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Looking back at 100 days of UPFA governance

By Dilrukshi Handunnetti 

A little more than four months ago, the newly formed United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) pledged to overhaul the system by introducing sweeping reforms to all sectors through their sunshine manifesto, a document that oozed with patriotic zeal titled Rata Perata (Country First).

Three months since the Freedom Alliance's assumption of political office - in effect the completion of its 100 days in government, it is timely that progress be reviewed and failures be identified.

The UPFA, riding the crest of popularity just before being catapulted into power made pledges that would have made Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the United Front (UF) leader who promised to import rice from the Moon, blush, cringe or both. So original and diverse were the promises made including a 70% salary increase for the public sector, a transparent peace process involving all parties and a growth rate of six to eight percent among a multitude of relief measures - near Utopia indeed.

Executive presidency

President Chandrika Kumaratunga, having decided to open her Pandora's Box, took out one of her time-worn pledges that had nevertheless worn well - a decade long pledge to abolish the executive presidency which she herself has often identified as the "mother of all evil." She revitalised a pledge broken in 1995 when she faithfully promised Nihal Galappatty, the presidential candidate of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) that her election would lead to its abolition.

The rest being history, her re-energised promise was once more displayed like a dangling carrot - a "priority concern." Having entered the last lap of her second term, it certainly has become her personal priority concern so that she may re-enter parliament with the reverting to the cabinet system thereby saving her political future. The snag is that it requires the President to honour her accompanying pledge to set up a constituent assembly to subvert the existing constitution which is also proving an impossible task given her status as a President heading a minority government.

Playing to the gallery

But she started off well, as the UPFA campaign not only had ample rhetoric, it had measures to match. In one sweeping populist gesture Kumaratunga granted Rs.9.5 million from the President's Fund to Hambantota farmers as immediate drought relief, a move that was dubbed a politically motivated 'grant' just before the April 2 poll. It was considered "relief" to stem a political drought by organisations like the Programme for Protection of Public Resources (PPPR) that howled in protest.

With that impressive gesture of magnanimity began the UPFA's plethora of pledge making. The Alliance's manifesto, Rata Perata in its impressive preamble also pledged a new economic order and also a set of immediate relief measures for the masses - to be implemented within the first three to four months.

Three months hence the government has not even begun the initial work on setting up a constituent assembly which was to urgently introduce sweeping constitutional reforms and lead towards the abolition of the executive presidency. But the violation is almost pitiable, given the government's predicament, having to virtually struggle for basic survival in parliament leave alone pass legislation. The situation was so compelling that Kumaratunga eventually settled to making her policy statement over national television, two months after coming into office.

In this regard, the Rata Perata loftily claimed: The present constitution enacted in 1978 and its inherent difficulty of securing the stipulated majorities in parliament have hindered meaningful constitutional reforms, whilst causing a problem for good and effective governance.

"The Freedom Alliance therefore seeks a mandate from the people of Sri Lanka to convene a constituent assembly consisting of MPs to formulate and promulgate a new constitution that will derive its form and validity from the expression of the political will of the people."

The government promised several urgent relief measures, out of which some five have been so far honoured. The UPFA has managed to provide a glass of milk for primary children, to partially restore the fertiliser subsidy at great cost to the exchequer, revert to the Samurdhi scheme initiated in the year 1995, initiated a scheme to employ 25,000 graduates in the government sector and commenced the certification work on public sector salary anomalies. And there ends the brief list of tasks commenced or being implemented at present. (See box)

The UPFA also made elaborate plans that were earmarked for 'commencement' within a short span of time, ranging from three to six months. A key pledge was to initiate a peace drive which would, according to the manifesto be a more transparent process involving all parties that would recognise Sri Lanka as the homeland of all the people.

However, to date the government has not been able to set the pace for the talks, which is already causing serious economic repercussions to the country as most aid packages did come tied to the UNF's peace initiative.

Youth and employment

Some of the most ambitious pledges were made concerning unemployed youth of the country. The UPFA made an assortment of pledges that are recorded in the manifesto and given wide publicity during its election campaign.

The target was to provide 25,000 jobs for unemployed youth specifically within three months in a wide range of government services, a scheme that has commenced but with its completion not in sight, according to authoritative Youth Affairs Ministry sources. The practical difficulty, according to the source, is that there are no existing vacancies and therefore, it requires employment creation.

"It is not viable to employ more cadres. Government institutions are over employed," critiqued the source. Under the Tharuna Aruna programme, some graduates who have already been absorbed into public banks went on a fast unto death last week demanding that they be made permanent before employing more personnel to the same institutions. Secondly, 25,000 more jobs are also on offer to youth.

Some 5,000 school leavers are to be trained as field officers in agriculture, livestock and marketing sectors in addition to employing them for rehabilitation, revenue collection and programmes to combat drug, alcohol and tobacco use.

Ten thousand school leavers are to be employed as tourist guides while another 25,000 are to undergo accelerated skills development with private sector, NDTF and Samurdhi assistance. Then, one million jobs have been promise for the youth of this land within the next five years.

Finance and economy

The new government has also been highly critical of the UNF's financial and economic thrust. The manifesto states " The Sri Lankan economy is now in a perilous and crisis state. Ordinary masses are faced with immense difficulties caused by spiraling prices and extreme high cost of living. The UPFA is firmly of the belief that a foundation should be laid for a new economic order."

And salient among the pledges is the non-privatisation of national resources and public institutions for the regeneration of the national economy. However, the latter undertaking comes after Kumaratunga agreed to privatise several key government held institutions including the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Insurance Corporation, Railways etc, in the year 2000 upon World Bank recommendations. It also marks a clear departure from a privatisation policy the country has so far remained committed to and could effectively block some of the forthcoming aid.

The UPFA, pledging a "mixed economy" has also caused a further ripple within weeks since coming into office within the donor community as well. US$ 4.5 billion pledged during the Tokyo Summit now hangs in the balance as the government has so far not made firm commitments to initiate peace to which the funding is directly linked.

A US$ 162 million IMF tranche meant for Sri Lanka under a poverty reduction growth facility too is on hold due to the government's failure to provide a clear economic policy, according to Country Representative, Jeremy Carter.

The economic sphere, since the new government came into office has been probably the worst hit. The rupee that stood at Rs. 97 as against the dollar during the government switch has now hit an all time high of Rs. 102 against the dollar which would get immediately reflected in the inflation rate.

With the government hopeful of a growth rate of six to eight percent by the turn of the year, economic indictors certainly do not augur well at present - and an unprecedented subsidies package would necessarily burden the exchequer to a great extent.

Minister of Power and Energy and UPFA General Secretary, Susil Premajayanth said that the new government has spent the first three months trying to undo the economic and social harms caused by the previous regime.

The economy was not in proper shape, and the economic thrust did not suit the country, which is why we had to introduce a mixed economic policy.

Also, the people were so burdened by the UNF rule. Their earnings were insufficient. We had to introduce urgent relief measures to help them survive and not to cull votes. The subsidies were not election gimmicks but measures that were very necessary for the basic survival of the people, he claimed.

Policy making

What the donor community finds most irksome is the UPFA administration's overnight commitment to the halting of institutions that were listed for privatisation. To say the least, it plays havoc with general economic policy and financial allocations, according to a senior Central Bank source, who said that Sri Lanka's only hope is to formulate policies that do not change the way governments do.

"It creates so much of chaos and balancing a country's economic act is not that easy. Certainly, one that has suffered a devastating 20 years of war. We have made commitments and whether we are emotional about these matters or not, we must follow through," he explained, adding that Finance Minister, Dr. Sarath Amunugama appears to be doing his best to at least " balance the act" before everything falls apart.

The refusal to privatise certain institutions is largely due to the JVP's pressure to follow nationalistic policies, the official explained. "Non sale of public resources and a halt to privatisation of these institutions and the revising of the railway in the public sector were all JVP-initiated. This about turn is too soon. A poor economy like ours might end up reeling under the ill effects," he adds.

According to the UPFA manifesto, "the railway, cluster bus companies, petroleum, electricity, ports and airports, water and state banks would not be privatised."

Under the UPFA's sunshine pledges, it is the lending agencies that began to reel in earnest. The IMF Country Head boldly declared that the "goodies" pledged before the April 2 polls were "something the UPFA cannot afford" in a state that is already burdened by a welfare economy and mismanagement.

While the new government celebrates three months in office, a host of its promises are still in the back burner. Some may sit there for over a decade or so, just the way Kumaratunga's pledge to abolish the executive presidency stayed until it suited her political scheme of things.

With the peace process a nonstarter and the economic policy being redone in haste, most fear that a welfare economy tied to subsidies would make Sri Lanka's economy suffer greater peril in the coming months.

Despite that, in the run up to the provincial hustings that concluded just yesterday, the UPFA platforms have been full of rhetorical pledges - key among them being an immediate 70% salary increase for the public sector, against good financial advice that a war economy despite the lull just cannot afford it. And they believe that the UPFA certainly got the wrong end of the stick by pledging enormous relief measures so soon. "Before increasing welfare measures, the island's revenue should be increased," adds Jeremy Carter. And it certainly could make that eight percent of growth most illusive at the end of the year.

If the government does not take some urgent rectifying measures to put the country's economy on a better path, it would probably be known for three infamous legislative functions - for not having passed a single bill in three long months, for reducing the stipulated number of parliamentary sittings from eight to two per month and last but not the least, the attack on two bhikku MPs. It certainly would not be a record that a government could be happy about. 

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