Col
R Hariharan
Sri Lanka Perspectives November 2023 | South Asia Security Trends December 2023 | www.security-risks.com
Overview
Sri Lanka
political theatre, gingered up after the dramatic exit of President Gotabaya
Rajapaksa in the wake of the Aragalaya agitation of the masses last year,
added a few more episodes during the month of November. Though they were a mix
of the good, bad and ugly, the month closed with the good news of Sri Lanka reaching an "agreement in
principle" with its lenders including China, to restructure nearly $6.0
billion in loans. This was an essential condition to unlock IMF funding for a
bailout. The bad news is party politics affecting Sri Lanka cricket after the
team’s poor performance in the recently concluded World Cup leading to its expulsion from the International Cricket Council.
Equally bad was President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s effort to override the
Constitutional Council to get an extension for his favourite Inspector General
of Police. Ugly news was aplenty. The Supreme Court passed a verdict holding
the Rajapaksas were responsible for the nation’s economic collapse; but will it
affect the family’s political fortunes? There was yet another allegation of
government collusion in the 2019 Easter Sunday Jihadi attacks. Last, but not
least bit of ugly news, is Wickremesinghe administration using local police and
even slapping Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to prevent the Tamils from mourn
their war dead on November 27 despite court orders[RH1] . This exposed the government’s doublespeak on ethnic
reconciliation.
IMF bailout
package
Sri
Lanka has reached an "agreement in principle" with its lenders,
including China, to restructure nearly $6.0 billion in loans and unlock IMF
funding for a bailout. Last month Sri Lanka had reached a deal with EXIM Bank
of China on outstanding debt of $4.2 billion. China
holds about 52 percent of Sri Lanka’s $46 billion external debt. The finance
ministry statement said the deal included a mix of extending the tenure and
reducing interest on $ 5.9 billion in bilateral loans
granted earlier. President Wickremesinghe will be happy with the agreement as
it is key milestone in achieving public debt sustainability to speed up
economic recovery. The International Monetary Fund has welcomed the news and
said it will “restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability” to
unlock the country’s growth potential. After the IMF approval, the World Bank
and the Asian Development Bank are expected to release $200 million and $100
million respectively for projects that have been held up due to the financial
crisis last year.
Triggering the economic
collapse
Who triggered
Sri Lanka’s economic collapse and bankruptcy last year? Obviously, the
Rajapaksas then in power who laid down the policy and the officials of finance
ministry and fiscal institutions. Sri Lanka Supreme Court stated the obvious in
a 4-1 majority judgement while disposing of multiple petitions by civil society
and activist groups, spearheaded by Transparency International. It held the two
former Rajapaksa presidents and their younger brother and ex-finance minister
Basil Rajapaksa, two former central bank governors and other top treasury
officials guilty of triggering the island’s worst financial crisis by
mishandling the economy.
The judgement
has a symbolic value as Transparency International and other petitioners had
not sought financial compensation, but “sought a declaration from the court
that the mishandling or inaction on the economy by the former heads of state
and senior officials did violate the fundamental rights of the people.” But the
moot point is will the judgement affect the political fortunes of not only the
Rajapaksas or their camp followers, but entire polity sullied by misuse of
office and corruption? Sadly, Sri Lanka public have short memories and may not
remember the judgement when they go to the hustings next time.
Essentially,
this is a political, rather than a fundamental rights issue to be handled by
the elected members of parliament. But when legislators dithered, citizens
spontaneously took to the streets triggering the unprecedented Aragalaya
agitation against the rulers. So the SC judgement at best serves as a bench
mark of conduct for politicians, beyond which they may face the Aragalaya again.
Politics of
Cricket
Sri Lanka cricket
is in a mess, not only because of the team’s dismal performance, winning just
two of the nine matches it played, in the recently concluded World Cup. Cricket
is big business in the island nation and highly politicised under the tight
control of the Sports Ministry. The trouble started even before it played all
the matches, when the team was dismissed by India for a measly 55 runs in reply
to India’s score of 302. An irate sports minister Roshan
Ranasinghe sacked the entire Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board on November 6 and named a 7-member interim
committee in its place. Arjuna Ranatunga, the World Cup-winning former Captain,
was named chairman of the committee. Minister Ranasinghe accused the SLC of
corruption and blamed it for the declining standards. Ranatunga added penny’s
worth by slamming the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary
Jay Shah for ruining Sri Lankan cricket. He alleged that the connection between
SLC officials and Jay Shah has given the BCCI the impression that they can
control and dominate SLC. Meanwhile, the Appeal Court stayed the Sports
Minister’s decision to dismiss the SLC. The International Cricket Council (ICC)
suspended Sri Lanka for not managing its affairs without government
interference. The ICC also shifted the Under-19 world tournament which was to
be held in Sri Lanka to South Africa. This created further chaos among players,
the selectors and staff as the SLC muddle is unlikely to be resolved soon.
President
Wickremesinghe was not amused at these developments as the Minister did not
consult him before he dissolved the SLC. He took the unprecedented step of
apologising to Jay Shah for Arjuna Ranatunga’s accusing him of trying to
control SLC. The President explained this in an Indian TV interview and indicated
he was thinking of bringing in a cricket law! That would be the last straw in
autonomously administering the game!
Col R Hariharan, a retired MI specialist on South Asia
and terrorism, served as the head of intelligence of the Indian Peace Keeping
Force in Sri Lanka 1987-90. He is associated with the Chennai Centre for China
Studies. Email: haridirect@gmail.com Website: https://col.hariharan.info]
No comments:
Post a Comment