There is no denying the fact that Sri Lanka is at the crossroads today, facing its worst-ever crisis, which is slowly but steadily transforming from primarily an economic one into a humanitarian one, with hundreds if not thousands of citizens being involuntarily added to the ‘those in need of help’ list every week, as per UN data.

Therefore, it is about time that the nation’s political leadership came up with a durable and sustainable plan to regain the nation that is slipping away from the grip of its citizens as well as its leaders. We say this because the current leadership even as of last week went on record stating that it has only three options available to it to stem the slide: print money, increase taxes, and sell off assets – all three of which, needless to say, are detrimental to a nation already in decline.  

Sri Lanka’s President has been portrayed – by the ruling party at least – as the best man for the job and that people should give him time to get his act together. Being a veteran of some 45 years in Parliament and six times as prime minister, one would assume that six months at the helm would be reasonable enough time to get into gear but, by the looks of it, that does not appear to be the case. This is becoming apparent from what the President himself has been saying as of late. For instance, in an address to the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2022 last week, leave alone steering the economy as Head of State and Finance Minister, he said Sri Lanka had no economy, which, by extension meant, there is nothing to steer. 

He was widely quoted in both local as well as international media as having said: “What is the plan for reform? Frankly, I have no plan for it. What reforms when we don’t have an economy?” He had added thereafter: “What we want to do is to build a new economy.” Ironically enough, having said this on Monday last, three days later on Thursday (8) his Budget for 2023 was approved in Parliament, and it had nothing in it that spoke about building a new economy or even laying the foundation for one. 

To the contrary, the considered view of the business community is that the revised tax regime introduced by the new Budget will in fact sound the death knell for the economy in its present form as the heavy, across-the-board taxation that will come into effect on 1 January 2023 will drain the lifeblood from the heart of business, which is considered to be the Small and Medium Enterprises sector. If that were to come about at some point, then the President will be spot-on in his assessment of a non-existent economy and having to rebuild one from the ground up. 

However, the billion rupee question is whether the people – already enduring far more than their fair share of burdens thanks to the continuous blundering of their leaders who are still indulging in luxury at their expense – will be in any mood to allow the present leadership to pile on more misery on their plate. Given the events of five months ago, where an individual who enjoyed the biggest mandate ever received by a president was summarily chased away from office, the present leadership is literally pushing the people’s patience to the limit.

One is entitled to ask the question if, as the President says, the economy has been destroyed to the point that it does not even exist, then as a veteran of 45 years in the very same Parliament that presided over that destruction, is it not time to bring in new blood, new thinking, and a new way of doing things? Are we as a nation so morally and politically bankrupt as to persist with the same political dodos?

When the current President was Prime Minister in 2001, his party’s campaign and work programme upon election to office at the time was termed ‘Regaining Sri Lanka’. A good two decades ago, the same leader who is now talking of “building a new economy” was ready to ‘Regain Sri Lanka’ by, yes, reinventing its economy, among other things. If that went well, all chances are that we wouldn’t be in this deplorable situation today. It is this unimaginative politics of a generation way past their prime that is yet again attempting to reinvent a wheel that refuses to be invented purely due to the lack of ideas, vision, and a sustainable methodology to see things through – that is at the root of the problem.

The last attempt by the incumbent in the ‘regaining’ endeavour two decades ago, like every other politically-motivated programme in this country, was largely limited to paper. But it must be said that some attempt was made to regain what seemed lost at the time – with the economy indicating minus GDP growth for the first time in history – through a series of programmes that, apart from other things, actually focused on reforming the public sector.

However, all those gains on that particular front were lost with the subsequent Mahinda Rajapaksa administration packing the State sector to the rafters with political appointees – so much so that the Public Service, which was at a sustainable 600,000 plus at the beginning of his term in 2005, ended up being bloated to around 1.5 million at the end of his term to basically carry out the same workload or less due to automation. What is pitiful is that this disaster in the making was actually marketed on political platforms as a sign of ‘growth’ and an ignorant electorate lapped it up. 

It is this burden that is now haunting the administration and weighing the nation down with the lion’s share of State revenue – over two-thirds, to be more accurate – going towards paying State sector salaries. Despite this high price tag, is the public being served better? Ask any random citizen and the answer will be an emphatic ‘no’ – a classic case of too many cooks spoiling the soup and no one being accountable for anything, which in fact is the root cause of the impunity that is now synonymous with the State sector.

Now with Wickremesinghe back in the saddle, we are back at square one, attempting to regain this nation. Given the political stalemate with those that ran this country to the ground refusing to budge and make way for new thinking and new blood, the stalemate will continue and ‘regaining the nation’ will continue to be limited to election slogans. If the current political establishment is truly desirous of change, it must focus on four pillars – the very pillars that have let this nation down time and again. 

First off, this nation needs strict, statutory eligibility criteria for aspiring politicians as well as a statutory retirement age for all politicians. Secondly, a complete overhaul of our education system that will focus on creating intellectuals and not parrots who memorise outdated, irrelevant curricula, coupled with a system that tests intelligence and not memory capacity. 

Thirdly, a complete overhaul of foreign policy which, while building on the ethos of non-alignment, must also identify who our real friends are and strengthen those bonds. Our foreign policy must revolve around those that provide sustainable, long-term economic support – namely those nations that help us to develop two things: employment and exports. 

Lastly, the creation of a political and administrative setup that celebrates, nurtures, and encourages unity, diversity, and empowerment at every level.