From the Editor's Desk
The 2007-2008- budget has been notorious for its negative features, mainly its
nearly 63 billion rupee deficit and the 166 billion rupee defence allocation,
surpassing last year’s by 19%, as well as for the way that both the government
and the opposition handled with the budget vote.
The New Democratic Party denounced the budget
as anti-people and its Tamil monthly, Puthiya Poomi, November 2007 editorially
pointed out that defence expenditure is not limited to budget allocations as
further sums may be allocated by parliament when necessary for military purchases,
as has been the practice for the past 25 years.
The people hoped for control of the prices of
essential goods including a reduction in the sharply increased prices of items
such as wheat flour and fuel, and wage increases to compensate the rising cost
of living, but neither was forthcoming. Price increases have routinely been
blamed on the war and the world market. The people are not at fault for either.
The ruling classes are responsible for the poor economic growth and the decline
of the rupee. While war is the main cause for the economic crisis, corruption,
fraud, and abuse of power and position cannot be ignored. But the government
has stifled parliamentary debate on corrupt and fraudulent acts by ministers,
brought to light by parliamentary select committees.
The JVP said that it would vote against the budget
as it hurts the people, and did so at the second reading but, despite pledging
on the eve of the third reading to vote against, it abstained to enable safe
passage of the budget. This was not unexpected as the defeat of the budget could
have meant a general election and a drastically reduced parliamentary strength
for the JVP.
The UNP opposition to the budget was for political
advantage, but it was not far from the JVP when it came to the defence budget:
the JVP supports an increase in defence expenditure while the UNP will not oppose
it. The UNP was counting on the JVP and the Tamil National Alliance MPs voting
against the budget and the abandoning of the government by the Sri Lanka Muslim
Congress (which actually did), the CWC (which predictably did not) to defeat
the government. Its hopes were dashed by the abstention of the JVP.
Parliamentary horse-trading apart, pressure was
brought on three TNA MPs from the east by ‘unknown elements’ kidnapping
their relatives with the threat that they will be killed if the MPs voted against
the budget. As a result, the three refrained from voting. A fourth was removed
as MP on the day of the vote for absence from parliament for over three months,
although he was allowed to attend parliament on three occasions in the week
before the crucial vote.
It has been said that there was a deal between
the president and the JVP to scrap the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) and reduce
the number of cabinet ministers to thirty in return for the JVP’s abstention.
The former is irrelevant as the CFA is in place only on paper. A reduction in
the size of the cabinet could be evidence of a deal, but most ministerial posts
are merely decorative with very little power and even less financial resources
compared to earlier years, while a handful wield control over the bulk of the
budget allocation. The reason why many MPs, especially those who crossed over
from the UNP, are staying with the government has perhaps more to do with skeletons
in their cupboards than the attraction of a cabinet post and, of course, the
prospect of facing another parliamentary election.
The government is seen by the public as a failure
on every front, except on the war front, and it seeks to survive by escalating
the sense of insecurity among the people by whipping up fear about terrorist
attacks. Harassment of Tamils in Colombo is now presented as part of the campaign
against security threats. It seems that the government has no sense of direction
except to plunge the country into total war.
What is certain is that the parliamentary system
has no answers for the deepening economic crisis or the war which is its immediate
cause. The two main issues to be resolved are the national question, based on
the principle of self-determination, and freeing the country from the neo-colonial
control and its agenda for globalisation.
New Democracy 27
