The jubilation in the dovecotes of power is reminiscent of the events just two months ago and may even grow.
Like the military defeat of Tiger guerrillas, the news that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has extended US $ 2.5 billion dollars under a twenty month long Stand-By Arrangement, swelled their hearts and lit their minds.
“Thaaththa,” Bindu Udagedera asked, “is the dengue epidemic over?”
“Why do you think it should be over?” Bindu’s father Percy asked, “is it because of the elections at Uva?”
“Why,” Bindu was puzzled, “what have the elections in Uva got to do with the dengue epidemic, thaaththa?”
Almost a month ago in our column of June 28 we said of the pending and delayed IMF loan facility: “Our conjecture is that despite all the controversy and confusion the loan would be given. Then we could say ‘all’s well that ends well’”. This has happened and the IMF loan was approved two days ago by the Executive Board of the IMF. All’s well that ends well.
First, it was journalists who were labelled “traitors” for writing what displeased the political establishment of the country and last week in Parliament, a group of lawyers too were given the same tag by none other than Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayaka, who said that those who violate the Constitution irrespective of what profession they practiced were “traitors.”
Ronald Dworkin, one of the greatest of American jurists who spoke passionately for the cause of freedom of expression would undoubtedly have been reduced to gibbering at the mouth if he had reason to reflect on the adroit utilizing of this fundamental freedom by repressive regimes to (contrarily) defeat that very freedom itself, when sought to be exercised by their critics.
After 15 long years of closed-door bickering, a UN Working Group remains irrevocably deadlocked on how to revamp the most powerful political body in the Organisation: the 15-member Security Council.
