By Ameer Ali –

Dr. Ameer Ali

The disappearance of Inspector General of Police Deshabandu Tennekoon and Sewwandi the woman alleged to have supplied the gun in the murder of an underworld kingpin inside the court premise in Colombo, and similar disappearances previously of high officers in government service are proof of one indisputable fact in the recent history of Sri Lanka. They demonstrate how deeply interpenetrated are the crime world and officialdom in the country’s post-JR open economy or the so-called Dharmista Samaagaya. That openness not only made easier the entry and exit of goods and services and capital and labour but also criminals and contrabands. The market for narcotics and drugs for example, could not have grown so widely in Sri Lanka had it not been for this diabolic relationship.  At least that much could be gleaned from reading between lines Nandana Weeraratne’s, The Criminal History of Ranil Wickremasinghe 1977-1997 (Lanka Books 2024). That relationship between the underworld and officialdom became even more cordial after the civil war when Mahinda Rajapaksa and his clan became unchallenged heroes. Dubai and Qatar became offshore centres of operation for underworld kingpins, and profits made from criminal and illicit businesses were able to escape local tax net and Central Bank controls to find safe havens abroad. Didn’t Panama Papers identify members of Rajapaksa clan safekeeping their financial fortunes in offshore tax havens?

The crime world-officialdom symbiosis eventually created a political culture in which politicians were able to take advantage of that connection to enhance their own prestige and fortunes. It was this culture that promoted a system of governance bedevilled with corruption and nepotism. It was a system that provided shelter to criminals and looters of public wealth, and it was a system that stood to benefit too few to gain too much at the expense of too many.

A new generation of Sri Lankans finally realised that it was time for the overthrow of the entire system in favour of a new. When the aragalaya youth demanded system change in 2022 they also meant in addition an end to its associated political culture. And, when Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) and his JVP/NPP coalition promised both, voters gave them a thumping mandate with an unprecedented parliamentary majority.

It is only five months since AKD became the President and little less than that since NPP formed the government. No rational observer of the country’s politics and economy would have expected any miracle to occur within that short period given the continuing international economic volatility on the one hand and the IMF designed recovery agenda at home on the other. Pragmatism dictated that the new government accepts that status quo and operate to achieve the best possible outcome. As a result, economic stability has been retained although economic growth remains slow but positive. However, impressed by the new regime’s economic rationality and confident of its administrative efficiency IMF has released its fourth tranche of EFF, and to the credit of AKD and his government IMF now believes that state-owned enterprises need not be privatized but could operate profitably with suitable reforms and better management. Thus, there appears to be an air of optimism within IMF strategists regarding Sri Lanka’s economic future with AKD’s leadership and NPP government. Economic pragmatism, commitment towards clean governance and corruption free administration seem to be the guiding principles of the new team of rulers.

Yet, there is an uneasy atmosphere of political tumult threatening to gather momentum as the date for Local Government Elections is approaching. Without any constructive economic alternative to offer to the people the opposition is haunted by AKD’s resolve to bring to justice those who bankrupted the economy, protected the criminals, pardoned the convicted and even allowed few of them to escape from the country. It is in that context one should view the disappearance of Deshabandu Tennekoon and Sewwandi, because if they are caught and brought to trial they may come out with some unsavoury truths to the detriment of certain previous leaders and their clan. Are they being protected by certain VVIPs? Worse come to worst one should not be surprised to find a report one day that they are dead. Because what is better for an offender than to destroy all evidence against him/her? In short, AKD’s governance reforms, anti-corruption campaign, Clean Sri Lanka initiative and restoration of independence of judiciary, all appear to have disturbed a hornet nest in the opposition camp. That explains the current tumult. The best solution from the point of the opposition therefore is to cut short the life of NPP government by instigating nonstop anti-government agitations. From cost of living to petrol queues and racism they are looking out for a tinder that could lit the riot fire. Their target now is to show their strength at the forthcoming Local Government Elections.

The aragalaya awakening like the yoga kundalini counterpart should continue until it cleanses the entire body and soul of the nation’s polity. Clean governance, ethnic reconciliation, economic independence with a mafia-free market and economic equity, and democratic freedom with primacy of rule of law should be some of the chief ingredients of the new system the new generation is aspiring for.  The governing political leadership led by President AKD may not be perfect but its commitment to change the system and usher in a new era of civilized Sri Lanka is uncompromising.