Uneasy Sri Lanka

Avideo doing the rounds on the Internet shows rowdy scenes in Uganda’s Parliament where members attack each other, jumping on tables and seats. With today’s ‘fake’ news, one wonders whether this an accurate reflection of what may have happened. But if it was, and furthermore was shocking to see, Sri Lanka’s Parliament stooped to that level on Thursday.

It was a day of shame as the nation watched the events unfold in our Parliament on TV, with brawls between members and items including wastepaper baskets being flung at the Speaker who struggled to remain calm as decency, decorum and sanity were thrown out of the august assembly.

It was also another day of anguish for Sri Lanka’s tourism industry which has been hoping against hope that the events that have engulfed the nation since October 26 won’t impact on arrivals during the most lucrative months of the year -– the winter season.

Our kitchen for the third successive week was noisy as Kussi Amma Sera, aided by her friends Serapina and Mabel Rasthiyadu, struggled to cook a decent meal and prepare a decent cup of morning tea. The bottles of condiments, it appears, had the wrong labels; as a result sugar went into the potato curry, tea had a sprinkling of salt, while chillie was liberally mixed with the chicken curry. The chaos outside the kitchen seemed to have affected the chief inmates in the kitchen as well.

“Mokada wune (what happened),” exclaimed an exasperated Kussi Amma Sera, while her friends tried to unravel how the menu for the day and the normally delicious curries, had gone wrong.

Just as I was walking to the kitchen to complain that the morning tea strangely tasted salty, the phone rang. It was my jolly-mood economist friend, Sammiya (short for Samson), on the line presumably planning a long conversation on the state of the country, one that I would look forward to, to digress a bit from the commotion in the kitchen.

“I say, friend, we have become the laughing stock of the world with this kind of behaviour in Parliament,” he said, to which I responded with a “Totally agree.”

“Both sides of the House should be blamed for this state of affairs,” he said. “But I think the TNA and JVP MPs didn’t take part in this shameful happening,” I responded.

“Agree. Unfortunate that this has to happen just as Sri Lanka Tourism prepares to welcome loads of tourists with the launch of the new brand ‘So Sri Lanka’ when a ‘smiling’ community turns vicious,” he said, after which we engaged in a long con- versation on the political and constitutional dilemma that has fractured the nation and divided the country.

Even during the worst of times, Sri Lankans love a good laugh and in this context, Sammiya joked about the sordid events in Parliament, saying: “Tis ideal for a teledrama.”

On a more serious note, while for the third week running (since Ranil Wickremesinghe was uncharacteristically ousted as Prime Minister), the private sector operated at optimal level, the public sector was breaking down. With heads changing or in most cases public sector officials not sure who their bosses were, there was a level of uncertainty.

An example of the chaos was the appointment of a new Tourism Minister (Wasantha Senanayake) who also led Sri Lanka’s delegation at WTM, London, the world’s largest tourism fair, where Sri Lanka proudly launched the ‘So Sri Lanka’ slogan and branding. A week later (on Wednesday, November 14), he stepped down, not bothered that such a change throws tourism decision-making off-gear.

Then less than 24 hours after Kapila Chandrasena, who has been accused of many irregularities during his tenure as CEO of SriLankan Airlines, was appointed chairman of the national carrier, he was removed and a new chairman – Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation – appointed to this position. There were similar scenes of chaos when some former Ministers of the United National Party-led government attempted to return to their positions in ministries after the party (now in opposition), won a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

(On a jovial note, singer Sunil Perera's ‘ Comedy country-yak’ song which talks about “joker-la set ekak” lampooning politicians, accurately reflects the state of affairs in the country … ruled by a set of jokers!).

Travel agencies and hotels were reporting cancellations by visitors worried that the crisis would affect their holiday. Some conferences with foreign guests were put on hold, while an official at Sri Lanka Tourism put on a brave face, saying: “No doubt there is a political and constitutional crisis but the situation is still calm and unruffled, for example, a large group of British tourists is enjoying themselves while attending the ongoing test cricket series here between England and Sri Lanka.”

On the economic front, economic growth -- unconnected to these current developments -- was likely to fall below 4 per cent growth (due to the effects of a drought) this year, while foreign investments were falling behind target largely due to policy inconsistencies and uncertainties. This was partly reflected in a company review of the financial results for the six months ending September 2018 at Softlogic Holdings.

Ashok Pathirage, Chairman, Softlogic Holdings PLC, has said that while the Government plays a vital role in driving an economy and ensuring investment growth, political vacillation and policy inconsistencies have affected consumer spending patterns … slowing down the economy. He further noted that shortsightedness of policymakers could result in several adverse side-effects reverberating in the retail sector which is “inextricably intertwined with the tourist industry as a whole.”

Delays in payments to contractors of large, state infrastructure projects were reflected in the mid-term reviews of many banks which reported that one of the biggest problems they faced was an increase in non-performing loans as contractors struggled to get their bills paid by the state.

While some parliamentarians were seen like giddy-headed school kids, laughing and joking amidst the mayhem, little realising that paradise land has become the laughing stock of the world, once again a proven fact is that uncertainty is the key to Sri Lanka’s progress. And if any investor fails to factor in uncertainty in projections of an investment decision here, the investment is doomed.

The clatter and chatter in the kitchen had settled down but was it the calm before the storm as Sri Lankans prepared for another week of uncertainty and rabble rousing and “koheda yanne malle pol” type politics?

To end on a philosophical note, these quotes by a famous French economist and liberal thinker Claude-Frédéric Bastiat (sent by a reader in Canada) reflects today’s tragedy: “When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law” or “When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorises it and a moral code that glorifies it.”