CPA Comms Officer on 15 September, 2023

Economic Reform Index Wave 2 Top-line Report

This report presents the topline findings of the ‘Economic Reform Index Wave 2’, survey conducted by Social Indicator (SI), the survey research arm of the Centre for Policy Alternatives. This island-wide survey examines public opinion on the current economy, and economic reforms discussed over the past few months. Fieldwork for the study was conducted from 21st to 29th August 2023.

Please download the English version of the report here. The Sinhala and Tamil versions of the executive summary will be published in due course.

Download the full report HERE

Read the Executive summary of the report in Sinhala HERE

Read the Executive summary of the report in Tamil HERE

CPA Comms Officer on 25 July, 2023

Forty Years after Black July

This week marks the fortieth anniversary of the single most cataclysmic event in our post –
independence history – the anti -Tamil pogrom of July 1983. It is very sad and regrettable
that there are few, if any, public commemorations of the event and that the security forces
and the Police were deployed in large and disproportionate numbers and that at least in one
instance, force was used to disperse those at these meetings.
July 1983 led to the full -blown armed phase of the civil war, which lasted almost three
decades. Thousands of Tamils were killed, displaced and forced to flee abroad. We salute
the courage of the Sinhalese who gave them refuge. The country lost millions in terms of
foreign investment and tourism. Whilst a military victory against the LTTE was won in May
2009, forty years after the initial carnage and thirteen years after this military victory, a
political settlement of the conflict is yet to happen. The proposed Truth and Reconciliation
Commission has been met with skepticism and downright rejection from the families of the
victims; the cruelty of disappearances persists; the Prevention of Terrorism Act is yet to be
repealed and replaced; the Anti-Terrorism Act has been put on the back burner in response
to domestic and international pressure; the Thirteenth Amendment has yet to be
implemented in full anywhere in the country; police powers to the provinces provided in the
amendment may never be granted. The issue of accountability in respect of allegations of
war crimes and crimes against humanity is yet to be addressed. In addition, there are the
issues of land in the possession of the security forces to be resolved, the issue of the
archeological heritage of the land and security forces engagement in the civilian economy.
The citizens of Sri Lanka, especially our Tamil citizens and those that make up the diaspora
are deeply scarred by the events of July 1983 and their consequences. Sri Lanka needs to
heal, to reconcile, to unite, not least to come together to meet the deep and grave
challenge of governance that has spawned the current economic crisis and the issues of the
legitimacy, transparency and accountability of and in our governance and government. The
curse of impunity has to be comprehensively expunged from our public affairs.
We cannot allow any of this to happen to us ever again. We have to seize the opportunity
of building our future based on the principle of Unity in Diversity. To do this we cannot
forget. The state has to publicly acknowledge its crimes and misdemeanoures, even if
through the generosity in our hearts, we can begin to forgive.

Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu
Executive Director

 

To read this document in Tamil, Click Here

To read this document in Sinhala, Click Here

CPA Comms Officer on 19 July, 2023

SC SDs Challenging the Constitutionality of Bills titled “Municipal Councils (Amendment) Act”, “Urban Councils (Amendment) Act” and “Pradeshiya Sabha (Amendment) Act”

Three Private Member’s Bills titled “Municipal Councils (Amendment) Act”, “Urban Councils (Amendment) Act” and “Pradeshiya Sabha (Amendment) Act” were presented to Parliament/ placed on the Order Paper of Parliament on 05th July 2023 as Private Members Bills.

The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and its Executive Director filed three Petitions on 14th July 2023 in the Supreme Court, seeking determinations by the Supreme Court that the Bills can only be passed in Parliament with a special majority (2/3rds of the Members of Parliament) and with the approval of the people at a referendum.

All three Bills, if passed into law, would allow the relevant Minister to extend the period of any or all Pradeshiya Sabhas, Urban Councils or Municipal Councils as the case may be, for a period as decided at the Minister’s discretion thereby postponing the holding of an election, on the basis that ‘a crisis’ has arisen.

The Petitioners argued that these Bills would have the effect of allowing the relevant Minister, to postpone elections for Pradeshiya Sabhas, Urban Councils or Municipal Councils on vague and unspecified grounds for an unspecified period of time. As such the Petitioners contend that the Bills are inconsistent with and/or violate several provisions of the Constitution, in particular, Articles 3, 4, 10, 12(1), 12(2) and 14(1)(a) of the Constitution.

The Petitioners also contend that the abovementioned Bills have been introduced, in the context where public officials and those holding high political office are intentionally and collusively acting in a manner to postpone the due holding of local government elections. The Petitioners’ had already filed a Fundamental Rights case [SC FR 79/2023] challenging these actions and that case is scheduled to be taken up before five judges of the Supreme Court on the 24th of July 2023.

CPA and its Executive Director challenged a similar attempt in 2017, when the then government attempted to introduce a constitutional amendment to delay Provincial Council elections.

CPA Comms Officer on 4 July, 2023

Sri Lanka’s Microfinance Sector Has A Problem

The chilling stories of these three women show us how unregulated microfinance companies have been forcing thousands of unsuspecting small business owners into crippling financial debt for years – in direct violation of their fundamental rights. Here’s how Sri Lanka’s microfinance sector has gone from startup accelerator to financial debt trap.

 

CPA Comms Officer on 1 June, 2023

Proposed Anti – Terrorism Act (ATA) – Key Concerns Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) May 2023

In response to the notice issued on 2nd May 2023 by the Ministry of Justice calling for submission of proposals on the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) by interested parties, the following document contains an initial comment reflecting key concerns that the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) has observed, and has continuously raised in the past.

Based on the breadth of the problematic provisions highlighted below – including the overbroad framing of the offence of terrorism, detention without charge with extended remand periods, excessive powers granted to the executive to the detriment of the judiciary, and increased militarization – CPA urges the government to withdraw the ATA.

 

To read the Full Submission in English click HERE

To read the Full Submission in Tamil click HERE

To read the Full Submission in Sinhala click HERE

 

 

CPA Comms Officer on 14 May, 2023

A Brief Analysis of the Aragalaya

A Brief Analysis of the Aragalaya is a modest attempt at providing empirical evidence on the participants of Sri Lanka’s Aragalaya and the public perception of them using data gathered from the island-wide survey on the Aragalaya conducted by the Social Indicator, the survey arm of the Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Download the full report HERE