{"id":244260,"date":"2025-11-10T05:03:33","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T23:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=244260"},"modified":"2025-11-19T05:06:49","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T23:36:49","slug":"one-year-on-sri-lankas-leftist-npp-government-falls-short-of-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/one-year-on-sri-lankas-leftist-npp-government-falls-short-of-expectations\/","title":{"rendered":"One Year On: Sri Lanka\u2019s Leftist NPP Government Falls Short Of Expectations"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Pitasanna Shanmugathas<\/a>\u00a0\u2013<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Pitasanna Shanmugathas<\/p><\/div>\n

A year after the leftist National People\u2019s Power (NPP) coalition won an\u00a0unprecedented supermajority<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0in Sri Lanka\u2019s November 2024 parliamentary elections\u2014with support from both the majority Sinhala and minority Tamil communities\u2014it has fallen short in terms of delivering on its sweeping promises. As the first party to govern Sri Lanka outside the two-party system, the NPP during its election campaign promised to eliminate corruption, revive the economy, invest in public education, introduce\u00a0a new constitution<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0devolving power to the regions, repeal draconian anti-terrorism laws, and end decades of failed two-party rule. Instead, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake\u2019s (AKD) government has largely maintained the status quo under the guise of anti-corruption rhetoric.<\/p>\n

Since 1977, nearly every Sri Lankan government has pursued neoliberal policies. Sri Lanka\u2019s traditional two main political parties, United National Party and Sri Lanka Freedom Party, converged on what political economist Balasingham Skanthakumar\u00a0describes<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cthe irresistibility of internal deregulation, external liberalization, and privatization for economic development.\u201d This approach widened inequality: in 2012 with Central Bank of Colombo\u00a0statistics<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0showing the richest 20 percent of households accounted for 54.1 percent of income, while the poorest 20 percent earned only 4.5 percent. Public spending on education\u00a0collapsed<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0from 15 percent of government expenditures (3\u20135 percent of GDP) between 1955\u20131970 to just 1.5 percent of GDP by 2022\u2014the third lowest globally\u2014a stark reversal from Sri Lanka\u2019s pioneering free universal education program established in 1945.<\/p>\n

The NPP emerged as a supposed alternative to this neoliberal orthodoxy. Its Marxist-Leninist roots through the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party, grassroots organizing among workers and youth, and outspoken critique of IMF-imposed austerity suggested it could break the cycle of destructive policies. A year later, that promise lies in ruins. The NPP\u2019s tenure exposes a clear truth: changing faces in power does not break the nation\u2019s political duopoly if the so-called alternative merely replicates the same policies, priorities, and failures.<\/p>\n

Anti-Corruption Theater Without Structural Reform<\/b><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The NPP has made anti-corruption its central selling point, yet these efforts remain largely cosmetic, failing to address the structural reforms Sri Lanka urgently needs. While the government has staged highly publicized arrests of lower- and mid-level officials and\u00a0passed<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0the Proceeds of Crime Act in April 2025, systemic reform has been absent. As Harindra B. Dassanayake and Rajini Gamage\u00a0note in their September 2025 analysis<\/span><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0Sri Lanka\u2019s NPP Government from Systemic Change to Structural Compliance<\/i>, the administration has \u201clargely continued the previous administration\u2019s macroeconomic policies,\u201d retaining top bureaucrats in institutions like the Central Bank and Ministry of Finance. This is systemic preservation, not systemic change.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s \u201cClean Sri Lanka<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u201d initiative has achieved symbolic victories, such as the\u00a0recent arrest<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0of former President Ranil Wickremesinghe on allegations of misappropriating public funds. Yet political analyst Mevan Ariyasinghe\u00a0observed<\/span><\/a><\/span>, \u201cDespite Wickremesinghe\u2019s arrest, Sri Lanka\u2019s politics is stuck in its old loop.\u201d The NPP has proven adept at theatre\u2014reducing<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0cabinet size,\u00a0cutting MP privileges<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> and holding anti-corruption raids\u2014while avoiding the difficult work of dismantling patronage networks, reforming loss-making state enterprises, or addressing the oversized military that continues to drain resources.<\/p>\n

Independent analysts stress that meaningful reform requires more than arrests. A\u00a0comprehensive July 2025 growth study<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0by ODI Global and the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) emphasizes that real reform requires \u201csignificantly upgrading training on public policy and administration for public servants,\u201d establishing rigorous project monitoring systems, and fundamentally restructuring how the state operates. Instead, the NPP has focused on arresting individuals while leaving intact the very systems that enabled their corruption. This represents what one might call \u201cperformative accountability\u201d\u2014visible action that generates headlines but produces little substantive change in how government actually functions.<\/p>\n

IMF Austerity: Continuity Over Change<\/b><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps nowhere is the NPP\u2019s failure more evident than in its economic policy, which amounts to unquestioning adherence to IMF-imposed austerity. Despite\u00a0campaign promises<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0to renegotiate the IMF agreement and pursue equitable reform, the government has done neither. As Harindra and Gamage note, \u201cthe NPP government has largely continued the previous administration\u2019s macroeconomic policies,\u201d echoing former President Wickremesinghe\u2019s claim that \u201cthere are no alternatives\u201d to the IMF program.<\/p>\n

This continuity has been devastating for ordinary Sri Lankans. Poverty stands at\u00a024.5 percent<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0and food insecurity affects\u00a026 percent<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>of households according to 2024 World Bank statistics, while household debt has\u00a0reached<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a038.5 percent according to 2024 UNDP statistics. The NPP even cut health spending from 410 billion rupees in 2024 to 383 billion in 2025, worsening medicine shortages and hospital conditions.<\/p>\n

President Dissanayake has effectively embraced his predecessor\u2019s austerity regime. His government granted special benefits to investors in Colombo Port City\u2014including suspension of key labor laws\u2014drawing criticism even from former NPP-aligned unions. When the IMF\u00a0warned<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0against excessive tax exemptions, the government promised \u201crules-based\u201d eligibility criteria but ignored labor protections. This is neoliberal orthodoxy, not the progressive alternative promised.<\/p>\n

Though GDP grew 5% in 2024 after six quarters of contraction, the recovery has not improved living conditions. ODI Global and CEPA found in July 2025 that \u201cincome poverty remains stubbornly high, affecting a quarter of the population\u2014double 2021 levels\u2014taking Sri Lanka back to its early-2000s poverty rates.\u201d The government has prioritized IMF fiscal targets over the humanitarian crisis facing millions.<\/p>\n

The NPP\u2019s taxation policy further exposes its neoliberal bent. Political economist Mick Moore \u00a0notes<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>that since 1977, governments have failed to collect direct taxes, protecting the wealthy who \u201cpay little or no direct tax\u201d while public services decay. An October 2025 Human Rights Watch\u00a0report<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0found that reliance on regressive taxes deepened inequality: between 2021 and 2024, VAT (a consumption tax heavily burdening low-income households) rose from 8 to 20 percent, and exemptions on essentials were removed. A 2024 World Bank Review\u00a0described<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0these reforms \u201cparticularly regressive,\u201d linking them to a 3.9-point rise in poverty. Meanwhile, corporate tax exemptions cost LKR 978 billion (US$2.7 billion) in 2022\u201456 percent of total tax revenue and nearly triple the education budget.<\/p>\n

In 2022, as Human Rights Watch noted in its report, only 204,467 individuals in a population of 22 million filed personal taxes. The IMF\u2019s income tax threshold of LKR 150,000 (US$500) monthly still excludes most high earners. A modest wealth tax on the richest 0.5 percent could raise US$450 million annually, nearly half the 2022 education budget\u2014yet the NPP has not pursued it.<\/p>\n

Instead, it relies on indirect taxation. Direct taxes made up just 19 percent of total revenue between 1980 and 2018 and are projected to remain around one-quarter, while VAT will exceed one-third through 2027. This contradicts UN guidance urging states to reduce VAT dependence and strengthen direct taxation to protect low-income families. As Human Rights Watch concludes, Sri Lanka\u2019s \u201ccorporate tax incentives, low personal taxation, and enforcement gaps\u201d have created a system that undermines human rights and starves public services.<\/p>\n

The NPP had both the mandate and means to reform this unjust system. Instead, it preserved it\u2014shielding corporations and the wealthy while burdening the poor through consumption taxes and collapsing social protections. In a conversation with this writer, \u00a0NPP Member of Parliament Mylvaganam Jegatheeswaran asserted:<\/p>\n

It is because our country lacks foreign investors that we are in this dire situation. Only by offering foreign companies certain privileges will they invest here. If we impose robust taxes on them and charge them for using our land who from abroad would choose to invest in our country? They would simply go to India or Bangladesh, where it is cheaper to invest.<\/p>\n

This \u201crace-to-the-bottom\u201d logic has long justified tax breaks for the rich while squeezing the poor. Jegatheeswaran further admitted,<\/p>\n

When this government came into power, there was already an agreement signed with the IMF. And we can\u2019t deviate from certain things within that agreement \u2013 only after 2028 will we be independent.<\/p>\n

Despite its supermajority and mandate for change, the NPP concedes it lacks the will to challenge IMF-imposed austerity.<\/p>\n

Education: Broken Promises to Sri Lanka\u2019s Children<\/b><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

According to the October 2025 Human Rights Watch report, Sri Lanka spent only 1.5 percent of GDP on education in 2022\u2014the third lowest in the world, behind Laos and Haiti. This falls far short of international benchmarks calling for 15\u201320 percent of public expenditure or 4\u20136 percent of GDP.<\/p>\n

The NPP campaigned on transforming education, pledging to raise spending \u201cincrementally\u201d to 6 percent of GDP and make teaching one of the country\u2019s ten highest-paying professions. Yet, a year later, these promises remain unfulfilled.<\/p>\n

When questioned by this writer about insufficient investment in education by his government, NPP Member of Parliament Mylvaganam Jegatheeswaran defensively claimed:<\/p>\n

In 2025, our NPP government allocated 619 billion rupees for education\u2014it was\u00a0the highest amount ever<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0allocated for education in the history of Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

But this rhetoric obscures reality. As Human Rights Watch notes the current Prime Minister and Education Minister, Harini Amarasuriya\u2014a longtime advocate for increased education funding\u2014oversaw only a 3.5 percent rise in the 2025 education budget, with projected 10 percent annual increases over the next two years. Though these figures may appear significant, they fall far short of what is needed to meet the government\u2019s pledge of allocating 6 percent of GDP to education. As the Feminist Collective for Economic Justice\u00a0documented<\/span><\/a><\/span>, \u201cContrary to the Government\u2019s claim, the education allocation for 2025 did not amount to a historically high figure.\u201d During the 1960s and 1970s, public spending for education averaged 4 percent of GDP, and Sri Lanka\u2019s highest allocation occurred in 1972 at 5.16 percent of GDP\u2014nearly three times the current level. Given the extremely low baseline of 1.5 percent of GDP in 2022, achieving that target would require roughly quadrupling current spending and a fundamental reordering of national budget priorities\u2014far beyond the modest adjustments currently planned.<\/p>\n

When pressed on this inadequacy, Jegatheeswaran retreated to familiar deflection: \u201cAfter 77 years since independence, to expect so many things to happen in one year from this government \u2013 it isn\u2019t magic.\u201d Yet the government\u2019s supermajority and campaign promises suggested it understood the urgency of education reform. Incremental adjustments are not transformation.<\/p>\n

Although education is legally free in Sri Lanka, public schools routinely charge \u201cdevelopment\u201d and exam fees to cover basic costs like cleaning and utilities. One mother in Hatton told Human Rights Watch she earns just LKR 300 (US$1) for three hours of daily work yet struggles to pay her children\u2019s LKR 500 (US$1.65) monthly school fees, often unable to afford books or nutritious food.<\/p>\n

The government has introduced limited measures, such as expanding free midday meals and providing a one-time LKR 6,000 ($20) payment for school-aged children of Aswesuma recipients. Aswesuma is a means-tested cash transfer program introduced to support low-income families. But these steps barely scratch the surface of systemic underfunding.<\/p>\n

The NPP promised transformation but has delivered only incrementalism. Despite its supermajority and mandate for reform, it has maintained the status quo\u2014allowing schools to charge fees, the tuition industry to thrive, and inequality to deepen. This is not just a broken promise but a betrayal of the families who believed the NPP would prioritize their children\u2019s futures.<\/p>\n

Defense Spending: Guns Before Books<\/b><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The NPP government\u2019s 2026 budget starkly exposes the gap between its reformist rhetoric and fiscal reality. In his November 7th<\/sup><\/span>\u00a02025 \u00a0speech to Parliament<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>unveiling Sri Lanka\u2019s 2026 national budget, President Dissanayake claimed to have ended \u201cfiscal recklessness\u201d and ushered in \u201cdiscipline, transparency and accountability.\u201d Yet the Ministry of Defense will receive Rs. 455 billion (USD $1.52 billion)\u2014up from Rs. 442 billion\u00a0in 2025<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0\u2014despite continued troop reductions. Over the past sixteen years, the army has shrunk from 300,000 to around 135,000, but defense spending has steadily risen: fewer soldiers, higher costs.<\/p>\n

Dissanayake justifies higher defense spending as \u201cmodernization,\u201d yet Rs. 385 billion\u201485 percent\u2014will go to recurrent costs like salaries and allowances, leaving only Rs. 70 billion for capital expenditure. The recruitment of 4,000 new airmen and salary hikes will further inflate recurrent costs, undermining the very modernization the government touts.<\/p>\n

The budget\u2019s spending patterns reveal its true priorities. While Dissanayake speaks at length about transparency, Rs. 12.5 billion is allocated for government vehicles\u2014including luxury cars for MPs\u2014compared to just Rs. 1 billion for digitalizing public services. As the Sri Lanka Guardian\u00a0notes<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0in its analysis of the 2026 budget, \u201cthe priority seems clear: comfort before competence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the government offers no coherent defense strategy or explanation for its geopolitical choices. As analyst Rathindra Kuruwita\u00a0observes<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Colombo\u2019s sourcing of weapons and training partners\u2014whether from China or India\u2014will have major strategic implications. Yet the government remains silent even as it raises defense spending.<\/p>\n

When asked by this writer why the government will invest so heavily in the military while education and healthcare remain underfunded, NPP MP Mylvaganam Jegatheeswaran argued that Sri Lanka must \u201cprotect its fishermen from\u00a0threats<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0by Indian fishermen,\u201d pay rising military salaries, and purchase new military vessels. He further claimed that \u201cafter education, it is healthcare that this government will invest more money in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Structural Reforms: Promised But Not Delivered<\/b><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The NPP\u2019s failure extends beyond simple policy continuity to a comprehensive abdication of its mandate for structural transformation. The party came to power promising to fundamentally restructure Sri Lanka\u2019s economy, yet one year later, the country remains trapped in what experts describe as \u201crepeating cycles of macroeconomic stress\u201d rooted in deeper structural problems.<\/p>\n

ODI Global and CEPA in their July 2025 report have identified that \u201cgrowth in excess of 5% is required to reverse the sharp increase in poverty and multidimensional vulnerability in Sri Lanka and to ensure that another debt restructuring is avoided in 2027\/28.\u201d \u00a0Yet the IMF currently projects Sri Lanka\u2019s potential medium-term growth rate at only around 3%. Bridging this gap requires a \u201claser-like focus on structural reforms\u201d including \u201cfactor market and SOE reforms; improving the investment climate; strengthening investment promotion; trade policy reforms, including in trade agreements; reforms in trade facilitation; and education, training and skills development.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NPP government has undertaken virtually none of these essential reforms. Despite ruling out privatization, the government\u2019s plans to \u201cimprove the management of state-owned enterprises\u201d have produced no tangible results. Sri Lankan Airlines continues to hemorrhage public funds. The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) remains unreformed. According to Harindra and Gamage, the government absorbed 130,000 million rupees of the CEB\u2019s debt to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation while failing to address the fundamental inefficiencies that created those losses in the first place.<\/p>\n

Perhaps most tellingly, the government has failed to pursue the kind of comprehensive, integrated approach to economic transformation that successful developing countries have employed. ODI Global and CEPA\u2019s report emphasizes the importance of \u201cstrengthening economic ties with neighbouring India\u201d through \u201cbusiness-to-business links in high-growth sectors, cross-border energy projects\u201d and deeper bilateral trade agreements. Yet despite President Dissanayake\u2019s visit to India in December 2024 and Prime Minister Modi\u2019s visit to Sri Lanka in April 2025, concrete progress on economic integration remains minimal. The government appears more interested in symbolic diplomatic gestures than in the hard work of economic restructuring.<\/p>\n

The failure is equally stark in manufacturing policy. ODI Global and CEPA emphasize that \u201cmanufacturing, within a conducive environment, is pivotal in accelerating growth to higher levels in the medium term\u201d and that this requires \u201celiminating barriers and improving competitiveness\u201d through regulatory simplification, ensuring input availability, reforming cross-border policies, and aligning with 21st-century sustainability standards. One year into the NPP government, none of these critical reforms have been implemented. ODI Global and CEPA emphasize that Sri Lanka \u201ccontinues to exhibit anti-export bias\u201d in its trade regime. Import protection remains high. The business environment remains cumbersome and bureaucratic.<\/p>\n

Broken Promises on Fundamental Rights and Justice<\/b><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The NPP\u2019s failures extend beyond economic mismanagement to the erosion of democracy and human rights. Despite clear campaign promises, the government has\u00a0neither repealed<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) nor curtailed its use against dissenters. As the UN Human Rights Council\u00a0noted<\/span><\/a><\/span>, \u201cdetentions under that law continue,\u201d disproportionately affecting Tamil and Muslim communities, urging Colombo to \u201capply a moratorium on the use of the law and expedite its repeal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jegatheeswaran admitted the failure to repeal the PTA but offered a troubling defense: \u201cWe can\u2019t do it right now because all over the country, even in the North and East, so many children are in possession of drugs\u2014and there is organized crime, so for this purpose we need the PTA now.\u201d Rights activist Nalin Attapattu\u00a0called<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0this \u201cdisappointing,\u201d noting the government\u2019s continued use of the law despite repeated assurances. When questioned about the arrest of Liyaudeen Mohamed Rusdi\u2014a Muslim youth detained under the PTA for producing stickers critical of Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza\u2014Jegatheeswaran dismissed concerns: \u201cWe released him. He was a young boy\u2026 brainwashed by those against Israel.\u201d This response, portraying dissent as \u201cbrainwashing,\u201d underscores the government\u2019s willingness to weaponize the PTA against critics. Sri Lanka\u2019s Human Rights Commission\u00a0deemed<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>Rusdi\u2019s detention \u201cunlawful and arbitrary.\u201d Yet, a year into its term, the NPP continues to justify the PTA\u2019s use, making repeal seem remote despite repeated pledges.<\/p>\n

On land rights, the Deputy Minister of Defence claimed that 700 acres of Tamil land had been \u201creturned to the public,\u201d yet soldiers continue to occupy vast areas of the North and East. Military camps, farms, and tourist ventures still operate on seized land, while local communities \u201cpersistently call for the full return of their land.\u201d In October 2025, Environment Minister Dammika Patabendi\u00a0announced<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0that 101,762 acres in the Vanni would be released, admitting that past governments had \u201cmistakenly\u201d absorbed villages, farms, and schools into forest reserves. Jegatheeswaran reiterated this promise, saying: \u201cWe are going to release more land\u2014private property belonging to the people\u2014little by little\u2026 By 2026, we will release an overwhelming majority of occupied land.\u201d Yet, as the Tamil Guardian observed, displaced Tamils have heard such promises for decades, with authorities often citing environmental regulations to deny restitution.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s silence on the Chemmani mass grave in the North further exposes its disregard for justice and reconciliation. Rather than advancing transitional justice\u2014one of the key promises that secured Tamil votes\u2014the NPP has allowed inaction to \u201cdeepen the sense of alienation among Tamil communities,\u201d as Dissanayake and Gamage note. By refusing to confront Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism within its own base, the NPP is squandering its credibility among Tamil voters.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, repression of journalists and activists persists. Photojournalist Kanapathipillai Kumanan wasinterrogated<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0by the Criminal Investigation Department in August 2025 for reporting on Chemmani, while Tamil rights defenders \u201ccontinue to be arrested under the PTA,\u201d according to activist M. Selvakumar. The global rights group Civicus Monitor\u00a0concluded<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0that one year into Dissanayake\u2019s presidency, there has been \u201ca failure to reform restrictive laws and to address accountability for past crimes.\u201d Researcher Josef Benedict added that the government \u201chas continued a troubling legacy of repression, harassing human rights defenders and silencing critical voices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stacking the Office of Reparations<\/b><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Even more troubling is the government\u2019s recent attempt to stack the Office of Reparations with military and defense personnel\u2014a move that directly undermines any credible transitional justice process. Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK), the main Tamil political party in Sri Lanka, has written to President Dissanayake opposing the appointment of ex-military and defense officials to this critical institution. In a\u00a0letter<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0dated November 6th<\/sup><\/span>\u00a02025, ITAK President CVK Sivagnanam and General Secretary MA Sumanthiran expressed alarm that \u201cfour names have been recommended for appointment to the Office of Reparations recently and that two of them have security sector backgrounds. This is in addition to the fact that the fifth member is a Major General!\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter continues: \u201cSo if Mrs. Wasantha Perera (previously held the position of Addl. Secretary Ministry of Defence) and Joseph Terence Gnanandan Sundaram (Ex Navy Officer) are appointed, three out of five members will be from the security sector, when not even one person should come from that sector into an office such as this.\u201d<\/p>\n

For years, families of Tamil victims have said they have no faith in domestic accountability mechanisms. They\u2019ve been clear: they can\u2019t trust institutions led by the same people connected to their suffering. The government keeps promising a domestic process, but if these names go through, it will only confirm every fear those families have expressed. ITAK reports that they wrote to the President over four months ago requesting a meeting to discuss these concerns. There has been no reply\u2014a silence that speaks volumes about the government\u2019s actual priorities.<\/p>\n

A Supermajority Squandered: The Failure of Constitutional Reform<\/b><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The NPP\u2019s claim that one year is insufficient for meaningful change rings hollow given its unprecedented supermajority\u2014159 of 225 parliamentary seats. In 1995, despite lacking even a majority and fighting a brutal civil war, President Chandrika Kumaratunga assembled reformers like\u00a0Neelan Tiruchelvam<\/span><\/a><\/span> and GL Peiris and, within months, introduced Sri Lanka\u2019s boldest constitutional reform proposals to date. The obstacles she faced\u2014a war and no two-thirds majority\u2014were far greater than any President Dissanayake confronts today. By contrast, the NPP\u2019s inaction after a year in power lacks credibility.<\/p>\n

During his\u00a0election campaign<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> President Dissanayake had pledged a new constitution abolishing the executive presidency, reforming the electoral system, and ensuring meaningful devolution. Yet with a supermajority past reformers could only dream of, it has done none of these things. Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya\u00a0claimed<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0in April 2025 that constitutional reform will begin only after Provincial Council elections are held\u2014though the 2026 budget allocates no funds for the constitutional reform making process, confirming it will not happen next year.<\/p>\n

When pressed on the absence of funding for constitutional reform in the 2026 budget, NPP MP Mylvaganam Jegatheeswaran exposed to this writer the government\u2019s political calculus:<\/p>\n

You are raising this issue because you believe the government\u2014with its supermajority\u2014must go full speed and do everything for the Tamil people all at once. If we do that, whether the Sinhala public\u2019s views will change is uncertain; they may grow tired of this government. It could be toppled within two or three days. The government must be preserved, while Tamil grievances must also be addressed.<\/p>\n

This admission is telling\u2014the government is prioritizing Sinhala Buddhist support over promises to Tamil voters. Constitutional reform remains hostage to majoritarian politics.<\/p>\n

President Dissanayake had explicitly\u00a0pledged<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>to \u201cintroduce a new constitution that strengthens democracy and ensures equality of all citizens\u201d and to devolve power to every local government, district, and province. These were concrete commitments, not vague aspirations. Yet despite commanding the parliamentary numbers to enact them, the NPP has chosen inaction\u2014content to wield the same executive powers it once denounced as antidemocratic.<\/p>\n

Its failure to return military-occupied lands, repeal the PTA, or advance power-sharing reveals that the NPP\u2019s appeals to Tamil voters were less about justice than electoral expediency.<\/p>\n

Implementation Capacity: A Convenient Excuse<\/b><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Some NPP defenders argue that the government simply lacks the state capacity to implement reforms quickly, pointing to weaknesses in Sri Lanka\u2019s civil service and legislative processes. This excuse, however, does not withstand scrutiny. ODI Global and CEPA notes that research on successful development experiences emphasizes that building state capacity requires specific, concrete actions: \u201cestablishing a state-of-the-art public policy training institute,\u201d \u201cimproved planning to undertake market-oriented public policies, digitisation of public services, training of legislators and understanding the complexities of economic reforms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, with the\u00a0notable exception<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0within its 2026 budget of a commitment to the digitization of public services, the NPP government has not undertaken any other capacity-building initiatives. Instead, it has actually weakened institutional capacity by failing to bring in experienced officials with relevant expertise. As ODI Global and CEPA notes, \u201cPublic officials who have been involved in strategic trade and investment efforts in previous years must be brought in from across the civil service, as they possess institutional memory, technical expertise and practical insights.\u201d The NPP\u2019s preference for party loyalists over technocratic expertise has undermined rather than strengthened the state\u2019s capacity to deliver reforms.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the capacity argument fails to explain the government\u2019s inaction on reforms that require executive action rather than complex legislative processes. Withdrawing military forces from occupied Tamil lands requires no parliamentary approval\u2014it is within the president\u2019s authority as commander-in-chief. Implementing a moratorium on the PTA while drafting replacement legislation requires no new laws. Appointing independent commissions with genuine authority to investigate corruption and human rights violations requires no constitutional amendments. Refusing to appoint military personnel to the Office of Reparations requires nothing more than respecting the basic principles of transitional justice. These are choices, not capacity constraints.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s defenders also argue that constitutional reform takes time and must be properly sequenced. Yet this directly contradicts the experience of successful reformers. Comparative\u00a0research shows<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0that \u201cconferences and seminars co-hosted by think tanks and the media can facilitate candid conversations\u201d and that \u201careas of agreement should be codified into a readable national economic development vision document.\u201d The NPP could have spent its first year building consensus, consulting stakeholders, and preparing the groundwork for constitutional reform in year two. Instead, it has simply maintained the status quo while offering vague promises of future action.<\/p>\n

The ODI Global and CEPA study provides a comprehensive framework for what genuine implementation capacity-building would look like. It emphasizes establishing \u201ca committee of secretaries of development ministries to strengthen priority-setting and coordination,\u201d creating \u201ca national operations room for monitoring of all policies, programmes and projects,\u201d and developing \u201ca rigorous process for onboarding projects in accordance with national economic priorities.\u201d These are concrete, achievable steps that the government could have begun implementing within its first months in office. That it has not done so reveals a lack of political will, not a lack of capacity.<\/p>\n

Conclusion: Cosmetic Change, Structural Continuity<\/b><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The NPP\u2019s first year demonstrates that changing the political party in power, even with an unprecedented mandate, does not constitute systemic change if the new government simply administers the old system. Anti-corruption initiatives that target individuals while leaving corrupt structures intact are mere theater. IMF austerity that deepens poverty while protecting elite interests is not progressive economics, regardless of the ideological background of those implementing it. Promises of reconciliation and devolution that remain unfulfilled after a year, despite a supermajority, represent political cowardice, not pragmatic patience. Attempts to stack transitional justice institutions with military personnel demonstrate not just a failure to reform but an active perpetuation of the very structures that enable impunity.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s defenders ask for more time, arguing that one year is insufficient to judge the NPP\u2019s performance. But this argument fundamentally misunderstands what is being measured. The question is not whether the NPP has completed its reform agenda in twelve months\u2014obviously comprehensive transformation takes time. The question is whether the government has demonstrated genuine commitment to that agenda through concrete initial actions, institution-building, and policy development. On this measure, the NPP has failed comprehensively.<\/p>\n

President Dissanayake\u2019s budget speech concluded with soaring rhetoric about building \u201ca nation that is not only economically prosperous but also morally proud, globally respected and endowed with broad humanitarian qualities.\u201d Yet the budget he presented prioritizes government vehicles over digitalization, defense over education, and symbolic gestures over structural reform. For millions of Sri Lankans who believed the NPP\u2019s promises of transformation, this represents not just disappointment but betrayal. And unless the government fundamentally changes course\u2014abandoning its embrace of IMF orthodoxy, its militarized budget priorities, and its cynical calculations on minority rights\u2014history will record the NPP\u2019s supermajority not as an opportunity seized but as a mandate squandered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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