The Galle Face Affair: To Be or Not To Be

Firstly, and most importantly the tug-o-war between ‘Galle Face’ and the Government must come to a swift end. If not, whatever the nobility, we will be creating the environment for a third party to benefit from the chaos.the problem will remain unresolved if not escalated.

The country has only one real problem at hand. It simply does not have money.

The Government, the Galle Facers and now Others need to come to a consensus that their actions will not hinder the struggling economic and social activity of the general public.

A few things can be done fast, The Government, Galle Facers, Others and the Media can collectively keep communicating to the general public (from their points of view) that the current problems of the country ‘Can Be Resolved’. all Political parties and media need to communicate the common message that ‘General Life Will Be Difficult ‘For Short Period Of Time’. During this period ‘Correct Things Will Be Done. The media needs to deal with those stepping out of reality.all key Administrative and Governance positions in the Government Mechanism should be manned by capable persons.the new Central Bank Governor is a beacon of hope to the people. Similarly, other key positions need to be manned by respectable and capable persons. People who take responsibility and can say ‘hands off’ to the politician.the Galle Facers need to be given a job of work that they can do brilliantly. they can monitor and report the turnaround process of the country.the days when one enjoyed Authority and Power without Responsibility may be coming to an end.we need to fix the jigsaw puzzle fast.the UNP and SJB are good at management, the SLPP is brilliant at Leadership, the SLFP is caring and sensitive, the JVP is good at ground level operations, and The Galle Facers are representing the true feelings of People better than anyone can etc. a broad categorization process is needed to commence the turnaround of the country.

We have talent at an individual level as well. Whatever is said and done the top two are leaders. (They may have messed up due to other personal traits and system errors.) We have one of the world’s best Field Marshalls with untapped potential.we have one of the best Foreign Ministers standing alone and representing a then giant political party. We have many socialist-oriented people with great potential to move things at the ground level with honesty.we have many intellectuals at the cool greens of Galle Face who can do some work etc. Identifying the correct man for the job is a key prerequisite in the overall turnaround of new Sri Lanka.

The bottom line is we can get the country out of the current crisis.the problem is the talent is dispersed. true Leadership from anywhere will set the course right.

D.J WIJESINGHE

COLOMBO