectors from their productions, after deducting the costs incurred for the workers, including payrolls or other payments, will be tax free up to 500,000 rupees.

Accordingly, the artistes, who have been given special tax concessions and limits so far, will be taxed in the same manner as the common people earning taxable income.

Similarly the self-employed Individuals and small businesses will receive tax exemption up to 500,000 rupees from their annual profits, the Finance Ministry said.

Following the initial exemption of 500,000 rupees of net income, the additional annual profit up to 600,000 rupees will be taxed at a 4 percent rate. The next 600,000 rupee annual profit bracket will be taxed at 8 percent, after which, tax rate will be increased by 4 percent for every 600,000 rupees increase in net income.

The new tax system will be effective from the 1st of April 2018.

The Ministry of Finance said under the complicated taxation system used in the country now, different sectors has been given various tax concessions without a rational base and it has resulted in a disparity in income.

As a result, 20 percent of the population receiving the maximum income enjoys 54 percent of the economic benefits creating an inequity in the distribution of benefits of the economy to the public.
The new tax act has introduced a method to simplify the tax system abolishing tax concessions given in various sectors and levy taxes on the income level of all citizens alike.

The new Inland Revenue Act has been prepared according to the principles of good governance and accordingly, under the new act, taxes will be levied not according to the social level or the profession of the citizen, but on the basis of the income and profit they derive from the economic activity they perform, the Ministry said.

The new tax act, which has prepared the background to levy taxes from the President as never happened in the country in its history, will not disproportionately grant special treatment or relief to any sector or any individual, the communiqué said.

Since the new tax laws are clearly defined in the new tax act and transparent for everyone to equally receive tax relief, the new tax act will help to achieve the good governance principles by preventing revenue disparities in society, the Finance Ministry said.

Welikada, Thajudeen, Rathupaswala probes make no headway!

Sep 24, 2017

Investigations into the killing of Welikada prison inmates, Rathupaswala shooting and the murder of ruggerite Wasim Thajudeen are making no headway due to a tug-of-war among the law enforcement authorities and the military.

On 09 and 10 of November 2012, a riot at Weliakada Prison left 27 inmates killed. Two commission reports have been released, one by a lawyer S.K. Liyanage-led presidential commission that gives crucial information about the incident. However, no legal action has been taken so far, while an attempt is alleged to sabotage the CID investigation. The Army is yet to provide a report into the firearms used in the incident, while the CID has so far not received the reports into the deaths of the prisoners, reliable sources say.

SOCO investigators found four T-56 weapons near the bodies of the victims, and recovered 647 empty T-56 cartridges, 27 live T-56 bullets, 91 empty 9 mm cartridges, 14 empty M16 cartridges and one live 9 mm bullet.

Meanwhile, the government analyst has found that 40 firearms said to have been sent by the Army to the Rathupaswala protest location on 01 August 2013 had not been used. Lawyers say this was an attempt by the Army to mislead the courts, and that legal action can be taken over it. Four, including Brig. Deshapriya Gunwardena, have been arrested over the shooting.

There is talk in the legal circles about former JMO Ananda Samarasekara not being arrested so far in connection with the missing bone samples of ruggerites Thajudeen. Also, it has come to light that he had submitted a false report with regard to the bone samples. Legal circles suspect that Samarasekara is getting protection from powerful persons.

The case will be taken up again on the 28th. Legal circles say government leaders should intervene immediately in light of attempts by the military and certain persons in the government to mislead these investigations.

- Shalika Wimalasena

CEB JTUA’s continuous strike A 10% salary hike solves the family conflict

BY NIRANJALA ARIYAWANSHA-2017-09-25

Minister of Power and Renewable Energy Ranjith Siyambalapitiya acknowledged, at the end of the continuous strike engaged in by the Joint Trade Union Alliance for seven days, accusing the management of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), who are the engineers, of being corrupt, as "a solution bringing an end to a family conflict."

Anyhow, objections are being made from all segments against the CEB for having to spent people's tax money for the purpose of "ending the conflict in the family." All employees, including the engineers of the CEB, have been subject to severe criticism in society due to the strike. The reason was, in relation to other Government institutions, all employees from the lowest to the top management in the CEB were receiving huge salaries. The government had to agree to a collective agreement with all relevant parties to pay the strikers salary allowances of 10% from January of this year to put an end to the strike.

A 6-hour discussion had to be held at the Labour Commissioner's office with all relevant parties and the intervention of the Minister of Labour and Trade Unions John Seneviratne to arrive at this decision. An official who participated in this discussion told Ceylon Today that strikers as well as representatives of the CEB Engineers' Union (CEBEU) engaged in a battle unto death in order to win their own demands and on behalf of suppressing the demands of others. As soon as this hectic, impulsive lengthy discussion ended and all participants came out, the CEBEU and the strikers began accusing each other once again. It has been continuing unabated up to now.

CEBEU said that the strike engaged in by other employees, claiming that the engineers were corrupt, was halted immediately when they were granted a salary increase. Therefore, the CEBEU is accusing these employees of launching the strike with the objective of obtaining a salary increase.

"If the administration is corrupt there is no point in engaging in strikes. They have to approach a place like the FCID. There are three cases in Court complaining that we are corrupt. Therefore this strike is unjustified," the President of CEBEU Saumya Kumarawadu accused.

Convener of the Joint Trade Unions Alliance Ranjan Jayalal rejecting this accusation said that it was possible through this strike to create, an opinion among the people that the administrators of the CEB are corrupt.

"We did not ask for a salary increase. What we said was mainly that the illegal increase in salaries from January 2015, at a massive percentage between 70% - 124% that the Engineers' got for themselves, only be abolished. However, with the Government deciding to grant a 10% allowance to other employees, it is clear that the Government accepts the fact that the salary increases, which were implemented only for the engineers, are illegal," Jayalal emphasized.

However, the Secretary to the Ministry stressed that this salary increase, implemented from 2015, for engineers cannot be abolished after a lapse of three years. If by some chance the Government decided to fulfil the demands of the strikers it was a an open secret that at the next minute the engineers were prepared to engage in a strike. Therefore, he said that the only possible way to solve the problem was to increase the salaries of other employees.

In institutions such as the CEB, Sri Lanka Telecom, Sri Lanka Ports Authority, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and the Water Supply and Drainage Board the salary structure that is being implemented is one that is external from the annual budget. The salaries of employees of these institutions are increased once every three years and the percentage of increase is determined by a salaries committee established in each institution. All trade unions of each institution are granted the opportunity to submit to the committee proposals regarding salaries.

E- Scale for Engineers

Subsequent to the wages increase granted to the CEB in 2012, another increase was scheduled in 2015. With two days to go for the Presidential Election, on 6 January 2015 a circular was issued that a new level of salaries for engineers named E-Scale had been prepared by the then General Manager of the CEB Shavindranath Fernando. This circular had been prepared by the CEBEU. CEBEU then said that the struggle they were engaged in since 1987 to have a separate salary scale for technical employees including engineers of the CEB had been achieved.

Anyhow the problem commenced from there. Continuous objections were raised regarding setting up a special salary scale for engineers only, by trade unions in all services of the CEB except for the engineers. Their demand was that in comparison to the increase in wages of engineers, their salaries too should be increased. Finally it was this conflict that dragged on for a period of two and a half years resulting in a continuous strike from 13 September onwards.

At the discussion held with all relevant parties last Wednesday, all employees of the CEB about 23,000 were categorized into two groups.

Accordingly, technical services from engineers down to the lowest semi-skilled labour were named the Unified Engineering Services. Secondly, all clerks' services from accountants down to peons were named Support Services. It was agreed upon on this occasion to grant an allowance of 10% from January this year to all non-executive employees in the Support Services. In addition, in the wages increase that is carried out once every three years, which is scheduled for 2018, a 25% increase in salaries for all employees of the CEB has been proposed.

According to the subject Minister, "the conflict in the family had to be satisfactorily solved in this manner". It has to be considered separately how justifiable it is to sacrifice the people of an entire country to enable a solution for the conflict in a family.

Anyhow the engineers succeeded in maintaining uninterrupted power supply in Colombo and other main cities during the seven days of the strike. However in several remote areas away from Colombo there were power outages that lasted for several days. Expressing his views on this to Ceylon Today a power and energy expert Dr. Tilak Siyambalapitiya said that during the strike about 1,200 engineers prevented power breakdowns and put in a massive effort to maintain power supplies on behalf of the people 24 hours a day. He stressed that this should be appreciated. "Last week was a week where those who had and had the ability received electricity," he said.

Former Chairman of the CEB and Lecturer at the Moratuwa University Anura Wijepala also said that engineers fulfilled a valuable mission in providing electricity to the country during the period of the strike. "They have done a pretty good job," he said.

Are Engineers unique or superior?

It is the opinion of some that the engineers worked with commitment on this occasion to show the country that they could, without the assistance of other employees to operate the CEB. Certain other top officials accused that the CEB engineers believe that that they are unique or a 'superior'. The reason is the strong authoritative power that is being maintained within the CEB by the engineers. Engineers continuously emphasize that engineers of the CEB are engaged in fulfilling a very special service. There is some truth in this due to some danger that exists within the subject. However, could any profession or any group of professionals be unique in the world?

Dr. Siyambalapitiya as well as Lecturer Anura Wijepala emphasized the fact that they cannot agree with the concept of 'superiority' at all.

"No job can be unique. I believe that either Buddha or Einstein can be unique," Lecturer Wijepala noted.

There is another fact that engineers of the CEB keep on mentioning ceaselessly in a dominant manner. That is that, "Even when there is an opportunity for us to go abroad and work for a wage of more than one million rupees or with the possibility of being able to work in the private sector, we remain in the CEB because we love the country."

However Dr. Siyambalapitiya severely criticized this opinion.

"If these people say they are doing a huge service to the country as patriotic citizens, the power and energy should be much more developed. New technology should be experimented with the existing technology. Consumers should be able to get their work done through an SMS. Unlike 20 years ago, people pay a large sum of money to obtain electricity. Then the CEB is obliged to provide a far more effective service to consumers.

However when you visit Consumer Centre it is the same conditions that existed 20 years ago that are apparent. Consumers have to waste their time a lot to get something done. Consumers are not spoken to in a manner which makes them feel important and gets their task done. Only the engineers who are the top management can change these circumstances. What is apparent is that those who say they did not leave the country for patriotism has not done anything on behalf of the country," Dr. Siyambalapitiya pointed out.

Similarly, an engineer in the private sector earns a massive salary while working twice the amount the CEB engineers do. Engineers of the private sector have to be ready to work at any time. No allowances received by the State sector, pensions or holidays are received by the private sector. For those who do not make use of the annual 21 days medical leave of the CEB, there is the possibility of receiving an amount similar to their month's wage.

Anyhow, not only at the CEB but at all government institutions in Sri Lanka, the wage being paid is determined, not according to the service done but based on the position.

They settle at comfort zones

"So, we have to consider whether those who obtain these salaries are working in a manner that justifies the salary they receive. What many of them do is get them assigned to a job close to where their residence is, and everyone lives happily ever after," He explained.

Nevertheless, he emphasized especially that the CEB remains in the condition it does today due to a small group who works for the love of the nation and stay on at the CEB.

Undue advantage in a monopoly

The truth which we experience as of now is the fact that in State institutions that supply essential services such as power and energy, petroleum, water and health, all employees have built up within these organizations top demanding powers. This is due to the monopoly that exists in these services.
Intellectuals point out the need of compiling new laws to restrict at least to some extent these strikes which are carried out while sacrificing the people, hiding behind the monopolist power which exists in State institutions that maintain these essential services, under these circumstances. They stress that if not, employees of government institutions which maintain essential services will continuously use the people as a shield to win over their demands. For example government medical officers who earn salaries through people's tax money, when these people fall ill, pawn their lives on behalf of their demands and engage in strikes which is not at all justifiable, they pointed out.

Lecture Wijepala said, "There should be a monopoly for essential services. That is another issue. However, as a result employees take undue advantage. If that is to be eliminated, government policies should be formulated in a manner that restricts to a certain extent the trade union rights of employees who are recruited to essential services such as health, electricity, fuel, water etc.

According to what we know, neither the Police nor the tri-forces engage in strikes. It is possible that the reason is because they might have a special arrangement of laws for those services. Therefore if government policies exist for essential services, when employees are being recruited to those essential services, they will accept the fact that they have certain limits in relation to other professions where trade union rights are concerned. The employees are given the opportunity for recruitment only if they are in agreement with these policies. He further said that as a result, these employees will engage in their professional duties with some discipline and responsibility, he added. Anyhow, no government should have the ability to restrict or suppress trade union rights while putting forward this condition that they are essential services, by imposing such laws.

RECONSIDER ROHINGYA BAN, PEACE COUNCIL TELLS SRI LANKA GOVT.

Image: Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) command Rohingya people in ‘No Man’s Land’ between Bangladesh-Myanmar border to stop in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, August 27, 2017. Photo: Reuters/Mohammad Ponir Hossain.

25/09/2017

The flight of Rohingya people from Myanmar has captured the attention and concern of the international community of which Sri Lanka is a member. The vast majority of those fleeing Myanmar have sought refuge in Bangladesh, India, Malaysia and neighboring countries. Only a handful has attempted to come to Sri Lanka. The plight of the Rohingyas has been evident for several years now, with its intensity at atrocities against men, women and children at unprecedented levels in the last few weeks. The National Peace Council is perturbed that the Sri Lankan government has issued instructions to the immigration authorities to deny permission to Rohingyas to enter Sri Lanka. We regret that they have been sent away without being considered as refugees.

The plight of entire communities of people who have lost their loved ones, homes and properties due to the conflict in Myanmar has a special resonance to us in Sri Lanka. Due to the ethnic conflict, terrorism and war that last over three decades, we lost over a million of our people who left the country to seek asylum in other parts of the world. The National Peace Council therefore urges the government to reconsider its decision to screen out Rohingyas to prevent them from entering Sri Lanka. We believe that just as other countries accepted asylum seekers from our country we need to reciprocate on the basis of humanitarian ideals which we have accepted as a country. Although Sri Lanka is not a signatory to the UN Convention of 1951 pertaining to the status of refugees, as a member country of the United Nations we believe it has an obligation to take on its share of international humanitarian responsibilities.

We also endorse the statement issued by the leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, and Minister of City Planning and Water Supply, Rauff Hakeem, to share our concerns with the Government of Myanmar, urging an immediate end to violence against the Rohingya people, in the interest of peace and stability in the region; offer relief and rehabilitation assistance to the affected people through international agencies; issue a public statement demonstrating its clear interest in addressing the situation faced by the Rohingya people and ensuring peace and stability in the region; and call a debate or session in Parliament to explain the position of the Government of Sri Lanka urging for non-violence and peace building in Myanmar. Sri Lanka has enjoyed a long and mutually supportive relationship with Myanmar, including religious ties that bind us. Even as we proceed towards reconciliation within Sri Lanka after decades of our own war and conflict we have a duty to stand by the government of Myanmar and its people in their time of need.

Video: Waiting at Gaza’s border

22 September 2017

Rafah crossing – the sole point of exit and entry for most of the two million Palestinians in Gaza – has been kept shut by Egypt for nearly a decade.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are registered and waiting to cross for urgent purposes such as study abroad and accessing medical treatment unavailable in the Strip.

The crossing has been partially opened only 26 days so far this year. It was partially opened just 44 days in all of 2016.

Egypt has given various reasons for the prolonged closure: insecurity in the Sinai peninsula and the building of a new border terminal.

Rafah crossing is meanwhile being used by the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank in its bid to reestablish control in Gaza, with senior officials lobbying Egypt not to reopen the crossing unless it is operated by PA personnel, rather than Hamas officers.

The situation has left Palestinians in Gaza exasperated.

“The border crossing is the most insufferable aspect of the division,” said a Gaza man who has been waiting to cross for almost a year.

“If the division ends, everything follows.”

Video by Ruwaida Amer for The Electronic Intifada.

Iraq PM pledges to take 'necessary measures' ahead of Kurd vote

Posters on bullet-riddled wall in Iraqi city of Kirkuk encourage people to vote in independence referendum for Kurdistan region (AFP)

Sunday 24 September 2017

Iraq's prime minister pledged on Sunday to take all the "necessary measures" to protect the country's unity a day before its autonomous Kurdish region votes in a referendum on independence.

The Iraqi government then asked the Kurdish authorities to hand over international border posts and international airports, retaliating against the referendum to be held on Monday in northern Iraq.

It also asked foreign countries to stop oil trading with the Kurdish region and to deal with the central government in regards to airports and borders, said a statement published by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office.

Earlier, Abadi spoke in a televised address following Kurdish leader Massud Barzani's statement that the Kurds' partnership with Baghdad had failed, and that the plebiscite would proceed as planned.

Abadi said that taking a unilateral decision to stage a referendum affected both Iraqi and regional security, and was "unconstitutional and against civil peace".

"We will take the necessary measures to preserve the unity of the country," he said.

He added that "we will not permit anyone to play with Iraq and not pay the consequences".

Earlier, Barzani urged his people to turn out and vote on Monday.

"The partnership with Baghdad has failed and we will not return to it," he said.

Barzani has resisted pressure from Baghdad, neighbouring states and Washington to call off the referendum and negotiate a new deal.

"The referendum is not for defining borders or imposing a fait accompli. We want a dialogue with Baghdad to resolve the problems, and the dialogue can last one or two years," Barzani said of disputed zones such as oil-rich Kirkuk.

Iraq's neighbours Iran and Turkey strongly oppose the referendum, as both have their own Kurdish minorities and fear the vote will stoke separatist aspirations at home.

Tehran upped the pressure on Sunday, saying it had blocked all flights to and from Kurdistan at Baghdad's request.

READ MORE ►

Iranian Kurds prepare to defend Kirkuk after referendum

Washington and many Western countries had called for the vote to be postponed or cancelled, saying it would hamper the fight against the Islamic State group.

But in regional capital Erbil, Barzani's political heartland, Kurdish flags were flying everywhere on Sunday.

Most in the city said they would vote, but some also feared the possible consequences.

"We look forward to hearing what the situation will be after September 25, as most Kurds will vote for independence to fulfill our dream of an independent state," said labourer Ahmad Souleiman, 30.

"What we're afraid of is that our enemies have evil intentions towards us."

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim again denounced the referendum on Sunday, saying it would "further fuel existing instability, lack of authority and chaos in the region".

About five million Kurds are expected to vote in the three provinces that have since 2003 formed the autonomous region of Kurdistan, but also in territories disputed with Baghdad such as the oil-rich province of Kirkuk.

While an independent homeland has long been an aspiration in the Kurdish diaspora, the ethnic group's two main parties in Iraq differ on how to make it a reality.

Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of Jalal Talabani, a former president of Iraq, are at opposite ends of the spectrum politically on the issue.

The PUK has backed an alternative plan put forward by the United Nations, and supported by Washington, for immediate negotiations on future relations in exchange for dropping the referendum.

In Sulaymaniyah, the PUK-controlled second city of the autonomous Kurdish region, enthusiasm for the vote was muted.

"I will vote 'no' tomorrow because I'm afraid of an embargo on the region, of civil war with the Hashed al-Shaabi (grouping of Shia paramilitaries), and waking up and seeing Turkish soldiers patrolling," said 30-year-old teacher Kamiran Anwar.

The most sensitive sticking point is Kirkuk, where there was a run on food supplies in the city Saturday as residents stocked up in case of post-referendum trouble.

Home to Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens, Kirkuk is disputed between the federal government and Iraq's Kurds who say it is historically theirs.

They argue that the late dictator Saddam Hussein chased them out and replaced them with Arabs.

Threats are growing inside Iraq against the Kurdish move.

"There will be a high price to pay by those who organised this referendum, a provocation aimed at destroying relations between Arabs and Kurds," said Hashed al-Shaabi leader Faleh al-Fayad.

"As soon as the referendum takes place there will be a legal and constitutional reaction."

The Hashed grouping of paramilitary units was created in 2014 to battle IS.

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards began military exercises Sunday along the border with Iraqi Kurdistan.

Such exercises are common in the region, because of the persistent threat posed by Kurdish separatists who regularly carry out cross-border attacks against Iranian security forces.