In the recent past, Sri Lanka has acquired a knack for being in the news for all the wrong reasons. These days it has been reduced to a laughing stock with elaborate plans being made for a grand Independence Day celebration – 75th notwithstanding – which apparently nobody wants in this bankrupt country. By nobody, we mean the average citizen. The President’s reasoning for going ahead with the celebration rather than helping to douse the already-raging fire has added fuel to it, resulting in making a bad case worse.
The President, who has a history of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, which has cost him dearly in terms of political capital in the past, appears determined to continue in the same vein, going by his theory for the upcoming celebration, which a collective of trade unions and students’ unions aims to counter with a simultaneous protest campaign. Therefore, probably for the first time in the world, a nation will be celebrating ‘independence’ while its people look the other way – a stark indication of just how out of sync the administration is with current ground reality.
Even though the stated intention is to impress the world that we as a nation are still capable enough to put on a show, it is a lost cause from the word go as Sri Lanka is already a global basket case on bankruptcy, with the international spotlight firmly focused on that precise issue. The extent of the nation’s plight was highlighted by Foreign Minister Ali Sabry’s visit to Saudi Arabia last week, the singular purpose of which was to seek financial assistance.
The irony of it all is that it was not so long ago that the previous Government arbitrarily decided to cremate hundreds of Muslims who fell victim to the Covid-19 pandemic, much to the consternation of nations like Saudi Arabia. This, if nothing else, explains the plight of the administration – scraping the bottom of the barrel hoping against hope for some form of assistance, even from those it antagonised.
Needless to say, this nation’s track record of continuing to live beyond its means, as exemplified by the upcoming celebrations, does no good to its already-compromised credentials. In fact tamashas of this nature will have the exact opposite effect of what it seeks to achieve, at least going by the Presidential explanation.
It is this ‘loketa prakase, gedarata maragathey’ dichotomy that has cost this nation dearly and, sadly enough, nothing seems to have been learnt from the mistakes of the past. One recalls the elaborate Independence Day celebrations just last year presided over by deposed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa complete with a full military display that included a naval parade as well as an Air Force fly-past, which too, like this year’s planned event, aimed to impress the world that all was well in this island paradise. However, as they say, looks can be deceptive and it took just three months from then on for all hell to break loose, which ultimately resulted in Rajapaksa having to vacate office. Unfortunately, the thinking that prevailed at the time is no different to the present.
While it must be said in Wickremesinghe’s defence that he is attempting to keep the price tag down by keeping an eye open for those attempting to make a fast buck – a garland for a statue has been priced at Rs. 97,000 while the cost of singing the National Anthem is a hefty Rs. 1.8 million, both of which have been frowned upon by the President – the bottom line remains as to why create an opening for corruption in the first place when every cent of those precious tax rupees can be put to better use.
Even at this minute, we don’t have uninterrupted electricity, school children have no textbooks as there is no money to print them, hospitals have no medicine and doctors are on the streets begging international donors to provide the same, and millions are malnourished due to the scarcity of money to buy food. Rather than addressing these issues, the Government seems determined to bust up Rs. 200 million to put on a show for the very people we are seeking help from.
The diplomatic corps that was present at last year’s celebration had every reason to question their conscience all the way back home, knowing well that it was a tamasha on borrowed money. For instance, just weeks before last year’s event, Bangladesh was approached for a loan. That loan, which was to be paid in three months, is yet unpaid and its High Commissioner will be on the dais this year as well, probably pondering the exact same thing he did last year.
It is not that our political leaders do not have a choice; they do, as in the case of Tanzania, which on multiple occasions in the recent past has swapped its Independence Day celebrations for a better cause. Just last month this developing African nation halted its 61st celebration of independence and used the $ 445,000 (around Rs. 170 million) allocated for the purpose to build dormitories for primary schools. It did the same in 2015 and 2020 as well, under different political leaders in favour of more pressing causes. The planned parades for last year’s independence celebration were replaced with a public discourse on development.
The political leadership of that country, irrespective of party, has in the last decade or so adapted to the times and put the welfare of the people at the centre of their agenda. Tanzania’s GDP grew by an estimated 5% in 2022 and is expected to grow by 6% in 2023, quite in contrast to Sri Lanka on the other side of the Indian Ocean, whose economy shrunk by a record 9% last year and is expected to continue in the red in 2023 as well.
The silver lining to this irrationality is that, unlike the political leadership that refuses to change and adapt to the times, the average citizen, obviously forced to open their eyes by the excruciating economic strangulation that is taking place, is slowly but surely asserting their authority. At the core of it is the working class – the people who received their paychecks last week – having sacrificed a large chunk of their salaries in lieu of new taxes which do not appear to be doing justice to the cause.
There is no gainsaying that the foundation for this awakening was laid by the Aragalaya of last year and citizens traditionally set in their political ways identifying themselves primarily as blue, green, or red are instead, now becoming more concerned and interested in the policies, principles, and potential of their political leaders.
Needless to say, it is inevitable that this continuing irrationality will lead to uncomfortable questions for the administration. These days the first of such questions are being publicly raised by constituents of its own coalition over the extent of the President’s mandate. While Wickremesinghe keeps pointing to the constitutional requirement that he serves out the rest of his predecessor’s term, one must not lose sight of the basis for that particular mandate. If those policies of his predecessor for which the people gave an unprecedented mandate cannot be pursued, then it is only fair that people are consulted afresh.
Interestingly, the incumbent President will be vested with the right to dissolve Parliament at a time of his choosing in a couple of weeks from now with the current Parliament completing two-and-a-half years in office.