The unprecedented one man show that has been going on for the last couple of weeks seems likely to continue while the courts deliberate on the legality of the President’s twin actions of dissolving Parliament and appointing an individual without a majority as the prime minister. With both the Cabinet of ministers and the Prime Minister now effectively prevented from engaging in their jobs due to court orders, the Sirisena Show is the only show that represents any sort of governance in this country. And by any yardstick, it has been a poor show. Unfortunately, Sirisena seems oblivious to this reality and is content to allow the madness to continue while the country slips into the doldrums day by day. Only one of three explanations can be afforded for Maithripala Sirisena to be doing what he is doing. Either he is unware of the irreparable damage he is causing to the republic, he is aware but simply does not care, or, God forbid, he is willfully dragging the country into despair. It is the latter that many are now beginning to believe given the laid back attitude of the President despite the gravity of the situation. His appointment of a new prime minister, which triggered the storm, was the subject of deliberation at the Court of Appeal last week, which reflected on the danger of an individual holding office unlawfully as “it would cause irreparable or irremediable damage to the country.” Notwithstanding the controversial appointment, questions are being raised as to whether the President’s mental faculties are in order especially after he issued orders to government institutions to boycott hotels in response to reports that the hospitality industry was contemplating boycotting the tourism awards ceremony that was held last week. For the Head of State to be trivialising governance to this level, is certainly cause for concern. He also raised many an eyebrow when his eulogy at the SLFP Convention last week was all about the UNP, its founders, and its current leader. Not a word about the SLFP, its founders, or how he plans to rescue the party from a slow death. It is quite baffling as to why a special party convention needed to be summoned to harangue the UNP leadership. He even charged that the UNP leader had destroyed him to an extent. The fact is that nothing the President says can be taken seriously after he dismissed the “six feet under” story as mere election rhetoric. He has also repeatedly said over the last six weeks that the mess will be sorted out in a day, a couple of days, a week etc. All these deadlines have long passed and he carries on from one con to another. It was on 15 November that Sirisena promised to solve the issue “within two days”. Then on 3 December he promised to solve the problem within 24 hours. After 24 hours, on the 4th he wanted a “week” to put things right. That “week” too has now lapsed and the country continues to be in limbo. The upside of all this is that the man on the street has come to realise that politicians are very much a dispensable commodity. The question that has been raised now is that if the country can run without ministers, why we would need them at all. There is a palpable sense of contempt for politicians of any sort and it would be interesting to see how things pan out in the next few weeks. Already there is a movement that is gaining strength to boycott events patronised by politicians. What Sirisena – the politician – must understand is that he is shooting himself in the foot by prolonging this chaos and creating a situation where he becomes isolated. Article 38(2)(a) of the Constitution provides for a situation where the president shows signs of being permanently incapable of discharging the functions of his office by reason of mental or physical infirmity. The fact that he is on record stating that even if all 225 members of Parliament request Ranil Wickremesinghe to be appointed prime minister that he would not do so, indicates irrational thinking. Besides this he is also displaying sheer contempt for not only Parliament but also the Constitution. Sirisena, as he is now wont to say, may well dismiss this as gallery talk, but the fact remains that these cannot be the utterances of a man with a rational mind. It was this exact same situation that Dr. N.M. Perera visualised four decades ago when he asked the creator of the executive presidency, J.R. Jayewardene, as to what would happen if an individual with an unsound mind became the president. Probably reflecting on NM’s query JR made provision for such an eventuality in the 1978 Constitution which in Article 37 (2) provides as follows: “If the Chief Justice in consultation with the Speaker is of the opinion that the President is temporarily unable to exercise, perform and discharge the powers, duties and functions of his office and is unable to make an appointment in terms of paragraph (1) of this Article, he shall communicate in writing his opinion to the Speaker and thereupon the Prime Minister shall exercise, perform and discharge the powers, duties and functions of the office of President during such period and shall appoint one of the Ministers of the Cabinet to act in the office of Prime Minister during such period, notwithstanding the absence of such appointment as is provided for in paragraph (1) of this Article: Provided that if the office of Prime Minister be then vacant or the Prime Minister is unable to act, the Speaker shall exercise, perform and discharge the powers, duties and functions of the office of President during such period.” With the Prime Minister now restrained from holding office it would not be out of place for the Chief Justice and Speaker to resort to the provisions of Article 37 (2) that would offer a window of hope to resolve the deadlock. Meanwhile, the delay in resolving the issue continues to have a heavy impact on the economic front. In a matter of five weeks, the world’s top three rating agencies have all downgraded Sri Lanka’s rating, meaning the cost of borrowing will increase substantially, adding to the mountain of debt that the country will have to pay back next year. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. In this instance it is the superior courts of the land that will have to be the standard bearer and help the country get back on its feet again. The destiny of a nation in peril now lies in the hands of the individuals sitting in judgement on Hulftsdorp Hill.