A country bled dry

The long protest of Sri Lankans appears to have come to the moment of fruition. The overnight curfew imposed by acting president Ranil Wickremesinghe has been lifted though the troops are patrolling on the streets, protestors have calmed down and are waiting for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. However, the successful completion of the Gota Go Home campaign is still not a reality, as the president is yet to fulfil his resignation promise. Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled Singapore which, again, may not be his final destination. Meanwhile, the speaker clarified that the Parliament will not convene on Friday, as announced earlier because the resignation of Gotabaya is not yet received. It is difficult to figure out where exactly the president is headed and what’s in his head. Meanwhile, thanks to the civilian-police clashes in Sri Lanka, 84 persons have been hospitalized and at least one has died. The entire protest period in the country, particularly since March, has been a story of conflict between two objectives — people’s objective to overhaul the authoritarian system of governance and the dispensation’s objective of holding on to power at any cost. It appears there hardly was any middle ground at any point in time. The soaring inflation and slumped forex reserves capped the longstanding mismanagement of economy and rampant corruption to trigger the most widespread protest in the island nation since its independence. The ruling dispensation failed on all fronts in ensuring a resilient economy that could absorb the shocks of 2019 Easter bombings, the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war among other things. The depth of a government’s work is tested in tough times, and the Rajapaksa regime has consistently failed the test. In addition to the unfortunate occurrences, the government also made short-sighted blunders which reflected either its incompetence or negligence towards people. In fact, the Gota Go Home campaign may have found its root in the protest against the abrupt import ban on chemical fertilizers in rural Sri Lanka earlier. Apart from triggering resentment among agriculturists, the move also took a deep toll on the country’s forex reserves. Furthermore, the government’s decision to heavily slash tax rates during 2019, despite contrary calls by economists and public intellectuals, had curtailed the government revenue by USD 1.4 billion a year. The Rajapaksa clan had been actually bleeding the country dry to raise its own fortune. More than incompetence, it was the intent (or lack of it) on the part of the government that made people resort to the ultimate mode of bringing a political change. However, to say that Sri Lankans have been demanding merely a political change will be a grave understatement. They have been asking for a Constitutional overhaul. People want the executive presidency to be done away with. It will be wise on the part of Gotabaya Rajapaksa to not play any tricks at this moment and understand the sentiments of the people. Sri Lankans have rallied across this time around for a long overdue change — and not merely because of the economic plight they have been facing. The opposition parties must shoulder the responsibility of bringing about the desired change after Gotabaya Rajapaksa tenders his resignation. Their mutual rivalries/interests and corrupt designs of the ruling party should not be allowed to come in the way of what people want. They also need to be wary of Ranil Wickremesinghe’s political astuteness. On the economic front, the challenge is even more complicated for the country. Consumer Price Inflation has soared from around 15 per cent in January to 54 per cent in June. Forex reserves have touched rock bottom and international debt is simply galloping. Currently, the Sri Lankan government has more than USD 51 billion in foreign debt — USD 6.5 billion of which is owed to China. India and international agencies like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have agreed to lend financial assistance to the country. But for this to happen, a stable democratic government is a pre-condition. It is a pity that the nation’s president has fled the country and is using his resignation as a bargaining chip to find himself a safe harbor — leaving a massive mess behind him. Sri Lanka needs to start pulling itself out of the quagmire — the process will be tough and time-taking but that’s the only way forward.