{"id":180295,"date":"2017-07-27T00:37:21","date_gmt":"2017-07-26T19:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=180295"},"modified":"2017-07-31T14:11:39","modified_gmt":"2017-07-31T08:41:39","slug":"preaching-good-governance-from-a-penthouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/preaching-good-governance-from-a-penthouse\/","title":{"rendered":"Preaching Good Governance From A Penthouse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><strong>By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Sarath+De+Alwis\">Sarath De Alwis<\/a> &#8211;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_152611\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Sarath-de-Alwis.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-152611\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-152611\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Sarath-de-Alwis-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Sarath-de-Alwis-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Sarath-de-Alwis-50x50.jpg 50w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Sarath-de-Alwis.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-152611\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarath de Alwis<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">In his <\/span><span class=\"s1\">famous polemic on morality and its place in human society, Trotsky said that morality is relative to each society, to each epoch, and is above all, relative to the interests of the different social classes. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">So, the morals of our Prime Minister and the Minister of Lotteries and Foreign Affairs are different from the morals of this writer.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">We made a terrible mistake on 8<\/span><span class=\"s3\"><sup>th<\/sup><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> January 2015. We replaced a tyrannical autocracy with a shameless clique that delights in moral hypocrisy. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">With Mahinda we only had to keep our mouths shut.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>With the new bunch, to retain our sanity, we have to keep our minds shut. They think we are imbeciles.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Probably they are right! <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\"> A Sirisena presidency with Mahinda as prime minister may not be a bad idea after all. In a fortnight this writer will reach seventy five. It is an age at which it is possible to forgive Mahinda for his undoubted trespass on some of our freedoms. It is far easier than reconciling with the brazen bamboozling we are subjected to by<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Prime Minister <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Ranil+Wickremesinghe\">Ranil Wickremesinghe<\/a> who promised a million jobs and a Volkswagen plant. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">The Bond fiasco commenced on 27<\/span><span class=\"s3\"><sup>th<\/sup><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> February 2015. Eighteen days later, on 17<\/span><span class=\"s3\"><sup>th<\/sup><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> March 2015 Prime Minster Ranil Wickremesinghe addressed parliament on the subject. Tanks to digital archives in this age, we can listen to him whenever we need to refresh our memories of those promising days and also to refresh his own recall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RZ6du4uowGs\" width=\"900\" height=\"500\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"p5\"><span class=\"s1\">Some extracts are reproduced. They provide an insight in to the integrity of the speaker at the time and in hindsight, an authentic measure of his subsequent performance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>\u201cI must tell this House that there is something happening in Sri Lanka at the grassroots level. Change is happening. Instead of poverty, corruption and injustice people see hope of prosperity, good governance and justice. For, a decade they have faced the darkest of demons and impossible odds and as one people they have spoken in January for a better way. I now speak in this House on their behalf.\u201d <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p7\"><span class=\"s1\">There are no facts, only interpretations said Friedrich Nietzsche. The Prime Minster eloquently demonstrated his confluence with Nietzsche. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p8\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>\u201cAs a result of past misdeeds, the Central Bank has now been forced to embark on the task of re-building their credibility and standing as the country\u2019s most credible financial institution. This is no easy task, since the spin masters have turned the institution into a wasteland. They left behind a legacy of mismanagement and misrule. They have been adopting a system of private placements of bonds. The\u00a0criteria they adopted allowed the Central Bank to cut deals with Primary Dealers. Rebuilding international confidence and credibility has become an uphill task. Who are the people who are responsible for this mess? We have may be a half a Trillion to a Trillion Rupees worth of commitments made on highway projects.\u201d <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p8\"><span class=\"s1\">It is natural for a leader to defend his decisions. But if arrogance prevents conceding error in the light of subsequent misery he forfeits his right to lead.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The Prime Minster unreservedly defended <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Arjun+Mahendran\">Arjun Mahendran<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p9\"><span class=\"s5\"> <i>\u201cWhen<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><i> the\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Arjuna+Mahendran&amp;x=6&amp;y=1\"><span class=\"s6\"><i>Governor of the Central Bank<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>\u00a0was informed that over Rs.20 Billion bids have been received, he instructed the Public Debt Tender Board to select bids up to Rs.10 Billion.\u00a0He did so in the presence of two Deputy Governors.\u00a0The claim that the Governor interfered with the work of the Tender Board is not true. Thereafter the Tender Board submitted their recommendations, which were approved by the Governor without any changes.\u201d <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">The Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has remained studiedly tightlipped with Minister <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Ravi+Karunanayake\">Ravi Karunanayake<\/a> cavalierly dismissing the startling disclosures before the commission of inquiry in to the bond scam.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>A<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>company called <\/span><span class=\"s5\">Walter and Rowe, a<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>subsidiary of the holding company of\u00a0<span class=\"s7\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Perpetual+treasuries\">Perpetual treasuries<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s7\">now under investigation has<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>paid the <\/span><span class=\"s1\"> entire lease amount close to Rs.9 Million for the Penthouse apartment that was used by then Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake and his family.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">The silence of the Prime Minister and the defiance of the Foreign &amp; Lotteries Minister tells us that this government is far worse than the one we had before. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Mahinda\u2019s financial profligacy was terrible. Gota\u2019s surveillance state was unnerving.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>True, Mahinda appointed his brother in law the Chairman of the National Carrier. May be he wanted to please his wife. But, he never claimed his playboy brother in law to be a wizard in commercial aviation as is the present case with the balderdash dished out about Suren Ratwatte, the brother of the Prime Minister\u2019s advisor turning around the airline.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Mahinda did many things wrong. He had many faults. He deserved to be voted out.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>That said, we must be honest enough to admit that he did not regard the citizenry with contempt. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Mahinda+Rajapaksa\">Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/a> was many things but not a humbug.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Ranil Wickremesinghe and Ravi Karunanayake should be held to account on what they have pronounced publicly. When we match their promises available on record, it is clear that they have embarked on a trajectory that will alter the public framework of what is left in our moral values in public life and public probity. Ranil and Ravi are in self-service and not in public service.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">On 29<\/span><span class=\"s3\"><sup>th<\/sup><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> January 2015, presenting the interim budget of the first hundred days of the \u2018yahapalanya\u2019 this is what the future tenant of the Penthouse atop the Monarch Residencies told parliament.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>The \u2018Yahapalana\u2019 Finance Minister was the epitome of ethical propriety and probity in public life.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>This is what he said.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p9\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>\u201cThe system of \u201cCrony Economics\u201d created a segment of the society which was ultra-rich enjoying a life of supreme luxury. They were flaunting not only their ill-gotten wealth but their muscles too. A mere two per cent of the entire population continued to prosper at the expense of others. What of the balance 98%. They were requested to tighten their belts way back in 2005 and they had to continue. Their families fell apart due to economic hardships, jewelry pawned, family heirlooms sold to ensure that home fires continued to burn. Some were facing abject poverty. Naval guards had to be stationed at the Matara Mahanama Samaraweera Bridge and at the Kaluthara Bridge to save our mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters from jumping into river to end their lives, stricken with unbearable poverty.\u201d <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p9\"><span class=\"s1\">The Nilwala and Kaluganga continue to flow quietly to the Indian Ocean. The Ocean view in the interim has been so mesmerizing that the tenant paid a good one hundred and sixty million baksheesh to buy the damned penthouse outright.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Our \u2018mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters no longer jump in to those rivers as was alleged by the yahapalana financial wizard who promised a mansion tax on the wealthy.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Instead they beat their collective breasts in utter revulsion of those who swindled their franchise on 8<\/span><span class=\"s3\"><sup>th<\/sup><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> January 2015. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p10\"><span class=\"s1\">Their revulsion is authentic. This is how Ravi Karunanayake prefaced his homily on good governance and financial discipline. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p10\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>\u201cHonorable Speaker, exactly 21 days ago, on 8 January 2015, the people of the country voted for a change in favor of Honorable President Maithripala Sirisena. They gave a clear mandate emphasizing that they desperately need a change. A change that goes far beyond party politics and individual aspirations to create a new political and economic culture in the country.\u201d<\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p10\"><span class=\"s1\">Voila! There you have it. Indeed, we have a new political culture. It is a culture of entitlement that is practiced by the ruling political class. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p10\"><span class=\"s1\">Let us, for the moment, forget the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Arjun+Aloysius\">Arjun Aloysius<\/a>-Ravi Karunanayake nexus.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>The busy senior Minister saddled with weighty matters on affairs foreign and turning wheels of fortune in National Lotteries, will eventually appear before the commission of inquiry. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p10\"><span class=\"s1\">We will then learn of his version of the alleged transaction.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>The Prime Minister who is an extremely intelligent man must have had good reason to allocate the subject of lotteries to him. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p10\"><span class=\"s1\">Mr. Karunanayake\u2019s grip on the lottery paradox should not be underestimated. In the ranks of the UNP, he is undoubtedly a master in the logic of rational belief. If you buy one ticket, your chances of becoming millionaire remains intact at least until the final draw! So forget the nexus between the primary dealer and minister. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p10\"><span class=\"s1\">Let us focus on the penthouse. Therein lies the \u2018yahapalana\u2019 tragedy. Power does not only corrupt but it seduces the wielders of power. An official residence was well within the perks of a cabinet minister.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Then, why a <\/span><span class=\"s7\">penthouse? What is a pent house?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p11\"><span class=\"s7\">Cathy Ericson in realtor.com tells us what a penthouse is. <i>\u2018<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><i>If you&#8217;re lucky enough to live in one, it means you have\u00a0<\/i>arrived<i>. The very word &#8220;penthouse&#8221; denotes luxury and exclusivity. It is a \u2018deeee-luxe apartment in the sky.\u2019<\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p12\"><span class=\"s1\">We live in an age of images. The story of the rich and the powerful, in this case the political class is a story based on lifestyles and self-perception. <\/span><span class=\"s7\">A penthouse is synonymous with opulence and luxury. It appeases the desires of those hell-bent on self-indulgent, fast living.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p9\"><span class=\"s1\">A fortuitous coalition elected President Sirisena. A power hungry cabal came with that territory. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Arjuna+Mahendran\">Arjuna Mahendran<\/a> was made Governor of the Central Bank well before the 19th Amendment was negotiated with a hostile opposition by a minority government. A hedonistic lifestyle in a penthouse atop a sky scraper next to Temple Trees was well within the logic of rational possibilities of a grand lottery.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>The 8<\/span><span class=\"s3\"><sup>th<\/sup><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> January 2015 election was a lottery.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>The people lost. Someone ended in a Penthouse.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>It was as easy as a walk in the park \u2013 a Global Park. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":152611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Preaching Good Governance From A Penthouse - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/preaching-good-governance-from-a-penthouse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Preaching Good Governance From A Penthouse - 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