Sunday, November 12, 2017

THE BUDGET LOOKS AT FUTURE REALITIES

Saturday, November 11, 2017

The third Budget of the National Unity Government presented by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera looks much more to the future than any Budget in post-independence Sri Lanka. There was also the tactical gain in the pre-budget Gazette which moved away from the practice of announcing price hikes before the Budget itself is announced in Parliament, and instead told of price reductions in several consumer items having great demand. This was an interesting political strategy that would leave little room for attacks on the main Budget proposals on the issue of the Cost of Living, while leaving room for these prices to be increased later.

The forward looking aspect of the Budget certainly gives much more meaning to acceptance of the advantages of modern technological progress, as well as, giving due consideration to the need to fight environmental pollution through acceptance of scientific developments. This is certainly a move going beyond the often empty claims of fighting environmental pollution told so often by many in government, and a practical approach to the issue. This is more relevant, considering the huge pollution that India is facing in New Delhi and many areas in the North of India just now, with atmospheric pollution levels being dangerously over the WHO recommended PM 2.5 for particle pollution.

With an Economic Development target of 5%, inflation to be kept under 6%, and the Budget Deficit to be 4.5% of GDP, the Finance Minister has certainly moved to a tough position, which will require continued assessment of, and possible curtailing of government expenditure that is considered wasteful. The progress in this would certainly require more than Finance Ministry activity, but a much larger participation of the Government, in all its sectors, in seeking to achieve these goals.

With the goal of a Green Environment there is an interesting goal of all State vehicles to be hybrid or electric by 2025, which goes with the important proposal to target the end the use of all fossil fuel cars by 2040. There is also the reduction of import tax on electric vehicles by Rs. 1 million, and also the increase in the import tax on luxury vehicles by around Rs. 2.5 million. An interesting question is how this increased duty would impact of “Duty Free” luxury vehicles for MPs.

There are interesting proposals on handling the three-wheeler situation, which will also benefit by the stress on electric driven vehicles. The support of locally assembled vehicles is encouraging, while the proposal to give assistance to three-wheel owners to export vehicles to Bangladesh is looking at a new direction in dealing with the growing issues of three-wheel owners. Another useful proposal, with a good look at future needs, is the decision to introduce electric buses to the SLTB, for public transport, at an initial cost of Rs. 500 million.

Another aspect of the futuristic approach of this Budget is the proposal to introduce a Carbon Tax, and expanding island-wide facilities for the charging of electric vehicles.

Fuel crisis and after

The Budget proposals that look at unfolding realities on the availability and supply of power, was in sharp contrast the situation that prevailed for three days, even till after the Minister of Finance rose to make his speech. The drop in fuel supply leading to large crowds at petrol stations, sometimes confrontation and even violence, drew attraction to the very bad planning in the storage and supply of petroleum in the country. The attempts to put the blame on the Indian Company IOC, due to one of its stocks being rejected by the CPC, was certainly a cheap and crooked move, as much as the attempts by the JO and some trade unions to not blame the failure of the Petroleum Corporation on the task of proper and adequate stock and storage facilities. One cannot understand how a major institution that is engaged in the supply of fuel to the country could not think of a possible and unexpected shortfall of fuel stock for at least two weeks.

While the ministerial committee appointed to look into this will have to give its report soon, it is hoped the Ministry of Petroleum and its institutions look at better ways of ensuring adequate stocks in the country. Apologizing to the country by the Minister and even those higher in government, is hardly of any benefit. The increase of storage facilities would certainly be necessary, and for this purpose, there must be a more practical, and not political outlook on the handling and improvement of the Trincomalee Oil Talk Farm, that came to us from the British. It would be useful to look at how Sri Lanka could cooperate with India, our next door neighbour that has modern technology in these areas of activity, for the necessary progress, instead of being moved by the politics of tactical suspicion that is of little benefit to the country.

Looking at this crisis in the context of the Budget proposals for more use of electricity in transport, it is evident that we must look at moving from fossil fuels, with great speed. While Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) would certainly help against any further increase of coal power, Sri Lanka must certainly look at how it can best benefit from Solar Power and also Wind Power, making good studies of how these are fast expanding, and providing more power to many countries in the world.

It will also be useful to look at the possibility of China helping us with technology in this regard, in view of the large strides that Beijing is taking in expanding Solar Power in that country. Of course there are suspicions that China is moving faster on renewable energy sources within the country, but heaping coal power on African countries. But, Sri Lanka must be a in a position to have better dealings with China in this regard, considering he investments that China is expected to make in the near future. The abundance of sunshine in the country must be made use of through of modern technology to make a major leap forward in fuel for future growth, which calls for both political and economic activity that is truly national in concept and interest, and not wholly capitalist investment.

Sobhitha Thera remembered

The remembrance of the Ven. Maduluwawe Sobhitha Thera on the second anniversary of his passing away did raise important issues on the policies and practices of the Government. This was due to Ven. Sobhitha Thera’s key role in the thinking and political strategy to elect the Common Candidate in January 2015, and defeat the Rajapaksa Regime.

President Maithripala Sirisena, speaking at the memorial gathering at ‘Ape Gama’ Battaramulla, repeated his commitment to the policies of the Ven. Sobhitha Thera, emphasizing his interest in fighting corruption, very high in the late Thera’s agenda. He stressed interest in seeing those involved in the Treasury Bond Scam brought to justice; the goal of the Presidential Commission appointed by him. He underscored the necessity to bring about the cleaning up of government. It was not to target anyone in government, or an MP or Minister. It was a response to a huge outcry by the people.

Moving to the broader area of criticism leveled at him on every issue, which he saw as unfair, as he believed in the sharing of government duties, he reminded the need to be dedicated to social justice, rule of law and good government.

He said, “I am not a person who is greedy for positions. I will go back as I came. I am not a person who came to this position to stay…but a man who came to go. But I need the support of all to do my job properly”, a very significant comment in the context of rising criticism, which he saw directed at him.

The other important observations here came from Prof. Sarath Wijesooriya, Chair of the National Movement for a Just Society, the former position of Ven. Sobhitha Thera. He said today’s need is to correct the political culture distorted by the Rajapaksa Regime, and it was important to reflect on why the country decided to defeat the Rajapaksa Regime. He emphasized it was the responsibility of government to build the world as Maduluwawe Sobhitha Thera saw it.

The need was for the Rule of Law, and there was still time for the government’s leaders to fulfill this aim.

He said it was not easy to voice these wishes the same way it was done earlier, but it still needed to be done, with a dedication to realize the political restructuring Ven. Sobhitha Thera wished for.

He said: “Our struggle against the political culture as created by the Rajapaksas should not be misread as an attempt to rebel against the present government, but to reach the cherished goals – which included having a new Constitution and abolishing the Executive Presidency, and power devolution with true reconciliation among the communities of Sri Lanka.

Budget 2018 and failure of neoliberalism

By Sumanasiri Liyanage-November 12, 2017, 9:46 pm

Minister of Finance, Mangala Samaraweera presented his maiden budget to Parliament on November 9. It was the fourth budget of the so-called Yahapalana government headed by President Maithreepala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Nobody expected a miracle from the new Finance Minister as what he can perform is structurally limited very much by the dictates of the International Monetary Fund. However, it was not a hindrance since he is open and much more explicit over his ideology than his predecessors. As per the pre-budget custom, the Prime Minister presented a policy framework within which the budget was to be designed. Moreover, a couple of months ago V 2025 framework document was also presented at the BMICH with the presence of the President (playing a low key and eyeing for his own V 2030 document which is in the process of drafting by his economic consultants) and the Prime Minister (taking the upper hand in V2025) pointing out the basic direction that the economy would be planned to steer in the next 7- 8 years.

Minister Samaraweera has branded his budget as "Blue-Green Budget, the Launch of Enterprise Sri Lanka". Of course, he does not mean the budget of green blue coalition, but the ocean and the environment. If the ocean, the environment and the enterprise go together making a coherent entity is theoretically problematic since in many instances entrepreneurial drive has disturbed the equilibrium of both the ocean and the environment. However, in area where I live, the fisher folks have found their livelihood that depends very much on sea is continuously perturbed by the entrepreneurial drive of the construction of the so-called Colombo Financial Port City. The blue sea has now become muddy for the people in Baisawatta and its vicinity with their houses destroyed and livelihood disturbed.

Ideology behind Budget 2018

The ideology behind the budget has been summarised in the following words: "In line with Vision 2025 we need to undertake bold reforms in factor markets in order to eliminate price distortions and restore property rights in accordance with market principles aiming at promoting faster and sustainable growth. Capital market reforms to capture its full potential are imperative for ensuring high growth over the medium-term and beyond. Without proper ownership of land and property, no country could achieve faster growth ensuring prosperity for all. In this context the country’s land and property ownership issues need a careful and urgent appraisal. Country’s labor demand against the constraints of labor supply requires a closer examination of all areas of the labour market including labor laws, to pave the way forward to harness the productive resources of the economy."

What does it mean? It simply means reversing all the safeguards that had been implemented to protect small producers and workers. "Capital market reforms to capture its full potential are imperative for ensuring high growth" are, no doubt, aimed at the large resources accumulated in the Employers Provided Fund. In this direction, the concrete actions proposed make it clear how the budget 2018 would affect the lower rung of society not immediately but in the medium run and beyond. It would be catastrophic for them. Let us read this section. "Much more has to be done. For example, the Rent Act, No 7 of 1972 which limits the ownership of houses and the rent to be charged requires amendments; Paddy Lands Act, No 1 of 1958 and the Agricultural Land Act, No. 42 of 1973 will be amended to allow the farming of alternate crops; the Shop and Office Employees Act, No 15 of 1954 will be amended allowing the employees flexibility in choosing their working hours; bankruptcy laws to be amended to make them more efficient."

This list has clearly revealed one simple truth. The relatively progressive measures introduced by the previous governments partly because of the pressures at the grassroots level are now planned to be reversed. Just looking at the years when these measures were introduced have also shown that President Sirisena has now become the "killer" of his own party’s long admired and accepted policies. Can a true SLFPer who still claims to adhere to its basic principles vote for the budget? The ideology behind the budget may be summarized in two mantras: (1) "liberalize and globalize; (2) eliminate "non-tradable drivers".

So in my opinion, the budget 2018 entails the neoliberal ideology in its crudest form. It proposes to adopt all the prescriptions of the Washington Consensus to an extent that has never been applied before. The radical changes that have been proposed to change property rights would definitely ignite a process of what David Harvey called "the accumulation through dispossession". Similarly, proposed changes to labor laws in order to make labor market flexible are aimed at the creation of economic surplus based primarily on the appropriation of absolute surplus value. As Mezaros has argued this has been a contemporary practice in modern capitalism.

Towards a Consolidation State

Wolfgang Streak in his book Buying Time:The Delayed Crisis of Democratic Capitalism has identified three phases of the modern bourgeois state, namely the Tax State, the Debt State and the Consolidation State. Neoliberalism forces indebted states in crisis to put into practice measures leading to a consolidation state. Streak writes: "In the wake of the financial and fiscal crisis, the debt state that supplanted the tax state has to convert itself into a state dedicated to fiscal consolidation, completing the neoliberal farewell to the [welfare] state system and to the political economy of its Keynesian founding period. The consolidation state is being constituted, not accidentally, as an international regime operating at multiple levels of government. The possibility that internationalization and denationalization may be linked with liberalization has been present in the public mind at least since the discussions on the political consequences of globalization." (p. 97)

Minister Samaraweera’s Budget 2018 is nothing more than an attempt to build a consolidation state through getting rid of all the legislation starting from education act of 1939. Moreover, he has a set of proposals by the name of flexible factor markets directly aiming at land grabbing and facilitating labor exploitation. His boastful remarks on an increase in government revenue also indicates an attempt to pass the burden of debt state on the ordinary masses.

Irrespective of all these, there is no assurance that his plan would bring about anticipated results. Minister Samaraweera has agreed that V2025 is nothing more than a deception. Let us see the data he has cited in the budget speech. According to V2025, per capita income in year 2020 would be USD 5,000. As the former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Dr Wijewardena has shown that to achieve this target the economy should grow at the rate of 9 per cent per year in the next three years assuming rate of growth of population remains around 1 per cent. The Minister’s projection of economic growth has shown that this would be an unachievable target. According to him, the rate of growth in year 2017 would be 4.5%. Projected rates for 2018 and 2020 are 5% and 6% respectively. According to Dr. Wijewardena, to achieve 9 per cent growth rate the energy supply should increase by 18 per cent a year based on the assumption that Incremental Energy-Output Ratio remains at 2: 1. In the Budget there is no mention how the energy sector would be reorganized to achieve 18 per cent growth in spite of so much banal talk on non-fossil fuel use.

The last point I wish to make is on the budgetary data. Since the IMF has been involved in the budget making process in Sri Lanka, the Minister of Finance has to offer non realistic targets to please the IMF. The Budget 2018 targets a budget deficit of 675 billion rupees that is 4.8% of the GDP. This is well below IMF threshold mark of 5 per cent. Any careful study of the budgets during the last ten years shows that the actual budget deficit exceeded the projected budget deficit. In 2017, the estimated budget deficit was 4.6 per cent of the GDP. However, as the Budget 2018 says the actual budget deficit of 2017 would be 5.2 per cent of the GDP. So the Minister Samaraweera’s maiden budget would finally also end up as a farce.

E-mail: sumane_l@yahoo.com

Three including a monk arrested for large scale racket sending women to Dubai illegally

Sun, Nov 12, 2017, 01:48 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Nov 12, Colombo: Officials of Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB) have arrested three people including a monk, who had sent women to Dubai illegally for domestic work under the pretext of promoting Buddhism.

The officials of the SLFEB at the Bandaranaike International Airport on Thursday have observed ten women clad in white clothes behaving suspiciously near the departure lounge of the airport. Upon questioning the women had said that they are going to Dubai for domestic work and a monk is escorting them.

However, the women were not in the possession of proper documents for foreign employment.

When the monk was questioned he has said that the women are going to Dubai to promote Buddhism and afterwards they will be visitng Nepal for a pilgrimage.

The officials have then arrested the monk and two others involved in the racket. The main suspects of the racket are Palladeniye Rathanasiri Thero of Meegoda, Wadugoda Jayasiri Vihara, Hettiarachchige Suranjith, a resident of Borella and his cousin Sasitha Sankalpana, a resident of Wellampitiya, Meethotamulla.

During further questioning it has been revealed that all the women have children under five years of age. The monk has already sent four groups of women to Dubai providing false documents since women with children under five cannot leave for foreign employment.

The monk has paid Rs. 5,000 for each woman and Rs. 10,000 for each of the two suspects. He had also promised to pay Rs. 75,000 to the relatives of the women two weeks after they departed for employment in Dubai. The women have been told that they will earn Rs. 40,000 per month as domestic servants in Dubai.

The officials are seeking to arrest two more suspects involved in the racket.

Minister of Justice and Foreign Employment, Thalatha Athukorala speaking to state TV Rupavahini said the law will be strictly enforced under the provisions of the Human Trafficking Act against the suspects regardless of their status.

She urged the women not to fall for such fraudulent persons and warned that they can be subjected to various hardships if left for foreign employment without registering with the Bureau. The Minister stressed that if not registered with the Bureau, the Ministry cannot intervene when they get into trouble.

Oil fiasco Arjuna to call in the CID

By Niranjala Ariyawansha-2017-11-12

Minister of Petroleum Resources Development Arjuna Ranatunga will call in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to conduct a full investigation into the fuel crisis that gripped the country last week, alleging that a suspected oil mafia was behind the issue.

Ceylon Today learns that Minister Ranatunga had mentioned his intention for such an investigation during a meeting with President Maithripala Sirisena last week. Accordingly, the President had told Ranatunga to inform the CID in writing requesting such an investigation.

This entire crisis was caused as a result of SMS that was circulated among the public stating that a CPC strike was imminent.

Speaking to Ceylon Today, Minister Ranatunga said, the CID should also find out from where this SMS originated and the breakdown at the oil refinery.

Furthermore, the investigations should also focus on the sudden breakdown of the computer system, the decision by the Lanka IOC to cancel a replacement cargo, and the continued presence of the controversial oil tanker at the Trincomalee Harbour, he said.

"When such developments take place, these are definitely not isolated incidents," Ranatunga added.
"I am not pointing fingers at the LIOC. However, I do not like the manner in which these incidents occurred. Even while so many things have happened, the LIOC has opted to hold on to the ship at Trincomalee. I am curious," he noted.

He also said that if India, China or anyone else did something harmful to the country he will openly declare it. "Economic assassins, saboteurs, opportunists, conspirators and those who obtain commissions are behind the chain of events that took place last week," he declared.

The wonderful role of the tuk-tuk

Saturday, 11 November 2017

We all need some form of conveyance to get to work, to get to school, etc. That is a chore. It is not the fun bit in life. That feeling of being content and happy flows from doing things that give us pleasure.

The tuk-tuk is a wonderful player in the world of conveyance that takes us from one place to another to enjoy what gives us pleasure and makes us content and happy. Those nice vibes of feeling good often flow from contact with other people, be they parents, siblings, children or friends, or from going shopping or visiting the cinema or watching sport. If we are unable to do these things as we have no means of getting to them, our quality of life will tumble downhill. The means of getting to them conveniently is an important contributor to our happiness.

Adam desperately wanted to meet Eve. The thoughts of Eve and the forbidden fruit sent a tingle down his spine. He had to travel to get to Eve. He repeatedly whistled for an Angel taxi. None came, as they knew he was after the forbidden fruit. In the end he had to use his two feet as that was only conveyance that would take him to Eve.

From that time to now many may find that the only form of conveyance available is their two feet but they will always look for some more comfortable means of conveyance. One of the earliest forms of conveyance that was better than walking was to get on the back of a horse. When Henry the V111 who was married to his brother’s widow Katherine of Aragon and got tired of playing the same violin, he fell in love with Anne Boleyn. Her father the Earl of Wiltshire had his castle in Wiltshire quite a distance from his palace at Hampton Court. So he went to seduce her on his horse.

The horse was one of many precursors of the tuk-tuk as a conveyance for meeting people for pleasure and in many parts of the world the horse was a popular form of conveyance. The pioneering tea planters visited their friends on neighbouring estates on horseback.

There is nothing in the literature about pioneering British planters riding bulls. The Sinhala kings would have gone on an elephant for a convivial chit chat.

The bicycle that was better than walking came into being only in the early 20th century. But then bicycles were expensive and the masses could not afford them. The Sri Lankan peasant too could not afford an elephant or horse or bicycle and walking was the only alternative.

Chairman Mao, determined to create an egalitarian society, addressed two issues – clothes and conveyance. Everybody wore a Mao suit and so there was no competition about getting a dress better than the neighbour. He solved the conveyance problem by giving everybody a bicycle.

Trains came in the late 19th century to Sri Lanka. It was primarily to take the tea to the port. One could not go by train to secretly meet a lover as the trains did not go to villages .The early tea planters went to meet their friends on nearby estates on horseback because there were no trains connecting estates.

A man called Hanson developed a small carriage drawn by a single horse in the mid-19th century. It was called the Hanson Cab and was the first taxi. It was this that led to taxis being referred to as cabs. This revolutionised the quality of life of people in London. The rich had their carriages and the rest had to walk through the dirty streets of London. The Hanson cab enabled the less rich to go to the pub or visit relatives or go to the theatre. It changed their quality of life.

In Sri Lanka, after the trains came, the rich went in their buggy carts to the station to get to Colombo. When they arrived in Colombo they took a rickshaw to get to their destination. After the rickshaw, the first motorised taxi was Quickshaws, but there were only a few of them. It was relatively recently that we had a lot of taxi companies but they are mainly in Colombo and only a sprinkling in the other big cities. So the greater mass of the not-so-rich population that did not own car or afford a taxi had to depend on the bus. Buses ran on main roads and on very few roads in the rural areas. If your destination was away from the bus route, one had to walk.

The tuk-tuk changed all this, from the cities to the depths of rural areas. When you want one, there is one. It is there where there are no taxis or buses. It gives the comfort of the knowledge that if someone falls sick and you need to get to hospital, there will be a tuk-tuk to take you there. If you have an interview at 10 a.m. you know a tuk-tuk will get you there on time. It is cheaper than a taxi and will not be held up in a traffic jams that do not move. The tuk-tuk is your helper in life who never fails to be there for you. And, if you are 21 and have no job and are wondering what to do, the answer comes in a flash – you can drive a tuk-tuk.

If an opinion poll is carried out to establish who or what contributed the most to our happiness in the last 10 years and you list MR, RW, MS and the mobile phone and the tuk-tuk, the result for sure will be a close contest between the mobile phone and the tuk-tuk. Perhaps the mobile phone will win in urban areas and the tuk-tuk in rural areas. The politicians will probably trail in far, far below these two. What a blow to lose to a tuk-tuk and mobile phone.

If a referendum is a carried out on the question of whether cars should be banned on key roads into the city from seven to nine and only tuk-tuks be permitted, I would not be surprised if the tuk wins. Perhaps we should have huge car parks on the fringe of major cities so that people can park their cars and take a tuk into the city.

Like the Hanson Cab that transformed the quality of life of many people in London in the 19th century, the tuk-tuk after it arrived has transformed the quality of life of many people.

Lanka e news report reaps dividends ! President ‘s recommendation to appoint a corrupt judge to SC spat on by CC !

(Lanka-e-News - 12.Nov.2017, 6.45AM) M.M.A. Gaffoor a most corrupt judge appointed during the equally corrupt Rajapakse era and now in the fourth position among appeal court judges who was recommended by president Sirisena to the Constitutional Council (CC) to be appointed as a Supreme Court (SC ) judge, fortunately was spat on and rejected by the CC , based on reports reaching Lanka e news.

Lanka e news which exposes frankly , fearlessly and forthrightly any move of the higher ups and even the highest in the hierarchy which is detrimental to the country, on the 11 th published a news report against this impending appointment highlighting in detail the villainous moves to appoint a corrupt judge . The Ravaya newspaper is also revealing this incident today .

The CC which met had duly rejected the recommendation of the president in toto. The pro good governance masses and Sri Lankans who respect the sacrosanct rule of law and justice salute this action of the CC and its gentlemen (members) that crushed the efforts made by president Sirisena to appoint another corrupt judge.

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by (2017-11-12 01:26:49)

Rs.2000 million plunder in EDCS during Johnny’s time

November 12, 2017 by

The interim committee of the Cooperative Society of the Education Department (EDCS) appointed by the former Minister of Internal Trade and Cooperatives Johnston Fernando had misused Rs.2000 million during the year 2012 says the General Secretary of Lanka Teacher Services Union (LTSU) Mahinda Jayasinghe.
Mr. Jayasinghe speaking at a press conference held at the Center for Society and Religion at Maradana today (12th) said legal action would be taken against the interim committee.
The audit report for the year 2012 was presented to the General meeting of the EDCS on 29th October and due to obstructions and absence of financial reports, it was not possible to present the audit reports for other years said Mr. Jayasinghe.

Russian Revolution: Centenary and Its Lessons (1917-2017)

When the Russian revolution took place, the per capita income of Russia was ten times lower than the United States. But after 50 years, the difference was only one to two. The major difference of the two systems was not the overall per capita, but its actual distribution.

by Laksiri Fernando-Nov 12, 2017

( November 12, 2017, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) If any youngster, student, journalist, social activist or even a teacher wants to learn the history of the Russian revolution, there are so much of material in books, journal articles, newspapers, and websites. It is possible that unlike those Soviet days, the young nowadays hardly read them because there is a strong impression that socialism is dead or largely dead with the collapse of the Soviet Union. No one can blame them because even the ‘old left’ these days go after many other pursuits. What they forget is the existence and progress of China as a socialist country.

Two Anniversaries

This year 2017 is the 100th anniversary of the two Russian revolutions, popularly known as the February revolution and the October revolution, the latter actually occurring in November. Russia those days was a backward country even in its calendar by one month, therefore when it occurred in November, they were still in October! Thus, a socialist revolution occurred in a backward country, despite Karl Marx’s initial prediction (that it would take place in an advanced capitalist country) and that was a main reason for so many challenges, contradictions, setbacks or even distortions after the revolution.

Compared to the 50th anniversary of the Russian revolution celebrated in 1967, the attention to the centenary this time is even less than half; the celebrations and writings being scarce. Those days in 1960s, there were so much of easy to read literature available at the People’s Publishing House bookshops or produced by the Left parties in Sinhala, Tamil and English. Those are hardly available today. The literature that I have mentioned at the beginning have to be accessed in university or public libraries or through Internet.

Two Types of Ideals

It is not the strikes, street fighting, barricades and the armed confrontations that we need to celebrate, but the ideals of the two revolutions. The conflicts were the outcomes of the polarized nature of the society.

First, there were ideals of democracy that came to the forefront in the February revolution that included parliamentary democracy, universal franchise, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, rule of law, equality before the law, equality to the nationalities, and the aspirations for a new constitution. These are primarily liberal democratic ideals world over even today. In Russia, these were long standing demands going back to the late 19th century because of the autocratic or rather the dictatorial nature of the Romanov rule. Tsar Nicolas II was a hated figure in the country. As Russia was a war weary country by this time, peace was another major democratic demand. In all these respects, the February revolution was a reincarnation of the French revolution of 1789.

Women played a major role in the Revolution
Second, there were ideals for a socialist society. These ideals though came from Marxism and other types of socialist philosophies, they very closely matched with the aspirations and demands of the poor peasants, extremely exploited workers in the cities, and the various nationalities who took a prominent role in the October revolution. In this sense, the October revolution was a resurrection of the Paris Commune of 1871. Land to the tiller and factories to the workers to end exploitation and ensure decent living were the main demands. End of serfdom, equality of the land use, reasonable prices for basic essentials like bread (price control in our words), increase of production and development of productive forces under new arrangements were some of the other socialist ideals. Although equal status to nationalities was a democratic demand, the major exponents of that aspiration in Russia were the socialists.

Practical Application

When we look at the practical application or implementation of these ideals, they were not easy to achieve particularly given the underdeveloped nature of the economy and the polarized character of the society. Added to that were the war and the international circumstances. If the February revolution was a success, perhaps the October revolution would not have taken place. One the other hand, if not for the determination, organizational strength and the leadership of the Bolshevik party, even the October revolution could have been a failure.

In Marxist parlance, the failure of the February revolution, historically a bourgeois revolution, is explained referring to the weak or the foreign character of the bourgeoise. As Leon Trotsky said,

“…the proprietors of the principal industrial, banking, and transport enterprises were foreigners, who realized on their investments not only the profits drawn from Russia, but also a political influence in foreign parliaments…” (History of the Russian Revolution).

The above experience also has a lesson for a country like Sri Lanka, especially after the democratic political change in 2015. If the country’s main assets, enterprises and industries are callously given to the foreign companies, in the name of investment requirements (FDI), they and their local partners may not take much interest in expanding democracy in our country. Also those who sell the country’s assets to the foreigners, also might lose interest in expanding democracy to safeguard the foreign interests, whatever they must have said at elections.

The fall of the February revolution or the Kerensky government was a smooth process given the above weak and vacillating nature of the bourgeoisie. Therefore, there was no much violence or street fights in October. All hell broke loose much later when the feudal forces and the ousted bourgeoisie with foreign backing started the civil war. Therefore, the defence of the socialist revolution, let alone building socialism, was a difficult task in the ensuing period.

Major Gains

The Russian revolution had gone through major upheavals particularly in the 1930s. Even before, the civil-war period was difficult (1918-1922). It was like running a war economy, not socialism. Given the extremely underdeveloped nature of the productive forces, it was necessary to allow the ‘free market’ forces, without blatantly infringing the rights of the people, but it was difficult to implement such before 1922. The unfortunate political events in the 1930s, on the other hand, were largely due to certain extremist deviations, typical of certain Marxist movements leading even to civil unrest. If not for these events, the Soviet Union could have emerged as a major economy well before 1950s.

Whatever those weaknesses, the overall contribution that the Russian revolution made to the world and humanity was enormous. (1) It broke the capitalist world chain in its weakest link. (2) The Russian revolution inspired many other socialist revolutions and freedom struggles in China, Vietnam and Cuba, to mention the main. (3) It was a strength to many social democratic and worker’s parties to pursue socialist or welfare policies in many advanced capitalist countries. (4) It was an inspiration to the Third World countries and anti-colonial struggles. (5) It was the Soviet Union and its soldiers that could curtail the spread of fascism in Europe, apart from the contributions made by the allied nations. (6) In the process, the Soviet soldiers inspired and assisted the socialist forces in the Eastern Europe and as a result, almost a half of the continent became socialist or progressive.

When the Russian revolution took place, the per capita income of Russia was ten times lower than the United States. But after 50 years, the difference was only one to two. The major difference of the two systems was not the overall per capita, but its actual distribution. That is how one could talk about a difference between ‘capitalism’ and ‘socialism.’ Although there was a privileged political class (the bureaucracy) in the Soviet Union, the gaps in income redistribution was quite narrow. In America, this was not and is not the case. In addition, there were constitutional guarantees such as the following in Article 19 in the Soviet constitution.

“The state helps enhance the social homogeneity of society, namely the elimination of class differences and of the essential distinctions between town and country and between mental and physical labour, and the all-round development and drawing together of all the nations and nationalities of the USSR.”

There were obvious gaps between the theory and practice, and that is one reason why the Soviet Union collapsed in early 1990s. The primary reason for the collapse was the lack of democracy and people’s inability to correct the leaders given the bureaucratic political system. Another reason was the exorbitant unnecessary military expenditure, beyond the country’s means, to be a ‘super power.’

Issues of Democracy

The issues of democracy in the Soviet Union, and socialism in general, date back to the dynamics of the two Russian revolutions. One of the objectives of the February revolution was to form a Constituent Assembly and draft a New Constitution. The task was to reform the Duma (the Russian Parliament) on the basis of the universal franchise and people’s sovereignty. However, Kerensky and other liberals were vacillating. There were parallel worker’s councils or the soviets, but those were spontaneous and ad hoc organizations.

Therefore, it was a mistake, in my opinion, for the Bolsheviks to by pass the constitutional and democratic process in the October revolution and place powers solely in the worker’s councils or the soviets. The background to this mistake was the mistaken theory of the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat.’ A dictatorship of capitalists or workers is a wrong concept. Socialism should belong to all classes and all sections of the society obviously except to the exploitative capitalist classes.

Lenin and other leaders tried their best to be truthful, committed and accountable to the socialist cause and the people, but that cannot be said about all or all layers of the leadership or the party. The ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ ended up as a ‘dictatorship of the party.’ The party was important in producing leaders, formulating policies, educating and inspiring the people, undertaking difficult tasks and monitoring the implementation of socialist policies. Instead, however, it became a bureaucracy.

The concept of the ‘citizen in a socialist society’ did not develop with freedoms and liberties, of course with responsibilities and duties. It may be possible that those could not evolve instantly given the chaotic conditions and different political and social forces in Russia at that time. However, if the Duma was reformed, elections were held and a new democratic constitution was drafted, those principles and institutions could have evolved gradually. The freedom of expression, the media, the freedom of movement, rule of law and independence of the judiciary etc. were important for the socialist progress but that did not happen in that way.

In other words, human rights are important not only for capitalism, but more so for socialism. Rights are part and parcel of social or socialist responsibilities and vice versa. It is true that human rights in capitalist societies are confined largely to civil and political rights. It is up to the socialists to change it.

Future Hopes

Although the Soviet Union has disintegrated, and Russia has turned back to capitalism, it is possible that socialism might re-emerge again within a more democratic and an advanced form. The road to socialism might take different forms and different paths in historically complex and socially diverse world, while co-existing with capitalism at present. Capitalism undoubtedly is still a strong force, utilizing not only people’s ‘greed,’ but also people’s will to progress and succeed. The latter aspirations are valid and beneficial for overall social progress. Socialism, therefore, should not undermine those aspirations of the people, including the entrepreneurship for reasonable enterprises.

Socialism in China is holding strongly with ‘Chinese characteristics,’ as they say. Cuba and Vietnam are also the same in different forms. Those are encouragements for socialists, although many have got discouraged after the fall of the Soviet Union, and deviated to many other pursuits. It is unfortunate that the socialists in Sri Lanka largely belonged to the ‘deviated category,’ so much so, they are even shy in calling themselves socialists, mostly hiding behind the ‘left’ banners, apart from their sectarian and mostly personal infights.

But Sri Lanka is a ‘Democratic Socialist Republic! Apart from uniting, discussing viable future strategies, and launching easy to read popular socialist literature for the education of the young generations, what the socialists in Sri Lanka could do is to defend Sri Lanka as a ‘democratic socialist republic’ in the constitution, and gradually develop policies in order to put them into actual practice. In this age of communication revolution, it is possible to achieve socialism through the ballot box, peacefully, without resorting to or encouraging violent upheavals.

Video: Fighting to show the truth in Gaza

11 November 2017

“I want to change my perspective, go and see different places in the world,” says Ezz Zanoun, a Palestinian photographer in Gaza.

“But global politics is really despicable and racist. … My visa applications always get rejected.”

In 2006, Ezz witnessed his brother Mohammad, a photographer, get hit by an Israeli missile that exploded 10 meters from him.

Mohammad was severely injured, but eventually recovered.

The incident motivated Ezz to pick up the camera and start taking pictures. He photographs Israeli assaults on Gaza, but also daily life, hardship and beauty in the Strip.

“Although we are tied up and besieged, and every day I’m personally affected by the siege,” Ezz says, “we keep fighting to tell people the truth.”

While he is grounded in Gaza, Ezz adds, “My pictures get to travel around the world every day.”

Video by ActiveStills.

UK's Cambridge denounced for replacing chair of Palestine BDS event: Reports

University officials insist hours before event that its director of communications must replace panel's moderator

Cambridge University (AFP/file photo)

Sunday 12 November 2017

The University of Cambridge faces censorship accusations after it threatened to ban a meeting about the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement unless the Palestinian academic chairing it was removed and replaced with a person of its own choice, according to media reports.

Ruba Salih, from the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), was set to oversee the event earlier this week featuring Palestinian BDS activist Omar Barghouti, but organisers say they were forced to cancel her participation hours before it was due to start after the Cambridge University intervened, citing concerns over her neutrality, Al Jazeera said.

University officials contacted organizers hours before the "BDS and the globalized struggle for Palestinian rights" event was due to begin, insisting that the university's director of communications, Paul Mylrea, replace Salih as the panel's chair, the Arab News said on its website.

Organizers agreed after being told the event would be cancelled if they refused to comply, but Palestinian activists say the incident highlights the increasingly restrictive atmosphere for critics of Israel on campuses across the UK.

Ed McNally, the Cambridge student who organised the event, told Al Jazeera that the university was "undoubtedly" violating its commitment to free expression.

"Removing a respected Palestinian academic as chair of a panel event based on an unsubstantiated assumption about her lack of 'neutrality,' and in doing so bowing to external pressure from a pro-Israel lobby group, cannot be construed as anything other than a naked attack on free speech and, more particularly, academic freedom," McNally said.

Hundreds of students and academics have signed an open letter condeming Salih's removal as chair of the event.

The letter said: "It is disturbing that university authorities consider appropriate such censorship, including the forced imposition of an 'independent chair,' on an event designed to raise awareness about the human rights of Palestinians and indigenous peoples around the world."

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Israel issues new guidelines for banning boycott supporters

In an email exchange, a university spokesperson told Al Jazeera that the institution is "fully committed to freedom of speech and expression".

"We have no reason to believe that these events are in any way unlawful," the spokesperson said. "In this instance, following calls from the organisers for extra safety measures, a neutral chair was provided to ensure that all sides were represented in what is an important and often emotionally charged debate."

Al Jazeera asked the university to explain why Salih was not considered a neutral choice for chair, but the institution issued no further comment.

The SOAS academic said she had not received any explanation from the university for why she was not considered an appropriate chair.

"I don't know the exact terms under which my role as chair was defined as inappropriate for the debate and which narratives the university has used for the forced replacement of the chair," she said.