By W. Vishnu Gupta –

W. Vishnu Gupta

The State of Sri Lanka experienced the most bizarre and undemocratic political change in the modern history of the democratic world. All citizens, if not most of the Sri Lankans irrespective of their political affiliations, demanded change of government led by corrupt and vile Rajapaksa chicaneries. They, including their extended family members are alleged to have squandered the state assets and siphoned billions of dollars and stashed away in the overseas private bank accounts in many countries. For 13 of the last 18 years, members of the Rajapaksa family have controlled the highest reaches of Sri Lanka’s government. During this time, this ordinary family of an unassuming farmer; D.A. Rajapaksa who could not afford even a push-bicycle has become one of the most dreaded billionaires, leader of the pack Mahinda Rajapaksa was hellbent on creating an everlasting political dynasty by firstly duping leading Buddhist clergy, secondly laying the foundation for polarizing various ethnic groups and finally by instilling fear among majority Sinhala Buddhists, Rajapaksas were the masters of “divide and rule”,  they promoted divisive acts based on ethnicity, religion and language. 

April of this year, Bloomberg reported how and why Rajapasas were responsible for the economic crisis in the country, in an article published under the caption “A powerful dynasty bankrupted Sri Lanka in just 30 months.”

Likewise, in May 2022, Washington Post reported that “The Rajapaksa brothers have dominated politics here for most of the last 20 years. After helping Mahinda win the presidency in 2005, his brothers Chamal, Gotabaya and Basil took over ministries that controlled three-quarters of the national budget and built popular support despite allegations of human rights abuses and corruption. But by 2019, when Gotabaya became president, the family was marred by infighting and dysfunction that would drive South Asia’s most developed nation into ruin.”

Obviously, it appears that Rajapaksas have planned well to rob the state of Sri Lanka, and it can be assumed that their grand scheme included the appointment of a crafty accountant and Mahinda Rajapaksa’s personal acquaintance as the Central Bank Governor. There is no other explanation for bringing Nivard Cabraal who worked in the private sector and for ignoring well trained and qualified senior central bank executives including deputy governors and directors vying for the plum job at CBSL. Rajapaksa may justify appointment of his pal as the Governor because his predecessor Chandrika, known as the bandit queen or “Chowra Rajina” was the first to violate the sanctity of the apex appointment at CBSL. Therefore, when it comes to economic crimes Chandrika and his inner circle should not be overlooked, Chandrika installed the first outsider; Sunil Mendis a corporate executive as the 11^th CBSL governor on 1^st July 2004. A carefully orchestrated move by the corrupt oligarchy, the appointments of political stooges are highly suspicious and should be considered as a push toward to weaken the independence of the STATE institutions and pave the way for economic crimes. The opening of the floodgates for economic crimes was accelerated by Chandrika, Rajapaksas, and Ranil. Consequently, Nivard Cabraal (12^th Governor), Arjuna Mahendran (13^th Governor), W.D Lakshman (15^th Governor) and for the second time Nivard Cabral (16^th Governor). All these political clowns appointed by the temporarily elected government leaders were equally responsible for the economic crisis of the nation. 

Moreover, it is a cardinal principle of democratically run states, and time also has proved that the central banks must remain independent from government FISCAL POLICY to carry out the nation’s monetary policy and control its money supply, and maintain low inflation with steady GDP growth, often mandated by the requirements of the state and not by the nefarious motives of the temporarily elected government. Therefore, the central bank must remain uninfluenced by the political concerns of any regime. Then obviously, Chandrika, Mahinda, Ranil and Gotabaya and their inner circle of political collaborators have deliberately violated this cardinal rule to achieve their personal and political goals driven by alleged compulsive appetite for hedonistic lifestyles.

It is not only the Central Bank, but the charlatans controlling the government of Sri Lanka has been politicizing and tainting the state institutions since 1960’s including the judiciary and security forces. These abhorrent politicians have appointed their political henchmen, friends, and family members to weaken the state and hence the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. Controversial individuals such as L.Weeratunga, Cabraal, Mahendran, Mohan Peiris, Shirani Bandaranayake, Moragoda, P. Jayasundara, J. Wickramasuriya, Attygalle, J. Jayasuriya, C. Ratwatte, Paskaralingam, Amari Wijewardene, Nishantha Wickramasinghe, and U. Weeratunga are among thousands of political appointees who followed the dictates of temporarily elected governments lead by politicians responsible for economic crimes in Sri Lanka. They have participated, encouraged, turned blind eye, and endorsed the economic crimes willingly or unwittingly and weakened the state institutions. The Bankrupt nation is the sole evidence of the crimes committed by all politicians and their agents appointed to state institutions, it took only 74 years to bankrupt the country and it is laughable when Ranil, one of the gang leaders who ransacked the state, expects to rectify the situation by 2050. It is equally hilarious to note that there is no serious debate about these political operatives and other similar individuals either in the media or among academics and other civil action groups that has mushroomed in the country. 

The common denominator that drew us to bankruptcy

The shared belief of (225+1) and their appointed agents in the state institutions is “Greed is Good”, and they do not understand the pain of majority of citizen suffering from hunger, disease, and lack of other basic needs. These demonic men and women must be told unequivocally that “Hunger is not a Choice”. The state is unable to feed, shelter and provide vital necessities because of the unceasing greed of (225+1) plus their agents. IMF and other donor countries must demand political reforms and structural changes in the state institutions. The government led by an unelected leader and a bunch of vile politicians are not the legitimate recipients of much needed financial assistance. Firstly, IMF must call for accountability statement with independently verifiable data related to all bank loans and grants obtained from donor countries and other international agencies such as ADB. Secondly, IMF and the donor countries must demand explanation on alleged financial irregularities and excesses committed by Premadasa, Chandrika, Mahinda, Maithri, Gotabaya and Ranil and their political cohorts including cabinet ministers accused by the people. Thirdly, IMF and the donor countries must ascertain whether the actions and policies of the regimes controlled by the above politicians and their families have driven Sri Lanka to bankruptcy and the prevailing economic crisis. Therefore, the international players specifically IMF, China, India, Japan, and the USA, should not hurry to feed the unceasing appetite of politicians accused of stealing from the coffers of the state and they should not prop up a government lead by an unelected corrupt politician. Above all contrary to the claims made politician such as Ranil, Ali Sabry, G.L. Peiris and Wijeyadasa in the international forums, Sri Lanka is not a vibrant democracy, it is a fraudulent parliamentary system, the political parties are not democratic at all, and it is the most fundamental issue in governance of Sri Lanka. The IMF and other lending institutions should delay all financial assistance until the STATE is ready with a legitimately established government under a credible political leadership. In the present context, Sri Lankan government is a BLACK HOLE for international funds.