An environment where the regime in power speaks exclusively about an economic crisis but not what caused it is problematic for the simple reason that this crisis has been long enough in the making that no one in the current political set-up can escape responsibility for it.
Let’s go back to 2015 and the slogan of that newly-appointed regime – ‘good governance’. Why was there a need for such a slogan and why did the people overwhelmingly vote ‘yes’ for it back then? Was it not due to the fact that governance at the time was in the doldrums due to unbridled corruption and warning signs of an economy on the slide were already apparent? Therefore, had that regime delivered on its primary promise to fight corruption, there was every likelihood that not only would that regime not have been annihilated at the next poll, but that this economic crisis would not have even occurred.
As far as the people are concerned, they are well aware that it was the failure to ensure good governance and, by extension, fight corruption in the last eight years at least that ultimately paved the way for the economic crisis that we have on our hands today. Therefore, the burning question today is, what is being done at least now to fix the problem, which in effect is the mother of all problems? Rather than addressing the root cause, the strategy in place appears to be superficial at best; sell off whatever that can be sold off to whomever that is willing to splurge the moolah, of course in the guise of ‘development’ while ignoring the elephant in the room.
While the quality of the current crop of people’s representatives in Parliament is a fair indication of the political immaturity of the majority of voters, who too must therefore accept their share of the blame, the studied silence of those who are not so immature like the learned corporate community in the face of continuing corruption is indeed intriguing.
It is no secret that corporate silence bought in return for selfish business interests in the form of contracts, safety nets, and risk mitigation comes at a huge opportunity cost as far as democratic governance is concerned. In fact, the latest ‘silence package’ appears to have the built-in feature that the entire burden of the economic reforms should be directed towards the hapless citizenry, whose only safety net, their retirement funds, are also being eaten into with not so much as a whimper from that community.
Whenever a ‘thorny’ issue bothers the regime, the usual modus operandi to neutralise it is to either appoint a committee or commission to look into it and forget about it or if the issue is a little more complex, then cite the necessity for new laws, which in turn is guaranteed to spark off a debate that will keep the crowd engaged. With a comfortable parliamentary majority assured – most of whom will vote like robots when told to do so – this debate will ultimately spawn a new law that will breeze through Parliament and the matter will thereafter be as good as buried. The end result: a fatter statute book and not much else.
If examples are required, take the Port City Act introduced a couple of years ago. At the time it was touted as the panacea to all of Sri Lanka’s economic woes, but, post-enactment, nothing has changed except that the Port ‘City’ is slowly turning into a Port ‘carnival’ in the absence of investors. More recently, take the new Anti-Corruption Law. For months it was flaunted as the answer to all of Sri Lanka’s corruption issues, but, post-enactment, little or nothing has changed, with corruption continuing like there’s no tomorrow.
In a little over two weeks, an IMF delegation is due in Colombo to conduct the first progress review of its $ 3 billion bailout package. Among the many proposals made by the IMF to facilitate economic recovery was the necessity to aggressively fight corruption. While the regime can always point to the new Anti-Corruption Act and claim it has done its part, the crux of the matter is that, like everything else, implementation is absent. Therefore it is rather baffling how the regime expects to turn things around on the economic front when the root cause of the problem remains unaddressed on the ground.
To underline the scale of the problem, the Opposition Leader, speaking in Parliament, made a cost comparison of the Indian Chandrayaan-3 lunar exploration mission that landed on the moon last week and the SupremeSAT satellite that is said to have been launched by Sri Lanka 10 years ago. Interestingly enough, according to the Opposition Leader, the latest Chandrayaan-3 lunar expedition module had cost $ 75 million while Sri Lanka had allegedly spent $ 320 million on a so-called satellite 10 years ago – to date no one seems to have a clue of where it is or what it does.
In fact, the Minister of Science and Technology at the time, who was present in Parliament when the Opposition Leader made the allegation, responded that he had no clue about such a venture at the time. It is in this background that the Opposition Leader’s call for a comprehensive report on the matter is justified.
Economic recovery in 2026 and economic nirvana in 2048 will be mere myths in the absence of meaningful action to fight corruption, which continues to bleed this country even while bankrupt. From allegations surrounding emergency power purchases and fuel distribution during Covid to mega scams in the health sector in the guise of emergency purchases, non-materialisation of compensation from two ship disasters, and the yet-unresolved mystery of a Chinese fertiliser ship for which $ 6.9 million had been paid up-front, these are just the tip of the mountain of corruption that continues to expand.
At the end of the day, it is not rocket science that in order to fix the economy it is necessary to first fix what broke it. While the regime can kid itself on the scale and magnitude of the issue by simplifying the economic crisis as merely a foreign debt crisis and prescribe superficial solutions, the real issue is a monumental governance failure. After all, the debt crisis is a direct result of flawed policy, or rather governance, that has gone unaddressed for many years due to a toxic combination of incompetence, opportunism, and systemic corruption, where even MPs are allegedly bought over.
Having promised good governance as far back as 2015 and having received the people’s nod for it back then, the question that ordinary people are asking is, what is keeping the President from declaring war on corruption? The fact that he has studiously avoided the subject altogether after he took office as the all-powerful Executive has only added fuel to the fire.
As illustrated by the economic debacle, there is very little that can be done when things go beyond the point of no return. That is why it is critically important for the leadership of this nation to come to terms with the fact that we are now at that critical juncture of no return in getting governance right. Therefore, if the present leadership is unwilling to do what needs to be done in that regard, then it is about time that the people are consulted.
At the end of the day, any strong drive to root out corruption, which is a prerequisite for good governance, must necessarily have legitimacy – the kind of legitimacy that only the people of this country can give, or rather grant, at an election.