‘President must be elected by Parliament’ 

• No issue with President’s APC as long as it does not undermine P’ment’s constitution making process 
• Ready for the next step of drafting new Constitution
• We, in the United Left Front, propose the Constitution to be enacted enabling the President to be elected by Parliament
• Our party agrees to elect President Sirisena for a second term in that context
• It’s widely agreed upon that the foremost place should be given to Buddhism 
   
• There is wide agreement that devolution should 
  take place 
• Not sharing power at the centre in Spain is the problem involving Catalonia at present
• It’s unfortunate that the President’s party is opposed to abolishing the Executive Presidency 
   
• Sharing power at the centre is very important 

 2017-11-07

Government MP Jayampathi Wickramaratne, who is playing a pivotal role in constitution making, shares his thoughts on the current status of the process and plans for the future. Following are excerpts of the interview done with MP Wickremaratne. 

President must be elected by Parliament.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Transitional justice relevant to Sri Lanka?

By Neville Ladduwahetty-November 6, 2017

UN Special Rapporteur, Pablo de Greiff, at a media briefing following his 14-day visit to Sri Lanka stated: "Sri Lanka continues to deprive itself of the benefits of Transitional Justice". Before addressing the benefits of Transitional Justice, certain fundamentals need to be clarified. Some of these fundamentals are, for instance: What is Transitional Justice? Is it relevant to Sri Lanka? From what to what is Sri Lanka supposed to transition? Is Justice to be restorative or retributive?

Transitional justice relevant to Sri Lanka.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Role of Buddhism in Sri Lanka politics

Col R Hariharan | 31-10-2017 |

Courtesy: South Asia Security Trends, November 2017 Issue. www.security-risks.com
Sri Lanka has the longest history of Buddhism among Buddhist countries in the world. Ever since Buddhism was introduced in the 3^rd century BCE, it had faced threat of survival due to overwhelming cultural and religious influence of Hinduism, internal jockeying for power between the Mahayana and Theravada schools and Colonial sponsorship of Christianity and Islam. In such periods of turbulence, Sinhala kings sought the help of two other Buddhist countries – Myanmar and Thailand - to strengthen and revive Buddhism.

Over a period of time, the orthodox Theravada Buddhism has come to terms with some of the popular Mahayana practices among the people. So it is not surprising, despite Theravada orthodoxy, historically Sinhala kings had not only allowed Hindus and Muslims to practice their religions, but also protected them from Dutch and Portuguese colonialist-sponsored onslaughts against them.

However, it was Anagarika Dharmapala, the father of modern Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism, who gave the momentum it needed in late 19^th and early 20^th century to response to the British Colonial rule. Cumulatively, these historical experiences have left a deep impression in the psyche of many Buddhists. They believe Sri Lanka is the last bastion of Theravada Buddhism. This feeling also gave rise to ultra nationalist fringe groups like the Bodhu Bala Sena (BBS), self-styled guardians saving Buddhism and the distinct identity of Sinhalas. So they consider their vicious anti-Muslim campaigns as legitimate actions. Sometimes, the vigilantes go berserk, as it happened in 2014 and 2017, to attack and destroy Muslim-owned businesses and places of worship of Muslims.

Such acts of Buddhist vigilantism has been seen, not only in Sri Lanka, but also in Myanmar and Thailand. In all the three countries, the archpriests of anti-Muslim rhetoric are Buddhist monks – Golagodatthe Gnanasara in Sri Lanka, U Wirathu in Myanmar and Maha Aphichat in Thailand. The veneer of religious justification they provide to their hate campaign attract some of  the gullible population.

The spread of Wahabism, which provides religious legitimacy for the Islamic jihad of the Al Qaeda–kind in many countries of the globe has whipped up feeling of insecurity among Buddhist nationalists. This suits Buddhist vigilante groups as it provides warped justification for their hate campaigns. Inevitably, Buddhist nationalist right wing political parties have provided political context to the hate groups.

Even mainstream political parties in power are long on rhetoric to condemn the activities of fringe groups but ponderous in taking immediate action to bring the culprits involved in such attacks on Muslims. They are wary of offending conservative nationalist segments among the people, who might dub it as a “unpatriotic”   conduct This has considerably damaged the Sinhala-Muslim relations with their adverse political fallout. Covert support given to Sinhala nationalist elements by some leaders of political parties has deepened the suspicion about their sincerity in addressing grievances of Tamil minority, who are mostly Hindus and Christians, and Tamil-speaking Muslims.

Perhaps in deference to the sentiments of 70 per cent Theravada Buddhist population of the country, Sri Lanka’s 1978 constitution gave Buddhism a special status, while not calling it the official religion. The constitution chapter II, Article 9 states “The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana, while assuring a foremost to all religions the rights granted by Articles 10 and 14 (1)(e).” These two articles provide all citizens the freedom to adopt, practice and teach any religion of their choice.

Though constitutionally Buddhism might enjoy only the nebulous status of “foremost place,” in reality Buddhism dominates the political and socio-cultural discourse of the country, just as the 80-ft tall Buddha statute in Kandy, said to be the tallest in the world, dominates the skyline. Buddhist monks have always played an active role in the country because ethnic and religious issues are interwoven in politics of the country.  The Mahanayake thera, chief prelates of monastic fraternities (Nikaya) who oversee and regulate Buddhist clergy, wield a lot of influence over their followers. This has enabled them to have a political role, like their counterparts in Myanmar. Often, they are loudly vocal even on issues of governance and politics.

Their blessings and patronage are avidly sought by all political leaders; it is not uncommon to see the newly sworn in president and prime minister making a beeline to them to seek their blessings. The Mahanayake also have their favourites among national leaders and often come out in support of their favourites. So top political leaders have little option, but, to woo the Mahanayake for their support.
Both Buddhist clergy and Sinhala-Buddhist-nationalism are conspicuously influencing the exercise now going on to draft a new constitution. The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe embarked on the process to fulfil their electoral promises to make the executive presidency more accountable and to fulfil the aspirations of minorities.  In July 2017, a special Sangha Council attended by Mahanayakas of three Nikayas (including the prelate of Asgiriya, a known supporter of former president Rajapaksa) and 75 other Thera, met in Kandy to unanimously decide that there was no need to bring in a new constitution or an amendment to the present Constitution, negating the peoples mandate given to the ruling UNP-SLFP coalition.

Not to be out done, President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe met the Prelate of the Malwatte Chapter, a known support of the UNP, and assured him that the new constitution would neither in any way lead to a separate or federal state, nor abolish the foremost place given to Buddhism. After their meeting, the Prelate came out in support of the effort to draft a new constitution.

PM Wickremesinghe has maintained the refrain that all political parties and religious leaders across faiths had “no issue in giving priority to protect Buddhism in the country” to assuage feelings of many Sinhalas, who are suspicious about the intentions of the government after the interim report on the constitutional draft submitted to parliament gave two options for adoption on the special status given to Buddhism.  Of course, Sinhalas who feel Theravada Buddhism is under siege, want Buddhism to be declared as the state religion. However, Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian MA Sumanthiran has opposed giving primacy to one religion (Buddhism) in the face of equality of all religions; though he was not averse to “some kind of recognition to Buddism and Buddha’s teachings.” This probably reflects the minority view.

So the constitution-making exercise continues in typical Sri Lankan and South Asian style, with endless discussions by everyone trying to outdo others, rather than hear each other to build a consensus. In all likelihood, Buddhism will retain its special status in the new constitution when the final draft goes for a referendum before the people next year. Whether the people would approve it, remains open ended question. However, I believe majority of Sri Lankans are enlightened enough to approve it as their bitter memories of three decades wasted in fighting Tamil insurgents are still fresh.

Col R Hariharan, a retired MI officer, served as the head of Intelligence of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka from 1987 to 90. He is associated with the Chennai Centre for China Studies and the International Law and Strategic Analysis Institute, Chennai. E-mail: haridirect@gmail.com  Blog:http://col.hariharan.info

Why anti-SAITM campaign was never about free education?

2017-11-07

Last week, the government announced that the private medical school at the centre of a bitter dispute, South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine(SAITM) would be converted into a non-governmental and not-for-profit entity. That should have laid to rest a protest campaign that had regularly paralyzed health services and medical faculties in state universities and clogged streets in Colombo with protestors. However, it does not appear to be the case. The Medical Faculty Students’ Parents’ Association (MFSPA) has rejected the government’s solution. Its spokesman has said:“This institute will continue even in the future. The SAITM should be completely abolished and it should not be continued as any other institute as well.”  

Similarly, the Medical Faculty Students’ Action Committee (MFSAC), which claims to represent the students of the state medical schools has claimed it would continue to boycott academic work. The purported reasoning is the same. Its convener Ryan Jayalath has said: “Through this decision, the ownership of the SAITM will be the only thing that would change. The ownership of it will be handed over to some other party. But the deceitful procedure of the SAITM will be continuing even in the future. The main issue here is the privatization of free education.”   

The Medical Faculty Students’ Action Committee (MFSAC), which claims to represent the students of the state medical schools has claimed it would continue to boycott academic work

Anti-SAITM activism was built on the same rotten premise that has turned much of our universities into rotten places. It was not a campaign to preserve quality of medical education, or any education for that matter. It was ( and is) aimed at preventing anyone other than those few thousand students in state universities (whose numbers account for barely 16% of all students who passed the GCE Advanced Level and therefore eligible for university education), from getting an education. University deans and Vice chancellors who jumped the bandwagon might have genuine concerns about the standard of education. They have now accepted the government’s solution and asked students to resume studies.   

Yet, all those stakeholders of the protest campaign were influenced by one shared buffoonery: the misplaced notion as the state universities being the pinnacle of intelligentsia. They ought to be, but they are not in reality. Admission for state universities is done through a mixture of merit basis (40 %) and district quotas. Given still existing socio-economic disparities across the country, it is the right thing to do in order to ensure a more egalitarian composition of the student intake. Yet, those socio-economic disparities leave certain caveats in the students, which cannot be addressed purely by cramming for exams. Universities are expected fill in those gaps, before the young graduates are released back to the workforce. That does not happen. That manifest failure in universities creates a pervading sense of insecurity in the mind of students, who having been given a way up in the ladder through the affirmative actions, left abandoned in the middle. The source of regular unrest in universities should be traced to this sense of inadequacy and insecurity.  

 In order to keep these places calm, or at least to make sure that discontent would not spill out of gates, successive governments and university administrators have sought to maintain the status quo, which in effect has perpetuated mediocracy, and has given effect to a cycle of low productivity and under achievement in the wider economy.   
When students talk about preserving free education, they actually mean about preserving their traditional privileges enabled by the prevailing status quo. Creating more competition from the outside the confines of state universities would mitigate their chances.   

This however comes at the expense of a much larger cohort of young men and women who could not go to universities, yet equally bright, and perhaps are more endowed in certain social skills than an average university student. The latter is a function of social economic conditions, which is not unique to this country. Primary and secondary education has failed to address this lacuna not mainly due to much lamented unequal distribution of education resources in the country, but because they overemphasized on rote learning in vernacular language. A successful education system should try to inculcate those skills in their students, so that they would have a greater chance of mobility. Instead, ours is trying to keep away from education system, students who have such skills, so that lesser privileged students do not feel insecure. That is nonsense, but that is the whole logic of the campaign against private education. To escape this pernicious grip of state monopoly in higher education, about 8 per cent of local students leave the country to study abroad annually.  

Consider the impact Sri Lankan universities could have on the quality of their intake, if they have a common sensical criterion to admit students who sit for London AL.

That is self-harming to the students in local universities as well, who would otherwise have a greater scope for socialization with a diverse bunch of people who will bring in with them different skills and outlook. Consider the impact Sri Lankan universities could have on the quality of their intake, if they have a common sensical criterion to admit students who sit for London AL. Such a lack of foresight in the administrators in a country where nearly half a million students are studying in international schools says a lot about the current mess in the local education system. Much vaunted six per cent of GDP to education is of little help, when you do not have the right structural framework and competent human capital- which universities should be able to address by opting to international recruitment. Modern universities are run like modern airlines, with vice chancellors befitting CEOs of multi nationals.   

Anti-SAITM campaign was never about the quality of education ( if so why not talk about abysmally low international rankings of local universities). Nor was it about free education. It is a symptom of a larger failure in the current education system. Come SAITM or high water, university students would protest till the rot remains intact.  

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Agreement on process sets stage for constitutional reforms

 

Karu Jayasuriya

By Jehan Perera-November 6, 2017, 8:48 pm

The seriousness with which the report of the Steering Committee on constitutional reforms has been discussed and debated in parliament is an indication that the reform process will continue. The government has decided to allocate another full day to debate the Steering committee report of the Constitutional Assembly as almost all parties in parliament have requested more time for their members to speak on it. This will be the fifth day of the debate on the constitution making process. Initially three days were allocated for the debate but an additional day was granted last week while the final day of debate will be Wednesday. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya who is in charge of allocation of time for the debate said that there had been keen interest among members of all political parties to express their views during this debate, and a number of MPs requested him to allocate sufficient time to them for this purpose.

The common complaint about the government, from the visiting foreign diplomat down to the person on the street, has been that the government’s progress has been slow. But progress has also been steady. The five days set aside for the debate and discussion on constitutional reform provides yet another indication that the country is heading in the correct direction despite all its problems of continuing corruption, slow economic progress and reluctance to face up to the human rights violations and associated tragedies of the three decades long war. During the parliamentary debate on the report of the constitutional steering committee all political party leaders, with one exception, noted that the present time offers a unique opportunity to address the country’s problems of governance.

Although there was no consensus on the positions taken by the different political parties on the substance of the options for constitutional reform during the debate, there was a broad consensus on another equally important matter. This was the implicit agreement among all the parties that the matters that were being debated were important to the country, and needed to be discussed at length, and they were prepared to do so. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe focused on the process of constitutional reform stressing that all, including religious clergy and general public, and not just the parliamentarians, would be given an opportunity to contribute to the reform process. The government needs to be congratulated for creating an environment, and bringing the polity to a stage of political evolution, in which the UNP, SLFP, JVP, TNA, SLMC, TPA and EPDP are actively taking part in what they consider to be the subject of greatest national interest.

INDICATING COMMITMENT

The fact that the parliamentary debate has been extended from three days to five is an indication of commitment. In addition, there was a further consensus that the process of meeting, discussing and presenting options must continue and that the agreement to be reached should be as consensual as possible. TNA leader Sampanthan noted that this was the first time that such an exercise in public consultations and indeed parliamentary consultations was taking place. He held that the outcome of this engagement should be to ensure that the polity represented the multi ethnic and plural nature of society. There may not have been agreement on the content of the solutions but there was an overwhelming agreement that this is the time to address problems that cannot be neglected any longer.

Adding to the strength of the ongoing process was the participation of the Joint Opposition led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The former president complained that the Joint Opposition had not been given an equal opportunity to have its views included in the Steering Committee report. From a narrow political perspective, the Joint Opposition’s desire would be for the constitutional reform process to fail, as it would further discredit the government, which is being criticized for its slow speed in other areas of governance as well. However, the Joint Opposition has kept on participating in the constitutional reform process due to the realization that it has the interest of the general public, and that the country’s intelligentsia believes it is necessary. Therefore, if they keep out of the process, they risk being marginalized and being found fault with for not speaking up and not taking action when they had the opportunity to do so.

Both public opinion polls and prevalent public opinion on the street shows that most of the population believe constitutional reform is important, not least because the present constitution is defective and needs to be changed in a comprehensive manner. From the time that the present constitution’s executive presidential system was first perceived to be abused by former president J R Jayewardene, political parties, their leaders and both academic and civil society opinion formers have critiqued the constitution and called for its replacement. Therefore, the popular movement to change the present constitution has a much longer history than the government’s present bid to formulate a new constitution. The second term of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa was also one that revived the movement to change the constitution in the national interest.

LIKELY SCENARIO

In this context it is ironic that today those in the Joint Opposition who abused the existing constitution and eroded its systems of checks and balances when they were in power should be claiming that the government is engaged in a conspiracy to divide the country and is making use of constitutional change for that purpose. Their allegation has received some traction amongst the general population because of the government’s inability to explain its own stance, as it has no unanimity within itself regarding its own stance. Some members of the government have sought to downplay the importance of the unitary state in their effort to accommodate Tamil and ethnic minority concerns. However, other members of the government have heeded the Joint Opposition campaign and are concerned about the impact such criticisms might have on the Sinhala people.

In achieving constitutional change the government has to run the gauntlet between the Sinhalese who constitute the great majority of people in the country and whose consent is necessary if a new constitution is to come in to being, and the Tamils, who do not wish to be at the mercy of government politicians and their temporary policies, but wish to have guarantees made into law. However, the unusual modus operandi of using Sinhala words in the English language version of the proposed constitution, as proposed in the Steering Committee report, has eroded the trust of people in what the government is planning to do, and plays right into the hands of the Joint Opposition who speak in terms of conspiracies.

In this context, it will probably be the case that the government will find itself constrained to retain the formulations in the present constitution that have been the subject of controversy. These include the clause pertaining to the unitary state and to the clause giving to Buddhism the foremost place. What is more important is that the rights of the ethnic and religious minorities should be protected and their ability to share in decision making power should be vindicated. It is necessary for the government to convince the Tamil electorate that the constitutional reforms will not be reversed or undone at the discretion of the Sinhalese politicians simply because they are a majority in parliament. This makes it imperative that alternative methods be found to ensure power sharing. An institution of central government that could ensure power sharing could be an upper house of parliament that could be constituted as a chamber of nationalities (Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim and Indian-origin Tamil) rather than being based on provincial representation.

Centenary Of The October Revolution: 1917–2017

Lenin

By Nipuli Gajanayake –NOVEMBER 7, 2017

Nipuli Gajanayake

Collapses in political systems and rises of new political systems have been a significant trend in the Great Russian political history. In such scenarios, “Revolution” marked as a driving mode for those substantial transformations. The series of Russian revolutions dated back to1905 and were aroused against the Russian empire’s imperial rule. However it is important to mention that, the 1905 revolution did not start with the peasantry or the industrial working class but started with the middle class and professional people. The demand for political reform in 1903-4 became a reason to open-up a revolutionary front against the Tsarist rule. Union of Liberation was the forerunner of the revolutionary front and their agenda designed to end the Tsarist autocracy. The agenda included with establishment of constitutional form of government, self-determination for the nationalities of the empire, and bring out economic and social reforms. Although 1905 revolution brought no actual transform to the social, economic, and political setting of Russia, the Revolution of 1905 set the background for the revolutions of 1917.

V.I. Lenin: The revolutionary Legend

Vladimir Lenin a communist revolutionary politician emerged as a notable personality during the Russian revolutionary phase. Lenin had studied law and had taken participation in revolutionary Marxist circles. In 1895, he helped organize Marxist groups in the capital into the “Union for the Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class,” The effort had attempted to attract workers to the Marxist ideology. In December 1895, Lenin and the other leaders of the Union were arrested due to revolutionary Marxist ideologies, and it resulted to exile Lenin to Siberia for a term of three years. During his exile Lenin co-founded the newspaper Iskra (‘spark’ that ignites the flame of communism), the newspaper of Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. Lenin was an active member at the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) and paid much attention to centralization approach. In 1903 the RSDLP split into two fractions of Bolshevik (Majority) and Mensheviks (Minority). Bolsheviks concerned on centralization and Mensheviks favored to a democratic approach. However, after finishing his exile period in 1900, he went to Western Europe from Siberia and “published a pamphlet entitled What Is to Be Done?. [It] argued that only a disciplined party of professional revolutionaries could bring socialism to Russia”. In 1907 he moved to Finland and then continued to travel throughout Europe. Throughout this journey Lenin participated in many socialist meetings and activities, including the Prague Party Conference of 1912 and the Zimmerwald Conference of 1915.

Lenin’s deep acceptance of Marxism had sharpened the displeasure against the Tsarist rule. This disappointment had spontaneously made Lenin to emerge as an active personality among proletariats, suppressed professionals, intellectuals, and within Communist scholarly circles. “Not only in the scholarly circles of the former Soviet Union but even among many non-Communist scholars, he has been regarded as both the greatest revolutionary leader and revolutionary statesman in history, as well as the greatest revolutionary thinker since Marx.”

Lenin believed in revolution to achieve the ultimate goal of establishing the Communist state under a Socialist rule. A Communist society which characterized by classlessness, statelessness, elimination of labor exploitation and common ownership of the means of production have mainly considered within this Communist state. 

Revolutions of 1917: The February Revolution

Russia involved to the first Word War in 1914 with the hope of supporting for its Serbs, French, and British allies against the German Empire. However, the supportive involvement had created a disastrous environment within the Russian Empire and spontaneously made peasant workers’ living condition more worsen. With the Empire’s costly war effort, the situation led to produce social and economic problems at large scale. The economy disordered by the costly war effort, and consequently riots and strikes broke out in Petrograd (today St. Petersburg). Industrial and cultural backwardness of Russia had toppled the living condition for working class people and created a social disaster throughout the Empire. This harsh condition thus led to outbreak the February revolution in 1917. It is important to mention that the revolution started on 8, March 1917 but known as ‘February revolution’ as the Russian Empire used Julian calendar at that time.

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Going for inflation targeting: ‘Yes’ but free the Central Bank from Ministry of Finance first

Monday, 6 November 2017

Government’s promise to lower inflation
The Vision 2025 released to the public in August as well as the Economic Policy Statement delivered in Parliament in October has reiterated the Government’s commitment to maintaining a low inflation regime in the country. This is not unusual since all governments have made the same promise to the electorate since independence in 1948. But what is important in the present case is that the Government has elaborated on the strategy to be followed in delivering this promise to the people. That is to give a free hand to the Central Bank to push the inflation rate to a low level through a strategy known as ‘Inflation Targeting’ or in short, IT.


Government to improve supply

The Economic Policy Statement has pronounced a two-pronged strategy to keep the prices down. One is to manage the supply of foods to the market in abundant quantities by improving the domestic supply chains and, whenever there is a shortage due to poor local production, fill the gap by importing foods while cutting import duties on same. This is a strategy to improve supply to ease the cost of living of people. Though the statement has not explicitly said so, it requires the Government to exit the strategy once the conditions in the availability of foods become normal. And also, it is a measure which the Government should take to address the question of temporary increases in prices due to shortages in supply.
Central Bank to cut the demand

The other is to allow the Central Bank to pursue a policy of inflation targeting. This is how it has been explained in the Economic Policy Statement: “However, the Government will provide the space to the Central Bank to carry out its monetary policy independently to maintain price stability on a sustainable basis. The Central Bank is moving towards a new monetary policy framework targeting a flexible inflation. The aim of this framework is to maintain a low inflation continuously while supporting the economic activities. With this change of policy, our people will get the opportunity to live comfortably with the security of stable prices.”

The same strategy of the Government had been pronounced earlier in Vision 2025 as well. It had said that the Government would introduce necessary legislation to facilitate the Central Bank to adopt an inflation targeting policy.
Government and the Central Bank assuming different responsibilities

Thus, the two-pronged approach of fighting inflation is for the Government to manage the cost of living in the short run, while allowing the Central Bank to check inflation in the long run. The Government would do so by increasing supply; the bank would do so by curtailing demand. This is in fact a sound policy strategy.


Monetary policy to check on the growth of total demand

Keeping inflation at low levels in the long run is a responsibility of the Central Bank. The bank does so by managing the credit levels and interest rates – a measure known as adopting monetary policy. Accordingly, when inflation is raising its head, the bank will cut credit levels and increase interest rates to force the Government, companies and people to consume and invest less. The objective of this measure is to allow the total demand – known as aggregate demand – to rise in line with the total supply or aggregate supply. This is known in economic parlance as restrictive or contractionary or tight monetary policy.

If on the other hand the prices are falling too fast due to the aggregate demand being short of the aggregate supply, the bank will ease its monetary policy by cutting down the interest rates and allowing credit to grow. It will persuade the Government, companies and people to consume and invest more. Such an increased demand for consumption and investment will absorb all the goods and services supplied in the economy.



Central Bank should not be the accommodative good wife

But the problem arises not when the bank has eased monetary policy but when it has tightened it. Its tight monetary policy will restrict the aggregate demand of companies and people. However, the Government, an important entity in the system, may continue to consume unrestrained by borrowing from the banking system and from abroad. It will certainly negate the effectiveness of the bank’s monetary policy. Thus, in the end, despite the bank taking tight monetary policies, the country will be saddled with the problem of high inflation.

The culprit in this case has been the Government, which does not fall in line with the monetary policy being implemented by the bank. In the present environment, the Central Bank cannot dictate terms to the Government. Rather, it operates in the opposite way where the Government is dictating terms to the Central Bank. The bank, like the proverbial ‘good wife’, has to accommodate the demands of the Government for funding, even when it knows that such demands arise from the profligacy of spending by the Government.


Central bank is independent only to the extent allowed by Finance Minister

This may be puzzling to many who believe in the independence of a central bank. The answer to this puzzle is reported to have been given by one-time Reserve Bank of India Governor, Y. Reddy when he was questioned about the independence of the Reserve Bank by a journalist at a press conference. He is reported to have responded in the form of a pun: “The Reserve Bank is independent, autonomous and not being controlled by the Ministry of Finance. Gentleman, I have permission from my Minister (of Finance) to tell you this”.
Inflation targeting to the rescue

To resolve this issue, it has been suggested that central banks should follow an inflation targeting policy. It differs from the current monetary policy strategy of the Central Bank. In the current policy, the Central Bank seeks to control inflation by controlling money, credit and interest rates. This is a strategy to attain a final target by controlling some intermediate factors. The success of these intermediate factors will crucially depend on how the Government behaves. If it follows a policy of supporting the bank’s strategy of controlling the intermediate factors, the bank will be able to attain its final target as well. But if it works against it, the outcome will be a failure on the part of the bank to deliver price stability to the country. Hence, under inflation targeting, the bank will go for the final target rather than spending its time in attaining some intermediate goals.
Central Bank to choose an appropriate low inflation target

The International Monetary Fund in a public education release (available at: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/basics/target.htm ) has explained how inflation targeting works as follows: “The central bank forecasts the future path of inflation and compares it with the target inflation rate (the rate the government believes is appropriate for the economy). The difference between the forecast and the target determines how much monetary policy has to be adjusted. Some countries have chosen inflation targets with symmetrical ranges around a midpoint, while others have identified only a target rate or an upper limit to inflation. All countries have set their inflation targets in the low single digits. An inflation target of zero is not recommended because it would not allow real interest rates to fall sufficiently to stimulate overall demand when a central bank is trying to boost the economy.”
Monetary policy to be freed from the Government

Accordingly, a central bank will agree with the government a low inflation target of about 2% and pursue its policy in the subsequent period to maintain inflation at that level in the economy. It, thus, gets independence from the government to tight or loosen its policy in accordance with the conditions emerging in the economy.

If the inflation rises above 2%, the bank will immediately increase interest rates and control credit levels. This would happen no matter whether the Government is short of funding or whether the Government is planning to go for an election. In the reverse, if the inflation rate falls below 2%, the bank will loosen its monetary policy by cutting interest rates and stimulating credit. It therefore gives a flexible hand to the Central Bank to use its discretion independently of what the Government feels. In this situation, the right to conduct monetary policy is solely vested with the Central Bank. As such, an irate Minister of Finance cannot publicly criticise what the Central Bank does.

Many countries have gone for inflation targeting
There are at least 28 countries today that have adopted inflation targeting as their monetary policy, according to IMF. These inflation targetters come from the developed, emerging and developing worlds. The leading inflation targetters from the developed world are Australia, New Zealand, Canada, United Kingdom, South Korea, Norway, Sweden and Israel. From the emerging world, South Africa, Thailand, the Philippines and Brazil have chosen inflation targeting as their policy framework. Ghana, Serbia and Armenia have been some developing countries which have adopted inflation targeting.
Central Bank had started to work on inflation targeting much earlier

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka started to work on inflation targeting in early 2000s when it had embarked on a project to modernise itself. It had done initial work on the project with support from Sweden’s Svergis Riksbank, the Central Bank of Sweden, which had already adopted inflation targeting as its policy framework.

Since the bank cannot be both the judge and the player in this game, it had stopped compiling price indices and GDP data and had allowed an outside body, the Census and Statistics Department, to do the job. To facilitate this, the Census Department commenced releasing both inflation numbers and GDP data on time according to a set advance release calendar.
Present Government rediscovering inflation targeting

But, due to a lack of any support from the Government in power at that time, the Central Bank could not attain much progress in the project. It was virtually an abandoned project until it was rediscovered in 2016 by IMF when it rescued Sri Lanka by offering an extended fund facility to the country. To obtain the facility, the Sri Lanka Government had pledged to IMF that it would introduce both a flexible exchange rate regime and an inflation targeting framework over the next three-year period.

The Central Bank too in a special box article in its Annual Report for 2016, released in April 2017, had emphasised the need for introducing inflation targeting as the country’s monetary policy framework. In this background, the assurance given by the present Government that it would facilitate the Central Bank to adopt inflation targeting as its monetary policy framework is a salutary development.
No behind the scene accommodation of the Government

Inflation targeting will help Sri Lanka to make its monetary policy transparent, stick to a consistent policy target and deliver low inflation to the country, a must for it to facilitate long-term investment in the country.

Right now, the monetary policy is opaque. While the bank puts a very bold face to the private sector when it tightens the policy, behind the scene, it accommodates the Government’s funding requirements by acquiring government Treasury bills. These data are released to the market only with a time lag of one week when it releases its weekly economic indicators. Even then, not many in the private sector are able to interpret them.

In the monthly monetary policy statement, the bank very conveniently chooses not to make any comment about it. This opacity in monetary policy will be removed when it goes for inflation targeting since it cannot accommodate the Government’s funding requirements stealthily while showing a bold face to the private sector.
 A mixed success

Of the 28 countries which had adopted inflation targeting, not many have been able to stick to their promise. Countries like Sweden, Australia, New Zealand and Canada have been able to maintain inflation at the target levels. But many countries have missed the target range by about 45% of the time, according to a survey reported in a Working Paper released by IMF in 2005. This failure has been due to the Central Bank, the implementation agency of inflation targeting, not being independent from the Government.
Central Bank’s independence a must

Thus, for the inflation targeting framework to be a success, a crucial requirement is that the Central Bank should be freed from the crutches of the Ministry of Finance. This requires the Government to introduce necessary legislation to that effect. Though Vision 2025 has promised it, it has not been mentioned in the Economic Policy Statement issued a month later. It has highlighted the virtues of inflation targeting but not about the changes that have to be put in place on the ground.

Hence, it is of the utmost importance that legislation to make the Central Bank fully independent be introduced before Sri Lanka adopts inflation targeting as its monetary policy framework.
(W.A. Wijewardena, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, can be reached at waw1949@gmail.com).

President’s gaze on illicit commission blinded him : Faces retributive justice after ousting Sinniah !

(Lanka-e-News - 05.Nov.2017, 11.30PM)  Due to  the appointment of Navy Commanders and sending them on retirement being treated by the commander in chief of the forces owing to his lack of education like churning out  hoppers in the boutiques of Polonnaruwa , again the illicit activities  in  the Indian ocean  off the north of Sri Lanka (SL)  which were  halted after  30 years by former Navy commander Travis Sinniah have resumed.  Now ,with the  weakening of the  highly  successful security operation  that was put in place by Sinniah , the same old clandestine fishing activities have begun.

It is a well known fact that Travis Sinniah was the most talented Navy Commander of SL to hold  that post. Following his assuming duties as the Navy commander owing to his commitment and tremendous efforts , the burning issue which existed for the last 30 years of Indian fishing crafts poaching on our territorial waters , was almost completely halted , as a result  those fishing crafts could not come into our  territorial waters to illicitly engage in fishing .   

Indian fishing crafts in thousands per day usually poached on our territorial waters.  This problem was so gigantic that when  Rajitha Senaratne was the minister of fisheries he had to visit India to hold discussions with Prime Minister Modi in this connection.  Prior to his tour,  in order to gather evidence in regard to the  poaching carried out by Indian fishermen ,after speaking to  international establishments clear  satellite photographs were taken in the nights . Based on one such satellite photograph , the number of Indian crafts that had trespassed on out territorial waters in one night was more than 5000. It is  an open secret and common knowledge ,   Modi was shocked beyond belief when he saw the  photograph shown by Rajitha,  that he went on striking his head with his fists several times.

Helping Indians.. 

After Travis Sinniah was appointed as Navy Commander, because of the new stiff security surveillance net  he put in place , during his tenure of office (just two months ), only 6 Indian fishing crafts poached on our territorial waters. This was most welcome and  beneficial to the country . He deployed unique methods. He also did all this in a manner that would not offend India. 

He deployed all the large vessels with the navy along  the northern territorial waters   , and augmented the illumination of the sea so that the Indian fishermen can identify their territorial limits while at sea. He dubbed that operation  ‘Helping India’. That is , it was  a means to save the Indian fishermen from being arrested unnecessarily. This methodology was lauded not only by the Indian fishermen  but also by the state of Tamil nadu. 

In contrast ,  what  another  former moronic navy Commander who looked and behave like  an Ape during his tenure of office  did to combat this issue was , jumping into the Indian boats and slapping the fishermen. Sinniah did not resort to that  barbaric method. His was sophisticated and welcomed by all. Owing to his strategy , the crafts which encroached on our territorial waters in thousands were reduced to as few as six per two months .

It is a pity , it is such an exemplary and talented Navy commander who was sent home in two months by Maithripala Sirisena the uncivilized commander in chief of the forces, for which action Maithripala  deserves a place in the ignominious records of the Guinness book . 

It is very unfortunate after the retirement of  Travis, others did follow his strategy and portrayed that is not possible ,consequently the old illicit activities in the Indian ocean have re commenced. On the 2nd at dawn 13 Indian fishermen and 3 crafts poaching in the eastern side of Delft Island off the north sea were taken into custody by the SL Navy

In addition , on the 1 st , a number of Indian fishermen and their crafts have encroached on our territorial waters in the night . But before  the SL navy patrol could  seize them , they had escaped. 

Meanwhile the navy had taken steps to hand over the 13 Indian fishermen and their crafts apprehended to the Delft fisheries investigator .

It is  well and widely known to the whole world being  a stark truth , Travis Sinniah was sent on retirement in two months after his appointment as Navy Commander because of his integrity and courage when he objected to  the purchase of an old decrepit Russian warship by the government spending  billions  of rupees on a deal  tainted with corruption  , thereby  depriving  Maithripala Sirisena’s family of huge amounts of illicit commissions . 

Though this  monumental racket is known to the whole wide world , it is only   Dayasiri Jayasekera who did not know it , when he told a  damn  lie at the recent cabinet meeting when  questioned by the media. He lied not only using his mouth but even the stinking orifice down under . And the others who did not know were ,  the  ‘Portuguese’ journalist  who picks up and eats whatever crumbs and ‘throw away’ food  that fall off the plate  of Chaturika, and  the mahajara (dirt and dross)  media secretaries  of Maharaja.

Country’s security at stake because of sordid and corrupt  aims…

In the circumstances , it is impossible for  Maithripala Sirisena to pretend he is clean any longer when his illicit commission traits and habits are no longer secrets. His commission collection from an Australian Co.  when he was the minister of irrigation is universally known ,and proved beyond doubt. That too is now  no secret. The world bank based on its exhaustive and extensive investigations concluded bribes were collected but because it cannot do anything against a president , it could only blacklist the Australian Co, which offered the bribe, international media reported . That is a universally acknowledged fact.  

It is also the consensus , owing to  Maithripala Sirisena’s sordid motives and crude inferior traits the country’s security is at stake.  While they   relate fairy tales full of concocted lies to explain why Sinniah was sent on   retirement two months after his appointment as Navy commander on the  assumption that the people are  so foolish they would believe their   dastardly lies, the whole country on the other hand knows the monumental  corruption and  the actual underlying reason .

The ‘fairy tale’ they relate now is , because all navy officers who were engaged in the war desire to retire , steps were taken to send Sinniah on retirement in two months (even lesser period than given to   three months broilers). If that is their contention , how come his predecessor Raveendra Wijegunaratne alias  bearded ape was given an extension of 6 months even after his period of one year as commander was over ? Was it because there were no suitable navy officers who engaged in the war at that time ? 

A commander of the forces is appointed based on  the batch with whom he was recruited to the forces, and the best from it is selected .The officers are accustomed to thinking the whole group is appointed when one officer from among them   is selected .  There is no country on this planet which gives commander appointments to all in a  group.

These blatant lies were told then because  of the need to give an extension of six months to Raveendra and keep him back until the report of the three committees which decided against the purchase of the dilapidated warship could be changed using him. 

The three committees appointed were : 

1.Committee No 01
The Committee headed by Rear Admiral Dharmendra Wettewage (He is now the defense attaché at the SL embassy in U.S.)
2.  Committee No. 02 
This was headed  by Rear admiral Sirimevan Ranasinghe when he was Naval operations Director (He was made the Navy Commander after Sinniah. But he will be retiring in a month.)
3. Committee No. 03
This was headed by voluntary commander in chief of the Navy Rear Admiral Neil Rozairo .

All these Committees disapproved the purchase of the Russain warship. However after extending the service of Raveendra , that report was amended through the latter in favor of the purchase. Hence the story weaved by the president  despite being the highest in the hierarchy is an absolute unalloyed lie.

It will be unsurprising and not surprising if these mendacious Machiavellian scoundrels are struck by cursed lightning for all the lies they uttered to cover up Sinniah’s  retirement – sending him home  even before he was assigned the official car and residence  based on their  conspiracy , and for all the subterfuges they are using   to achieve their foul aims and traitorous ambitions at the expense of the country and the people. 

There are legal provisions for the previous commander of the forces if necessary to use  the official vehicle and residence for three more months maximum without releasing those to the newly appointed commander. 

That is  to permit time for the former   commander to find a vehicle and a residence. Doesn’t that legal provision therefore imply  , this is because of the full belief a newly appointed commander is not expected to be ousted within three months of his appointment  ? From this, any sane and sensible person can understand what an insane and insensible action Sirisena had resorted to like a thief despite being  the commander in chief .

The advice proffered by Field Marshal about Sinniah  to Maithri…

Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka who expressed his opinion  in regard to Sinniah had advised president Sirisena against taking such a step . He had also told Sirisena, a new commander of the forces requires at least one year to organize  his subordinates , and it would never be possible to get a navy commander like Sinniah for even  another 50 years.

Fonseka has further stated , during the final phase of the war , he did not have any support from the Navy Commander at that time , Vasantha Karannagoda . Consequently , he had to directly deal with Sinniah  and therefore he knows very well about  his  abilities and prowess. (It is an open secret that Fonseka and Karannagoda were not in speaking terms during the entire period of the war) . President was also informed by him  it was owing to the skills and abilities of Sinniah and none else ten LTTE warships were attacked and sunk during the war. Sadly , whatever advice given by Fonseka were unheeded by the president because his overriding interest was collecting   the huge illicit commission dangling before him on the warship deal .

A source very close to the president revealed , because  Karnnagoda is implicated in the student murders and was responsible for the white van criminal operations ,he whispered to the president to send Sinniah home before the cat is out of the bag. In addition , a media coolie who is president’s sidekick had also sneaked on Sinniah to the president calling Sinniah as an American spy . Sinniah had to suffer despite his patriotic contributions to the country  partly because of  these baseless allegations and because a moron was there to pay heed. 

Though these  influences could have had an impact , more than all those influences  , the primary ground was the inordinate greed coupled with   the fear harbored by President that the colossal illicit commissions from the Russian warship deal would be lost yy him  because of Sinniah .

It is by now an incontrovertible truth , the day Maithripala Sirisena loses the immunity he enjoys now, that day he will have to face the consequences of his crimes of subordinating and jeopardizing the country’s security  to achieve his most selfish and rapacious  ends.  

By a special correspondent

Connected report. 
* Gota’s MiG racket eclipsed by multi million dollar deal of Maharaja and son in law of president !
* President’s babyish pretences petering out ! Navy Commander Sinniah ‘s service terminated in a month !-3 Admirals opposed the war ship deal, yet unheeded!
* Astrologers predict President will descend into ‘dog mark’ category in 4 months! - Therefore seeks to push through sordid warship deal before that !
* Cabinet ratifies millions of Rs sordid warship deal that will line the pockets of Kili Maharaja and president’s s-i-l !

---------------------------
by     (2017-11-05 21:15:37)

'Every parliamentarian should be probed for dual citizenship'

Amali Mallawaarachchi-Monday, November 6, 2017

The Government must probe if there are members in Parliament who have not disclosed their dual citizenship status to the country, Power and Renewable Energy Deputy Minister Ajith P. Perera said.

He said if the public demand for a probe, the police could do it with the support of the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

“Many sources has expressed reasonable doubt that more parliamentarians hold dual citizenship. It is the duty of the Government to probe the matter as it is a serious infringement of the Constitution,” he said. The Deputy was addressing a media briefing held at the Ministry, yesterday. He spoke on several matters including the Supreme Court decision to unseating former MP Geetha Kumarasinghe.

Deputy Minister Perera said the information at the Department of Immigration and Emigration with regard to MPs holding dual citizenship may be incomplete.

“The Immigration and Emigration Department told earlier that they only have information on former MP Geetha Kumarasinghe as an MP, who holds dual citizenship. The only reason that the Immigration and Emigration Department knew this is because Geetha Kumarasinghe actually informed them so. Otherwise, the Immigration and Emigration Department will not know of a change in a person’s citizenship status,” Perera explained.

Deputy Minister Perera said more parliamentarians who have not disclosed their dual citizenship status may be in parliament. “If a law is applicable to Geetha Kumarasinghe, the same law should be applied to all other MPs. The probe could be easily done on all 225 of us without concentrating on individuals,” Perera said.

Deputy Minister Perera explained that when Sri Lankan citizens from birth receives citizenship from another country, their citizenships in Sri Lanka get automatically cancelled. “Then, they should request the Immigration and Emigration Department to resume his or her status as a citizen of Sri Lanka,” he said.

“A person holding dual citizenship is not an issue. But MPs are not the same. We as decision-makers who took an oath to serve the country and put it first as citizens of Sri Lanka. If the same persons have allegiance to another country it can be problematic. So, it is important that we find out who has not disclosed information with regard to their citizen status and it is more important to identify who is actually loyal to our motherland,” Perera said.

Deputy Minister Perera said that there could be serious consequence for the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) nomination list for the Galle district from where Kumarasinghe was nominated. Perera said the UPFA nomination list could be disqualified on the basis that they have nominated a person who is disqualified and consequently mislead the public. Perera was of the opinion that the matter should be taken up before the Supreme Court.

Speaking on the unseating of Kumarsinghe, Deputy Minister Perera said that she will have to repay the Government all the perquisites she was entitled to within the current term of Parliament. Parliament would calculate the repayment amount in due course, he said.