For Sri Lankans, the scenario is surreal – The top political leadership has collapsed overnight.
Braving heavy rain and ignoring the Sinhalese New Year celebration (Avurudu, which begins on Wednesday), thousands have laid a siege to the President’s house, demanding his resignation. The young agitators have made the most powerful ruling Rajapaksa family irrelevant, and brought in a group of professionals, comprising the Governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Treasury secretary and a three-member economic advisory committee, to fix the crumbling economy of the island nation.
Unthinkable for a country ruled by a family with brute majority, the two-week-long nationwide non-violent movement for ouster of the Rajapaksas appears to have humbled the ruling class.
The number of agitators is swelling by the hour, and they are in no mood to back off.
Meanwhile, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who ruled the nation almost like an autocrat by issuing decrees, has now disappeared, but is yet to quit. His elder brother and head of the clan, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, has now taken a backseat. The rest of the family has lost its coveted ministerial positions, forcing even their hard-core followers to blame them for the current unprecedented economic crisis.
YOUTH AT WORK, NEED NO LEADER
In less than two weeks, the protesters under the umbrella of People’s Power to Protect a Paradise from the Political Parasites (6P Force), with no leader, have achieved a lot.
Political analyst and former public servant Shashi Danatunge said, “The government has lost its 2/3rd majority. The entire cabinet has accepted that they are responsible for the collapse and resigned. Basil, finance minister and youngest brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa, was removed, while Central Bank Governor and Treasury Secretary were forced to step down for corruption. An independent group of professionals has been appointed to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which the government was trying to avoid for 12-18 months, despite requests by economists, businessmen, professionals and political analysts.”
“The Rajapaksa family had to appoint best professionals rather than favourites to save the country from the current economic crisis. The opposition had to initiate a no-confidence motion against the President in Parliament, thanks to the pressure,” he said.
A GLIMMER OF HOPE
Danatunge said most are surprised with the results, and now see a glimmer of hope. “Who would have thought this was possible 10 days ago? They have achieved all of this in just seven days. Also, the most foolish and stubborn tax concessions given by Gotabaya in November 2019 after the elections, which led to a loss of over 20% of annual revenues, were finally reversed by the new Governor of Central Bank and Treasury Secretary immediately after taking charge,” he said.
The tax concessions, experts say, helped the rich businessmen and family friends of the Rajapaksas accumulate more wealth at a time of global pandemic, even as the national economy suffered expeditiously.
Further, printing money without accountability and floating the Sri Lankan Rupee against the United States Dollar without an appropriate mechanism have been brought under the supervision of the newly appointed professionals, that too, without political interference, said Danatunge.
“If Gotabaya wants to show that he is different and all those bad appointments and poor decisions were made under the influence of his elder brother Mahinda and senior politicians, he has a golden opportunity now to give the cabinet portfolios and public positions to suitable people,” Danatuge said.
Meanwhile, the opposition parties, too, are not in a position to stage a comeback, as the movement has turned against all current politicians and the existing feudal system. They are now pressing for an accountable, transparent and humble government in which people have a bigger say and the final word.
One has to wait and see if this Sinhalese and Tamil New Year will completely change the course of Sri Lanka. The protesters and civil society are upbeat, while the experienced are cautious, given Lanka’s records of missing great opportunities.
Read the Latest News and Breaking News here
Comments
0 comment