“Ranil ta ida denna” (“give Ranil room”). These were the chants that welcomed President Ranil Wickremesinghe as he took to the stage at the United National Party’s (UNP) May Day rally held this past week in Maligawatta. 

For the first time since 2018, political parties celebrated May Day on a grand scale, which involved parades through the streets of Colombo. For the UNP, it was a much-needed opportunity to demonstrate to the public that the ‘Grand Old Party,’ which had suffered a heavy loss in 2020, was in fact on the rise. 

With a Presidential Election around the corner, the May Day rallies were the focal point of the anticipated campaigns. For the UNP, however, this May Day was not simply another political rally, but an opportunity to demonstrate that, after four long years, the party’s voice was being heard. 

With the onset of the economic crisis in 2022, the stage was set for the implementation of the UNP’s economic policies. These policies had been outlined in its 2020 election manifesto. When Party Leader Wickremesinghe was elected as President by Parliament, he immediately set about implementing these measures. 

It was in fact the UNP which first stated in its election manifesto that “we will raise $ 6 billion utilising the assistance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other financial sources including friendly governments”. This pledge was delivered upon with the Wickremesinghe-led Government securing an IMF bailout of $ 3 billion. This bailout has been further bolstered by financial assistance from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. Going beyond monetary support, the assistance of “friendly governments” has also been secured, which enabled the country to emerge from the economic crisis. 

During the crisis, the President successfully obtained financial support from India, which allowed the Government to resume the provision of essential services. Having travelled to Japan on two separate occasions in the space of a year, the President was able to re-strengthen ties, allowing the country to benefit from the Japanese Government playing an integral role in securing IMF support and the creation of the Official Creditor Committee (OCC). China too played its role, from donating necessary supplies during the crisis to also actively engaging in negotiations to restructure the country’s outstanding debt. 

While the UNP’s manifesto highlighted the previously ill-advised actions as having “resulted in one of our oldest financial lenders losing confidence in Sri Lanka,” the Wickremesinghe administration has gone beyond reviving ties with Japan and taken the country on the path to a new and bold foreign policy direction, which has seen a greater focus placed on expanding ties with Asia and Africa.

It has been the apparent successes of Wickremesinghe in ensuring Sri Lanka has emerged from the financial crisis which has empowered the UNP. For those thousands of UNP supporters who thronged the streets of Colombo, this was an opportunity to remind the public that it is in fact the UNP and their Leader who can deliver. 

However, “Ranil ta ida denna” takes on a new light when the President’s political history is put alongside this slogan. Having been elected to the post of Prime Minister a record seven times, the public has questioned whether Ranil Wickremesinghe is indeed capable of delivering on the promises he has made. 

Having been elected to the post of Prime Minister in 2001, he was handed an economy that was in recession, a decade-old civil war raging in the north, and a President from the Opposition. Despite these obstacles, the then Prime Minister set about rebuilding a fractured economy. This saw the creation of the original stage for the now re-deployed international coalition of nations to financially assist the country. 

On that occasion, the Prime Minister secured funding amounting to $ 4.5 billion from the Tokyo Donor Conference, which had been his brainchild. Within a year, Wickremesinghe’s Government of the time was able to turn around an economy in recession, posting a moderate growth of 3.5%. However, despite the apparent progress made, the UNP Government was ousted by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and replaced with a Sri Lanka Freedom Party-Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (SLFP-JVP) coalition. 

In 2015, Wickremesinghe was elected to lead a UNP Government. On this occasion, despite having backed Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Election, Wickremesinghe once again found himself blocked by the President of the day. 

With the country’s economy showing signs of slowing down, with cost of living on the rise, and several foreign-funded investment projects failing to produce results, the onus was on the Prime Minister and his UNP Government to resurrect the economy. The IMF’s assistance was sought, which put the country on a difficult yet necessary path of economic reform. While the economy was given a bitter pill to swallow, improvements to Sri Lanka’s social fabric were undertaken. 

It was during this period that an islandwide insurance scheme was introduced for all schoolchildren; separately all national schools underwent a major refurbishment under the ‘langama pasala, hondama pasala’ (‘nearest school, best school’) programme. 

Having recognised that restructuring Sri Lanka’s State-Owned Enterprise (SEO) sector was essential, a specialised ministry (the Ministry of Public Enterprise Development) was empowered to undertake this task. However, despite the efforts to ensure a sustainable restructure of the economy, many essential measures were blocked by a President who failed to agree on their necessity due to ideological differences. 

With the inability of Wickremesinghe and the UNP to return to power at the 2019 and 2020 elections, many of the necessary reform measures were reversed. Despite public outcry at the time, the UNP had pushed through a new and effective tax regime. Post-2019 this was immediately reversed with wholesale tax cuts. 

While those unpopular yet necessary measures were reversed in an attempt to win popular support, other efforts by the former UNP Government were overturned on the back of political pressure. The agreement with the Japanese to construct a Light Rail Transit (LRT) system in Colombo was unilaterally cancelled, while the tripartite agreement to develop the Colombo East Container Terminal was also terminated without prior warning. Not only did these decisions impact Sri Lanka’s international standings, but they also resulted in a collapse in the collection of Government revenue and the eventual financial crisis. 

Whilst the country is enjoying a significant improvement in the quality of living since the 2022 financial crisis, it has been possible due to the tough and unpopular decisions taken by President Wickremesinghe. With elections rolling around, prospective presidential candidates have taken to the stage promising a slew of benefits including tax cuts, increased Government employment, and the reversal of the much-needed IMF programme.

On three separate occasions this century, Wickremesinghe has taken over a struggling country; on one occasion the country was in the throes of bankruptcy, facing the complete breakdown of law and order. On all three occasions Sri Lanka has seen itself pulled back from the edge of the abyss by the tough decisions taken by this wily politician. 

The message from the UNP supporters who took to the streets last week is clear: they want to see Wickremesinghe finally given the space to complete the task he has undertaken. The question that now remains is whether or not the public is willing to see through this ambitious reform agenda or allow itself to be once again seduced by the fanciful promises made by politicians. 

(The writer is a member of the UNP Working Committee)