By Suranimala –

Sri Lanka is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, If standard accounting practice is applied the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is not a going concern. Fact.

The world at large and the arms that are collaborative do not allow a country to go down the pipe. Why? The knock-on effect it will have on other nations. The resultant chaos and misery on a populace who follow democracy by a simple act of placing a cross on a ballot paper and handing over untrammeled power to a set of rogues (for a loss of a better word) to chart their future has stunted generations since Independence. A bailout for Sri Lanka will have to come from people’s taxes of other nations. Natural disasters, acts of God can be justified as a principle for assistance, but looting by its elected leaders will not be tolerated indefinitely. Sooner than later taxpayers of other nations are bound to object to assisting countries that do not hold their rogue leaders to account.

The present set of Rajapaksa’s has sunk Sri Lanka to depths never imagined. Their greed has spawned pseudo businessmen who accept paying filthy lucre as a way of life. They may masquerade as “Good Buddhists, Good Christians, Good Muslims or Hindus”. But they are rogues too. The people too have accepted this as a way of life to loot. Down the ladder, the people’s needs also fall in line with the system. A government job, entering a child to a school, a small contract from a government department to fixing a public water tap, and so on.

Reams of paper and millions of social media posts have been published recording corruption, bribery, and looting by politicians. Nothing happens, Sri Lankans talk about it, laugh about it and forget it. If that status quo remains Sri Lanka will never develop nor change. Everyone knows the problem. How does Sri Lanka fix it?

There is no shortcut. Lessons have to be taught and learned. There is absolutely no purpose in opposition parties haranguing publicly about corruption in government. The need of the day is to have a united front from the opposition parties to hold to account the looters and punish them legally. Pointing out corruption and not following up to a satisfactory conclusion has only exacerbated the levels of looting to what is today.

What is the value of the Rajapaksa family? Only two members have ever done a job in their lifetime. One as a Police Officer and the other as an Army Officer. Just chew on that. There are many other politicians of a similar hue.

Time has come for a joint operation of all opposition parties to launch concerted worldwide scrutiny to unearth the stolen billions of dollars. It must be a unanimous national effort. It can be done and must be. There is no other shortcut for Sri Lanka. Such an effort WILL BE SUCCESSFUL. There would be willing assistance from many institutions to locate such hidden, laundered loot.

If the political parties in the opposition simply use such accusations to come into power, lessons will never be learned and the current system of bribery and corruption will continue unabated. Do not worry about new constitutions et al. Have a joint opposition agreement to scour the world to locate the looted funds and even check if they have been re-routed to buy up legitimate venture back in Sri Lanka. Nail them, jail them and throw the keys across the Port City into the sea. It can be done as mechanisms exist worldwide. Here’s what will follow;

If the entire opposition gets together into this project sans the colour of ethnicity, religion, or other separations, ethnic harmony would follow. Building a Sri Lankan identity as a united and proud nation would be a reality. A nation led by honest politicians thereafter will command a commensurate package as a salary. None will grudge it.

If Sri Lanka misses this opportunity woe be unto the following generations. We may as well say Hip Hip Hora, Hip Hip Hora, Hip Hip Hora till thy kingdom come.