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Revenue foregone by the government due to tax concessions
For the fiscal year 2022/23 (April to March), tax concessions resulted in a total of Rs. 978 billion in foregone revenue, the government reported on March 31. The foregone revenue amounts to 56 percent of the total tax revenue collected by the government in 2022. For more information on revenue foregone by the government, click here
This week in The Media Analysis...
01. Symbolism of shambolism: Sirisena’s Easter attack statements
02. The Language Divide
03. The TV coverage of the issues
04. This week’s cartoons
05. This week’s memes
06. Other topics covered in reportage
Past issues can be viewed here
Disclaimer: This week’s TMA is focusing solely on the statement made by former President Maithripala Sirisena on knowing who was behind the Easter Sunday attacks.
01. Symbolism of shambolism: Sirisena’s Easter attack statements
Photo credits: Ceylon Today
Event: On March 22, former President Maithripala Sirisena claimed that he is aware of the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday attacks of 2019.[1][[2][3] Following his statement, the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) initiated an investigation on his statement.[4][5]
[Easter Sunday attacks – On April 21, 2019, three churches including St. Anthony’s Shrine, Kochchikade and several hotels based in Colombo were targeted in a series of coordinated suicide bombings.[6][7] Over 250 people were killed and about 500 were injured due to the attacks.[8][9][10]
Analysis
Last week’s Sinhala press reporting, TV coverage and social media posts were overwhelmingly critical of former President Maithripala Sirisena who was reported as having said that he is aware of the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday attacks. MP Dayasiri Jayasekara, who was removed from the SLFP membership and the post of party general secretary in 2023, was the only voice that appeared to somewhat support Sirisena. Notably, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith–who has consistently campaigned for justice for the Easter Sunday attack victims–did not feature in last week’s media coverage.
On social media, as observed in previous issues, Anura Kumara Dissanayaka received the most traction. His criticism of Sirisena’s statement had the highest number of user interactions as per the evaluation done by TMA.[1]
Sinhala media criticism of Sirisena’s comments can be understood on two fronts: (a) perceptions associated with the former president and (b) public anger/frustration over justice for the Easter Sunday attacks. This week’s TMA will briefly unpack two perceptions of Sirisena and two patterns of anger distilled from last week’s media discourse.
Perceptions of Sirisena
Last week’s Sinhala media criticism of Sirisena typified two longstanding perceptions of Sirisena related to his character and leadership.
On the one hand, Sirisena–who is criticised for positioning himself as a victim–is seen to be untrustworthy. For instance, Sirisena’s portrayal of himself as a ‘victim’ under the yahapaalanaya government led by Ranil Wickremesinghe where he was ‘obstructed’ positions him as someone who tends to frequently deflect the blame.
On the other hand, Sirisena’s leadership has been widely criticised for its lack of accountability, particularly for his failure to address (or be held accountable for) his role in the official negligence which created space for the Easter Sunday attacks while he was president.[2]
Overall, last week’s media discourse suggests that Sirisena is perceived as a political figure who is frivolous. This also reflects a deeper cynicism in society with debased respect for politicians becoming more widespread and normalised.[3] Sirisena in this instance, as he has in the past, became a symbol of the shambolic politician who is also untrustworthy, unintelligent and not accountable.[4]
Public anger over the Easter Sunday attacks
Last week’s discussions revealed a twofold expression of public anger and frustration over justice for the victims of the Easter Sunday attacks that fuelled criticisms levelled at former President Sirisena. The anger also surfaced two patterns of longstanding public frustration.
a. Lack of sincerity in delivering justice
The criticism levelled at Sirisena appears to be rooted in the widespread societal cynicism in relation to election-time claims made by politicians. Such statements claiming to express an interest in justice are seen as mere political campaigning (to gain favour with voters) rather than genuine commitments to deliver justice.
Many other high-profile cases such as the murders of Lasantha Wickremetunge and Wasim Thajudeen have also gained prominence in election rhetoric in the past.[5] The public frustration with lack of sincerity in delivering justice has been a consistent concern (it has also been discussed in past issues of TMA). This has now emerged again in relation to the discussion on the Easter attacks.
b. Lack of trust in justice
In line with previous TMAs on the Easter Sunday attacks (see TMA Vol.13, #34), last week’s discourse surfaced continuing distrust of the state (criminal justice) system to provide answers for the attacks. Prolonged investigations into the attacks and perceived lack of credibility in the investigative processes have contributed to this decline in public trust in Sri Lanka’s criminal justice system[6] – a pattern that has been analysed in past issues of TMA.
This sentiment of distrust was also evident in the survey conducted by Verité Research in October 2023. In that survey 39 percent of respondents declined to express a view on the parties that might have been involved in perpetrating the Easter Sunday attacks.[7] It indicated a high level of anxiety in expressing an opinion. Nevertheless, a majority thought that “local political forces” were involved in orchestrating the attacks.
Overall, similar to this week’s TMA, public sentiment towards Sirisena and his statements is reflective of overall public disenchantment with the status quo of politicians and the political system with regard to upholding justice within the country.
02. The Language Divide
Signposts the differences and nuances in reporting between Sinhala and Tamil language newspapers
Last week’s Sinhala and Tamil press converged in relation to five main stories. The five stories were on: (i) the anniversary of the Easter Sunday attacks, calls demanding justice for the victims and former President Maithripala Sirisena’s revelation about the mastermind of the attacks; (ii) speculation on whether the presidential election or the parliamentary election will be held first; (iii) alleged ISIS attack launched in Moscow, Russia; (iv) reported divisions within the SLPP following the appointment of Namal Rajapaksa as the national organiser; (v) formation of electoral coalitions ahead of elections. Only one story was featured exclusively in the Sinhala press, and it was on the increase in the wages of Central Bank of Sri Lanka employees. The Tamil press also exclusively featured only one main story which was on the public protests by the Tamil community in Kalmunai demanding the upgrading of the Kalmunai North Divisional Secretariat.
Do you want to see the divided priorities on a daily basis? Check out FrontPage. It captures the day’s headlines and features succinct summaries of the political news reported in the most widely read Sinhala and Tamil newspapers.
On March 25, some Tamil residents of the Kalmunai North Divisional Secretariat staged a protest to oppose the reported plans to merge their area with the Kalmunai South Divisional Secretariat. The protest was afforded coverage by the privately-owned Tamil TV channels IBC Tamil, Dan News and Shakthi TV. By contrast, no coverage was afforded to the protest on state-owned Tamil TV channels Vasantham TV and Nethra TV, state-owned Sinhala TV channels Rupavahini and ITN and privately-owned Sinhala TV channels Sirasa TV, Swarnavahini, TV Derana and Hiru TV. For more information, click here
03. The TV coverage of the issue
The data on television coverage is based on the monitoring of the primetime news telecasts of selected Sinhala language TV channels uploaded to YouTube.
04. This week’s cartoons
Courtesy of Ada, Mar.25, 2024
Courtesy of Aruna, Mar.25, 2024
Courtesy of Tamil Mirror, Mar.25, 2024
Courtesy of Tamil Mirror, Mar.26, 2024
Courtesy of Dinamina, Mar.27, 2024
Context: Compares Maithripala Sirisena to the proverbial tortoise that fell to its death when it opened its mouth to speak (https://storyrack.in/stories/cranes-and-tortoise.html).
Courtesy of Mawbima, Mar.27, 2024
Courtesy of Silumina, Mar.31, 2024
Courtesy of Lankadeepa, Apr.2, 2024
05. This week’s memes
The group that knew about the Easter Sunday attacks before they happened has ultimately joined together…Things went wrong only for the people who went to church that day.
I know who the mastermind is, but won’t say who it is
We know fully well that you all knew about that massacre [before it happened]
The ‘doubt’ of Appukutty Anna (elder brother)
It was reported that former President Maithripala Sirisena did not provide any information on his informant about the Easter attack masterminds to the CID.
It seems to be (that Sirisena) might have said, like our people’s saying, They receive ‘a box’ from India, they have received one from China, they receive one from Ranil…
06. Other topics covered in reportage
- Imprisonment of the General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera for his defamatory comments regarding Islam
- Reported plans to amend the electoral system
- The opposition’s objections to the Chairperson of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) Rohitha Abegunawardhana
- The ongoing ‘Yukthiya’ operation to curb drugs and underworld activities
- Alleged assassination attempt on Colombo Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage over certain verdicts delivered by him
To view this week’s news summaries, please click here