|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
By Mangala Samaraweera
In the 'Daily mirror' of 10.02.03, in an article captioned 'People voted in Ranil as Chandrika failed to deliver', an anonymous writer who claims that he is 'an independent thinker' and not an 'hallelujah singer' for any party goes into analyse the election defeat of the PA in 2001. In this article the mysterious author lays the blame squarely on President Kumaratunga making wild and venomous personal allegations in the most unsubstantiated and wild manner without the slightest regard to the truth or accuracy. The nature of these allegations are the same as the hysterical rhetoric the UNP leaders have been making for over a decade, and this leads me to suspect that the author must be a paid 'hallelujah' singer of the UNP, most probably from the 'talking classes' of Colombo whose favourite past-time is CBK bashing based on envy, hearsay and gossip. Of course some mild and ham fisted criticisms against Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe are thrown in, to convince the readers that the writer is truly independent. Before I go into the substance of the article, I must confess that I am not a floating voter, but a member of that 'tribe' who's political existence depends on winning over the confidence of that floating 10%. I have also been accused many times for being a 'hallelujah singer' for CBK but I can assure the readers that by admiration and respect for President Kumaratunga is based not on hearsay and gossip but on facts and her political track record and at a personal level based on her deep intellect, humaneness and warmth as a human being. Also unlike the 'independent' ghost writer who uses his poisonous pen to make wild and generalised attacks on the President, I, certainly do not claim to be an independent. In fact I am an unapologetic admirer of the enlightened and humane style of governance and leadership of President Kumaratunga; however I will base my reply only on facts verifiable through history or other credible sources unlike the hysterical denouncements of the article in question. The article starts with a subtle apologia for the rocketing cost of living under the UNP government and blames it all on the decision makers in Washington and Brussels and says that 'the quality and quantity of what s/he eats is not determined in Jayewardenepura or Colombo. ‘It is a pity that the writer did not tell this to Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe before the last elections before he spent millions on newspaper advertisements promising the people that the cost of living under the PA will be brought down within 100 days and a 'kick started' economy will ensure that 'Violet akka's bulath is sent to Tokyo and Punchi Singho's vegetables will be airlifted to Dubai' and the youth of this country will be decked with gold bracelets and chains! But, of course, as the writer clearly implies, economic mismanagement under the UNP is because of the brain washing capitalists in the WB and IMF; However under CBK all the woes were due to her 'scandalous lack of managerial experience and self discipline exacerbated by lies, damn lies and statistics." Scandalous lack of managerial experience and self discipline? President Jayewardene, the hero of many of the talking classes of Colombo, hailed as a great manager and disciplinarian by the Hallelujah singers of the UNP, had to get undated letters of resignation in order to manage his MPs despite having a 5/6th majority in Parliament consisting only of his own party men. Also this great man displayed to the world his techniques of management when he got his ministers to stuff ballot boxes/ remove them to their hotel rooms during the DDC elections in Jaffna and then burn the Jaffna library in 1981 and his self discipline was amply demonstrated during the referendum of 1982 where the government extended its term without an election for six more years, having incarcerated all the leading opposition members with a fabricated 'Naxalite Plot.' The managerial skill of the UNP is documented in detail in the election commissioner’s report on 1982 referendum and I recommend this as well as Rajan Hoole's ' Sri Lanka- the Arrogance of Power' as urgent reading to the anonymous writer of the article in question. To the 'nouveau riche' sections of the UNP, President Premadasa is the great manager par excellence and the fact that he woke up at 4 am daily is cited as divine proof of his great 'self discipline'. Is it because of his managerial skills that Premadasa was taken by surprise by an impeachment motion sponsored by a powerful section of his own party within 2 years of being elected as President? Perhaps, the best display of his managerial skills were when he deported the local correspondent of a leading British newspaper in 1989 [it is deja-vu in 2002 with Paul Harris], when he sacked the 'British High Commissioner David Gladstone for reporting that there was large scale rigging in the local government elections in 1991 and when the body of Richard de Zoyza was found on a Moratuwa beach in 1990. Was it because of his self discipline that Premadasa jeopardized the security of the country by nurturing the tiger terrorists by supplying arms and ammunition, money etc. which eventually cost his own life? If these are the criteria the mystery author is judging the incumbent President by, CBK is seriously lacking in managerial skills and self discipline. However, let facts speak for themselves. Thanks to the PR system, CBK had only a majority of one member in parliament when she was elected in 1994 despite winning 85% of the electorates in the General Election. In addition she had to manage 8 different parties of differing political and ethnic ideologies for six years. Despite not having the luxury JRJ had of one single party with a 2/3 majority, CBK did not resort to letters of resignation or other devious and undemocratic methods to 'manage' her MPs. In fact she encouraged dialogue within her own ranks and dissenting views were allowed in cabinet as well as in the Parliamentary group; in fact one of the many unsung achievements of CBK is that she, under such trying and difficult circumstances, led the first government which completed its full term to the day since independence; the PA cabinet was sworn in on 19th August '94 and dissolved on the midnight of 18th August 2000, exactly six years later. In fact any unbiased reader will agree with me, from this one example that this demonstrates the scandalously good managerial skills of CBK. The economy under the PA is another area where the management skills of the PA government under CBK can be assessed. If I say that CBK inherited an economy in shambles, the writer and his likes will put up their arms in horror and say that I am 'showering in exactitudes' in defence of the PA. In fact 'an economy in shambles' was the very caption of an article written about Sri Lanka in the prestigious magazine, Asia Business' of August 1990 writing about our economy in the 13th year of UNP rule. Four years later, when CBK was elected the situation was much worse than what is described in that article because foreign aid had come to a near standstill by 1992 due to the atrocious human rights record of the UNP government. Despite such gloomy prospects CBK as Finance Minister steered the country towards economic prosperity and stability in the next seven years despite many obstacles and challenges. Before the writer accuses me of 'lies, damn lies and statistics', I would like to point out that the following facts are not from any PA propaganda leaflet; nor are they from Central Bank statistics which can be accused of doctoring facts to suit the government of the day.
These are a few comments on CBK's performance as Finance Minister in the sixth year of her term and readers can judge for themselves if these can be achieved by some one whose managerial skills are scandalous. However, it is not to say that every thing was hunky dory .The World Bank report also highlights governance weaknesses but says that 'the problems highlighted above should not mask some of the positive aspects of governance in the country, i.e. reduction in human rights abuses/ state sponsored violence and somewhat improved media freedom over the last five years, a fairly well developed human resource base, a relatively strong and independent judiciary, a cadre of dedicated professional staff in government and genuine efforts to address some of the fundamental economic problems. Throughout the period CBK was Finance Minister the average growth rate was 5.5% and even the first six months of 2001 saw a growth rate of nearly 5% despite escalating costs of war and the slowing down of the world economy. However, the often repeated 'mantra ' of apologists for the economic inefficiency of the present government- the minus growth rate of the second half of 2001- was due to external factors beyond anybody's control. In fact, to quote the present Finance Minister, himself from a letter dated 1st April 2002 to the Managing Director of the IMF, Sri Lanka's economic performance in 2001 has been severely affected by the adverse affects of the global economic slowdown and severe drought. Moreover, the political turmoil that occurred in the second half of 2001 hampered the previous government’s ability to adopt appropriate corrective policies and this together with the airport attack and the events of September 11 reduced market confidence and exacerbated the slowdown. ' Thank -You, Mr Choksy for writing the truth at least in private to the IMF and 'the political turmoil' referred to was caused by the UNP’s conspiracy to topple a government re-elected for another term, by buying up several key PA members financed by the big business 'mafia' and the LTTE. What is the lack of self discipline? Is it that she starts work at 7am and worked more or less continuously for 18 hours unlike her predecessor who woke up at 4am and worked for 11 hours inclusive of a 3-hour afternoon nap? No, the writer is obviously referring to CBK's legendary lateness which certainly is true but as usual greatly exaggerated. Many attribute her lateness to different reasons; like the writer of the article, some attribute to lack of self discipline, some to aristocratic hauteur like her father, S. W.R.D. Bandaranaike and some attribute it to her French education; President François Mitterrand’s lateness was equally legendary. However, in CBK I believe that it is because she is an absolute workaholic who is a perfectionist to a fault. Her attention to detail compels her to continue until such time a discussion is concluded to her satisfaction even at the risk of keeping others waiting. CBK's progress review meetings held regularly may go on for hours on urgent development projects during which time many an appointment may have had to wait for hours sometimes. However, those who may have been subject to such 'punishment' from time to time can be happy that their sacrifices may not have been in vain, especially if their driving down the world class Baseline Road or Narahenpita Road or going to the Oasis Hospital or getting a telephone on demand to name but a few achievements of the CBK government. CBK maybe late, more often than not, but it did not deter her from achieving results in a short period, more punctual Presidents could not realize in 17 years! As the article in question proceeds further, the mystery hatchet man behind the article becomes more and more hysterical hurling more and more abuse at the President Chandrika lacks clarity and purpose and she has no plan and vision and that she messed up the peace process etc. This is one of the most ludicrous of arguments because even her worst enemy will admit to the fact that she is perhaps the only leader in post independent Sri Lanka who had the clarity of purpose to be consistent to her vision throughout her political career only if the ghost writer reveals his identity I could send him a gift of a book published recently of speeches of President Kumaratunga with a foreword by I.K. Gujaral, former PM of India so that he could judge for himself the fallacy of his argument. To say that CBK messed up the peace process is going from the sublime to the ridiculous. Today the UNP is reaping the dividends of Chandrika' s efforts for seven long years to bring peace with dignity to all our citizens. The UNP must take the blame squarely for messing up her efforts by sabotaging every attempt to find a lasting and durable solution to the ethnic problem. The hurling of abuse and raw filth at the President while presenting the constitutional draft of 2000 is still fresh in my mind despite losing an eye only a few months, the president continued her speech while burning copies of the draft were thrown at her like missiles from the opposition. In the final paragraph the writer advises Ranil on what the people want him to deliver- lasting peace in Sri Lanka, job oriented economic growth and responsible governance. In fact the UNP has proven again that they could not deliver these in the last 13 months just as they proved they could not deliver during their previous stint for 17 years. It was the CBK administration of 1994 which laid a strong foundation to deliver lasting peace in Sri Lanka, job oriented economic growth [as the WB report of 2000 confirms, unemployment and inflation rates fell to a record low during the P A period with per capita income doubling during the same period.] The fundamentals of good governance were established including a detailed procedure for tenders and a Bribery and Corruption Commission established within a few months of gaining power in 1994. However, all these achievements have been undone in the last 13 months and the Bribery Commission has become the key target of some of the Ministers accused of mega corruption in the present Cabinet. The peace process has become a process of appeasement of the LTTE and it is obvious now that if the UNP government is allowed to continue much longer, the division of the country is inevitable with the new state of Eelam getting international recognition with the active participation of the Sri Lankan government. Job oriented economic growth has become a dream under the new government. Over 52 factories have closed during the last 11 months making over 60,000 people unemployed and the cost of living has doubled in 12 months. Good governance and transparency have allegedly been replaced by the Paskaralingam mode of crony capitalism and the treasury is now run by a small group of big businessman and tenders are now handled allegedly not by cabinet but by the UNP headquarters at Sirikotha. Due to constraints of space I will not attempt to reply to all the wild allegations of the writer but I will conclude by saying that CBK has not met her Waterloo; thankfully for the country the President is the only guarantee that Sri Lanka does not meet its waterloo to the reckless adventurism of Ranil Wickremesinghe and people are now realizing the costly mistake they made when they believed the fairy tales of the UNP leader in 2001. The country needs CBK more than ever, and that is why the lies, the damned lies and more damned lies against the President must stop and the truth must be heard.
|
|
The
writer is a former Media Minister, the current Opposition Whip in
Parliament and the Media spokesman for the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the
premier party in the opposition. 
Contact
Information: Send mail to