Sri Lanka’s political landscape has changed colour to being one of red, and although there were some setbacks during the Local Government Elections, the tally board today shows that the National People's Power (NPP) now has control of the Executive, Legislature and most of the local government institutions. The change in colour at Colombo Municipality Council (CMC), a hotly contested seat of power, is telling of the overwhelming swing in favour of the political landscape. Colombo Mayor, the NPP’s Vraie Cally Balthazaar stated yesterday that efforts will be taken to transform Colombo into one of the most developed cities in the world. However, now that the NPP has finally got control of nearly all the structures of power one can be elected to, they need to read the pulse of the people quickly.

The NPP has had only one focus since coming to power, acting on their promise to root out corruption. While this course of action may help them get by this far, public patients in the government inaction on other fronts will not last long. The ‘Anti-Corruption’ agenda, while important, is not the entire scope of governance of a State, and the Anura Kumara Dissanayake Government must wake up to that realisation, and soon. From the highest posts to the operational elements which deal with the public, the public officials claim little, or nothing is being done within most of the ministries. There seems to be an awkward stalemate in a broad segment of governance, aided by the political leadership's focus on corruption and delivering low hanging fruits of anti-crime and locking up former political figures and goons. The reforms agenda has stalled, the drive to diversify the economy and industry to improve the export basket is not getting adequate traction. Sri Lanka’s foreign policy still seems to be in limbo. With the Government again descending into welfare programs, and increasing the bureaucracy, will Sri Lanka need to front the IMF again?

This week a key Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) activist, former local government figure, spoke to The Daily Morning about his frustration with the party and the Government which they are now in control of. “There is simply no push to deliver the services needed by the public at the grassroots level. Now that LG polls are over, and LG institutions have largely been appointed, the people are waiting to see issues which impact them directly, close to home being addressed. But that’s not happening, we have complained, but even the party seems lethargic to move on our request, which is a break from how we operated in the past. People want potholes fixed, streetlamps erected, damaged roads repaired or flood prone areas provided with effective water drainage systems. Some even complain about the mail not coming to them effectively, or the lack of public toilets at public transport venues. You don’t need a big government to act on these, even local government institutions can act on them, but nothing is happening. In my former electorate, drug use is rampant, and we as locals know that the local Police are on the payroll of drug dealers. But we are powerless to act. The people will only give so much time to our Government, if they feel neglected, next round of elections, they will vote us out,” he said, complaining that the Party is losing its hard-won popularity, due to inaction.

The NPP must govern Sri Lanka, not let it idle in a state of limbo. The President has been issuing warnings to the bureaucracy, giving them an ultimatum. It is becoming evident that the NPP didn’t have a grand strategy nor well defined plans for governing the crisis hit island. They have largely surfed the wave on the raft built by the last Government. Yes, there have been declarations, and efforts to ‘clean up’ some segments of the government mechanism. However, progress has been painstakingly slow. Perhaps it's time for President Dissanayake to call in on his ultimatum and shock the ‘government system’ into action. But that would first require wisdom, leadership and statesmen-like action on the part of the Cabinet and the President.