Feizal Samath

Sri Lanka is bracing itself for another roller-coaster week as political parties and trade unions flex their muscles for strikes and other negative action in the power and health sectors.

Adding to the woes is a poor report card for the government on tsunami reconstruction, while President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s opponents breathe fire over her plans to hold a referendum – possibly in June – to seek public support to scrap the executive presidential structure. All these issues have cro-pped up as Kumaratunga’s administration completes one year on Saturday, April 2. The UPFA coalition – a combination of Kumaratunga’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the People’s Liberation Front (JVP) - ousted the United National Party (UNP) at the April 2, 2004 poll suddenly called by the president. Trade unions are flexing their muscles over plans to privatise the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC). On Monday already queues were forming outside petrol and diesel filling stations in Colombo in the morning over fears that CPC unions would call a strike. The JVP, a key partner in the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) but a virtual headache to Kumaratunga because of their constant opposition to what she does on various issues, is heading the opposition on this issue.

An official was quoted as saying that Party Leader Somawansa Amarasinghe was taking a tough line on the issue since the UPFA had during the last election pledged to put a stop to the privatisation of public institutions. The JVP is well aware of the plethora of decisions that the government has taken contrary to stated positions. For example, one of the main planks of the UPFA manifesto is to avoid privatising loss-making state ventures but restructure them and make them more efficient. Concern has also been expressed that the remaining CPC shares would be given to India’s Bharat Petroleum resulting in the government losing control of the petroleum sector. More than two years ago, 100 fuel sheds were given to Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) which is making profits from its operations here. Despite fears of a strike that could cripple fuel supply to the people, Kumaratunga, in an interview, said the government would go ahead with restructuring of the CEB and the CPC.

She said these two key state institutions might crumble – due to massive debt and losses — if the reforms were not carried out. Separately health sector trade unions were also preparing a nationwide strike in support of various demands to the Health Ministry. Among striking unions are those representing dental surgeons, lab technicians and Ayurvedic personnel over problems relating to recruitment, working hours and salary anomalies. On top of these issues,

the post-tsunami reconstruction process also drew a lot of flak from the media and the public last week. “The report card for three months is far from satisfactory. Three months on, confusion - not construction - seems to be the operative word. To date, the government has not made known its accounting procedures — which is the cause for scores of accountability related queries. There is a squint in the eye abroad when they talk of funds for the government of Sri Lanka,” The Sunday Times said. Apart from that the peace process also appears to be in tatters – there is no movement forward. Where do we go from here – is the eternal lament of the people.

Samath, a freelancer, writes for THT from Colombo