The contrast between the present Government and the last could not have been greater when it comes down to the optics of governance. The last Government, having been out of power for a good 10 years, was for the most part just simply trying to come to terms with the fact that they were in fact the Government, which left a scheming President plenty of room to outmanoeuvre his own Cabinet and gain the upper hand even though he himself had, just a few months into his term, voluntarily trimmed down most of the obnoxious presidential powers via the 19th Amendment.
Today, the contrast between then and now could not be starker, with the present Government being obsessed with the optics it projects compared to their erstwhile counterparts now in opposition, who cared little about what the media portrayed of them. It is only once the election results jolted them out of their collective stupor that reality hit them about the importance of how a government is perceived on a day-to-day, issue-to-issue basis.
The present administration is a past master in the art of stage-managing optics and therefore, it is somewhat surprising that the usually well-crafted message of “efficiency” is beginning to fall apart at the seams with mixed messaging emanating from various quarters. At the heart of the issue is the manner in which the pandemic is being tackled by a multitude of state agencies, with many of them appearing to be working at cross purposes.
One has to pity the predicament that has befallen the hapless Health Minister who just last week was made to undergo the indignation of having the more important of her ministerial subjects and duties arrogated to a new State Minister who for all intents and purposes will now be calling the shots in Sri Lanka’s war on Covid-19. The Health Minister can only blame herself for the predicament she finds herself in these days. The nightmare began when she rushed to embrace a Chinese national amidst the glare of the media, who her Ministry boasted was the only Covid-19 patient in the country and had been fully cured. This was 10 months ago.
With a second wave looking increasingly menacing, the Health Minister perhaps acting out of desperation, then engaged in the now infamous “mutti” or claypot incident where she and some of her cabinet colleagues were caught on camera seeking divine intervention. The third and last episode which probably is what broke the camel’s back, was the partaking of a “miracle cure” that had purportedly been “discovered” by a village shrink or “veda mahattaya” in Kegalle.
If social media went into a frenzy following the “mutti” episode, the “miracle cure” went a step further with various entities scrambling to counter the negativity. The main question being raised is of a fundamental nature – is this a cure for Covid-19 or is it a form of oral immunisation, preventing one from catching the virus, or does it do both? Since this has not been explained clearly, the Health Minister should now either be cured of Covid if she had it, or is now immunised from catching the bug.
If the latter is indeed the case, then Sri Lanka should at this point be rushing to mass produce this concoction and not only issue it free of charge to every member of the population but also be registering a patent for it and producing it on a commercial scale for export with India next door being a ready and ripe market for the product. We should by now be fighting for market share with the Pfizers, Modernas, and AstraZenecas of the world who among themselves are fighting an uphill battle to fulfil the global requirement. Since the local product can be packed in empty liquor bottles and only needs a teaspoon to be administered, the cost saving for importers would be immense, as the need for complex cold chain logistics and syringes for intravenous administering become redundant.
In fact, this could be a godsend to get the economy out of the rut with export earnings from this one product having the potential to compensate for all tourism receipts, if not greater. The big question is, why none of this is happening when the Health Minister herself has put her credibility on the line for a third consecutive time in the name of Covid. The answer probably lies in the fact that it is all about projecting a feel-good factor to an increasingly frustrated electorate, when reality is anything but that.
What those managing the feel-good optics backstage may not realise is that each time these “distractions” are dumped in the public domain, it chips away, piece by piece, the credibility of the Government as a whole. The collateral damage will be those arms of the State doing yeoman service in these trying times. The end result could be a more toxic version of what befell the last administration; that, ironically being due to the lack of any optics management.
The worst thing that could happen to any government is to be out of touch with reality. Donald Trump is a prime example. Having been propelled into office by an unrealistic campaign targeting a gullible audience, the business magnate turned politician simply could not sustain the charade and now prefers to live in an alternate universe where he continues to think that he has been re-elected to the presidency. It is in this alternate universe that he once prescribed consuming bleach and other disinfectants to Covid patients, much the same way that an unknown, untested concoction is being promoted as a Covid cure by our Health Minister.
With both the number of Covid-positive cases as well as the number of deaths due to Covid complications continuing to rise, it is inevitable that frustration within the Government will also continue to rise. It is therefore essential that heads remain cool and wiser counsel prevails in order to get on top of the situation. Therefore, the President’s decision to handover the battle against Covid to a health professional, Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle, is certainly a step in the right direction. It is now up to Dr. Fernandopulle to create a sustainable ecosystem for the economy to slowly but surely reclaim its lost rhythm while enabling people to go about their business in an environment where the spread of Covid is minimised, leading to a reduction in the number of cases.
Based on the UK’s decision to administer the Pfizer Covid vaccine to its citizens, it has been reported that the Government is contemplating reopening our airport to European passengers in January. Even though the longsuffering tourism industry has welcomed the move, it is a decision that needs to be weighed carefully, especially by the newly appointed State Minister of Primary Healthcare, given the undue risks associated with the move.
America’s leading scientist and Head of its Centre for Disease Control Dr. Anthony Fauci is already on record casting aspersions on the British health authorities for rushing the approval of the vaccine without adhering to the usual safety protocols. The same vaccine is due to be approved for use in the US only towards mid-December. For a vaccine that has been produced in a mighty hurry, common sense dictates that every available safety measure is exhausted before being released to the public. Only time will tell how effective the vaccine will be and keeping the airport doors shut a little while longer seems like the wise thing to do while also consolidating the optics of effective governance.
Today, the contrast between then and now could not be starker, with the present Government being obsessed with the optics it projects compared to their erstwhile counterparts now in opposition, who cared little about what the media portrayed of them. It is only once the election results jolted them out of their collective stupor that reality hit them about the importance of how a government is perceived on a day-to-day, issue-to-issue basis.
The present administration is a past master in the art of stage-managing optics and therefore, it is somewhat surprising that the usually well-crafted message of “efficiency” is beginning to fall apart at the seams with mixed messaging emanating from various quarters. At the heart of the issue is the manner in which the pandemic is being tackled by a multitude of state agencies, with many of them appearing to be working at cross purposes.
One has to pity the predicament that has befallen the hapless Health Minister who just last week was made to undergo the indignation of having the more important of her ministerial subjects and duties arrogated to a new State Minister who for all intents and purposes will now be calling the shots in Sri Lanka’s war on Covid-19. The Health Minister can only blame herself for the predicament she finds herself in these days. The nightmare began when she rushed to embrace a Chinese national amidst the glare of the media, who her Ministry boasted was the only Covid-19 patient in the country and had been fully cured. This was 10 months ago.
With a second wave looking increasingly menacing, the Health Minister perhaps acting out of desperation, then engaged in the now infamous “mutti” or claypot incident where she and some of her cabinet colleagues were caught on camera seeking divine intervention. The third and last episode which probably is what broke the camel’s back, was the partaking of a “miracle cure” that had purportedly been “discovered” by a village shrink or “veda mahattaya” in Kegalle.
If social media went into a frenzy following the “mutti” episode, the “miracle cure” went a step further with various entities scrambling to counter the negativity. The main question being raised is of a fundamental nature – is this a cure for Covid-19 or is it a form of oral immunisation, preventing one from catching the virus, or does it do both? Since this has not been explained clearly, the Health Minister should now either be cured of Covid if she had it, or is now immunised from catching the bug.
If the latter is indeed the case, then Sri Lanka should at this point be rushing to mass produce this concoction and not only issue it free of charge to every member of the population but also be registering a patent for it and producing it on a commercial scale for export with India next door being a ready and ripe market for the product. We should by now be fighting for market share with the Pfizers, Modernas, and AstraZenecas of the world who among themselves are fighting an uphill battle to fulfil the global requirement. Since the local product can be packed in empty liquor bottles and only needs a teaspoon to be administered, the cost saving for importers would be immense, as the need for complex cold chain logistics and syringes for intravenous administering become redundant.
In fact, this could be a godsend to get the economy out of the rut with export earnings from this one product having the potential to compensate for all tourism receipts, if not greater. The big question is, why none of this is happening when the Health Minister herself has put her credibility on the line for a third consecutive time in the name of Covid. The answer probably lies in the fact that it is all about projecting a feel-good factor to an increasingly frustrated electorate, when reality is anything but that.
What those managing the feel-good optics backstage may not realise is that each time these “distractions” are dumped in the public domain, it chips away, piece by piece, the credibility of the Government as a whole. The collateral damage will be those arms of the State doing yeoman service in these trying times. The end result could be a more toxic version of what befell the last administration; that, ironically being due to the lack of any optics management.
The worst thing that could happen to any government is to be out of touch with reality. Donald Trump is a prime example. Having been propelled into office by an unrealistic campaign targeting a gullible audience, the business magnate turned politician simply could not sustain the charade and now prefers to live in an alternate universe where he continues to think that he has been re-elected to the presidency. It is in this alternate universe that he once prescribed consuming bleach and other disinfectants to Covid patients, much the same way that an unknown, untested concoction is being promoted as a Covid cure by our Health Minister.
With both the number of Covid-positive cases as well as the number of deaths due to Covid complications continuing to rise, it is inevitable that frustration within the Government will also continue to rise. It is therefore essential that heads remain cool and wiser counsel prevails in order to get on top of the situation. Therefore, the President’s decision to handover the battle against Covid to a health professional, Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle, is certainly a step in the right direction. It is now up to Dr. Fernandopulle to create a sustainable ecosystem for the economy to slowly but surely reclaim its lost rhythm while enabling people to go about their business in an environment where the spread of Covid is minimised, leading to a reduction in the number of cases.
Based on the UK’s decision to administer the Pfizer Covid vaccine to its citizens, it has been reported that the Government is contemplating reopening our airport to European passengers in January. Even though the longsuffering tourism industry has welcomed the move, it is a decision that needs to be weighed carefully, especially by the newly appointed State Minister of Primary Healthcare, given the undue risks associated with the move.
America’s leading scientist and Head of its Centre for Disease Control Dr. Anthony Fauci is already on record casting aspersions on the British health authorities for rushing the approval of the vaccine without adhering to the usual safety protocols. The same vaccine is due to be approved for use in the US only towards mid-December. For a vaccine that has been produced in a mighty hurry, common sense dictates that every available safety measure is exhausted before being released to the public. Only time will tell how effective the vaccine will be and keeping the airport doors shut a little while longer seems like the wise thing to do while also consolidating the optics of effective governance.