{"id":226335,"date":"2022-04-07T14:53:54","date_gmt":"2022-04-07T09:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=226335"},"modified":"2022-04-07T14:57:38","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T09:27:38","slug":"from-eliya-to-andura-vipath-maga-in-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/from-eliya-to-andura-vipath-maga-in-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"From Eliya To Andura & Vipath Maga In Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several years ago, when the current President came forward with his “Viyathmaga<\/a><\/span>” proposal and wanted to lead this nation, the Friday Forum<\/a><\/span> warned of the inherent risks for our country, in a statement with the above title.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Today we are living this reality.<\/p>\n

People from all walks of life are on the streets, despite a curfew, protesting their refusal to tolerate any longer the\u00a0socio-economic crisis that the country is facing, because of incompetent, corrupt and irresponsible governance and abuse of power. This situation has impacted negatively on the lives, livelihoods and fundamental freedoms of our citizens as never before,\u00a0and even in the darkest of times. The economy\u00a0is on the verge of collapse and the nation on the edge of a precipice that will bring us to the status of a bankrupt and failed state without the essential institutions of governance. There is an urgent need for major reforms and institutional\u00a0arrangements in, among others, the fiscal and monetary\u00a0spheres. Competent professionals need to be appointed to negotiate with international financial institutions for the restructuring of our foreign debt, and relief to tide us over this national crisis.<\/p>\n

We were informed by Mr. Dinesh Gunawardena two days ago, that “the whole cabinet had tendered\u00a0its resignation\u00a0to the Prime Minister”. \u00a0We\u00a0watched in disbelief\u00a0as this same person was, among some others,\u00a0sworn in the next day\u00a0as Ministers in President Gotabhaya\u00a0Rajapaksa’s “new cabinet”. This is no time for the President to be swearing\u00a0in any\u00a0ministers,\u00a0with the same old faces, in the same or different ministries. The public is on the streets, demanding the resignation of the President and his whole cabinet.<\/p>\n

But we cannot have a vacuum. Since the Prime Minister cannot succeed to the office of\u00a0President under our Constitution because of the\u00a0two-term limit, Parliament must meet immediately and by consensus agree to\u00a0a suitable person who can succeed to the office of\u00a0an interim President.\u00a0 Such an interim President must be tasked by Parliament to form an\u00a0interim all-party national government by consensus, for a limited period of time, until the next General Elections can be held. This is critically important to help manage the current crisis. An all-party consensus must be forged to ensure that an interim government takes on the responsibility of political leadership, and to approve any necessary constitutional amendments to make this happen. No parliamentarian can ever expect to be voted into office if he or she fails the nation in this regard, at this critical time.<\/p>\n

A new and small cabinet of key ministers, including in Finance and Foreign Affairs, must be appointed to hold\u00a0office and give leadership in an interim government.\u00a0They must be persons of competence and capacity who can be tasked with implementing critical fiscal and monetary policy reforms, debt restructuring\u00a0and negotiations with international financial institutions. An interim government must also address the vital need to replace officials in the Central Bank, the Attorney General\u2019s Department and the law\u00a0enforcement agencies, with persons of capacity and personal integrity to help them address the serious trust deficit in regard to management of the economy and the administration of justice. There is a large pool of human resources and expertise in this country that must be harnessed by an interim government at this time to help resolve this deep national crisis.<\/p>\n

We as citizens have a right to ask for transparency and leadership, from politicians as well as civil society members\u00a0and professionals at this time. Together we must save our nation from becoming a failed state.<\/p>\n

Prof. Savitri Goonesekere, Dr. A.C.Visvalingam, Mr. Priyantha Gamage, Mr. Chandra Jayaratne, Bishop Duleep de Chickera, Prof. Camena Guneratne, \u00a0Prof. Gameela Samarasinghe, Rev. Dr. Jayasiri Peiris, Mr. Daneshan Casie Chetty, Mr. Tissa Jayatilaka, Dr. Geedreck Uswatte-Aratchi, Prof. Gananath Obeyesekere, Prof. Ranjini Obeyesekere, Mr. S.C.C.Elankovan, Prof. Deepika Udagama, Ms. Suriya Wickramasinghe, Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy, Mr. Pulasthi Hewamanna and Ms. Shanthi Dias.<\/p>\n

*The Friday Forum is an informal group of concerned citizens pledged to uphold norms of democracy, good governance, rule of law, human rights, media freedom and tolerance in our pluralist society.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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