IMF slices open the guts of the deep state

That is what ministers are for— well, apart from those things the public is in the dark about. Ministers are readily available to apply thick layers of cream on a rancid cake besides any that could be creamed off the top.

So acting Finance Minister Shehan Semasinghe, who is not reluctant to burst into words in or out of parliament, tried the other day to convince an already irate and disgruntled public waiting anxiously for the day they could cast their vote, that all is well with Sri Lanka’s discussions with the IMF on the next tranche of its bailout loan.

It is all “progressing positively,” reported the Presidential Media Division confidently parroting Semasinghe’s words at the news conference. One might say the PMD was doing its job even if it sometimes tends to add more spin than our Murali at the best of times.

But what is unpardonable is when the PMD, which reportedly has a staff of 184 according to what I heard someone say on TV though I cannot vouch for its veracity, ventures into areas outside its remit and seemingly beyond its understanding.

“In a significant diplomatic gesture President Ranil Wickremesinghe extended warm congratulations to Dr Mohamed Muizzu, the newly elected President of Maldives, solidifying the bonds of friendship and cooperation between the two countries,” said the PMD stamping its own authority on what seemed a done deal and next week one could expect a fleet of dhonis carrying boats load of Maldive fish unloading its cargo in Colombo for the delectation of those at the Presidential secretariat.

What kind of glue he used to “solidifying” the bonds besides the customary congratulations and strengthening of bilateral relations is not mentioned.

But why on earth is this “significant”? Every hour of every day, so to speak, around the globe such diplomatic exchanges and pleasantries occur between world leaders and lesser beings of different ranks, which is a common or garden diplomatic practice. Moreover, this is good neighbourliness as anybody with basic knowledge of pro forma diplomacy knows.

If the PMD panjandrums wish to check back they would find the number of such messages of congratulations and goodwill Ranil Wickremesinghe received on assuming the presidency and how many of those messages held out promises of close or closer bilateral relations etc, etc.

How in this particular instance it turned out to be a “significant diplomatic gesture” defeats understanding. Surely to call this particular message of congratulations which is basic protocol, “significant” could well be considered an unfortunate embarrassment to President Wickremesinghe by those who read more than the geopolitical tea leaves.

Detractors of the WickremesingheRajapaksa administration have commented on the growing nexus between Sri Lanka and India and have even chastised President Wickremesinghe for presenting on a platter, as it were, a crucial chunk of the country’s land mass to the Narendra Modi government and its business cronies along with the critical Trincomalee harbour area that would provide an Indian presence.

One could have understood if those worthy spin doctors (now that the real doctors have taken flight though surely not on SriLankan Airlines) had held back on such linguistic hyperbole for an appropriate occasion.

I don’t mean like our outstanding foreign minister Ali Sabry (who I did see standing outside one day) trying to fight above his weight taking on Canadian Justin Trudeau when Mr Ali Sabry should not have been in the ring at all.

What we have seen in the Maldivian elections the other day is the defeat of the pro-Indian Maldivian president and the victory of the pro-Chinese Mohamed Muizzu in what was seen as the outcome of an ongoing tussle between the two Indian Ocean big powers to secure more than a foothold in an archipelagic state close to the strategic international sea lanes.

To label what was a customary message of congratulations from Sri Lanka’s president to his close neighbour in the Maldives as a “significant diplomatic gesture” could well be interpreted in several ways, including Sri Lanka’s attempts to rebuild relations with China through the Maldives, after Colombo’s Faustian deal with India and China’s recalcitrance in agreeing to a common foreign debt restructuring plan, continues to concern the IMF.

When the negotiations with the IMF first started under this government, it was hailed by the likes of State Minister Semasinghe that the saviour was here and we would be pulled out of our economic morass thanks to the antics of Gotabaya and his ill-advisors.

The IMF arrangement under which the current government made various concessions which many critics called selling the family silver instead of the carefully considered give-and-take negotiations that some economists and knowledgeable persons expected, was considered a major step forward.

And when the first tranche of that bailout loan was approved, there was much celebration but not by the increasing numbers of people who were heading below the poverty line or the school children reportedly going without their regular meals.

So the first instalment arrived and the government and its worthies waited with growing confidence and a rubbing of their palms for the second that was expected before long.

But the bated breath was soon exhaled. The IMF quite accustomed to Sri Lanka jumping ship halfway— it is said to have happened 16 times before—had turned tougher than expected and was not ready to turn its loans into largesse.

And here we are pages full of short and immediate-term recommendations the IMF wants done if it is to proceed further. And they are priority recommendations and no amount of globe-trotting and paying poojas to various leaders at different capitals is going to ease the situation now that one Washington twin has deftly penetrated our guts.

Some of those recommendations relate to important issues that Sri Lankan people have known for decades and have been calling on successive governments to end.

But those cries have gone unheeded. At the heart of the problem are politicians and their cronies who have stolen the assets of the Sri Lankan people and garaged them abroad for them and their progeny to use at their will and pleasure.

Corruption is the bane of Sri Lanka and for donkeys’ years the people have known this but the donkeys that have ruled the nation have turned their backs on it.

One of the IMF recommendations calls for the publication of the assets declarations of senior officials such as the president, the prime minister, ministers etc on a designated website in line with the Anti-Corruption Law and wants it done by April 2024.

Just a few days ago SJB’s Harsha de Silva told parliament that only 12 of the 225 MPs had declared their assets. If lawmakers can disregard their own laws with such scant unconcern, should they ever be given the right to make laws for the country?

Two questions arise. What have the Speaker who should be the recipient of such declarations and the senior parliamentary officials done, and what should be done about the dereliction of their duties and responsibilities?

Should not the names of those MPs who have failed to fulfil their obligation be disclosed to the country, perhaps through the Right to Information (RTI) Commission which has certainly won the respect of the IMF as its report implies?

Why is nothing being done to prosecute these law breakers when obnoxious laws are presented in the same parliament to prosecute peaceful protestors who are only exercising their constitutional rights?

VBut those cries have gone unheeded. At the heart of the problem are politicians and their cronies who have stolen the assets of the Sri Lankan people and garaged them abroad for them and their progeny to use at their will and pleasure.