PARLIAMENT

Dropping big words in House gone silent

By Dilrukshi Handunnetti

Normally, any financial jargon is rare indeed in the House of Representatives-except during the extended debates on the Appropriation Bill. And rare indeed to see a focused discussion without the usual hysterical mud slinging only our legislators appear capable of.

So when law professor G..L. Peiris came out with the 'revelation' on Thursday that the country's economy was actually doing well with an overall reduction in taxation- perhaps it taxed the imagination of the public compelled to lead a hand to mouth existence with an ever increasing cost of living. 

Presenting regulations exempting duty from medical equipment, transport and communication, the good professor with his excellent academic background waxed eloquent about the upward trends in the economy with the House suddenly falling silent like a lecture hall.

Pushing his drooping spectacles back and forth, he held sway -laboriously explaining the country was finally seeing simplified rate structures-and the house reverberated with financial jargon.

Efficacy and simplicity noted he, formed the hallmark of any tariff regime and a bit of discrimination was actually good when it came to selecting taxation criteria. "Theories of discrimination, which might sound horrific to our ears are practically useful in tariff structuring," he noted. It was therefore necessary to watch the interest of affected sections and ensure social priorities are addressed though this might affect the revenue collection, he opined.

Naming the totally exempted areas, the professor could not resist explaining the duties and obligations of the welfare state, hence the removal of duty on communication, transport and medical equipment.

The former don spoke also of character building- how essential sports was to inculcate team spirit and education for intellectual advancement- the reasons for lower taxation.

Having listened to all this with impressive serenity, cheeky Mano Wijeratne had a question to pose. "Sir, will all this make S.B. Dissanayake any better" to uproarious laughter.

Opening the debate for the opposition was Brussels victor and UNP's aspiring financial whiz Mahinda Samarasinghe. And he was on a demolition course from the beginning tearing the minister's theories to shreds in his efforts to prove that the economy indeed was crashing. 

His delivery liberally laced with digs, he said the economic forecast was nothing but bleak as he refuted the government's theory of achieving 6.5 % growth rate when even 4% appeared farfetched.

"The economy despite your rhetoric Sir is in tatters. While you pontificate the export sector as the nerve centre of growth this country had little or no experience of export led growth during your tenure. Where was your program design" he asked, his argument heavily interwoven with figures.

Mr. Samarasinghe waxed eloquent by thundering that utopian ideas of development by the PA were all confined to well written speeches and not translated into action. Despite the rosy picture, this government lacked the vision to think and plan beyond 2005. And this was exactly what a government should plan for- something to take the country forward.

"Your economic theories wiped out the common man, the cultivator and the small trader," he accused, saucily adding that capabilities should match portfolios. The paralyzing GMOA strike figured largely when former health minister Renuka Herath started firing salvos completely ignoring the financial regulations which were the subject of discussion.

"You resorted to calling doctors names the moment things go out of hand. Doctors became a 'mafia'on national television and were looked upon like common criminals. It was your cabinet of ministers and the Chief Minister of Wayamba who were behaving like gang leaders and Mafia operators." she thundered. 

"When we have less doctors than the required number, you don't behave foolishly enough to drive them to the wall. The trading of insults and the rigidity will only increase the suffering of patients," she noted with concern.

"Here is a central government and provincial councils both governed by the PA- so why can't you map out a combined strategy where politicians won't be allowed to poke their fingers and act in arbitrary fashion violating rights and privileges of a sacred profession. Your behaviour is like that of a bull in a china shop," she scoffed.

"Give up strong arm tactics and talk with doctors. You deny them hearing and push them to trade union action, and then declare it an essential service. Your folly stems from the lack of understanding of the legal implications. All this was caused by an individual who wanted to concentrate power so that he could live like the Wayamba Raja," she thundered, openly accusing Wayamba Chief Minister S.B. Navinna of wanting to effect transfers and appointments at his free will.

If any one put his foot in the mouth it was H.R. Mithrapala, the member who replaced Athuada Seneviratne who lambasted the UNP for many unforgivable sins-ranging from instigating the GMOA strike to the decline in the economy.. 

"If not for you all, this country would have been paradise. When the UNP covertly planned to hand over the health sector administration to the private sector, it was the SLFP government which introduced nationalistic policies to the country," he noted with pride.

Following him was former Vice Chancellor Dr. Karunasena Kodituwakku, jogging the memory of members about the period of scavenging 'kunu bakkiyas' in search of food, enormous queues and shortages and hunger and poverty.

This must be a strange theory of prosperity, scoffed the don. "They were the dark ages when your government was groping in the dark. And this was why when seeking a fresh mandate in 1994, you had to say mea culpa in your manifesto before approaching the people," he reproached.

Next it was Mawanella member Kabeer Hasheem's turn to conclude- and the young member deviated from the pattern of heaping scorn as he waxed eloquent on textiles and garments- of course gently watching the UNP's political interest as he did so. Openly taking a dig during the conclusion the young MP opined- "The people of the South expected genuine development to hit the villages long before election time. But what they got was rhetoric, not concrete work."

From the Green Corner

Dreams of victory but doing sweet nothing!

By ViruddhaPaakshikaya

My unseen friend and critic, Paakshikaya used the valuable space of The Sunday Times last week to predict a People's Alliance victory at the next general and presidential elections which he says will be held sooner than expected. 

I wish him or her well but I suspect even he does not know what is really afflicting his government. But the ill effects of four years of administration by the People's Alliance are there for all to see and I can cite just a few of many examples. Take the strike by government doctors, Paakshikaya. I'm not justifying the strike or saying that the doctors' demands should be granted forthwith but the fact is the strike has dragged on for over two weeks with millions of poor patients being forced to undergo hardships. 

But what has your government done, Paakshikaya? Sweet nothing. The only benefit is for your unhealthy looking Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva who has got a chance to hog the limelight and appear daily on television! If you recall, Paakshikaya, these same doctors last went on a major strike during the J. R. Jayewardene presidency when the genial Ranjith Atapattu was Minister of Health. I am not saying that all the methods used to quell that strike were democratic but the fact is the government understood the need for a speedy settlement and achieved that.

Sadly, that professionalism is lacking in your government, Paakshikaya and the doctor's strike is just one more manifestation of that malady. Your President is, as usual, late and when a solution is found, it is more often than not the beginning of another problem. And, mind you, Paakshikaya, the doctors were not the only people to go on strike last week. 

For two days, south bound private bus operators were on strike demanding the right to raise bus fares. Then, on Thursday, employees of your propaganda factory at Lake House took to the streets in protest. And in the midst of all this, Paakshikaya, you have the nerve to say your party can hold elections and win comfortably! Remember, my friend, none are so blind as those who do not wish to see. 

I recall, a few weeks before the Southern Provincial election how everyone in your party was speculating on the cabinet reshuffle that would follow the elections. My friends in Parliament tell me that some deputy ministers were even making elaborate plans to celebrate their elevation to cabinet rank. But what happened next, Paakshikaya. The President told the cabinet there would be no such reshuffle until the general and presidential elections. Now, what does that mean, my friend? Does it mean the President is happy with the team that she has now, Paakshikaya? Of course not. Even you know that for example she is not happy with how Nimal Siripala de Silva is handling Health or with how S. B. Dissanayake is running the Sports Ministry. But she also does not want a cabinet reshuffle. Why, my friend? The reality is that your President is scared of the consequences of a cabinet reshuffle so close to the general and presidential elections. 

She knows if she opts for change at this stage, she may face a revolt from within her own ranks. My friends in the SLFP tell me this dawned on her when she went about the task of distributing portfolios in the Southern Provincial Council. That exercise became a demonstration of inter-party and intra-party rivalry within the PA with the Rajapkses, Pathiranas and Samaraweeras at each other's throats, not to mention the cantankerous demands of the smaller parties. 

This led her to believe that any attempt to redistribute cabinet portfolios at the national level would be disastrous and could cause irreparable damage in the run up to the elections. She then even postponed her plans to replace the Sri Lanka Freedom Party's secretary Dharmasiri Senanayake with her own trusted lieutenant, Mangala Samaraweera. She has also abandoned plans to have a new face occupying the Prime Ministerial chair. Instead, she has done the next best thing. She puts all these plans on hold and hopes for the best. And that is hardly the hallmark of a strong leadership, Paakshikaya. 

Why I say all this now is because you always take pot shots at our leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and try to portray him as being an incompetent leader. 

But what then would you say of the recent performances of Her Excellency, my friend?

I do not think the people of this country let such events pass unnoticed, Paakshikaya. They may not know all the hush-hush whisperings in the corridors of power but they do take note of some of the happenings that betray the unease within the administration. 

Take for instance the recent appointment of General Rohan Daluwatte who was virtually placed in charge of the entire defence establishment. A week later, before you could say 'Pooneryn', he was unceremoniously demoted. The good General is a public officer and it is not proper for me to comment on his performances in these pages but the fact is if the President who is, after all, the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, thought he was not the best man for the job, he should never have been appointed in the first place. 

On the other hand, having appointed him, it was grossly unfair by the officer to have him publicly humiliated by pruning his powers just a week later during which time he could not have done anything which made him suddenly unsuitable to hold the job! But such inconsistent decisions have been the only consistent factor in your government, Paakshikaya which is why you make no sense when you say that you will comfortably win the next elections. 

Then, there is also another factor that will affect your performance at the next polls, my friend and that is the fact that your performance will depend on which elections- general or presidential- you will hold first. We know that general elections are due first, in August next year and the presidential poll has to be held by November. But if that order of events is followed your MPs feel their chances of success are minimal. Therefore, they would prefer the presidential election to be held first. 

But to do so would mean that Presidential elections will have to be held at least by May next year and President Chandrika Kumaratunga would have to sacrifice at least six months of her term of office. 

The question is whether your great leader would make that great sacrifice purely for the sake of her party! I do not want to appear to cause dissent within your ranks, Paakshikaya- the PA does not need my help in that regard! - but I understand that this issue is already causing some heartburn among your Parliamentarians. And you, my friend, have the audacity to say the PA has resolved all its conflicts and is performing at its peak and is all set to win the next two major elections. 

That might appear as wishful thinking even for the optimist, Paakshikaya. As I objectively look back on the PA administration the only victories it scored appear to be in the realm of foreign affairs where it succeeded in banning the LTTE and maintained pressure on friendly governments to curb the tigers. 

Unfortunately for you such global achievements have little impact on the Punchi Singhos in Kahatagasdigiliya who have to mark that all important cross on the ballot paper, some time next year. What these Punchi Singhos will know instead is that bread is more expensive than it was, that their children are still unemployed and that the war continues in the north and east while the politicians- this time a different set of them- plead with them for re-election to continue the "good work"! 

In such circumstances, my friend, if you think that you can win all I shall say is best of luck- for you sure will need a lot of it! 

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