Eran alleges Govt. passing laws on “majoritarianism”; Basil rejects
Thursday, 5 December 2013 00:06
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Opposition law maker Eran Wickramaratne yesterday charged the Government was enacting new legislation based on “majoritarianism” that were detrimental to the country’s economic health.
Opening the Committee Stage Debate of the 10th allotted day of the Appropriation Bill 2014, MP Wickramaratne took on the Ministry of Economic Development and Investment Promotion.
He accused the Government of twisting economic statistics that was distorting the real picture about the economy and prevented the poor from being provided genuine relief.
“Rs. 106 billion or 6.87% of the total Budget has been allocated to Ministry of Economic Development, which was established using majoritarianism and also going against the Supreme Court ruling. The Government has used its majority in Parliament to steamroll the Legislature. The passing of the Divi Neguma Bill was one such instance,” he said.
The UNP MP said that at the general election soon after the war in 2010, the Government had not been given a two-thirds mandate.
“Your Government artificially created a two-thirds majority. It was a subversion of the people’s will. The Divi Neguma Bill was found to be inconsistent with the Constitution in at least seven Articles. But you passed it using that artificial majority. We will always remember that you paid little respect to the Court but also brought people in buses to Parliament to put pressure on legislators,” he said.
“This is the Ministry that has direct relations with tourism, foreign investments and the apparel industry. In 2003 our apparel exports were at Rs. 2.5 billion and now it is increased to Rs. 5 billion. But our competitor Bangladesh, which was at Rs.5 billion level in 2003, has improved to Rs. 20 billion. China increased from Rs. 50 billion to Rs. 60 billion. Last month the Maldives reported 1.2 million tourist arrivals and Thailand stands at 10 million. In terms of foreign investment, when we struggle to reach at least Rs. 1 billion, Vietnam collects Rs. 10 billion and Malaysia Rs. 50 billion,” he charged.
According to MP Wickramaratne, the Government was altering interpretations and the formulas used to measure poverty from time to time. “The Ministry of Finance states reduction of poverty from 15% to 6.5%. The Official Poverty Line was defined by the Department of Census and Statistics in 2004. The minimum requirement per person per day was defined as 2,030 kilo calories. The expenditure to acquire the minimum requirement was Rs. 3,766 as at September 2013.That would translate into US$ 29 per month or less than US$ 1 per day. That’s the definition of poverty that the Government uses to state that poverty has reduced to 6.5% of the population.
“Is it credible to have Rs. 125 per day as the definition of poverty? Globally the definition that is widely used is of people living below two dollars a day. The Institute of Policy Studies has stated that about 23% of the population lives on less than US$ 2 a day per capita. Your assumptions on poverty are wrong. False assumptions lead to faulty policy and bad decisions. You have disadvantaged the poor by this. You are creating prosperity by data. But ask the ordinary man on the street, who will tell you otherwise. Over 70% of the poor live in spaces which are less than two rooms. Some 10% of the population have no toilets, 70% have no electricity, 30% use kerosene, 95% use firewood for cooking. These are the published statistics for the poor. Let’s not fool ourselves,” he said.
In response, Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa reconfirmed the stability of the UPFA Government, stating it was not riding the majoritarianism wave, and also disagreed with MP Wickramaratne.
“The majority in our Government is not artificial but was elected on public confidence. We haven’t disregarded the Supreme Court ruling, but included all what was recommended. Gone are the days that a labourer worked for a pittance. Today it is difficult to get a labourer for a payment less than Rs. 1,000. Divi Neguma is a program introduced in the ‘Mahinda Chinthana’ to uplift household income, be it agriculture or a cottage industry,” Minister Rajapaksa said.
