Swim together or sink separately
ASUNDAY, JANUARY 1, 2017
New Year in the Gregorian calendar has dawned. For the Chinese it is the Year of the Rooster. 2016 was the Year of the Monkey; the monkey being regarded as a clever animal. There is also an old Chinese saying; “May you live in interesting times”, the origin of which however has negative connotations - of turbulent times. How 2017 will unfold is anyone's guess.
In our first editorial of last year, we referred to the cacophony of voices in the then new Government. “Earlier, we had authoritarian rule, a Master Chef, so to say; now we have too many cooks”, we said.
The carry forward from 2016 does not bode good tidings. We asked for decisive decision-making after the 2015 ‘trial run’. A look at the horizon (not astrologically, but politically) predicts a shaky coalition in the name of the Government of National Unity with sharp differences on how to manage the country; a new Constitution in the making that has already created waves, not just ripples; a third political force waiting for what it sees is rising mass disaffection with the Government and a possible break-up of the marriage of convenience; a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council hanging perilously; the Indian poaching issue unresolved; a shortage of the staple diet of Sri Lankans, rice; and if all that is not bad enough, the possibility of an impending drought that will hit farmer and country alike.
The Government was only too happy to announce that the 2017 Budget was passed last month by a majority of two-thirds in Parliament. That is a mirage of the ground reality. This Government is walking on quicksand and the outside world can see the political instability that prevails.
A three-cornered battle is taking place in the ring. The SLFP is split down the middle and the incumbent President continues his uphill task of securing the party membership to accept his leadership. The National Unity coalition is clearly divided on important issues and one need not be a seer to foretell that these divisions will intensify in 2017. Only the instinct of self-preservation will keep this Government together and afloat. They know they must swim together, or sink separately.
The Local Government and Provincial Council elections cannot be postponed much longer without the Government turning representative democracy on its head. The results are the worrying factor for the ruling parties, especially the President-led SLFP. In a recent interview with a foreign newspaper, the Prime Minister said he believed 2017 would see a turn-around of the economy and fortunes, for both the country and the Government. His proposals are, however, getting regularly shot down by his coalition partner, the latest being the Development (Special Provisions) Bill.
Political maneouvering between the divided SLFP and within the divided Government will be the order of the day in 2017. The UNP has begun to hit back at the SLFP which carried out a not-so-subtle campaign criticising the UNP initiatives in Government. Now, UNP MPs are being selectively unleashed in a tit-for-tat initiative to counter the SLFP ministers lashing out at the UNP. This week two of them hammered the President’s own brother for heading a ‘rice mafia’ and accused some of working hand-in-glove with the SLFP Opposition to defeat the Government and install an SLFP Administration. All this disunity will be at the expense of national development. Foreign investors will look askance at Sri Lanka. As a substitute, Hambantota port has been earmarked for China and Trincomalee harbour and Palali airport for India. How all this pans out for the ordinary people – who will have to sit tight in the meantime, hoping for the best will be testing times for the nation.