IMF Envoy Warns: Govt on Shaky Ground!
Govt Set to Lose Big in Local Poll Shocker!
JVP Joins the Circus: May Day Turns Mainstream!
Govt Goons Run Wild on Expressway!
Govt Bows to U.S. Tariffs—But Fumbles the Follow-Up!
Mahinda Quits Finance in Surprise Exit Bombshell!
Election Results
It is observed that many are keen and eagerly awaiting the results of LG electionswhich is being competed in a very intense manner which has never seen before in the history of the Local Government election. This is due to many upheavals expected based on these results.
Historically, the victory of the incumbent government is imminent in the local government elections. However, a change in this pattern was noted in the 2018 LG elections due to the unpopularity of the ‘yahapalanaya’ government that took power in 2015 lost its popularity within three years of assuming power. As a new entrant to politics as the Party ‘pohottuwa’ won the public and won the Local government elections, beating the incumbent government.
Malima government is holding the Local government this year, which is seven months after recording two huge political victories. In Such scenarios it is usual to expect a landslide victory for the ruling party in all local government institutions.
However, due to the socio-economic and political environment that the country is saddled with in the seven months of ‘Malima’ government and its incapacity to handled them satisfactorily the many doubt a landslide victory for the government. Argument is placed out of 341 LG institutions government party would secure power in only about 100 of them. Some other arguments put this at 75 LG institutions. The argument behind this highlights the popularity the SJB has gained at present would end up victorious in many LG institutions over the government, along with the combined opposition parties.
Why is that?
Many arguments were made about this; one among these is that voters have not shown any keenness to the government election campaigns as they showed in the previous two national elections, and the government secured victory. Especially the keenness and enthusiasm shown by the public servants, irrespective of age and gender, showed a draining effect in these elections, as over 50% of public servants did not apply to cast their vote in this election.
Secondly, many voters have publicly claimed that they would abstain from voting for any party this time around. This places the outcome of this election will be a very decisive one due to this. Many foreign embassies based in Sri Lanka are watching with much interest on the outcome of this election. The International Monetary Fund and these missions are waiting to implement some decisions on Sri Lanka.
IMF gets tough
The successor to Mr. Peter Brewer IMF representative to Sri Lanka, during his maiden visit to Sri Lanka, addressing the press, made a serious statement which was an eye opener to everyone concerned. New representative succeeding Mr. Peter Brewer, who has been dealing with Sri Lanka for a long by this statement sounds serious.
He said that although steps were taken to reach a staff agreement to release the fourth tranche to Sri Lanka, two conditions had to be met according to the agreement signed between the two parties in order to release the fourth tranche.
The first of these was the increase in electricity bills. Sri Lanka had agreed to a mechanism to cover the cost of electricity supply, but since it had not been implemented until the end of April, the IMF had maintained that the Electricity Board was still a huge burden on the public finances. Accordingly, the IMF indicated that the fourth installment could not be released until the relevant adjustment was made.
The second was financial guarantees and debt restructuring. The IMF has informed the government that it must demonstrate how multilateral financial support guarantees and government debt restructuring are being implemented in a sustainable manner. It was also a condition of the IMF that the loss making Sri Lankan company, which are a huge burden on the government, must be restructured immediately.
It is clear from these IMF conditions that the government will have to increase the electricity bill by a noticeable amount immediately after the local government elections are over.
Conflict of opinion
Many questionable incidents placed the government and the International Monetary Fund at an unpleasant situation which is not surfaced to the public.
Information we received indicates that the IMF has informed the government about a serious violation of the agreement reached between them. IMF has repeatedly urged to government to refrain from giving tax concessions to businesses and investors at all. This clearly states government should implement it very strictly.
IMF condition stated that the government should not interfere in any activity that provided such tax concessions. The IMF had also informed the government that the government should formulate a policy of not providing tax concessions or a ‘tax exemption policy’ related to it.
However, despite this, a serious violation by the government was reported. The government has given a foreign investor who came through a local investor the opportunity to start a factory in the free trade zone by providing large-scale tax concessions. With this news, the IMF has presented a strict condition to the government, saying that it should immediately suspend this foreign investment.
However, the government has said to the IMF that by the agreements, tax concessions will not be provided to investments in the future, but that the condition should be relaxed only at this time. Nonetheless, it is said that the IMF has not agreed to it. Accordingly, it is said that with this incident, the goodwill between the government and the IMF has been damaged to an extent.
With the statement issued by the new representative of the IMF due to the issue of electricity bills coming to the fore, there is a risk that the government will be severely influenced by the IMF in the future. Many people think that it will most likely have a severe impact on the country’s economy.
Tariff Negotiations
Sri Lankan delegation that went to the US to hold talks with American representatives to remove the 44% tariff rate imposed on Sri Lanka by US President Donald Trump?
Last week, we pointed out in this column that Deputy Minister of Finance Harshana Suriyapperuma, Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe, Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena and the Secretary to the Ministry of Trade participated in these talks.
While no information was reported regarding the outcome of these talks, a speech made by the President on the political stage last week said that the talks were very successful and that a joint statement with agreement from both sides was to be issued on the same day. This was given wide publicity not only in the local media but also in the international media. Since no such agreement had been reached by then, the local authorities had immediately taken steps to report the news to Washington, D.C., according to the ‘inside politics’ column.
The result was that Washington authorities were somewhat disappointed that the President had publicly stated facts about a matter which the Trump administration had not agreed to, and a joint statement was not issued as the President had promised.
With no joint statement being issued, the Presidential Media Unit issued a statement a few days later, stating that the government had submitted a proposal to the Washington authorities, and that there was agreement to take the negotiations forward to reach a bilateral trade agreement between the two countries.
What happened?
However, a few days after this announcement was made, Deputy Minister of Finance Harshana Suriyapperuma, who participated in the talks in Washington, stated at a press conference that the government had submitted a proposal to the Washington authorities and that the government was waiting for a positive response. Through this, it was clear that there was a contradiction between the statement made by the President on the political stage and the statement made by Minister Harshana, who participated in the Washington talks.
However, the information we have in this regard indicates that no final decision has been taken in this discussion regarding the removal of the tariffs imposed by Trump within 90 days. As we said last week, nothing else happened during the discussion except that the group involved in Sri Lanka was ready to buy more oil, gas, vehicles, etc., from the United States and that the 88% tax rate imposed on American goods was to be reduced to 0%.
No final decision
Many factors have influenced the two countries not to reach a final decision. Not only Sri Lanka, but almost all countries in the world are currently negotiating with the United States regarding the reduction of tariffs imposed on their countries. Therefore, the United States has given priority not only in trade transactions, but also in social, economic and political issues to first discuss with countries that have more value and then change these tariff rates.
Sri Lanka is at a very low position in that list. That is why many people believe that it will take a while for Sri Lanka to reach an agreement with the United States. Accordingly, along with the IMF crisis, Trump’s tariff crisis is also the main crisis that the government will face after the local government elections. Many people point out that this tax issue can be saved from the pile by implementing it in practice rather than sending proposals through letters to resolve the tariff issue. Many believe that the consequences of these can be minimised based on the measures taken by the government in this regard.
Mahinda is leaving
A key figure who made a decisive contribution to rebuilding the country that went bankrupt during the Corona crisis and the Gotabaya Rajapaksa regime is set to leave his post at the end of this month. That is none other than Mahinda Siriwardena, the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and the Secretary to the Treasury.
When Mahinda Siriwardena served as the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance not only during Gota’s but also during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s regime, he was known to be strongly opposed by all members of the opposition. That was because there were allegations that Mahinda had acted in 2023 to not allocate the necessary funds for holding the local government elections at Ranil’s request. At that time, the opposition leaders not only severely criticized Mahinda but even resorted to taking legal action against him.
However, after the Malima government came to power, Mahinda Siriwardena was not removed from the post of Secretary to the Ministry of Finance. This is because Mahinda Siriwardena was working very closely with institutions such as the IMF, the Asian Development Bank, and the World Bank to overcome the current economic crisis. In short, Mahinda Siriwardena continued the economic policy brought by Ranil without changing even a single letter. However, Mahinda Siriwardena was to retire from his position at the end of this month.
Mahinda had informed the government about this a few months ago, and we also report it as a special news item at the time through the ‘inside politics’ column. We said that Mahinda had informed not only the government but also former President Ranil Wickremesinghe that he was retiring.
A position in the Philippines
However, it is also reported that the business community, which was upset with the news that Mahinda Siriwardena would be retiring at the end of this month, had immediately inquired about it from the President. At that time, the President had informed the business community that Mahinda Siriwardena was a very capable officer and that he would not allow him to retire, and he would continue in that position.
Mahinda has now decided to retire from his position on May 31st. Accordingly, it is learned that he has been recommended for a special position in the Philippines at the Asian Development Bank from June 1st. However, many say that Mahinda Siriwardena decided to bid farewell to his position, seeing the danger that the government would face in the next few months.
Who will fill the position vacated by Mahinda? It was previously reported that Duminda Hulangamuwa, an economic advisor to the President, would be appointed to it. But later it is also said that he has refused to accept the post. Accordingly, the government has invited several other prominent figures these days, but it is learned that several of them have refused to accept the post. Accordingly, the government will have to go through a precarious journey after the election.
May Day Rally Trouble
Since Labour Day fell before the provincial elections, all the mainstream parties in the country had planned to hold their May Day rallies with high public participation and attract the attention of the people. Accordingly, the ruling Malima government had decided to hold its May Day rally at the Galle Face grounds, while the main opposition, the SJB, had decided to hold its May Day rally in Talawakele. Although former President Ranil Wickremesinghe had to ban the use of the Galle Face grounds for political activities through a cabinet decision after the struggle, the Compass had removed that ban through a cabinet decision and reserved the Galle Face grounds for its May Day rally.
However, it is an undeniable fact that this time a larger number of people participated in the Galle Face May Day rally of the Compass than other parties.
Highway Feast
Various discussions were seen on social media based on the May rallies of each party. The most talked-about thing on social media from the compass side was the way in which people who were brought to the May rallies by buses stopped halfway on the expressway to buy food and drinks. This was heavily criticised on social media, and it was said that the law should be implemented immediately.
In addition to this, an incident that has not been seen at JVP May rallies so far was also seen this time. Although the JVP usually organises it in a very organised manner, for the first May rallies held after taking power this time, people were seen drunk and dancing while playing music, just like other political parties.
A photo was taken while the President was delivering his speech. The photo was taken by a photojournalist working for a major media network in the country. The journalist had later posted it on his Facebook page due to the uniqueness of the photo. However, as it received a lot of publicity on social media, the media outlet where the journalist worked received a phone call from the Presidential Media Unit.
Phone call
The phone call, made by a senior official of the Presidential Media Unit, stated that the photo in question was seen as insulting to the President and that steps should be taken to remove it immediately. Accordingly, the media outlet had immediately called the photojournalist and informed him to remove the photo of the President from his Facebook account, and he had remove the relevant photo.
However, he had removed the photo and made a special note in this regard on his Facebook account. It stated, ‘The interpretation of a photograph varies according to one’s own opinion. The photo had to be removed.’
At the same time, not only prominent journalists in the country but also social media activists posted the relevant photo on their Facebook pages, expressing strong opposition to the announcement made by the Presidential Media Unit. In this way, this photo, which attracted a lot of attention on social media and the wrath of the Presidential Media Unit, is shown below.
Why did Sajith go?
While various stories were emerging on social media regarding the May Day rally in Malimawa, a special incident also occurred at the SJB May Day rally held in Talawakelle. That was, as soon as Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa finished his speech and left the stage, a large number of people who had participated in the rally also left the meeting ground. Even though several key speakers were still to speak, the incident was reported and it was widely publicized on social media.
However, there was another reason for this. Since it was the last few days of the local government elections, Sajith had several special duties on May 1st. The first of these was to attend the commemoration of his father in the morning. Sajith was then scheduled to attend the May Day rally in Talawakelle, followed by an interview with social media activists in Colombo and a Derana 360 program at night.
Busy schedule
Due to a busy schedule, Sajith had planned to go to Talawakelle that day by helicopter. However, due to heavy rainfall in the Nuwara Eliya area the day before, the airline officials had informed that if it rained on May 1st as well, the flight would have to be suspended. However, due to good weather conditions on May 1st, Sajith attended the Premadasa memorial service in the morning and then flew directly to Talawakelle.
The problem arose because the weather in the Talawakelle area had started to change before the May Day rally began. Accordingly, the helicopter pilots immediately informed Sajith that he should leave as soon as possible, otherwise the flight would have to be suspended. Because of this, Sajith’s party general secretary Ranjith Maddumabandara, while sitting on the stage, announced that he is to leave for Colombo immediately and would leave for Colombo as soon as he finished his speech.
But Sajith did not expect that the party members would also leave the meeting venue with his departure. However, when this incident also received a lot of publicity on social media, Charith Abeysinghe, a young activist of the SJB, responded on his Facebook page by writing, ‘SJB means Sajith’.
A ‘yoker’
Accordingly, Sajith, who arrived in Colombo, participated in the 360 program hosted by Kalindu Karunaratne on Derana TV that night. While Sajith was giving clear answers to many questions asked, Kalindu asked Sajith a question related to the International Monetary Fund. It was the story that Sajith often raises on the political stage, that when the IMF proposed the commencement of loans settlement in 2033, Ranil Wickremesinghe pushed it to 2028 and put the country in a crisis.
When Kalindu raised this issue, Sajith stated that his statement was correct, but Kalindu said that when he had asked this question of Dr. Harsha de Silva, an SJB economic expert who had come to the same place earlier, he had stated that he did not know about such a thing. At that time, Sajith clearly stated that he was a politician who never lies. When Sajith said that he did not have the relevant documents at the moment and that he could provide them later if necessary, Kalindu said that it was unacceptable and that if it could not be presented at this time, the people would consider it false and that there was no point in presenting the relevant documents later.
Immediate action
However, while the discussion was continuing, Sajith left a message to his staff and informed them to immediately provide him with the relevant documents. Accordingly, within a few minutes, Sajith took steps to bring the confidential report that had been issued by the International Monetary Fund and presented the same to the 360 newsroom.
Moreover, Sajith also took steps to give Kalindu the relevant part to read. Kalindu was very surprised when he read that part live and took steps to inform the opposition leader that he was right, and therefore the opposition leader himself should read the relevant part to the country. Accordingly, Sajith read the section titled ‘Top Secret’, confirming that the statement he made was 100% correct.
However, it is unlikely that Dr. Harsha de Silva, an economic expert, was unaware of this information. If so, Harsha did not say it before then either with the intention of embarrassing the opposition leader. Or with the intention of protecting Ranil Wickremesinghe. In any case, it is said that Sajith is scheduled to take many tough decisions regarding such incidents after the local government elections.
The Easter Mastermind
The Easter attacks were one of the main topics instrumental in overthrowing several previous governments after 2019. This Easter attack, which took place during the Yahapalana period, succeeded in overthrowing the Yahapalana government, and it provided a great impetus for Gota to become president. Gota and the Pohottuwa said at the time that they would take steps to find and punish the masterminds of the Easter attacks. But Gota’s government did not do anything as promised.
The government of Ranil Wickremesinghe, who came to power after Gota, also did not search for the masterminds of the Easter attacks. The strongmen of the compass brought the masterminds of the Easter attacks to the fore to regain power. Once, presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake met with reverend Cardinal and took the following steps to pledge that the masterminds of the Easter attacks would be brought to justice.
FBI Disclosure
However, while several governments have been talking about the masterminds of the Easter attacks since 2019, last week we made a special disclosure and said that a team of 33 US government FBI agents who came to Sri Lanka after the attack had been engaged in a lengthy investigation into the matter for 3 months. They had conducted this investigation not based on rumours and gossip, but by reviewing the phones, laptops, etc. of Saharan and his group to a lengthy investigation. There was a special reason for this. That was that they had received information that the international terrorist organisation ISIS was behind the Easter attacks.
Since ISIS posed the most serious threat to America, the FBI officials immediately took action in this regard. Accordingly, after a lengthy investigation, Saharan and his group of ISIS the FBI had provided the US government with a detailed account of the connections and the people who financed the attack. It identified Saharan Mohammad Qasim, also known as Mohammad Saharan Hashim, as the mastermind. They also named Saharan Hashim as the mastermind in the case filed in the US District Court.
Will Trump be angry?
But despite that, on the 21st, which is the 6th anniversary of the Easter attacks, a conversation about the mastermind of the Easter attacks once again emerged. Accordingly, Sri Lanka has now had to face a serious problem regarding the mastermind of the Easter attacks. This is because the world-recognised F.B.I. has clearly explained who the mastermind of the Easter attacks is, but a political slogan surfaced that there is another mastermind behind it.
This implicitly means that the F.B.I. report is false. If Sri Lanka decides to do so, it is unlikely that the US and the FBI under the US will take it lightly. This is because the world-renowned F.B.I. has been belittled by saying that there is another mastermind. It is impossible to prevent a new problem from being created in the United States through this.
Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe also mentioned this last week. Ranil also said that the government is trying to anger the Trump government by claiming that there is another mastermind, while the FBI has named the mastermind. If that happens, it may hinder the discussions with the Trump government on reducing tariffs, Ranil pointed out.
