As the issue of abuse of state resources reached a crescendo the UNP complained bitterly to all and sundry — to no avail though. There were vehicles from the CTB, from the Ports Authority, from the RDA — indeed from whatever government department there is. Some were covering their origins others were far too blasé: they went about their campaigning regardless! It is of course entirely possible that the UNP having been out of office for so long, has no idea that this is simply what one does when holding the keys to the nation’s assets!

Flippancy aside though, the resources available to the government was of course no match for the other parties even if considered together. It was then time for the opposition to practice transparency — and what better way than to practice when in opposition. There are a number of MPs from all the parties who have various foundations and who solicit funds for those foundations in order that there is benefit to the constituents in that area.

A person in point is Sajith Premadasa. Premadasa does — by all accounts — yeoman service to the people he represents down south. He routinely has the ability to raise significant sums of monies from all over the world. And his constituents — judging by what the print media have carried — certainly have benefited. With Premadasa in the running whenever the UNP leadership issue raises its head again — as it regularly does — he is seen by many as the Prince in Waiting.

Complete transparency

It certainly will not harm his cause — indeed it is likely to help his cause no end — if he was to show complete transparency in the management of the funds that comes his way. Acting without being prompted is a much better solution and sends a far better message to the public. Our message is clear: practise in government what you preach in opposition.

Chamal Rajapakse was in the south directing the troops and he was ably assisted by younger brother Mahinda. The President took to meeting constituents in his home at Medamulana — some said that was because the Beverley Palace was not completed yet. Anything between 3,000 and 4,000 persons turn up to routinely attend these meetings and are happy to partake in the bonhomie and the stirring speeches the President makes.

The President paid homage to the late actor Gamini Fonseka. Making a surprise visit he alighted from the Presidential motorcade, and walked briskly towards the Elphinstone. Mervyn Silva popped out of almost nowhere to ensure that he will not be left out of the limelight and promptly dropped on his knees to worship the President. After unveiling the statue he complained that everyone should be at work and disappeared as quickly as possible.

Romance

 Others said that it could be as a gesture of solidarity with his younger son who has developed a romantic friendship with a granddaughter of the great actor, Yasara. The other lady present, Sangeetha Weeraratne was seen wailing looking up at the statue — leading many to wonder why.

The President also instructed P.B. Jayasundera to report to work at the Treasury, whilst Sumith Abeysinghe is due to go on to the Cabinet Office. The Supreme Court has yet to give its reasons but Jayasundera was back at work — the President having clearly invoked his powers as provided by Article 52 of the Constitution.

The legal fraternity was looking forward to the Supreme Court’s reasoning. Interesting questions were thrown up by the orders and there was some impatience to reach the end of the tunnel to find out the mechanics of why and how. These were of course notwithstanding the fact that the court had earlier refused to be moved on the two main pleas made by the beleaguered Treasury Secretary.

Counter productive

On the IDP issue the government had at long last all but admitted that the previous policy of taking the West head on or face on even, was counter productive with the President deeply unhappy at his Foreign Minister’s delivery on this issue. It was refreshing to note that the government recognised the fact that the Western nations were Sri Lanka’s primary trading partners.

 They adopted an almost conciliatory tone, asking the West to understand their plight and the impediments that were in play in terms of early release of the IDPs. A point the government has not made is to highlight the fact that some 20,000 LTTE cadres simply vanished almost overnight. These cadres are clearly not all dead and there is only one fact that is holding the peace for now: the fact that the arms hidden away in the jungles were separated from the cadres who were undoubtedly mainly in the IDP camps.

That separation was in effect the peace of mind the forces had. It was all shattered though when an explosion occurred in Kurunegala. The Defence Secretary was in New York and there was much hope that he would be able to explain and put things in perspective to the Americans. Robert O. Blake was not immediately available but the Secretary was due to meet up with him. His visit put paid to any doubts that the Secretary would not be returning to the US any time soon due to other concerns.

Vote on Account

Ravi Karunanayake was up in arms over the government’s plans to have a Vote on Account rather than a Budget. Asking the question in parliament he was poo-poohed down by Ranjith Siyamabalapitiya saying there was no substance in RK’s version. Yet in duplicitous statements made later in the week Ranjith was heard to say that the government had not made its mind up whether it would be a Vote on Account or a straight budget.

 There was much agreement even amongst senior government ministers that the economy is where they ought to be focusing on. With the UNP honing in their opposition skills towards this particularly troublesome aspect of governance, the government appeared to be taking things seriously.

 The President was not entirely happy with the way the state media were covering his events. He took issue for example, with the coverage in his hometown, which showed cheering crowds. He did not wish to see that there — that kind of coverage could have been shown from a national platform he said. He also displayed his knowledge of the prices of clothing and footwear when he assured some of his constituents that footwear was cheaper and better value at Bettans than at Odel but that warm clothing was better at Odel.

Chinese gift

The Chinese government has decided that they will be all but gifting the government with no less than six turbo-prop aircraft; these are now being built in China and delivery is expected to start over the next six months or so.

What was once supposed to serve Mihin exclusively has now caught the eye of the Air Force which is lobbying the President for four of the aircraft. The aircraft are being given on a very soft loan indeed — the terms are so favourable that there can be little more to do with Mihin if it doesn’t zoom into more than operational profits over the next 18 months.

Unlike SriLankan Airlines, Mihin’s cost base has come down and it has increased aircraft utilisation — two critical factors for its survival. The Deputy Minister of Aviation was caught and bowled in parliament when he was asked for the name of the CEO of Mihin Lanka. He could only give out just the first name “Kapila” — he was candid enough to admit that he had long forgotten the surname.

Appeasing the West

 Meanwhile the emissaries keep flying hither and thither to appease the Western powers in order to tide over the selective targeting of Sri Lanka. GSP + is a grant given by the EU and not a right. When the government pushed a hard line stance against EU representatives the resultant backlash was not envisaged.

When the President made a speech in the south he said that he knew how to obtain loans that are needed by the government without the help of others obviously making a dig at the opposition.

Be that as it may the Leader of the Opposition kept the pressure on the government by digging into the sale of gold held by the Central Bank, outside its official reserves. This time he charged that the lead banks nominated to sell bonds had been approached on a back to back sale of this gold.

Clearly the government is cash strapped. Suppliers are being delayed with their payments. This is a chronic worry to them. With the banks too going slow with their credit policy yet it is a double blow to small and medium scale businessmen dealing with the government.

If Sri Lanka is to wait till the next presidential election to expect all things to be turned around it would be a case of waiting for Godot…yet again.   

A clear case of helping the horse to bolt 

By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema 

The mandate of the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) to summon institutions functioning on public funds for inquiries has been limited following an observation made by the Attorney General (AG) that prevents it from monitoring accounts of entities established through state funds but registered under the Companies Act.

Following the AG’s observations, COPE, which investigates into accounts and other undertakings of public institutions, would not be able to inquire into the accounts and activities of institutions like Mihin Lanka, SriLankan Airlines, Maga Neguma, Lanka Logistics, Airport and Aviation Company, etc.

No mandate

The AG’s observations were sought when members of COPE raised the issue in relation to Lanka Transformers Limited (LTL), where the directors of the company had not attended a meeting with the COPE claiming the committee did not have the mandate to request the LTL directors to appear before it.

COPE member and UNP Parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake said the Speaker, Chief Government Whip Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and COPE Chairman, Minister John Seneviratne have all agreed that LTL had to adhere to the request made by the committee and that all institutions established with public funds should be scrutinised by COPE.

AG’s observations

The Speaker had sought the AG’s observations on the matter. The AG had responded that institutions established with public funds, but registered as private companies under the Companies Act did not come under COPE review, Karunanayake said.

“Under Section 154 of the Constitution, all public finance comes under the control of parliament,” he said.

However, given the present scenario, about 25%-30% of public funds would now be out of the purview of parliament.

Karunanayake added that according to the Interpretations Act of the Constitution, entities that are government held and institutions incorporated by parliament, etc. are recognised as public institutions.

However, COPE has earlier inquired into Lanka Marine Services and Insurance Corporation when the companies were under the private sector after being initiated with state funds.

Interestingly, most of the companies that are now out of COPE’s purview are institutions that have incurred losses amounting to billions of public funds.