By Asoka S. Seneviratne –

Prof. Asoka.S. Seneviratne

Based on the recent speech by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, he disclosed that he was in Qatar and Dubai in 1978. By that time, we knew that Anura Kumara Dissanayake was ten years old. Now, 46 years later, President RW compares Qatar and Dubai with Sri Lanka and states, “We do not know what happened to us – Sri Lanka.” Prez. RW knows well now that what happened to Sri Lanka has been due to a lack or absence of good governance, negligence of communal harmony, rampant corruption, absence of the rule of law, and utter selfishness of politicians, including Prez. RW. When Prez RW can learn the above, he has been with the parliament for 47 years and at 75. He may compete for pleasure in the next presidential election and will go home. For NPP/AKD, there are no lessons to be learned because AKD has been to the USA, UK, Canada, and Japan compared to Qatar and Dubal. So that NPP/ AKD can understand well what went wrong with the country, which Prez. RW goes home after desperate attempts to stay in power. There is no doubt that the future government of NPP/AKP will fulfill the expectations of the people and the country after 76 years of the “New Generation ARAGALAYA” in its real spirit. Hence, people and country will feel the difference between Prez. RW and the future government of NPP/AKD are based on good governance and the rule of law as the foundation.   

Introduction

President Ranil Wickremesinhe (Prez RW) recently mentioned about his visit to Qatar in 1978, with a few galvanized thatched buildings and no airport. And Dubal, it was only a few buildings. He expressed his concerns by stating, “We do not know what happened to us-Sri Lanka,” compared to the current development status with Qatar and Dubai. Unfortunately, Prez RW does not know what happened to Sri Lanka. On the other hand, among many, he has been with the Parliament for 47 years, six times Prime Minister, and led six governments from 1993 to 2022; he is the 10th opposition leader and is now the president of Sri Lanka. Given his political history, political acumen, and education, I strongly feel that Prez RW should not make such a lousy statement to the public. The article aims to explain to him what happened to Sri Lanka and, hence, lessons that he can learn and also for NPP/AKD.  In short, he can leave parliament forever by knowing what went wrong with him, a lesson for his associates like Mahinda Rajapaksa and Dinesh Gunawardena, among many others. The other side of the coin is NPP/AKD. For them, there are no lessons to be learned except meeting the people’s and the country’s expectations after 76 years of the spirit of New Generation ARAGALAYA.

Aragalaya

Among many, I can explain a few lessons to be learned. Generally, ARAGALAYA (struggle) symbolizes the foundation of all the lessons Prez RW must learn. Starting from gaining independence in 1948, Sri Lanka witnessed social unrest or uprisings where people were unhappy or disappointed. Given the depth and weight, those unrests or uprisings did not represent the whole nation, where all were united for a common enemy – the government. Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, and others were along the way from north to south and east to west. In other words, people saw the common enemy with the New Generation ARAGALAYA. ARAGALAYA was not an incident. It was the spirit of the new generation in which the president escaped the country while his associates disappeared from Colombo, and people made desperate attempts to locate them. The reasons for ARAGALAYA were not economic alone. Politically, it was an utter disappointment and frustration when people deeply felt that under the pretext of good governance, the government cheated and exploited the people for its survival or of its class or most affluent. As a result, among many, the gap between haves and have-nots widened so that social justice was a distant goal of the people and the country. Given the above, Prez RW must understand and learn that the heat of the current politics is that people do not want to move with his call to walk with him. Indeed, people have been fed up with UNP and SLFP, or fundamentally green and blue politics in the country. The political history of Sri Lanka shows that the abovementioned green and blue phenomenon has been a cancer in the country.   

Good Governance

Based on ARAGALAYA, another crucial aspect is the absence of a good government, which Prez RW must learn. There are many aspects to good governance. In short, it is a process in which (a) people-centered public institutions, including politicians, (b) how to conduct public affairs (i.e., transparency, accountability, and credibility etc.), (c) how to manage public resources, and (d) guarantee the realization of human rights based on democracy. I just indicated the above to understand the scope of good governance. I wonder if Prez RW has been satisfied with the above (a) –(d) over the 47 years of political career or two years as the Prez of the country. According to his conscience, he cannot say that I am satisfied. If so, he can understand that the absence of good governance is one of the reasons for “what happened to us, Sri Lanka”. Qatar, Dubai, and Singapore have followed or adhered to the above four of good governance, so they have been successful. Prez. RW knows this well.

As Prez RW always boasts that he went to the IMF and rescued the country, I want to know what the IMF told Prez RW. In the context of the Program Strategy, the IMF proposed “Structural reforms to address corruption vulnerabilities and enhance growth.” Along with the above, the Government was forced to introduce Anti-Corruption Act No.9 of 2023, and according to Prez RW, it is the most rigid anti-corruption law in Asia. Prez RW was forced to enact the most rigid anti-corruption law in Asia so that he knows well what happened to Sri Lanka. Even after the Act mentioned above, missing vehicles from the president’s office were reported, and irregularities in printing the lottery tickets with the National Lotteries Board were reported.  Prez has been with the parliament for 47 years and 6-time prime minister, but he waited for the IMF to advise him to formulate a new anti-corruption law in Sri Lanka. Given the above, he can better understand what happened to him than to the country.

I understand that more than the law is required; the leadership must lead the county in displaying excellent character. On the other hand, the IMF understood what happened to Sri Lanka, so it proposed “Structural reforms to address corruption vulnerabilities and enhance growth”. Even after 76 years, including Prez RW, it has been a tragedy that Sri Lanka failed to produce good governance.

Communal Harmony

Directly related to the above-mentioned good governance has been the political culture that failed to cultivate communal harmony in the country. The leading cause of violence, including the 30 years of war in the country, was the absence of communal harmony in the country. Any law cannot promote and cultivate communal harmony among the people. It is the utmost commitment of the actual hearts of people that can encourage and cultivate communal harmony. I would like to know if UNP, SLFP, or any Tamil political parties truly commuted for communal harmony among the people. Communal harmony is the foundation of an economy’s growth and development. In other words, (a)  political culture, (b) political economy, (c) pattern of production and distribution, (d) use of resources, ( e ) safety and security, and (f) overall welfare and well-being of the people are anchored on communal harmony because all of the above are interrelated, enforcing each other. When Prez RW expressed concern about what happened to us, I wonder whether he or the government, and any government since 1948, discussed openly or indicated the role of significant or communal harmony in the country’s economic growth and development. The practice has been that South politicians go to the North during the elections, and politicians in the North come to the South as the Parliament is in Colombo or attend events with invitation. If communal harmony had existed since 1948, along with good governance and the rule of law, it would not have been necessary for Prez  RW compared Sri Lanka with Qatar and Dubail based on 1978.

Selfishness and poor quality of the politicians

Prez RW invites or appeals to opposition political parties and the people to support him in carrying out the reform agenda without interruption. If Prez RW has been able to fulfils the expectations of the people and the country, there is no reason for him to appeal to the people to support him. Instead, people and the country automatically follow him. At the same time, he does his best to extend the length of his office period while blaming Dr. Jayamapathy Wickremaratne for his lapse regarding the issues or ambiguities of the constitution. Indeed, Prez RW can apologize; it is his excellent quality. However, it was a blame game that represented a low-quality character of Prez RW. As a mature politician, he must explain the reasons for all the above. Also, based on the constitution, he is creating mounting uncertainty that affects the country in many ways, on top of the increased burden on low and middle-income households due to the IMF policy reforms. It is his greediness to stay in power and his desire and commitment to look after the section of the community he belongs to. The above applies to the Mahinda Rajapaksa clan as well. Politicians prioritize looking after their interests first rather than the people and country, paving the way for the economy’s collapse or “No 225”.  Part of the above is the Supreme Court’s determination of the guilt of the Rajapaksa family for triggering the worst financial crisis by mishandling the economy. Given the poor quality of UNP and SLPP, politicians now promise the public that they can and are committed to rescuing the people and county, of which politicians have utterly failed for 76 years since 1948. It is so unfortunate that they have forgotten that they talk to the “New Generation of ARAGALAYA” people.

How NPP/AKD could fit into the lessons to be learned by Prez RW

Starting from New Generation ARAGALAYA, the NPP/AKD should learn lessons along with Prez RW. The spirit of Aragalaya is part and parcel of the NPP/AKD because it opposes all the causes and sources of the people’s well-being. The NPP/AKD opposes all forms of corruption, misuse, mismanagement, and violation of the rule of law. It is the utmost quality of the NPP and, hence, AKD.  NPP/AKD knows well and states that laws alone cannot eliminate corruption. They have set ample examples of no involvement with any form of corruption, mismanagement, misuse of resources, or violation of the rule of law.  Given the above, people believe and trust NPP/AKD. However, similar to NPP/AKD, Prez RW or UNP cannot state that their hands are clean and no violation of the rule of law. In Parliament, it was a huge calamity.

“Kauda Hora. Ranil Hora,” “Kauda Hora. Mahinda Hora,” and Dinesh Gunawandena is in between like sandwiches. Schoolchildren in the parliamentary gallery leave their seats immediately, not knowing what will happen next. People, including schoolchildren, question the quality and character of such senior politicians. After all the above, they sit on the same stage to attend an event of another so-called “Hora”. However, NPP/ AKD is far from the abovementioned calamity but is among the people with a warm welcome. Given the above, there is no lesson that NPP/AKD must learn, simply because they have witnessed a far better world in the context of new generation ARAGALAYA than Prez. RW saw in 1978.

Regarding good governance, Prez. RW is always far from the NPP/AKD. The NPP/AKD strictly follows four aspects of the above-mentioned good governance. Moreover, accountability and transparency are always part of the NPP/AKD. Generally, all opposition parties got together and attracted the NPP/AKD referring to its past, lack of experience, and having only 3 seats in the parliament. But they never attacked the NPP/AKD based on (a) misgovernance practices, (b) any form of corruption, and (c) violation of the rule of law. This is the beauty of the NPP/AKD.

Regarding communal harmony, the NPP/AKD has gained high regard and acceptance from all in the North or South. For NPP/AKD, there is no such thing as Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslims, and others. For NPP/AKD,  Sri Lanka is a community. AKD moves freely among all, and he has gained the utmost trust and respect of the communities. He travels around the country and attends all invitations. He does not utter any words that harm or impact the communal harmony. He meets all communities with empty hands and an extensive and committed heart. So that all communities trust him more than other politicians who promise many. Unfortunately, people of the north and east feel excluded in the context of good governance or policy and decision-making since 1948.

This is why some Tamil politicians want to run a Tamil candidate for the presidential election. However, the above does not mean that NPP/AKD will lose support from the north and east because Tamils and Muslims related to the New Generation ARAGALAYA are significantly higher than those who want to compete in the presidential election, given the above, Prez. RW can learn a lot from NPP/AKD.

Prez. RW wants to make the country an export paradise based on foreign investment. NPP wants to embark upon an export drive with good governance, utmost transparency, and accountability. FDI is invited, and investors are committed to coming because they know there is no hidden cost, such as payment of commissions and favours with a future government of NPP/AKD. The IMF proposed “Structural reforms to address corruption vulnerabilities and enhance growth” to Prez. RW. However, with a future government with the NPP/AKD, the IMF will be more comfortable because they know well that the NPP/AKD is based on (a) no misgovernance practices, (b) any form of corruption, and (c) violation of the rule of law. In other words, the IMF believes and trusts NPP/AKD more than Prez. RW because the IMF knows the history of both parties well based on rampant corruption and violation of the rule of law, which led to the collapse of the economy, Prez. RW was forced to call for help and advice from the IMF. The abovementioned economic disaster will not occur with a future government under the leadership of the NPP/AKD government.

*The writer worked as the Special Advisor to the Office of the President of Namibia and was a Senior Consultant with UNDP for 16 years.  He worked as a Senior Economist with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (1972-1993) before he migrated to New Zealand. The writer can be contacted at asoka.seneviratne@gmail.com