Friday Nov 08, 2024
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Friday Nov 08, 2024
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The Constitutional Council should also include many of the brave men, women and youth of the movement and institutions who determinedly stood their ground despite all intimidations and grievous assaults by the treacherous authorities
An unprecedented golden opportunity has been provided by the people, of all religions, ethnicities, age and gender, speaking in Sinhala, Tamil and English, who have come out in all provinces/districts/pradesha/grama sevaka divisions, in glorious unity, ensuring full representative democracy, including all professionals and technical auditors, accountants, engineers and associations of BASL, banks, teachers and students, doctors and nurses, ministry secretaries associations and BASL. Doctors and nurses, engineers, secretaries, governors, chief secretaries. They are the best qualified to form the Constituent Assembly (CA) and subsequently the Constitutional Council (CC).
a)Untainted activists exposing bribery and corruption the Judiciary, (women caucuses and rights groups, MPs of each party in Parliament who have declared their total “assets and liabilities to Elections Commission, Auditor General and Parliament as well as
b)Sworn or affirmed affidavits to this effect, and that they have not committed any acts of fraud, bribery, corruption, or any other acts of moral turpitude.
1) To abolish the Executive Presidency which spawned rampant bribery and corruption. They focussed on throwing out of Government, GR, MR, BR, CR, NR and the Rajapaksa clan and partners in crime.
2) To get back now, our robbed dollars, part of which can immediately settle our forex needs for a year, and import urgent livelihood needs and boost the CBSL and the Lankan economy.
3) Maintain vitality of local production of forex earning/saving enterprises: This sector is facing production cost push inflation. Reduce interest rates to the sectors of agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, SMEs and IMS of the listed companies to immediately attract local and foreign investment. We cannot afford to lose them to other destinations of high-quality tea and rubber. It could even happen to our highly regarded apparel and footwear sectors if we do not act now. Our totally mismanaged foreign currency, misguided fertiliser, fuel, food, health and medicines have caused havoc. The Lankan palm oil plantation sector has been massacred. Palm oil has been the world’s most profitable edible oil crop. Palm oil plantations occupy only 2% cultivable land and yield 35% of revenue. Few years ago when I researched, experts claimed that it was 4 times more profitable than rubber and six times more profitable than coconut oil. Encourage RSPO certified palm oil plantations to double their hectarage (Ha) as they have the experience and expertise.
4a) Create vital Local and Foreign Investor Confidence (IC) as an urgent priority. Genuine investors must feel comfortable with the Good Governance Structures (GGS) and Accountability, Transparency, Truth, Trust (ATTT). These apply to the country as well as to the corporates.
b) Rationalise imports of essential goods and services. (You cannot export without imports nor import without exports is a truism, I urged in 1964. I turned around a failed company with the help of the visionary Chairman, GM, DGM, AGM of People’s Bank who gave loans/overdrafts to three times the value of securities pledged. I spearheaded the team which pioneered the export of apparels in May 1965!
c) The listed companies, their subsidiaries/associate companies must ensure Good Governance Structures (GGS) where Accountability, Transparency, Truth & Trust (ATTT) prevail, and all forms of bribery, corruption, nepotism and unethical conduct are eliminated.
d) I have always acted on behalf of the underprivileged, the disadvantaged and the Independent Minority Shareholders (IMS) and SMEs. My slogans of the past six decades were:
CSR
All the millions of bold honest simple protestors expressed their aspirations for GGS and ATTT, in essential sectors of food, health, education, energy, transportation, genuine good police, and armed forces. They repudiated the false interpretation of the so-called mandate for the sly, malicious 20th Amendment to the Constitution. They were an amazing display of the determination to establish full representative democracy. The exemplary, peaceful protests have spread spontaneously to all over the world in the most wondrous manner.
5) All the leaders and peoples of our friendly countries, UN, UNHCR, UNICEF, WBG, IFC, IMF, ADB, USAID, must help trace, to bring back to Lanka the huge funds robbed from Lanka by the politico biz mafia estimated between a low of $ 50 billion to even $ 100 billion by Opposition leaders (Files and documents produced by responsible leaders in our Parliament). This has created the severe forex crisis which Lanka is facing. Truly friendly countries holding these forex can settle our loans from these accounts, and send the balances to invest in our food, fuel, health, education, soils (mother earth) water and the environment and even in foreign currency earning investments! Creates great Investor Confidence (IC) in Lanka.
We must demonstrate that Lankans have confidence in our stock market. The Independent Minority Shareholders (IMS) of good forex earning/saving companies, must be considered as a priority SME class to be supported by low interest loans to support our stock market which is in crisis mode. People’s democracy can only be viable when the mass of people are sharing the prosperity of growth.
6) This is easily achieved through widely held well-structured and managed Public Listed Companies (PLCs) and cooperative societies. The Controlling Interest & Related Parties (CI&RP) as well as the management must act in a fair and equitable manner to distribute the profits and benefits of the enterprises, to the shareholders, and stakeholders. Any unjust enrichment by themselves should be strongly/promptly dealt with. There is an imperative need to deter criminality in all aspects; recreating the great noble society we once were! We should take a ‘U-turn’ back to it.
7) The management of banks is of greatest importance to protect and preserve the enterprises at this critical juncture. They must look at the enterprise societies needs to fulfil the goals of the government and the broad mass of our good people. The Company and Group Income statements and for the period and the Balance Sheets at the end of the period must be given as early as possible. The bankers and auditors must ensure the full disclosure of location and amounts of cash and cash equivalent in forex and LKR.
8) The 20th Amendment must be repealed, Executive Presidency abolished, and Head of State elected through a Constituent Assembly (CA) and subsequent Constitutional Council (CC) should also include many of the brave men, women and youth of the movement and institutions who determinedly stood their ground despite all intimidations and grievous assaults by the treacherous authorities. The new Attorney General (AG) has done very well to advise the Government and the military to perform their duty and arrest the identified wrongdoers to justice so as the new CBSL governor in thwarting political pressures.
9) The regulators Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must ensure fair and equitable transactions and nullify those who are detrimental. Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) must ensure correct, timely information to the market. The good elements of the Armed Forces, CID and the Police must ensure law and order without fear or favour. They must arrest the wrongdoers, investigate them, and swiftly bring them to justice.
10) The independence of the Auditor General (Au G), Attorney General (At G) and Regulators is imperative in creating the great society.
11) We will certainly return to be a part of the great blend of civilisations, and crush those who want to create a clash of civilisations!
12) We have to clean up every aspect and facet of our country and give it a new image. Concerted action of all good people is necessary at this critical juncture of our country.
13) Good Capitalism and Good Socialism are two sides of the coin with Good Humanism being an essential part. So may be the United Republic of Lanka, and call ourselves as Lankans.
14a) Cost efficient elections where average decent citizens can contest.
14b) Those citizens eligible to contest must be free of allegations of corruption and wrongdoing. They must swear or affirm affidavits to this effect. They must declare their and their families’ assets and liabilities to the independent Constitutional Council, the Independent Elections Commissioner, and the bipartisan Independent Speaker.
15) The State print and electronic media must allocate a quota of free space and time. Similarly private sector media must offer subsidised quota. The donations received by candidates and parties must be published two full days before the election day. The printing and delivery of manifestos must be at Government expense and must have minimum standard data and policies. They must be held accountable. If they want to change parties, they must resign their seats and seek re-election. People must vote for a candidate, and a party of choice separately. Their national list members must be selected according to the preference votes received. Defeated candidates cannot be brought into Parliament.
Then, it will be the United Republic of Lanka – Wondrous Lanka.
