A former diplomat reminisces on political promises

  " President Rajapaksa has promised not only development along the line of the “new vision” in Mahinda Chintanaya but also expressed the hope of freeing the land from lawlessness, underworld, racketeering, extortion, carrying of illegal weapons, corruption and inefficiency. "

by Bandu de Silva

(November 20, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) As a former Sri Lankan senior diplomat with near four decades of diplomatic experience I have functioned as a cog in the wheel of successive governments in the implementation of their respective policies. True to the adage that diplomats are sent to ‘lie abroad’ I myself mouthed what the successive government’s expected us to tell the world. That meant compromising my own personal opinions on many issues which we at staff level, in any case, could not articulate. After retirement I felt like a freed bird after captivity, though free, finding like the bird held in captivity, it difficult to get back to the flock which was Left politics which I moved out of. I took to freelance writing and followed issue-based approach in my writing.

One of the areas over which I was able to make detached personal observations during my professional career, however, was on the ways of politics in the country especially how the promises made by politicians at the top progressed. On many occasions I found it nothing but a game of deception, promising big things but not being able to deliver or even not having intention to deliver. That is not exclusive to Sri Lanka. The situation is universal.

Listening to President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s address to the nation at the inauguration of the second term in office I thought about what he said as his achievements during the first six years in office. He had six full years to deliver. He referred to the victory over LTTE terrorism but did not claim it was part of a promise. The words were cleverly disguised. I do not blame him. I did the same thing as a speech writer for politicians in the past. The victory over terrorism, nevertheless, was the biggest achievement which clears the way for other major development programmes.

Whether that success over terrorism was due to many other factors is something that future historians might interpret. Historians here have to be silent till the dust settles down and claimed actors are out of the scene though in the U.S. historians are seen daring enough to cover contemporary situations. That is the difference between us and the Americans. As President Rajapaksa declared at his second inauguration, “This is Sri Lanka” suggesting that we do things differently from others. No problem! I agree whole heartedly. I pointed out in a recent article on Indian Foreign Minister’s scheduled visit (Sri Lanka Guardian) that Sri Lanka has a longer tradition of over two millennia as a cohesive political entity which India could not claim even in British times and different ethnic and religious communities lived here in perfect harmony until European colonizers came and disturbed it.

I recall Mr.Mahinda Rajapaksa once saying “This is Hambantiota”. That was long before he became President, or even Prime Minister. I think he was only an M.P then. That was when it was reported that he told Mrs Chandrka Kumaratunga to get down from the rostrum at a political meeting held at Hambantota. If I remember right he even told the good lady that it was not Horagolla. I felt proud. I myself did not like the Walawwa mentality. I fought against it from my childhood. It then registered in my mind that here was one person who could one day turn out to be a good leader. I thought of the old Rajapaksa family of Hambantota and thought the tradition seemed to live as it was when the old Vidane Arachchi of Medamulana stood up to the colonial Government Agent. Coming from similar background where my paternal family members held such offices under colonial rule, or even before that dating from Dambadeniya times as the family tradition claims, I saw and even heard from my mother and others what asserting men some of these old chieftains in my own family had been. But, I was no admirer of feudal officialdom. I was the first to raise the war cry against my own kith and kin in the officialdom. Villagers ran away in fear of reprisals when I shouted slogans condemning my uncle, the last Vidane Arachchi at the turn of Independence. I was just 15 years then. That was the first time anyone raised such a voice in our village.

As a student of history I cannot agree with any claim that the victory over terrorism was a single person’s achievement. I regret that there was no mention in the President’s speech of valiant young men from our villages who fought as rank and file around 30,000 of whom sacrificed their lives, 6000 in the final round in the Eastern Vanni. Then there were the officers who led the armed forces, the Divisions, the Brigades, companies and platoons. Did I miss it? If there had been an omission that needs to be corrected even now, whether or not some of them have been disgraced or not. Perhaps, he wanted to avoid any recollection of the whole episode of the war though the victory figured in the speech.

If President Mahinda Rajapaksa could not achieve all what he promised during his first term, I could raise my hat to him simply over the decision to go ahead with two projects which had stalled for a long time under successive leadership. These were the Norachcholai coal power project and the Upper Kotmale Hydro electricity project. The first was stalled because of Bishop power. The second was staled because of Thondaman objections. I thought of the Hambantota incident. There was no stopping of Mahinda Rajapaksa, not by the Bishop or by Thottam’s Trade Union boss. Such was his steel.

I would not make much of the claim about Hambantota port or the Mattala airport. They are certainly going to add to the benefits of the country. Hambanota has also attracted other problems, even political, in our relations with our neigbouring country. Mattala too may raise environmental problems. But we cannot be thinking of these diversions if the country is to develop and progress. A good network of roads throughout the country is necessary. That was a thought I brought after a visit to Australia two years back where one now sees vast networks of fine roads stretching over the Downs and Blue Mountains.

Roads alone may not be development but they do help the process. They also attract foreign attention. Just imagine being able to travel from Colombo to Matara in two hours or so on the new expressway when it now takes several hours through congested bone-shaking roads. One cannot forget the inflation that pumping in money for areas like roads and other infrastructure development but these are risks that countries have to take.

As for the expectations under the President’s second term, the development goals are admirable but there is a caveat – the source of funding. J.R.Jayewardene government too started with a bang after the economy went down under the Socialist policies of the Sirima Bandaranaike government which many of us then supported. President Jayewerdene argued that a system like the executive Presidency was needed if development is to be achieved and foreign investment is to be attracted. The Presidency ensured continuity he said. Foreign aid poured in generously to sustain the economy and support the accelerated Mahaweli project. I was a witness to that for eight long years in Paris. I also saw the contrast for another two years earlier under the Sirima Bandranaike government’s last two years. The aid that came for the Bandaranaike government after the expulsion of Trotskyte Ministers and settlement of compensation issue of nationalized foreign investments was only a trickle.

Under President Jayewardene and thereafter, there came a time when the aid could not be utilized. The reasons were, firstly, Ministries were far behind schedule in preparing project proposals. Secondly, there were no Rupee counterpart funds to absorb the foreign funding. Thirdly, the administration was defective Finance Ministry had no say over the implementation. President Jayewardene for some reason kept the implementation under his wing but the administration did not show dynamism required for a take off. The result was that after a rapid increase in GDP growth rate during the two initial years which reached a comfortable 8 per cent, the growth slowed down thereafter. That achievement in GDP growth was not the result of development but ‘efficient’ management of the economy, as the donor credited Finance Minister Ronnie de Mel. All that was done was to privatise public sector enterprises and cut down state sector employment. The northern and southern insurgencies added to the economic woes but that came later after the retrogression had set in. Annual aid statistics were deceptive as unutilized aid was recycled as new aid.

President Jayewardene and successors failed to attract any worthwhile mega foreign investments either despite much efforts made. I took part in some of the high-powered seminars conducted in Europe. I myself arranged such seminars presided by Minister Ronnie de Mel in Paris and even secured a visit to Sri Lanka by the first ever French industrial delegation led by the then French Minister of Economy. Minister Rinnie de Mel personally received this delegation. Neither that nor another visit sponsored by former French Ambassador in Colombo, Mr.Chambon of a few European industrial giants like the Fiat group in Italy bore no results. I was able to arrange some small scale industries and a number in the garment sector which were ready to shift from other Asian centres where quotas had been exhausted. These were done using the advantage I had of access to policy makers in Colombo. I also made sure that Sri Lanka received anew quota for garments from the E.E.C. at a time Sri Lanka did not meet the new criteria as a non-performer in the E.E.C. market. With the help of several Ministers and Secretaries of Ministries I promoted a number of garment manufacturers to move to Sri Lanka in quick time. A number of efforts were made in Japan when Minister Ranil Wickremesighe was Minister of Industries in the government of President R.Premadasa but without success.In Japan too I persuaded a reluctant Finance Minister, Dr.N.M.Perera, using my old Party connections to address the premier industrial organization, the Keidenrun. It brought no results but as I told Dr.N.M.Perera, I wanted to show that Japan could do business with Communists.

These observations on the scenario then might make one not too optimistic about investment expectations. There is no foreign aid forthcoming either right now. Right or wrong, the government’s policies have not been conducive to a resumption of economic aid from the West though Japan which was the biggest donor earlier has been keeping the pipeline open to some extent. The U.S.5 billion dollar carrot that was dangled at the government and the LTTE as the prize of a settlement of the armed conflict remains frozen. Norwegian Minister Solheim has indicated that he might be able to help the Tokyo group to defreeze these funds. The Solheim bait still remains in tact.

The development of the North and the East have attracted some attention of donors but that is no substitute to what came in earlier or what remains frozen. The pipeline actually closed with Chandrika Kumaratunga government. One recalls the much hyped meeting of the Development Forum for which the President herself went against my warning through my writing along with nearly half the members of her Cabinet. She was shamed by a lady Vice President, Ms.Shimizu of the World Bank who addressed her as if a school principal was addressing an errant school girl as I wrote under the theme “Sentimental Journey” which obviously annoyed the President. She got her Media chief to write a retort calling me “one D,G.B,de Silva” as if she (then the President) did not know who he was. What I did not tell at the time was that the good lady had scrounged lifts in Paris in my private vehicle and eaten at my table which I considered a privilege! That retort attracted a second round from me. I even gave an interview to the Ravaya newspaper which was published under the caption: “S.B [Dissanayake] Kakula kate damagena keewath dollar million 800 lebenne ne”. Things happened exactly as I predicted. The final result was the economy ended up for the first time recording a Zero growth and the government collapsed.

President Rajapaksa has promised not only development along the line of the “new vision” in Mahinda Chintanaya but also expressed the hope of freeing the land from lawlessness, underworld, racketeering, extortion, carrying of illegal weapons, corruption and inefficiency.

The expectations are noble but the list is too long and ambitious in the present context. The problem is that the President alone cannot implement these single handed; nor with a coterie of a few supporters. He needs the support of his entire Cabinet, the Ministers, the Public service, diplomats, the Police force and the people at large. Looking around, all of them do not seem to be pulling in one direction. A beginning has to be made from within, it seems, I mean the Cabinet itself. From all what people say, and as the Vice President of the World Bank Ms. Shimizu told the former President Kumaratunga at the Paris Development Forum, the correction process has to begin at home.

This is a difficult endeavor. Even with President Jayewardene’s much boasted 4/5th majority in Parliament and having undated resignation letters from his Cabinet Ministers [except Mr.S.Thondaman who refused to hand over such a letter], he could not achieve it. No could he direct his Ministers on policy. He told me once walking round a Square of Place Vendome in Paris outside his hotel before the security people were alerted about his absence from the hotel, that his Ministers wanted to develop heavy industries, build heavy infrastructure but his own idea was that the country should concentrate on agro industries. “No one is listening”, he complained. Obviously, he was too much of a democrat as far as his Cabinet was concerned despite the display of an all powerful executive President who could do anything except turning a man into a woman, as he said!

So, there is the snag! President Rajapaksa’s 2/3rd majority in Parliament is a fragile situation achieved, as I see on the very things that he would like to get rid of. He did not mention offering inducement to opposition members to join him and to continue to sustain it but the difference between that and corruption seems to be very thin. So where do we stand on declaration and performance? I do not expect big things. Election promises even in the U.S., which claims to be a model of democracy, are not meant to be honoured. Like the unsuspecting Sinhalese peasants in the North Central and Eastern provinces who were cheated year in year out by so called “Tank-menders” from Jaffna peninsula, as Govt.Agent R.W.Ievers and others wrote, the voters will yet believe in election promises and elect their representatives here as in America.

It is well and good if the President’s expectations are realized within his second term. As I supported his war agenda against terrorism, I extend to him all my best wishes. In my old age, I have very few desires and expectations even for the country’s future, I would not hold it against the President even if only a few of the expectations could be achieved but I would not put it beyond him. I turn my eyes on the 1.1 million saplings which were planted on the day of his second inauguration. I would be satisfied if in six years time we could count the same number of these plants grown into young trees. That is my expectation for the present and the future. That is as the great nature lover I am who grew up watching Sinharaja forest in the distance every morning from my village school. I watched it till recently at closer quarters from our family estate at Kalawana.

I say this honestly. We are very familiar with tree planting campaigns conducted in the country during the last few decades but no signs of them remain to be seen. An old friend, a School inspector asked me never to believe in statistics of trees planted. He said every year, the saplings planted in previous years were also counted in making up statistics though many of them did not exist. How true! Take a simple example. When the school where my three daughters attended, the Visakha Vidyalaya, planted saplings outside on the sidewalks I asked my daughters if the school would take care of the saplings, water them daily in dry weather. They could not provide the answers. After returning from overseas 15 years ago I have been visiting a friend who lives right opposite the school almost weekly. I am unable to find a single tree on that side walk along the school just as on the sidewalks round the Colombo Municipal Council. That was too much for me to accept after seeing the attention they paid to growing trees not only on side walks in Tehran but also on hill slopes and watering them daily through Municipal bowsers turning that city at the edge of the encroaching dessert into a green valley. So was it in Beijing and in Canberra and other Australian cities which are also in dessert lands.

So for me, it would be enough of an achievement if the 1.1 million trees planted on November 19th 2010 could be counted in six years time as well grown trees. For me, that would be enough progress though I may not be there to see the results! The President’s name will be remembered for that. He may consider appointing a Blue Brigade (Nil Balakaya) to look after these trees. They do that in Paris where an inventory is kept of every tree in the city and individual attention is given to each one of them, pruning yearly, protecting young trees in Winter till they can look after themselves against cold weather. No tree is allowed to fall as it happens here after every heavy shower or gale. They are properly manicured to prevent them going off balance.

Chiram Jayathu! (Long Live!)

Sabbe sankara anicca! (All material things are temporary!)