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SET UP CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL TO REFLECT COUNTRY’S PLURAL CHARACTER

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SET UP CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL TO REFLECT COUNTRY’S PLURAL CHARACTER

The restoration of the Constitutional Council has been the most positive feature of the 21st Amendment to the constitution which repealed the 20thAmendment that over-concentrated power in the executive presidency.  The constitutional council is meant to be a politically bipartisan institution that has members of the government and opposition together with politically non-partisan members of civil society.  The positive expectation is that the constitutional council will contribute to the strengthening of the state and its agencies to act in the best interests of the country.

However, the manner of appointment of the three members who will represent civil society is a cause for concern.  The procedure that the government has advertised is to call for personal applications from those who are interested in applying to be members of the constitutional council. Persons of eminence and integrity who have distinguished themselves in public or professional life and who are not members of any political party as indicated in the guidelines for appointment may not wish to submit their applications. The National Peace Council believes that this procedure needs to be supplemented by a process of nominations.  Civil society organisations should be given the opportunity to nominate their choice of members of civil society to be considered for appointment to the constitutional council.

In the context of Sri Lanka’s plural society we believe that the selection of the civil society representatives on the constitutional council should be based on the principle of inclusiveness.  The decisions of state authorities need to be sensitive to the diversity and pluralism in Sri Lankan society, the focus of which is ethnicity and religion, but which also includes caste, gender, physical disability, occupation and regions among others. The most urgent need today is unity among both the political leadership and unity among the people so that the entire country can act as one force to overcome the economic and developmental crisis it is presently trapped in.  We call for the constitutional council to be selected soon so that the task of statebuilding and nationbuilding may take place without delay.

Governing Council

The National Peace Council is an independent and non partisan organization that works towards a negotiated political solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. It has a vision of a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka in which the freedom, human rights and democratic rights of all the communities are respected. The policy of the National Peace Council is determined by its Governing Council of 20 members who are drawn from diverse walks of life and belong to all the main ethnic and religious communities in the country.

All political parties should come to a common agreement to provide a solution to the ethnic problem – President

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All political parties should come to a common agreement to provide a solution to the ethnic problem – President

President Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasized that all political parties should come to a common agreement to provide a solution to the ethnic problem by the upcoming 75th Independence Celebration. 

President Ranil Wickremesinghe revealed this while attending the All-Party Conference held at the Presidential Secretariat December (13) afternoon.

The President convened this conference with the aim of finding a solution to the ethnic problem through national reconciliation.

Below are the views expressed by President Ranil Wickremesinghe as well as the other representatives of political parties who participated in the All-Party Conference: 

The President addressing the all-party conference, said, “We must all come together to solve the problem in this country. Whether it is called an ethnic problem or something else is not important. We want to provide solutions to these problems. All the political parties came together to find a solution for this and reach an agreement in the parliament. Today this party leaders’ meeting was called for that purpose.

The northern parliamentarians  have raised the national issue of the country today. This question can be discussed in two parts. The first is the process of compensation for the missing and investigations. There are many problems that need to be solved regarding the Prevention of Terrorism Act, as well as land. The second is the arrangement required to do legal work related to power devolution.

In this regard, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Justice are jointly implementing a special program. Accordingly, we hope to provide a report on the missing persons and political prisoners. After that, we can talk about devolution.

The report of the committee headed by Supreme Court Justice Nawaz will be printed in a week. The report includes a number of proposals. We are also considering the suggestions of the previous reports.”

Foreign Minister Ali Sabri: 

“The discussions at the Human Rights Commission held in Geneva and the international discussions about Sri Lanka are mainly carried out under two factors.

We have taken into consideration the reports of the Lessons Learned Commission, the Udulagama Commission and the Paranagama Commission. All those reports indicated that solutions could be provided for the incidents that happened in the country, but these solutions could not be provided under the mechanism of a foreign country. Accordingly, we had promised to provide solutions for this under a local mechanism, but it has not been implemented.

According to the President, former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed the Nawaz Commission. What was done by that commission was to prepare the necessary program to provide solutions for this by incorporating the suggestions of the previous commissions. Accordingly, we have a responsibility to implement this mechanism.

Even the security forces have expressed their interest in implementing this mechanism. The security forces say that some units have been branded differently. A situation has arisen where some divisions cannot even go to UN operations. They expect to prove their innocence, and if something suspicious has happened, they expect the law to be enforced.

However, we have not been able to follow such a procedure until now. We think that these can be solved through a local mechanism. You can get solutions for this through the truth commission. We have discussed this with South Africa as well.

It is very good for the North and South to solve this problem. We present a cabinet paper for this. A former ambassador has been appointed as the director general of this committee. This is expected to bring many good proposals by uniting all the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslims living abroad. We hope to provide facilities for that as the government.”

Minister of Justice Wijayadasa Rajapakshe

“The Ministry of Justice is entrusted with the task of reconciliation in Sri Lanka. Even now, the Office of the Missing Persons is maintained under the Ministry of Justice. We hope to complete all the files here by December 31 of next year. An amount of Rs.100,000 was offered for each missing person as compensation. We are currently considering the property compensation.

There were nearly 11,000 people who lost their birth certificates and identity cards due to the war in the north. We worked to reorganize them. A number of mediation programs in the Northern Province were conducted under the Ministry of Justice. We believe that when these issues are resolved, Sri Lankans abroad will be encouraged to invest in Sri Lanka. The truth-seeking commission is currently underway. The South African government is supporting us in this regard.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe:

“Several issues have been raised about the land in the North. The advisor, the secretary of the Ministry of Lands, and the Chief of Defence Staff, together with the representatives of the people in those areas hope to find a solutions to these issues. Currently, there has been progress made. As the discussions progress, ideas can be obtained. That is why this conference was called to seek the views of all the parties. I suggest that we agree on a solution to this issue.” 

MP C.V. Vigneswaran: 

Looking at this problem from the Tamil people’s perspective, we have three issues. The lands, the missing persons and the presence of so many troops in these areas. People have problems regarding the acquisition of land to various departments. It should be looked into. That is the first thing that needs to be done. This is the first thing and the most immediate thing that needs to be done, as far as our people are concerned. 

Then secondly, there are legal provisions, which give us certain rights as it is, especially the Provincial Councils. Not having elections with regard to provincial councils in relation to other provinces, is not going to help consequences in those areas, except for the perks the office-bearers will be wanting to have for themselves. But, as far as we are concerned, we need to have the  Provincial Councils looking after our interests is very great. The North and East Provincial Council elections should be held as quickly as possible. Already, lots of lands are being taken over and it’s all being done quite against the law actually and there are various cases pending. So, we need to look into the question of land grabbing and all that. Therefore, we need to be clothed with the rights that we already have and those must be accommodated and those must be brought into effect. 

So the first one was with regard to the ground situations or the problems, second one is with regard to the rights we already have which needs to be put into effect and the third one of course with regard to the Constitution.  As rightly pointed out by Your Excellency, that part of it comes third but they have to be simultaneously attended to if we are to keep to the time limit that your excellency has given as 4th of February next year. But it is not impossible because we already have sufficient documents, sufficient commission reports that have gone into various matters and in fact there are various drafts which have been prepared. So we have to only sit down and work out a final outcome in order to see how do we could grant rights of those who have been affected by the constitution so far brought in this country. 

Lastly let me point out, as far as northern and eastern Tamils are concerned, we have a history of over 3,000 years and we have a land of our own, we have the language, culture and even probably the land area is different from the rest of the country. We need to be given that right because it was only in 1833 the British has brought this country together administratively and thereafter it has been granted, during the time of independence on a platter, more or less, to the majority community. Today people of the northern and eastern provinces are under the boot of the army as well as the majority community in the northern and eastern provinces. All these have to be brought to an end and we need to have a constitution which gives us respect, equality, and the desire to go together as one country in the future.

MP Patali Champika Ranawaka:

In the matter of solving the ethnic problem, there is the ability to make decisions as the executive as well as to make decisions according to both parts of the constitution. The necessary solutions to provide a political solution are decided by the executive. But in matters related to environment and archeology, the relevant law should be applied.

MP Rauf Hakeem: 

“Mr. President while welcoming your initiative to call this meeting, we feel that we could address this issue in a very simplified manner, initiatively at least by taking a resolve to implement the 13th amendment in full as an initial stage before affectivities to be done before the 75th independence. We can then work on other constitutional reforms through a structure that can be created by the all party conference and also to involve the civil society if it is possible. Already people like civil society activist Victor Ivan and others have met us with a structure to look at the issue involving some elements of the civil society as well. While saying that I will also just add briefly about the grievances of entire Tamil speaking population in the North and the East. The day to day livelihood issues have been impacted heavily by land grabs not by the army alone but through other departments of the state. Particularly, Wildlife, Forest, and also the Archeology Department. There are a variety of issues which simply doesn’t affect only the Muslim community but also the Sinhalese community and some other parts of the island as well. So particularly when you address the issues, these issues have to be brought up and coming back to some other issues pertaining to the Easter Sunday attacks. There have been attempts to confiscate some of the religious institutions and properties to the state. Local communities are letting it happen because of the presence of the Police.  We appeal you to look at a way of resolving it with the local religious leaders in these areas we know that this aberration with the society has been taking place. All of us are willing to work with the state to resolve these issues. To hand back some of the lands, not just the properties owned by Saharan and his group, but there are other places of worship too that are confiscated. Please to look at those issues as well.” 

President Ranil Wickremesinghe:  

“If there are any places of worship under threat kindly let us know.  I think today we looked at some of the Muslim Organizations and removed the ban on them.”

MP Douglas Devananda

“I strongly believe that I have the right to talk on behalf of the Tamil community because for more than 45 years I have been involved in that. So I have the right to talk. First, I agree with Hon. Sambanthan until May 87, after that I have a different opinion. Now discussing about reconciliation, I want to name it as National Reconciliation. That is my start when I entered in to the political mainstream. After the Indo- Sri Lanka agreement the Tamil community got enough opportunities. Unfortunately they have misused that. I have the right to talk about that. So we have to settle these issues with the 13th amendment. For the last 35 years we have been advocating to start with a political solution, with the 13th amendment. First we start the reconciliation with all communities then we will go further and my colleagues Hon. Siddarthan and MP Selvam Adaikalanathan, were involved from the very beginning of it. We have discussed with them and they also agreed with this view to start with the 13th amendment. We don’t go for a new constitution because if you want to go for a new constitution we need 2/3 majority and referendum. At this juncture, for this country it is impossible.  First we start with the implementation of the 13th Amendment and through that we can settle all issues. Now Your Excellency has given another golden opportunity to the country and the people, so we have to use that. This is my strong view. Again I am insisting I have the right to talk about these issues.”     

Member of Parliament Rishad Bathiudeen :

“With the war, our houses have been covered by the jungle. But now our lands have been declared as protected lands by the wildlife department. Mr. President, during the war which lasted for thirty years, there were no people in those areas. Hence, these areas were covered by the jungle. Therefore, I urge you to save our lands.” 

President Ranil Wickremesinghe :

“The Ministry of Lands and the Ministry of Wildlife are working together to provide solutions to that problem. But there should be thirty two percent forests in Sri Lanka. Parts outside of that can be found and provided. As we celebrate the 75th Independence Day, we need to move forward as one nation.

The larger community has doubts that there might be another war again. Tamil MPs say they have abandoned the idea of war. That’s why we have to discuss with each other and resolve these issues from one platform.”

Parliamentarian Gevindu Kumaratunge :

“To solve this problem, the first thing is to be honest. The best example is that the right of law students to study law in their mother tongue is in the process of  being revoked. Can we find solutions in such a situation?”

Parliamentarian Mano Ganeshan:

“We suggest that the local government elections should be held soon. Our view is that the powers vested on Provincial Councils should be implemented fully. The reconciliation should commence with the implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.” 

President Ranil Wickremesinghe:

“Are you against solving the issues that we are discussing here before addressing the issue of the 13th Amendment? We agreed at the Parliament to find the solutions for these issues first. And let’s act accordingly. 

In addition we hope to keep the Parliament informed of the transactions that we would do with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. We have to see if all agree with them. If there is an objection again there is an issue since the WB and the IMF are monitoring the developments here. 

We hope to make you aware of the plan that they have presented to us after presenting it before the Parliament. In addition we hope to keep the Parliament informed of the current situation of the bank network as well as the debt restructuring. 

In addition we have to inform the Parliament if we are capable of providing the solutions to those issues that we discuss at the All Party Conference. The All Party Conference has been called for this purpose. 

We can hold a similar conference on economy as well and formulate a national policy on it. As Parliamentarian Patali Champika Ranawaka said that there are some matters that should be addressed with the powers vested on the Executive.  Let’s talk on the 13th Amendment and devolution of power later. Let’s hold the next round of discussions in January next year. We can reach the decision if we would find a solution through the All Party Conference or not. Let’s discuss on the matters pertaining to the economy next February.”

MP Sumanthiran

“President may I clarify this, five parties  discussed these issues after your initial invitation was extended to us in Parliament and we identified three areas 

As you rightly said the immediate issues, we focused mainly on the land issues but certainly the prisoner release, the mechanism for the justice for the disappeared, are also crucial. I am glad that you invited both ministers to speak about that. So that needs to be done and that way, we can immediately start. 

Without any major amendments the provisions in the constitution, other laws with regard to power sharing, must be implemented and Provincial Council election can be held. For that you don’t require any other process, only implementations. Now I want to clarify this that this can also  start simultaneously. You don’t have to wait until land issues are resolved to start on the implementation of the law. Both can happen simultaneously

A new constitution or as former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said 13+ can also start simultaneously. 

If you start these three mechanisms today as we agreed, as the immediate issues, the implementation of laws and how we should proceed could be finalized. When you were the Prime Minister at the last Parliament we went long distance to the point of even presenting a draft constitution in January 2019. How do we finalize that? I believe all of these can happen before the deadline the President himself has set. We can’t pass the constitution obviously but we can agree on what that is. So if you have 3 parallel tracks by the 31st of January we can get to a point of saying yes we have arrived here, these things have been resolved, we have agreed to hold the elections, implement all the laws and have agreed to the final solutions. Only then the 75th anniversary would be what you envisage.” 

President Ranil Wickremesinghe 

I would like to point out that what I meant was we start with these three issues and either take up the 13th amendment today or if there is no time, when we meet up in January. Not to have sequence in it but in discussion we first take these immediate issues up, then go to the 13th amendment if we don’t have time today certainly January,  as I said we can even see day after day and go through it. Useless putting it off one way or the other we come to an agreement or say we can’t come to an agreement on one of the two so I can report back to the Parliament when we meet after the provision. 

MP Sumanthiran

What I am saying is before 31st January it is possible to do this.

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa: 

“The discussion today is of great importance. I am happy that we have a time frame for this program. Such a program with an aim is of great benefit to the country. The Unity is important even for the economic development of a country.  The people of different communities are living so equally in the country that we should not use differences such as cast and religion in politics. We have to remove such people from politics. Hence we can bring about reconciliation by way of removing such differences and we have to get rid of racism or else we would not be able to create a new world for the future. All should have a feeling that all communities are treated equally and we can solve all these issues by way of a home grown mechanism.  As we have commenced this program we have to ensure that it  continues. Hence we all have to unite to make this all party conference a success.” 

Both the Government and Opposition side members appreciated President Ranil Wickremesinghe for calling an All Party Conference on Reconciliation.

NEWS.LK

Not enough is known about the science of pads and tampons

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Not enough is known about the science of pads and tampons

he female reproductive system has an entire branch of medicine, gynaecology, devoted to it. Yet all that effort has more or less neglected a quotidian matter that that really ought to be investigated properly. Or rather, not a quotidian matter, but a menstrual one. At any given time, about 300m of the world’s women are menstruating. Of these three-quarters will be using some sort of menstrual product—tampons, pads, pantyliners, cups, period underwear, discs and so on—to regulate their flow. An average woman who employs such devices will use around 15,000 of them during her life. Someone with abnormally heavy periods might need thousands more. And many women wear several products simultaneously, for extra protection.

Moreover, the skin of the vulva, the vagina’s external protection—which comes into direct contact with pads and pantyliners—is one of the body surface’s most sensitive parts. It is more permeable than the rest of the epidermis, and becomes still more absorbent when irritated. And the vaginal canal, where tampons sit, is lined by mucous membranes supplied by blood vessels that absorb chemicals into the bloodstream without metabolising them.

These would, it might be thought, be reasons for scientific investigation of the composition of menstrual products, and regimes of regulation capable of responding to the findings of such investigation. That is what happens with drugs and foodstuffs, two other classes of product routinely inserted into the body. But scientific investigations are patchy, and regulation is variable between jurisdictions. And, though the sheer numbers involved mean that a serious health hazard would probably have come to light by now, it is conversely true that even a small risk would affect a lot of people. In addition, both what science there is and women’s own experiences, now easily shareable over social media, suggest all may not be well.

Product moment

There have certainly been problems in the past. In 1980 hyper-absorbent tampons were linked in America to 55 cases, some fatal, of toxic-shock syndrome—a sudden fever-like condition caused by toxins released by bacteria as they multiply. That led to a tightening up of regulations in America, where tampons are now treated as medical devices (though, surprisingly, firms that make them are neither required to do so in a sterile environment nor to test samples from each batch). Other jurisdictions take a more relaxed view. In Japan, menstrual products are described as “quasi-drugs”. In the European Union they are uncategorised general products.

Official reports see menstrual products as safe. A study of 666 of them by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of South Korea, published in March 2017, picked up on potentially harmful compounds, but at levels within established safety margins. A report released in 2018 by France’s agency for food, environmental and occupational health and safety also ruled them safe. And one by the Swedish Chemicals Agency, published in the same year, concluded that there was “no reason for concern”.

In some parts of the world, though, women’s experience suggests all is not entirely well. In the same month that the South Korean government published its report, a campaign group called the Korean Women’s Environmental Network released testimony from over 3,000 women who had experienced symptoms including shorter periods, worsened cramps and considerably less bleeding while using certain pads. It also published the results of a scientific study which claimed that the country’s ten most popular menstrual pads collectively contained 200 chemicals of concern, including 22 known carcinogens.

In France, too, women have had worries. Among the safety agency’s findings were that 81% of respondents felt at least one kind of feminine-hygiene product (mainly tampons) involved a health risk.

In Kenya, meanwhile, a Twitter handle, #MyAlwaysExperience, became a rallying point, in 2019, for thousands of Kenyans who used it to share how their Always pads—a product so popular in Kenya that “Always” has become a generic word for pads—were causing itching, burning and rashes. Many Kenyans had put their incessant itching down to the hot climate and ignored it, but noted significant improvements after switching products.

In America, too, according to the country’s Food and Drug Administration, hundreds of women have complained about menstrual products over the past decade. With pads and pantyliners, they have reported rashes, cellulitis and chemical burns. Aside from toxic-shock syndrome, which is still happening, adverse effects from tampons have included infections caused by disintegrating tampons, sepsis, worsened cramps and heavier periods.

The two largest makers of period products say they give priority to safety. Procter & Gamble, makers of “Always” pads and also owners of Tampax, a popular brand of tampon, says it conducts more than 1,000 quality tests a year on its raw materials and that independent laboratories likewise run over 20,000 tests on its pads, tampons and their components. Kimberly-Clark, which makes Kotex pads, says: “Our feminine care products undergo thorough internal and independent safety evaluations by product safety and medical professionals that support our confidence in the quality and safety of our products.” Both firms deny adding chemicals that have been linked to problems.

Two matters of particular concern to those who worry about menstrual products are skin-sensitising and hormonal effects. Surprisingly, both the French and the Swedish studies ignored these. Skin sensitisation might be caused by fragrances and adhesives. And mdbgn, an antimicrobial preservative considered a dermatitis-causing allergen by the eu, and banned by them from many cosmetics, was detected on the sticky tabs of a pad’s surface in a study carried out in Australia in 2007. (Both p&g and Kimberly-Clark deny adding mdbgn to any of their products.)

Hormonal effects might be caused by so-called endocrine disrupters. These mimic oestrogen, a hormone essential to a host of functions including regulating the menstrual cycle. They also pose a theoretical risk to developing embryos. Though periods end when pregnancy starts, some women still wear light pads and liners for bleeding and other discharge when pregnant. Anna Pollack, a professor of public health at George Mason University, in Virginia, observes that endocrine disrupters, “have consistently been linked with changes in pregnancy outcomes, whether that’s lower birth weight or preterm birth”.

Bisphenols (used to make certain sorts of plastics), parabens (employed as antimicrobial preservatives) and phthalates (often added to plastics to soften them) are all groups of chemicals that include known endocrine disrupters. In 2020 Kurunthachalam Kannan, an environmental chemist at the New York University School of Medicine, tested 43 pads, tampons and pantyliners from a local shop and found three bisphenols, five parabens and five phthalates. There are hardly any studies on the risks of vaginal exposure to these molecules, but they were present at levels Dr Kannan considers “really high for a consumer product”. (He did not disclose which brands he tested.) p&g and Kimberly-Clark say that, though they do not intentionally add chemicals such as phthalates to menstrual products, these may be found in trace amounts.

Decades of use as plastic-softeners do now mean that phthalates are widespread in soil and water. It would thus be possible for them to appear unintentionally in menstrual products. And improved scientific instruments and tests can nowadays find ever smaller quantities of substances, which could explain the detection of some of these chemicals in Dr Kannan’s tests. But even trace amounts might affect someone’s hormonal balance.

Discovering the truth here is hard—not least because the relevant tests are difficult to perform. Toxicity tests, which can be carried out only on animals, generally look for extreme responses, such as cancers or death. Checking for symptoms like itchiness, disrupted cycles or worsened cramps would require specific human tests.

On top of all that, existing studies of chemical safety often rely on administration by mouth. These are a poor basis for estimating the impact of vaginal exposure, since substances ingested orally have first to pass through the destructive chemical furnace that is the gastrointestinal system before they are absorbed into the body. Similarly, drawing conclusions from skin exposure in areas like the forearm may be a flawed approach, because this skin is far less permeable than vulvar skin.

As Kabrena Rodda, a forensic toxicologist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, in Washington state, observes, “We just don’t know very much about either the short or long term effects of chemicals from vaginal exposures.” But without official standards on what is a safe dose of chemicals to be exposed to routinely, vaginally, firms are left having to choose their own testing methods and thresholds.

One possible reason for problems may be that small, rogue manufacturers are producing substandard goods. Some complaints coming from America concern products from less-well-known companies, which could skip independent testing and exploit gaps in regulations.

Another could be inconsistent manufacturing practices between countries, brands and even batches. Some Kenyan women tweeting about their experiences noted that irritating symptoms went away when they used pads imported from America or Britain. p&g initially denied any differences between their products. It now says that “Our product composition may slightly vary from region to region, due to different material supply chains, different production sites, different consumer preferences and local legislation.” Tweeters on #MyAlwaysExperience also noted that locally produced “cotton-feel” pads seemed to have a rougher perforated top-sheet than imported versions.

Test of reason

The Swedish Institute for Standards, a think-tank, has proposed creating a worldwide standard for menstrual products. This would include guidance on limits for various chemicals in them, on acceptable testing methods, and on materials. This idea passed an initial vote at the International Organisation for Standardisation, a confederation of national standards bodies also known as the iso, this year. The iso hopes that, by taking cues from existing standards on products such as condoms and sex toys, it can establish guidelines which could reduce inconsistencies between brands, products and batches.

Some smaller firms are popularising replacement products which they claim are safer, though none is perfect. Period underwear, made out of moisture-wicking material such as polyester, is an environmentally conscious alternative to pads since, as long as clean running water is available, it can be washed and reused. Menstrual cups are small, flexible receptacles, also usually reusable, that supplant tampons by collecting a woman’s flow rather than absorbing it.

Other companies are trying to make existing products safer. For example Daye, a British firm, is voluntarily certified under iso 13485, a stringent standard for medical-device makers. It hopes thus to set a higher bar for the entire industry.

The onus now, though, is really on scientists, regulators and public-health agencies to fill the gaps in knowledge about period products. Safe thresholds for chemicals are useful only in the contexts in which they have been developed, so may be unsuitable, given the vagina’s unique permeability. Drawing up specific tests for vaginal exposure would be a labyrinthine task, but without it regulators are unlikely to find satisfactory answers. In absence of these data, women have little choice but to hope sanitary products are safe. ■

THE ECONOMIST

Correction of Recent News Articles relating to Sri Lanka Embassy in Oman

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Correction of Recent News Articles relating to Sri Lanka Embassy in Oman

The attention of the Ministry is drawn to several news articles in the media related to an employee of the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau who was attached to the Sri Lanka Embassy in Oman.

It is noted that the articles grossly mislead the public by referring to the officer allegedly involved in the incident as an Omani official.

In view of the excellent close and cordial bilateral relations between Sri lanka  and the Sultanate of Oman, the Ministry requests the media to correct their inaccurate references  and correction to be published with equal degree of prominence.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

15 December, 2022

Ambassador Wishwanath Aponsu presents Letter of Credence to Chairperson of Mejlis of Turkmenistan Gülşat Mämmedowa

MIAP
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Ambassador Wishwanath Aponsu presents Letter of Credence to Chairperson of Mejlis of Turkmenistan Gülşat Mämmedowa

Ambassador G.M.V. Wishwanath Aponsu, presented his Letter of Credence to the Chairperson (Speaker) of Mejlis (Parliament) of Turkmenistan Gülşat Mämmedowa on 08 December 2022 at the Mejlis Complex in Ashgabat accrediting him as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sri Lanka to Turkmenistan.

Welcoming the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Republic of Turkmenistan, the Chairperson of Mejlis Gülşat Mämmedowa congratulated Ambassador Wishwanath Aponsu and expressed their confidence that he will continue to further fortify the relations between the two countries. While conveying greetings from President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and the people of Sri Lanka to President Serdar Berdimuhamedow and the people of Turkmenistan, the Ambassador assured to make every effort to further strengthen bilateral relations specially in trade, investment, energy, tourism and legislature sectors.

During the meeting with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Vepa Hajiyev at the Foreign Office of Turkmenistan, Ambassador Aponsu underlined the importance of convening bilateral political consultations, exchanging high-level visits, establishing inter-parliamentary interactions, strengthening the existing cooperation in the fields of agriculture, textile industries, education, culture & arts, tourism, environment and urban planning. The Deputy Foreign Minister assured to Ambassador Aponsu the support of the Government of Turkmenistan to strengthen the relations between the two countries. It was also proposed to make a high-level visit from Turkmenistan to Sri Lanka in the first Quarter of 2023.  

The Ambassador also met the Minister of Energy, Deputy Minister of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations and expressed the importance of expanding two-way trade and investment and strengthening cooperation in power, energy and chemical sectors between Sri Lanka and Turkmenistan. The Turkmenistan side agreed to consider the matters during a future high-level visit and discussed the possibility of holding a virtual meeting between the two business chambers in advance. Discussions were also held with the Head of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan with a view of expanding existing relations in the fields of industry, trade, investments, tourism and other related sectors of cooperation.

Ambassador Aponsu is a Grade I Officer of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service and served as the Acting High Commissioner in Sri Lanka High Commission in Singapore and in Sri Lanka’s Missions in Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and India. He is a graduate in Management and Finance of the University of Colombo, and holds Masters Degrees in Political Science and in International Relations from the University of Kelaniya and Annamalai University, India respectively. He is a past pupil of Prince of Wales College in Moratuwa.

Sri Lanka Embassy

Tehran

15 December 2022

What is the role of HR Dept at CBSL? Patting cry babies at Top Mgt, or equal treatment?

MIAP
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What is the role of HR Dept at CBSL? Patting cry babies at Top Mgt, or equal treatment?

Following the threatening letter sent to all employees at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) by its Human Resource Department demanding their written disapproval of the joint trade union action of criticising the incumbent Governor on or before a deadline (today), the trade unions of the CBSL have sent a joint letter to the Department, concluding that all decisions taken by trade unions are on the basis of unanimous or majority agreements of the executive committee of the trade unions, and that as the responsibility for these decisions rests with the trade unions, sending letters targeting individuals personally against these decisions cannot be approved of.

Accordingly, a letter signed by the five major trade unions of the CBSL denoted that the incumbent Governor failing to respond to the letters submitted by the trade unions regarding their grievances mainly contributed to the turmoil within the Bank, and that this has also made a negative impact on the industrial peace within the institutional environment.

The right of a trade union to express its opinion has been violated by the HR Department’s drastic response in defence of the Top Management of the CBSL, and such undue influence would be an obstacle to a trade union’s role towards its membership, the letter pointed out.

It added that it would be appropriate if the Human Resource Department of the CBSL caters to equal treatment for all employees, in the manner in which it works to appease its Top Management.

On December 01, 2022, all trade unions of the CBSL made a historic move by issuing a letter backed by about 200 employees levelling criticism against Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe, for failing to respond to the grievances of the employees. This was notably the first time in the history of the CBSL for all trade unions to make a joint effort to criticise the conduct of a serving Governor.

The CBSL Human Resource Department made rather a hostile response to this trade union action, demanding a written disapproval of the letter from all CBSL workers on or before 15.12.2022 (today), warning that any employee failing to meet the deadline shall be held accountable for the trade unions’ remarks against the Governor.

Previous reports:

Repression makes its way into CBSL as HR Dept issues threatening letter against trade union action
CBSL employees criticize the CBSL governor in a letter for the first time in history

Former CBSL Chief Cabraal urges critics to ‘read his book first,’ seen distributing copies

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Former CBSL Chief Cabraal urges critics to ‘read his book first,’ seen distributing copies

Former Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Ajith Nivard Cabraal was seen distributing several copies of his new book, “Among Economic Hitmen” to journalists on a public platform.

The journalists questioned the former Governor on comments made by his successor criticising the book, to which Cabraal replied, “He can make any comment, but you read the book first.”

Source: Daily Mirror

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Overseas travel ban on State Minister Diana Gamage temporarily lifted

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Overseas travel ban on State Minister Diana Gamage temporarily lifted

The overseas travel ban imposed on Tourism State Minister Diana Gamage has been temporarily lifted by the Colombo Chief Magistrate Court today (15).

Accordingly, the overseas travel ban imposed on the State Minister was lifted for a period of five days, as the petition against Gamage was taken up for hearing today.

The decision comes in following a request made by Gamage’s lawyer to grant relief as his client is expecting to travel abroad from December 21 to 23 and for three days from December 28.

The overseas travel ban was imposed on Gamage on November 11, and was extended till November 17 and thereafter December 15, based on a petition filed against the State Minister challenging the legitimacy of her passport, birth certificate, and National Identity Card.

MIAP

Is 2023 going to be worse globally than 2022? IMF’s Gita Gopinath tells it like it is

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Is 2023 going to be worse globally than 2022? IMF’s Gita Gopinath tells it like it is

“Given the tough landscape, India certainly is doing relatively well and it has had a few quarters of 4-6% growth and that helps in terms of again closing the gap from the sharp contraction that happened in 2020 in terms of coming back to the pre pandemic path. We have seen private consumption recover well in India, investment doing well and we expect investment to be an important engine of growth going forward,” says Gita Gopinath, Dy MD, IMF

What are the challenges facing the global economy?
Indeed the world is going through a challenging period, there are many big issues that require global cooperation. If I were to just name some, one would be food and energy security the other is issues of debt. We are seeing what happened with the crypto landscape. If there is action to be taken on that front, it will require international coordination.

There are many issues that require countries coming and working together and which is why the G20 plays a very important role at this point. India having the presidency is really critical to this. India has been championing the Global South to make sure that sufficient financing is going to low income countries and that is going to be very critical looking ahead.

You already had a set of meetings and is there anything that you can share in terms of takeaways? A hot topic has been cooperation debt management, especially for low income countries, which were beaten by geopolitical tensions?
We have looked at the global outlook and the main challenges that the world faces. Again in the issue of food and energy security, there have been important steps that are being taken that have come out to work at the G20. This comes from Indonesia’s presidency but it will be taken over by India to ensure that there are no restrictions on exports of goods and food coming out of countries, minimising supply disruptions and finding a way to keep energy prices stable to avoid the tremendous volatility that we have seen around the world. All of that is important to deal with the cost of living crisis that we are seeing.

The second is on the debt front. About 60% of low income countries are either already in debt stress or in high risk of debt stress. The G20 produces the common framework to help countries resolve this debt problem and progress has been made with a couple of countries. But a lot more needs to be done and India is on the forefront of pushing for concrete actions to get much faster debt resolution for countries.

Sustainable finance is a big part of what we need in cooperation in terms of climate finance, again especially for the Global South. We are also making sure that technology transfers happen. These are all the issues which could not happen if we did not get all the relevant countries in the room to have these discussions.

What about crypto taxation? Every nation is trying to figure out what to do and we have had this whole crypto blowout. Is that on the agenda at all and your thoughts on that?
Absolutely, it is a key part of the agenda because every single country cannot deal with this problem on its own because the borders in that sense are porous. It is digital and can escape very easily and therefore there is a lot of action being taken on that front at the IMF. We are working very closely with India on coming up with principles on what regulations might look like but more importantly, in terms of what the consequences can be for the macro economy, how it affects cross border capital flows, the risks in monetary sovereignty and so on.

We are working on them and working closely with the FSB and the BIS and these other institutions that are very key to regulating crypto on the global landscape. This is the year when we expect to have substantial progress in this matter. I think this has been slow coming.

I think it is interesting you referred to it as a problem because the central bank in India definitely sees crypto as a problem. Is that a view you share because this is something that has divided people? There are crypto zealots who believe it is the next coming and those who think it is going to destroy the financial system, I am curious to know your own views?
The way I think about it is there is the technology that underlies a lot of these new financial instruments, the cryptography, the blockchain technology that underlies it, has the potential of solving some of the problems that we have grappled with including cross border payments and financial inclusion.

You can have smart contracts because if you tokenise money, you can have much more smart contracts that help in terms of issues of governance. There is a promise of technology but that said, the manifestation of that in the current form is seen with the meltdown in the markets. Without the regulation, it is like the wild west and very highly valued companies basically were not following the right practices and we have seen the meltdown that followed.

So farm all of that is being contained. Thankfully we have not seen spillovers to the broader economy from this meltdown but we cannot take that for granted and that is why we need to make sure that we have the right regulations in place.

Let me turn to the world economy. The last world economic outlook that the IMF put out did another downgrade of global growth to 2.7%. Your next numbers will be out early next year. Is it going to look worse? Is 2023 going to be worse than expected earlier?
It is still a little early to pin that down. Compared to October, the third quarter of this year for the US and Europe turned out to be better than expected for a few other countries too. So the global outlook was in some sense appraised on the upside but the fourth quarter high frequency data is in line with the slowing that we are projecting for next year and the country for which we have had the most significant deterioration in the outlook has been China.

Just in terms of the numbers that we are seeing and the high frequency has implications for what we will do with the numbers going forward. The reason we think next year is going to be worse than this year is because that is when we really see the consequences of all the monetary policy tightening that has happened around the world because as we know empirically it affects it with the lag and we will see that happening next year; but there is still a lot of uncertainty. I think the energy markets are still a source of a risk, we could see prices going up or down, there is a lot of volatility that can come in through that again China’s economy, how it performs is again a source of uncertainty but we will have numbers in January.

Crude has been cooling off recently largely on fears of a China slowdown. Is that a relief of any kind at all in terms of energy prices or do you see the situation worsening?
Energy prices are coming down because people expect a global recession and that is not the best way to bring prices down; being able to increase supply would be better way of bringing crude prices down but yes, for countries that are energy importers, the decline in prices will certainly help.

On the flip side – countries that are commodity exporters and there are several emerging and developing economies in that space – will now find themselves more exposed to global financial conditions and the tightening that we are seeing because what we are seeing recently that the countries that are oil exporters have been somewhat shielded while the , importers have been more affected by it, including when it comes to their currencies.

We are talking about a global recession as a given at this point?
No. In fact, our base line is for global growth to go down to 2.7%. If I want to think of something that looks like a global recession, you have to go significantly below that. There are rare circumstances when growth goes under 2% which is usually associated with a global financial crisis, the peak of the pandemic and so on. That is not our baseline and we certainly have downside scenarios where that might happen.

If I speak about the possibility of recession in America, is that a fear on the horizon?
Given the amount of monetary policy tightening that has happened and the fiscal policy tightening that has happened, we expect the growth in the US to slow some more and we expect unemployment to go up some. Now whether that would be in recessionary territory is yet to be determined.

The way we see it is we think that it is a pretty narrow path to avoid a recession in the US, given what we are seeing in terms of these fundamental drivers. But that said, if you look at the data, even up until now there is a lot of resiliency in private consumption and a lot of strength in the labour markets in the US. So we are going to hold on to see what happens in the next months.

Does it look grim for Europe?
Europe has been more directly impacted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the consequences on gas prices. So, yes, they are much more negatively impacted. We have seen for instance visible divergence in how retail sales are looking in the US relative to Europe. The US is strong, the more recent data that came in for Europe was much weaker in line with the projection that we will have. About half the Euro countries have negative growth in the fourth quarter. So it is a tougher time for them.

Everyone is looking out for the Fed action. It will be the last this calendar year. What are you pencilling in? Do you think the Federal Reserve will ease up and broadly do you see central bankers continuing to hold the reins very tight?
On the positive side, they have had a second month of inflation coming down and surprisingly somewhat on the downside. This is particularly true for headline inflation. Core inflation in terms of the annual rate is still high at around 6%, though monthly that rate is coming down. So things are moving in the right direction but when inflation is still at 7% and core inflation is at 6%, well above the 2% target, I think the Fed will need to stay the course in terms of making sure that inflation comes back to its target.

Now it certainly helps that the dynamics are moving in the right direction which means that the pace of increasing interest rates will moderate relative to what we have seen in the last couple of rounds and then the question is how long do they hold on to that higher level. Given most projections that we see, it would take a while for it to come down.

A slew of agencies have recently released their India outlook. One has upgraded it and the others have downgraded, The ballpark seems to be between 6.8% and 7% of growth this year may be about 6.1% odd for the next year, how do you look at India relative to what is happening in the world, we know recession is off the table when it comes to India but do you think that this whole narrative that this is a bright spot relatively stands true?
The growth numbers for India that we put out in October was 6.8% for FY2022 and 6.1% for the next year. The data that we have seen since then are in line with those projections. In terms of its performance relative to other countries, India is certainly in a relative bright spot because for about a third of the countries, GDP is basically contracting either this year or next.

Given the tough landscape, India certainly is doing relatively well and it has had a few quarters of 4-6% growth and that helps in terms of again closing the gap from the sharp contraction that happened in 2020 in terms of coming back to the pre pandemic path. We have seen private consumption recover well in India, investment doing well and we expect investment to be an important engine of growth going forward.

Private consumption growth will probably slow down just because of what we saw this year was also coming out of the pandemic and the spending that came with it. So there are several things that are going well in India right now.

Broadly speaking, do you see inflation as a big red flag easing as well? We have had a relatively decent inflation print, the latest one has come in at 11-month low or at least the lowest this year so far. Do you see inflation easing up and monetary policy tightening beginning to pan out?
India’s headline inflation has now come within the RBI’s band but that said, an important reason for that is coming from food prices and we know that food prices are highly volatile. So, we should be a little careful before declaring success. The stickier components of inflation remain at the upper end of the range of 6% and we see that RBI has done well to raise interest rates by around 225 bps since the middle of this year. We will likely need more tightening though the exact magnitude and the pace should be data dependent.

Economic Times

Opposition Leader exchanges views on moving forward at All Party Meeting (VIDEO)

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Opposition Leader exchanges views on moving forward at All Party Meeting (VIDEO)

Everyone should get together sparing differences of nationality, religion and ethnicity and accomplish the goal of saving the country in view of building a unitary Sri Lanka, said Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa, addressing the All-Party conference convened by President Ranil Wickremesinghe two days (13) ago.

Contributing, the Opposition Leader emphasised that laws and regulations eliminating nationalism, racism and religious zeal shall be passed in Parliament and that it would be imperative that the trust between all constituencies of the population is ensured.

He noted that politicians should respect the differences of political ideology and opinions, adding that on the occasion of working together as a country, all differences shall be set aside.

MIAP

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