With Sri Lanka now transiting the mandatory cool-off period from the bull-horn political campaigning which was ongoing, voter Joe has been granted a valuable period to reflect on what really matters as an individual, at the home front and as a country.  

Tomorrow our nation will vote and decide which way the tiller will swing as we navigate through rough waters. The vote tomorrow may also set the stage for the way the following General Elections will play out. Therefore, it is imperative that tomorrow, we vote, accept the result, whichever it may be, calmly and democratically. It seems that the vote is boiling down to a Mexican standoff between, status quo, moderate change and radical change. All three outcomes have significant risks which Sri Lanka will have to face collectively, irrespectively who we vote for.

Over the last few decades, Sri Lanka has been wanting her voters to be more politically aware, involved and mature in the way they exercise their ballot. Let us hope that such maturity is reflected in tomorrow's poll results. For decades, Sri Lanka has experimented with ‘strongmen’ and some ‘strong women’ for leadership. However, when picking leadership options, the focus has always been about the individual, and less so on how effective and practical are the policies which they push. Sri Lanka has consistently performed poorly at the ballot box in terms of vetting policies due to the focus on the individual. It is heartening to see a significant shift in electoral politics this time, with many now questioning policies, debating them and questioning about the credibility and competency of leadership ‘teams’. Nevertheless, like in many South Asian nations, it is disappointing that even at this Presidential Election in Sri Lanka, the politics has by now disintegrated to a battle of the ‘individual’, with focus on the candidate. Sri Lanka seems not yet ready to let go of its ‘we need a saviour’ past. Bitter as the pill may be, Sri Lankans, both young and old would come to the realisation, if they didn’t allow their emotions to get the better of them, that all the leading candidates share some blame in the poor governance the island had seen for decades, which snowballed into the unprecedented economic crisis which came to a head in the last few years. 

Ranil Wickremesinghe, was Prime Minister on multiple occasions, his last was as the PM of the 2015-2019 Yahapalanaya Government, which promised ‘good governance’ but was so dysfunctional and fragmented, that it enabled the Rajapksha clan which had lost face to resurrect itself under the disastrous leadership of Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2019. Sajith Premadasa was part of the Yahapalanaya Government and a cabinet minister played a part in that Government and his track record as the Minister-in-charge of housing has been the source of much debate. Further, Premadasa et. al. did not use the opportunity left in the wake of Gotabaya being ousted from office, acting quickly to aid in showing political stability and leadership, leaving Wickremesinghe the opportunity to step up and take the helm. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) though seeking a public mandate through its new, more moderate avatar of the National People’s Power (NPP) supported Mahinda Rajapaksa to come to power, while its top leadership including Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the NPP candidate for President, held cabinet and non-cabinet portfolios. The JVP also contributed to the Yahapalanaya Government to come to power. Further long-term trade union action which was the result of the JVP’s ‘state/ public assets’ ideologically stance held growth of critical sectors in Sri Lanka and created the environment for State-owned enterprises to become loss making and inefficient. The role of Namal Rajapaksa, the Rajapaksa clan, and what he represents, irrespective of how much rebranding he does, has been a topic which has been widely covered by many in the local and foreign press. The fact of the matter is, none of the leading contenders are ‘saviours’ and it is high time Sri Lankan voters rid themselves of such illusions and start debating policy, practicality of such and analyses the credibility of those who we want us to lead when making a choice. Let us vote wisely this time.