- (1) Every citizen is entitled to – (a) the freedom of speech and expression including publication ; (b) the freedom of peaceful assembly ; (c) the freedom of association ; (d) the freedom to form and join a trade union ; (e) the freedom, either by himself or in association with others, and either in public or in private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching; (f) the freedom by himself or in association with others to enjoy and promote his own culture and to use his own language; (g) the freedom to engage by himself or in association with others in any lawful occupation, profession, trade, business or enterprise ; (h) the freedom of movement and of choosing his residence within Sri Lanka ;
- Every person shall be entitled to apply to the Supreme Court, as provided by Article 126, in respect of the infringement or imminent infringement, by executive or administrative action, of a fundamental right to which such person is entitled under the provisions of this Chapter.
- (1) The Directive Principles of State Policy herein contained shall guide Parliament, the President and the Cabinet of Ministers in the enactment of laws and the governance of Sri Lanka for the establishment of a just and free society.
(2) The State is pledged to establish in Sri Lanka a Democratic Socialist Society, the objectives of which include –
(a) the full realization of the fundamental rights and freedoms of all persons ;
(b) the promotion of the welfare of the People by securing and protecting as effectively as it may, a social order in which justice (social, economic and political) shall guide all the institutions of the national life ;
(c) the realization by all citizens of an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families, including adequate food, clothing and housing, the continuous improvement of living conditions and the full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural opportunities ;
(d) the rapid development of the whole country by means of public and private economic activity and by laws prescribing such planning and controls as may be expedient for directing and co-ordinating such public and private economic activity towards social objectives and the public weal
(e) the equitable distribution among all citizens of the material resources of the community and the social product, so as best to subserve the common good ;
(f) the establishment of a just social order in which the means of production, distribution and exchange are not concentrated and centralised in the State, State agencies or in the hands of a privileged few, but are dispersed among and owned by, all the People of Sri Lanka ;
(7) The State shall eliminate economic and social privilege and disparity and the exploitation of man by man or by the State.
(8) The State shall ensure that the operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration of wealth and the means of production to the common detriment.
All the above points are taken from the Constitution of Sri Lanka. We are lucky in that respect, which unlike in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is a written document. In short it is in black and white.
In the run up to the presidential election of January 2015 the group that chose Maihtripala Sirisena to be their ‘common candidate’ yelled themselves hoarse about the level of corruption and economic mismanagement of the nations’ finances. The Minister of Finance now, claimed that an amount of USD 18 billion – that’s Rs 2,790,000,000 in todays money – had been ‘taken’ by the previous administration.
Three years after initially despatching Mahinda Rajapaksa home and later to the backbenches of parliament, this government have yet to find Rs 155 (about USD 1) of the Rs 2.79 trillion they claimed that the Rajapaksa administration had somehow syphoned out of the system.
Yet, in 2015 the new ‘yahapalanaya’ government introduced a ‘supergains tax’. Here is what the Prime Minister and the then Finance Minister had to say about it:
Sri Lanka’s much talked about super gain tax imposed by the new administration in its interim budget 2015 need not be maintained, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament.
“With the intermediate budget guidelines, we imposed a Super Gain Tax. This was based on the fact that the demand for goods and services was down,” Wickremesinghe said.
“This tax served the purpose of propping up demand and providing relevant revenue. But now that has changed – people are once again actively making purchases and accordingly, we need not maintain the Super Gain Tax,” he said.
Sri Lanka imposed a 25 percent ‘super gains tax’ on any individual or company including subsidiaries and holding company in a group of companies earning over two billion rupees in profit before tax, in the interim budget 2015.
The government earlier said there are only 35 to 40 companies in the island who will have to pay the super gain tax.
The Inland Revenue Department says 468 companies have complied with the super gain tax and 18 billion rupees have been paid as the first installment by end October, according to a media report.
The second installment is due on 30th November and the third is on or before 31st December. The ‘super gains tax’ was one of the new taxes proposed in a revised budget in January 2015.
Presenting the interim budget, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said that the measure was taken to share the excess profits companies are making with the people.
However the tax was criticized by economists and corporate sector saying that it drives investors away and squeezes the capability of companies to invest further.
The supergains tax according to the then Minister of Finance (Ravi Karunanayake) was a measure to tax the ‘ill gotten gains’ made during the previous administration at a cost to the people. He was trying to balance the books or bring back some equity to the table.
It appeared to be of little concn or consequence that his opinion was just that – his opinion. The claims he made were not tested by any Inland Revenue tribunal or other authority, Certainly there was no legal basis for the claim, it was an allegation.
But thanks to the ‘power’ exercised as a Minister of Finance and with the backing of the Prime Minister and others in government, the new Yahapalanaya government somewhat gleefully received the proceeds from the business community that included several listed companies.
According to The Rich List in 2013 the top 50 of these listed (publicly quoted) companies employed a total of 411,248 employees and reported a turnover of Rs 1,749,643,882,960 – that’s Rs 1.749 trillion.
There’s no gain stating the obvious – that these corporates and others have made significant contributions to the national economy. To have branded these corporates and individuals as being inter alia corrupt by making ‘ill gotten gains’ without any verification or investigative process, is shameful, obnoxious and stinks of high handedness. It may also be tantamount to abuse of power.
It also undermines the rights of all those in Sri Lanka.
It has been clear that whenever the government of the day are intent on introducing legislation that they deem necessary and immediate they are able to do so.
For instance legislation was passed to deprive Mrs Bandaranaike of her civic rights. Legislation was passed to expropriate businesses and assets and return it to the state on grounds of under performance. The 19th amendment to the constitution which gave this government carte blanche to circumvent the size of the Cabinet of Ministers, was passed with the urgency of a bullet train.
As stated in the constitution and quoted above, there can be no detrimental effect on the people by actions of the state.
Thousands of people including corporates have been affected by the actions of the state.
Under the constitutional provisions, as per the 19th Amendment the President appointed the Prime Minister and the Ministers and thereafter allocated the subjects to each Minister.
The Central Bank was listed under the Minister of National Planning and Economic Development. One Ranil Wickremesinghe was the subject Minister.
Three years have passed since the election of the Yahapalanaya government and three years have passed since this government promised to look into the looted assets of the state under the previous administration.
With all due respect – wherever and whenever that is due – to date this government and its agencies for whatever reason, however convoluted the reason, has not delivered or traced any of the so-called US$ 18 billion loot.
We will never espouse the cause of NOT recovering the loot if indeed such exists. On the contrary we will be happy and willing and in some cases able partners in the tracing of any misappropriated state assets.
We do espouse however the cause of immediate recovery wherever that is possible.
In the case of the upper gains tax as discussed earlier, the government were very quick off the mark to recover by way of the supergain taxation system, monies that they PERCEIVED to be ill gotten. As we stated above these monies were raised from a group of companies whose top 50 alone, employed over 400,000 people and who had a collective turnover of RS 1.7 trillion.
This government has expended millions of rupees of our money on investigating the ‘Bondgate’ scam. After initial denial, months and months of delays, one parliament dissolved primarily because the first COPE report on the bond scam was to be handed to the parliament, another COPE report, a three member Pitipana Committee, and a Presidential Commission of Inquiry, the fact remains that absolutely ZERO has been recovered. And this from a scam that the Attrney Generals department described as perhaps ‘one of the greatest financial scams to have been inflicted on Sri Lanka post independence”.
The number of people employed by this one company at the centre of this scam has been various placed but most settle at a figure of 13 people.
The government moved heaven and earth to bring in the Super gain tax rule. They had no proof whatsoever that the monies were ill-gotten. Apart from the words of a Minister who was later found to have had a lot of explaining to do about the rental of a upmarket apartment and the subsequent purchase of that apartment. He was quizzed for hours about the Rs 165 Million found in a safe at a company administered by the Minister’s daughter. He had no knowledge that his daughter birrowed monies from a related party for the rent.
This is the same Minister who imposed the Super Gain tax. And called all those who had made over RS 2 billion profits to pay 25%. He clled it ill gotten wealth.
For some strange reason this government seem reluctant in the extreme to bring in special legislation – like the Super Gain tax – that would entail all non-state primary dealers to pay a super gain tax on all profits over RS 1,000 million. After all the profits of any primary dealer has NEVER been more than Rs 1 billion EVER in any one period.
Therefore to impose a Supergain tax on the entire industry of 100% on anything more than Rs 1 billion, will be welcome news. News that the people will be jumping up and down with joy.
Finally, once it becomes clear that the government has no desire or intention to impose a Super gain tax on the Bondgate scammers, it will also become more than obvious that the Prime Minister simply must have some form of interest that overrides the need and sensibility of having a fast track methodology to recover the gains made by Perpetual Treasuries. After all they do not employ hundreds of thousands and unfortunately for them a Commission of Inquiry have found out the most startling detail about their operation.
How they made whirlwind profits. Are these the profits that can be safely described as ‘ill gotten’?. Although Ravi Karunanayake once said that the losses if any were “notional”.
Problem dear Ravi, is that hardly anyone believes you. Just perhaps your bunch of followers within the electorate because they have very little to lose by supporting you in your hour of need whereas the wider public must know by now the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So help us God.
Article 27 (2) (c,d,e,f) makes it clear that the people have certain comforts constitutionally. The people have a right to an equitable lifestyle. Businessmen have a right to pay no more than they must in terms of their bank charges and interest. Everyone has a right to expect that any and all privileges are available equitably to all – not just a chosen few.
Farmers in this country, the homeless in this country all have constitutional safeguards that cannot be impinged upon by the actions of errant officers of state – elected or appointed.
The granting of privileges to a select few is constitutionally banned. Therefore when Arjuna Mahendran acted mala fide and gave sensitive information to Perpetual (‘a privileged few’) he did so by acting against the provisions of the Constitution.
It is clear to the layman – the constitution envisages equity for all not a select or privileged few. There are other provisions under the penal code to deal with some matters in detail – like for instance the bribing of officials to act in a particular manner (The Bribery Act) and other sanctions to take when public property is lost stolen or in someway impinged upon.
But constitutionally the people can expect their legislators – the State – to act within certain parameters.
A close analysis of these matters will reveal that the state has failed miserably not just to do with the Bondgate affair.
On the matter of the importation of coal, each and every citizen has been affected because the state shamelessly acted partially for the benefit of a select few.
The awarding of road contracts is yet another case in point. Section 3 of the Central Expressway was found by investigative journalists to have been tailor-made for the one company. Initially they passed this project funding as one that was government to government. Nothing could be further from the truth. The bank loan was from a commercial bank and the insurance premium was a whopping 10.04% – that’s is eight whole years after the ending of the ‘war’. Towards the end of the war the Rajapaksa administration had in place figures more in the region of 7.5%
Every single major procurement (purchase) made by the state had attracted controversy. The procurement of finance is by far the largest such purchase. Which is why the Bondgate scam is so very important for all in this country to appreciate the far reaching consequences and ramifications. Some experts opine that over the next 15 years the cost to us in Sri Lanka is likely to be in excess of RS 600 billion.
The plea by the people of its elected representatives is that the deal making be stopped, that the rogue stewards get out of the way, that the rogue elements who shamelessly took advantage of the inexperience of officers of state be dealt with immediately by the passing of appropriate legislation – without fear that the public will launch a backlash that such new legislation is counter productive to that which is envisaged in the Constitution. The people after all have borne witness to the ability of parliament to legislate like a turbo charge – when it suits them to do so.
As we can see from our written down constitution, the President and Prime Minister downwards must be guided by the Constitution. The people have a guaranteed equity constitutionally. It is high time – 70 years after independence from our colonial masters – that Sri Lanka stands tall proud not only to be Sri Lankan but proud to be a country where equity is the by word.
In pursuit of that objective Sri Lanka’s people must take the initiative and prepare to rid this country of scoundrels who masquerade as paragons of democracy and integrity when in fact they fall rather short of those ideals.
