Policy entrepreneur working at intersection of economics, law & technology. Worked in academia & in government. Based in, but not limited to, Sri Lanka.
Why doesn't opposition come up with an alternative PM and Cabinet; get 113 signatures; & respond to
@RW_UNP
letter? Because they're only good at opposing, but not at proposing constructive alternatives?
#SriLanka
needs state continuity, esp now when recovery efforts underway.
Saudi Arabia was where the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin & Tunisian President Ben Ali found refuge. It would be supremely ironic if
@GotabayaR
, a man who stoked the fires of anti-Islamism to gain power ends up in Saudi Arabia as an exile. Right now he's on a Saudi Airlines flight.
I am joining Beshan Kulapala's initiative to decline participation in any U of Jayawardenepura events until action is taken against the raggers who harmed the student in critical care. I will be writing the VC.
Dammika Perera, wannabe Minister responsible for attracting investment to
#SriLanka
, responsible for 1 of the greatest harms done to country's investment environment. He executed his political master
@PresRajapaksa
's wish to cancel
@flysrilankan
CEO's work permit. Unsuitable.
Thanks to all for defeating
#SriLanka
government's social media ban. A special thanks to
@Oshada_S
for a well-timed resignation. No government will dare try this again.
President cld have spared us all this agony by announcing resignation timeline back in May; even y'day he cld have sent his resignation before nightfall. But no, this man's ego has priority over everything else. It took prodding by many to get even this announcement out from him.
There is a good justification to sue the TRC for an illegal act that caused damage to citizens and businesses. We should lobby to change the law to remove the power to order social media bans and internet shutdowns.
Wonder whether anyone recalls Bangkok after Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. Half built skyscrapers & expressways everywhere. After they dealt with the problems, things normalized. That is what we must do. Stop the expressways & redirect funding for relief for the people.
No gas deliveries. Extraordinarily long petrol/diesel queues.
#SriLanka
cannot go on like this. Let's get 21A done and obtain bridge financing.
@GotabayaR
got us into this; shameless man won't leave; we need to dig ourselves out.
The chaos outside the President's house underlines the urgency of Parliament urgently reconvening to take immediate action to take charge of the economy, by rescinding 20th Amendment.
Why doesn't
@ManoGanesan
focus his humanitarian efforts on the thousands of poor people rotting in jail because they could not get bail? What about the humanitarian issue of Hijaz Hizbulla?
As the PM resigns, the Cabinet is automatically dissolved. As the Cabinet dissolves, all Secretaries cease to hold office. Not only the government but entire state apparatus ceases to function. 1/4
"1.3 million people have been given government jobs. There are 5-6 lakhs of pensioners. 1 out of 5 persons is working for government. This cannot be sustained. All countries that have tried this path have gone bankrupt." Dep Minister of Finance in 2012 (see full post on my Fb)
What is the logic of placing the BOI, TRCSL, ICTA. Standards Institution and Department of Registration of Persons under Ministry of Defence? The latest subject allocation gazette further emphasizes the need to bar the President from holding any Ministries.
QR based rationing system worked perfectly. Short lines; pumped full quota; received SMS saying quota was used up at 8:18 PM on 7 August. Thank you to
@icta_srilanka
, volunteer software engineers, &
@kanchana_wij
#SriLanka
is like a bus that has been driven off a cliff, despite many warnings from the passengers. But the driver is refusing to step down, because he cannot have a bus crash on his resume.
#GotaGoHome2022
, so we can at least work on the rescue.
"Unfair to dump mismanaged costs on consumer saying ‘this is how much it costs us to produce a unit of electricity’. CEB must be broken up & pvt competition included, so that cost does not includes add'l cost of corruption."
So I was right in saying
@PresRajapaksa
could have engaged in interfaith dialogue with only one side kick; that the large entourage was superfluous. They are not in this grand hall. They seem to have gone shopping for non-essential and non-urgent items.
Why complain abt a
#SriLanka
citizen exercising his rights under Art 14 of Constitution to return to Sri Lanka? Focus must be on reinstating the cases that were suspended because
@GotabayaR
became President in Nov 2019. Now he is simple citizen with no immunity.
"Between 2015 and 2019, 89.8 percent of new debt taken on by the government was used to pay back interest on outstanding loans accumulated by the end of 2014."
Just saw a tweet pointing out the foresight of the Leader of Opposition who spoke of economic Armageddon in November 2021. This was two years before that.
Gota's tax plan wants to set
#SriLanka
on an Express Train to bankruptcy, default and a Greek style debt-crisis. VAT change alone equivalent to Health, Defence or Pensions budgets.
#LKA
certainly doesn't need advice from a PR agency conjured 'business community'.
For those now weeping over EPF: Auditor General revealed EPF lost Rs 5,000 million, or its full 53 per cent investment in Canwill Holdings 2013. Canwill Holdings is part of the Grand Hyatt Colombo project. Did you raise your voice then?
Bad sign. Opposition leader
@sajithpremadasa
is asking for appointments to be given to 50,000 unemployed graduates. There goes the hope of a consensus on making the state services efficient.
A male macho Minster saying that a female colleague who presents a view different to his on a subject within her purview (
#COVID19
) is affected by stress deserves more condemnation than I have seen (which is none). But then, is this surprising in
#SriLanka
?
IMF Article iv report slams
@an_cabraal
's roadmap: "The authorities have presented plans to tackle the crisis but these are unlikely to put the economy back on a stable and sustainable path."
In another country, this would be cause for resignation. Minister Prasanna Ranatunga found guilty. At least he's not the Minister in charge of the Police.
Why is
@basilrajapaksa
announcing the lifting of tariffs on pharmaceuticals when they already had zero tariffs? Would be helpful if the taxes were specified.
Whenever a govt figure brings up a cricket controversy, the question you have to ask is what are you being distracted from? Last time it was 1000 infections. What is it now?
Good news: "Confirming apparel industry has not only reverted to pre-COVID resilience but bettered it, 2022 H1 figure of $ 2.8 billion is above $ 2.62 billion achieved in 2019 H1, the industry’s best year so far with $ 5.6 billion in exports for full yr."
Reminder to the middle classes, happy they can buy gas & petrol. We're in an "apaye interval." We're in hell, but there a brief moment of respite before the hellfire & torture starts again. Unless bridge financing is obtained & structural reforms are done, we'll be like Lebanon.
A commendable speech by
@alisabrypc
. Exemplar of how a Minister shld behave. He was the best Minister in
@GotabayaR
Cabinet & turn out to be the best in this one too.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and President's Counsel Mr. Ali Sabri said in Parliament today (2) that if it is necessary to remove the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, he is ready to step down for him.
#DailyMirror
#SriLanka
#SLnews
Part 01
Inflation coming down.
@CBSL
bitter medicine is working. But the patient is rebelling. Unless
@RW_UNP
manages to hold the line, this trend may not continue.
On year-on-year basis, CCPI based headline inflation decreased to 50.6% in February 2023. Following a similar trend, the Food inflation decreased to 54.4%. However, the Non-Food inflation increased to 48.8% in February 2023
For more details -
#CBSL
#CCPI
It's been 2.5 years since the UK courts handed
#SriLanka
evidence on a platter about egregious corruption by SriLankan Airlines CEO, his wife, & associates. Why are the wheels of justice grinding so slow?
If the NPP comes to power, they & the people at large will find themselves in deep trouble. We are currently paying the price of electing a President & a Government that is learning on the job. The country cannot afford to repeat that painful experience.
SLPP slams Ranil over 21st Amendment. Is it because they place the interest of one individual who wants to hang on to his US citizenship above the interests of the country?
Tired of claims that taxes go to politicians. In 2022, 65% of all tax revenues (not income tax alone) was spent on state employee salaries & pensions. In 2020 & 2021, before tax increases kicked in, 86% was spent just on those 2 items. Most goes to state employees past & present.
Many are angered by govt taking over SriLankan's debt. The time to be angry was when
@PresRajapaksa
renationalized SriLankan, when he appointed his brother-in-law as chair, when route rationalization was not allowed for reasons like the Cardinal's wishes. 1/2
Time to prepare charge sheets for Ven. Athuraliye Rathana, MP, GMOA President Padeniya and others responsible for 2021 fertilizer, agrochemicals ban that is the cause of the food crisis.
@waw1949
@GotabayaR
With Cabinet decisions, there's collective responsibility. But these decisions were the President's alone. He cannot escape responsibility by pointing to officials whom he appointed, supported, and kept in place for too long. He is at fault:
#GotaGoHome2022
is justified
Nearly 30,000 state sector workers to retire on 31 December. If vacancies need to be filled, fill them from among the 1.5 million state employees. That way, we'll make headway on reducing the unbearable burden of excessive state employees.
105-member Kerala medical team travels to UAE for COVID mission. The team, second from Kerala this month, includes critical care nurses and doctors. They will work in various COVID-19 hospitals across UAE adding to the nation’s existing workforce
@NewIndianXpress
@xpresskerala
Sad.
@MaithripalaS
believes women have impaired decision-making abilities. So why is he taking credit for increasing women's representation if they can't take a simple decision about buying or not buying alcohol?
PM proposes to privatise SriLankan Airlines. "By 31st March 2021, the total loss was LKR 372 billion. Even if we privatise it, this is a loss that we must bear. This is a loss that must be borne even by people who have never stepped on an airplane."
#SriLanka
's Ramanna & Amarapura Buddhist orders (both closely connected to Myanmar) have protested the
#MilitaryCoupInMyanmar
and intend to speak even more strongly on 26 March.
If
@GotabayaR
is unwilling to go back to 19A as he promised on May 11th, it'll be evident that he refuses to take any responsibility for the devastation he caused. There will be no all-party government, no bridge financing, and the protests will continue.
Those getting upset abt hiring international law firm to restructure debt should take the trouble to see how it has been done in Ecuador, etc. This is specialized work; the compensation can be tied to performance; but significant fees have to be paid. No time for penny pinching.
Can
@an_cabraal
be appted Central Bank Governor until there's accountability for transfer of USD 6 million to Imaad Zuberi during his tenure? My understanding is that the funds went into Zuberi's personal accounts. Who was responsible for this elementary malfeasance?
@nimilamalee
One of the good things about the crisis is that we are hearing the voices of the next generation of economists. These people have not been miseducated by the likes of W.D. Lakshman.
The Viyathmaga intellectual is listening with no objection to this racist speech. What was that about the speaker being suspended from the Presidential election campaign? Guess racism is acceptable in General Election, not presidential election?
@HarshadeSilvaMP
says SOE reforms essential at meeting with US Ambassador. Today's papers report
@sajithpremadasa
opposing any changes to ownership & management of petroleum refinery at meeting with unions, reinforcing Attanayake. Who speaks on econ policy for
@sjbsrilanka
?
“An SJB government is not obligated to support any deal that a government like this with a president without a mandate.” Inconsistent with repeated claims by
@HarshadeSilvaMP
re IMF negotiations. Why can't
#SriLanka
politicians put nation above party?
Approved by a committee comprising Lalith Weeratunga, former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Dr. Nalaka Godahewa, former John Keells Holdings Chairman Susantha Ratnayake & Hela Clothing chief Dian Gomes. If any complaints, feel free to contact them.
#BREAKING
: SAARC Foreign Ministers' Meet Cancelled in New York After Pakistan Insists On Taliban's Participation. SAARC Chair Rejected Pakistan’s Demand. I report with details on
@CNNnews18
.
How the hell can anyone make plans when the Police spokesman is contradicted within a hour or two by President's media office? Is some degree of consistency too much to ask?
In March 2019, I was present when modernization of birth certificates was announced, including deletion of marital status of parents & ethnicity. Surprised this is being announced again.
"We made a serious error when we gave the CPC a monopoly.” The Minister said that many oil companies had shifted to Singapore after Sri Lanka nationalised the petroleum sector. The Minister said that Singapore had become a petrochemical hub thereafter.
Let's begin by getting rid of all VIP backup vehicles & cancelling Kfir contract: "Please use fuel economically to save foreign currency for much needed medicine & vaccines"
To those who want spending on armed forces reduced: There's a plan (too slow by my lights) to step down the forces. But this has to be done gradually & with care. Last thing you want are large numbers of unemployed ex-military on the streets, not esp at times like this.
Another sign that things have gone seriously wrong: "44,000 out of Sri Lanka’s total police personnel are deployed for VIP protection duties. Sri Lanka police department has about 80,000"
NPP warns foreign countries against purchasing state property. If SriLankan is not sold, it will not have adequate funds to buy the needed aircraft & will lose passengers & business. It will keep accumulating losses. Will the NPP bear those costs?
#SriLanka
voter can no longer have his/her cake & eat it. Shortly after govt announces salary increases for state employees, it announces VAT will increase to 18%. No more money printing. Money has to come from somewhere; it will come from all of us (not just income tax payers).
Sorry to rain on the parade. As is the custom with SOEs in
#SriLanka
, unlikely that this "profit" includes cost of capital, interest, etc. I will take this seriously when I see properly audited full accounts.
Critics appear to ignore Constitutional provisions on forming Cabinets (have to be from among MPs) & inability to force people to serve. If critic's favorites such as
@HarshadeSilvaMP
are unwilling, what are left are the willing: SLPP & SLFP MPs elected by our people in 2020.
#SriLanka
govt goes full Sirimavo & slaps TS (temporarily suspended) on huge range of imports, including some intermediate goods. Likely to generate pushback from EU.
Among all South Asian countries, Sri Lanka was the only country to advance (9 places) in the UN e Government Index in 2020. Congratulations to all who made that possible
@icta_srilanka