Year 2022 will go down in Sri Lanka’s history books as the most historic as well as dramatic in its long and chequered past. Although no effort is currently being spared to alter the narrative and erase from memory the watershed events that shook the nation’s once-mighty political edifice, every one of those attempts has only succeeded in reaffirming the people’s belief that the change they desire is well within their grasp.
The last year will be long remembered as the year in which the people of this nation finally came of age and asserted their rightful place as the all-powerful sovereign to whom the so-called powers that be are not only beholden to, but also obligated to serve – not the other way around. This awakening no doubt came as a rude shock to a political establishment long used to lording it over a people who over the years have been reduced to mere pawns in the dirty game of local politics. Yet, the fact of the matter is that the process they began in earnest is still very much a ‘work in progress’. Therefore, the year ahead will have to be the year in which they complete what they started by demanding better of those who represent them because there is no way that this country can continue the way it has.
To those politicians who are wont to interpret the current interregnum as a sign of sweet surrender and a cue to restore the status quo ante, it will surely come as a surprise that they, like before, are yet again reading the public mindset wrong. Emboldened by the events of 2022, the people remain more determined than ever to complete the job they started. From the farmers and fishermen in the remotest hamlets and the high society of Colombo 7 to the corporate bigwigs who marched day in and out for months on end at Galle Face last year, they all had one common demand, which to date they have not got.
The system change the people desired – a term quite ironically coined by the former deposed President himself – is nowhere on the horizon even six months down the line since a leadership change, although that and that alone should be top of the agenda. Meanwhile, in a viral video doing the rounds on social media, the former President, the architect of Sri Lanka’s bankruptcy, has been captured leisurely strolling through the shopping malls of a foreign country, immune to the untold suffering brought upon his countrymen. That, if nothing else, justifies the people’s call for the current system of governance to be changed, whereby leaders and people in positions of power and authority can be held accountable for their actions.
If someone who literally destroyed a nation in a matter of just two years can walk away as if nothing happened, what message does it send to the rest of the governance structure? If the current leadership is of the belief that out of sight is out of mind, it is profoundly mistaken, as the struggle people endure on a daily basis is a constant reminder of ‘unfinished business’. The system change people demanded will have to be delivered sooner rather than later if recent history is not to be repeated. For the uninitiated, the system change that people are demanding is all about putting the right people in the right places and then holding them responsible and accountable for their actions. It is as simple as that. It is also the only way that this nation can come out of the hole its political leaders have dug for it.
Even as this nation embarks on the year in which it will celebrate the diamond jubilee anniversary of its independence, there is little to celebrate, with every sphere of activity – be it economic, social, governance, or even religious – either already in ruin or fast getting there. If people were to point the finger at those responsible for this pathetic state of affairs, that finger will have to be directed at the building that sits in the middle of Diyawanna and all its occupants in the recent past. At the end of the day it is those Members of Parliament who enable and empower failed leaders to carry on regardless, by raising their hands instead of their voices.
It is nothing but pathetic that 75 years after independence, the nation lies in shambles, with Cabinet ministers running to ports and airports to welcome ships and planes carrying tourists, food, fuel, fertiliser, and even school books because the bankrupt economy cannot afford to pay for them. Meanwhile, Bangladesh, a country that was lagging far behind Sri Lanka for long years, is marching ahead, even boasting a modern metro public transport system – the very project our former leadership cancelled for laughable reasons.
Notwithstanding the facade of a nation on the mend, the poverty level – the number of people driven to poverty – has doubled in just the last year, destroying years of welfare gains. According to local think tank Verité Research, even with a whopping 50% haircut on international bonds and a 25% cut on multilateral and bilateral creditors, Sri Lanka’s debt load in 10 years will still exceed 130% of GDP at the prevailing bond yields. That figure is already at an unsustainable 121%.
System change must begin by paving the way for the right people to get to the right places. It is common knowledge that, except for a negligible minority, it is the village thugs who get elected to the local councils. It is these thugs who gradually wend their way up the political ladder and end up in Parliament. Ultimately the country’s cabinet ministers are chosen from this lot.
How on earth can these individuals who have no clue about governance, leave alone the complex subjects assigned to them, run the most important institutions in the country in this day and age? The results of such a suicidal model are plain to see. When at some point this nation is compelled to acknowledge the error of its ways, those in charge of drafting change will do well to seek inspiration from the Singaporean model, which has in place probably the most rigorous criteria for those seeking to hold public office.
Needless to say, as we look forward to 2023, it is already taking shape as a decisive year – one that will either make or break this nation. Already the political fire has been stoked, with Parliament being summoned to convene on 5 January, the purpose for which has not been revealed. However, speculation is rife that some ruse or the other could be in the works in order to postpone the upcoming Local Government Polls. If that turns out to be the case, yet another bout of political turmoil is assured.
Hope, resilience, and adaptability to even the most extreme situations are some of the key attributes synonymous with the present generation of Sri Lankans. But in the same breath, there are also some other attributes that as of late are synonymous with this generation – namely, fatigue with an ever-failing leadership, frustration, and despair.
While 2023 will inevitably turn out to be an election year, uppermost in the minds of Sri Lanka’s 22 million citizens will be what’s in store for them – a new dawn or more of the same? For a tired, fed up, battered, and bruised people whose patience has very nearly run out, chances are it will be no less historic than the one they put behind yesterday. Chin up, Sri Lanka!