As Sri Lanka attempts to pull itself-up by its bootstraps, the island’s decaying political culture is showcasing that as per normal, the priority has once again shifted to political survival of individuals, legacy families and the ageing party structures.
Despite the decades of poor governance, ill-advised policies, politicisation of key issues which led to the political upheaval of 2022 and the economic crisis which brought the island to its knees, the political class is still busy prioritising self-sustainment over national crisis management. One would expect that there would be broader political discourse and debate on matters at hand; but no. Our ‘crème de la crème’ of law makers are busy pointing fingers at each other, playing musical chairs with the blame game for the economic crisis, and are focused on the upcoming elections for their own survival. Few of the ‘politicos’ today are talking about forward looking policies, there is hardly any mention of economic recovery strategies or means to reduce the long standing budget deficit. Despite having the word ‘people’ in the names of most Sri Lankan political movements, few today seem to care about the ‘people’. The corrosive political culture and the political parties which are its key stakeholder, are today struggling to reinvent itself to meet the needs and the wants of the more politically aware and active voter. It is likely that the political upheaval that began in 2022, may finally be effecting the old order to crumble.
Today the focus in mainstream politics is now; how to consolidate one’s power within the grand old ‘political parties’, or push one’s name forward as a suitable runner for the presidency. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) which gave the world its first woman prime minister, is today imploding with a power rivalry shifting focus on gaining legal control of the party, to that of formulating policies for the benefit of the people. It is noteworthy that the SLFP is a party which was home to two past executive presidents. Today, the SLFP, which was already handicapped by the creation of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), is today fragmenting with infighting, where one former Executive President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, has sought a permanent injunction to remove the present sitting chairperson (ex-president Sirisena) from the party leadership position, citing his unsuitability for the role. The SLPP is also in disarray, with the Rajapaksa political dynasty now in disrepute after the colossal governance failure which was Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and is today unable and unwilling to nominate one of their own to run for Presidency. The SLPP, who claim today that they are the only party which can affect the ‘system change’ which the mass protests of 2021-2022 sought, are scrambling to regroup what’s left of their ‘grass roots’ support.
Amidst this chaos, we find old wine in new bottles throwing their hat into the ring, as presidential candidates. The United National Party (UNP), once the most powerful, are clinging on to the tail coats of Ranil Wickremesinghe’s achievements with economic stabilisation, to sling shot them back to the future. Gone are the cries to abolish executive presidency, a system which it seems is destined to plague Sri Lankan governance for an extended period. At the end, come elections, the grand old parties, and the same old faces which have haunted Sri Lankan governance for over five decades, may well find common ground, against the new ‘common enemy’ – the fast moving National People’s Power (NPP), which has begun to attract the younger, more politically aware voter base.
Even the US Style – presidential candidate debate which gained attention, and saw a possible policy debate between the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the JVP/NPP, considered to be a positive step for democracy in Sri Lanka, is still not finalised, with both parties pointing the finger at each other. The fact that front line Sri Lankan political leaders cannot find a way to gather and debate key challenges and policy solutions for the crisis Sri Lanka is facing today, and what should be done to secure our future, is telling of the political culture which has over the decades brought the island nation to its knees. When, if ever, will the politicians of Sri Lanka wake up, and become leaders, is the question Sri Lankan citizens seem to be stuck with, at least for the near future.