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Go home, and then what?

17 Apr 2022

  • Legal and economic experts highlight the long road ahead of us in bringing the country back from the brink
BY SUMUDU CHAMARA  Even though it was the anger and frustration triggered by the economic crisis that resulted in the ongoing protests, experts from various fields have started discussing how these protests – being staged against the President, Government, Parliament, and the prevailing political culture – should focus more on specific, long-term solutions. They are of the opinion that merely getting rid of the incumbent administration will not prevent the recurrence of similar unstable situations in future.  During an online discussion – titled “Politics, Economics, and Dissent: Where do We Go from Here?” and organised by Hashtag Generation – these matters were discussed by former United Nations (UN) Undersecretary General Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy, Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA) Executive Director Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, University of Edinburgh School of Law Lecturer in Public Law Dr. Asanga Welikala, and former Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Deputy Governor Dr. W.A. Wijewardena.  Protests and demands  Speaking of the protests and the nature of demands, Dr. Coomaraswamy noted that it is important to protect the movement and keep up the pressure, while also looking more carefully at the demands presented by protesters.  “What we see being created in front of us is like the Black Lives Matter movement in the US, or the farmers’ protests in India, and this is a new social movement. Movements are about more than their goals. They attempt to mobilise people and around shared values and build a sense of community. Some people may say this is only to get rid of the Rajapaksa family. But the teach-outs, the libraries, and spontaneous talks point to something much larger going on.”  Analysing the main challenges that have been pointed out during protests the main elements of the protests based on media reports, Dr. Coomaraswamy noted: “There is no doubt that the first thing that holds these protests together is the immediate economic issues, power shortages, and the lack of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), fuel, milk powder, and food. They are sharing a mixture of anger and desperation that we have come to this situation.  “In handling these economic challenges, there are two aspects. There are technical issues. We have to take quick and effective measures to basically stabilise the economic team that has just taken charge. I think it is competent enough to manage this aspect for the short term. There are also political decisions to be made to ensure social protection, or social and economic rights of the people. This must be an important part of the immediate advocacy of civil society groups even while they are protesting.  “I think the feminist collective has put forward some ideas. One is to set in place an effective food distribution system with those resources collected through diverse sources so that households receive essential items. Existing systems should be strengthened at the local level; not only administrative systems, but also things like co-operatives. There is a need to have some kind of an emergency task force in order to ensure an effective distribution system for pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies.”  She added that in addition, there must be constant pressure to ensure that any International Monetary Fund (IMF) programmes Sri Lanka is being part of are supplemented by an effective social protection system.  The second type of messages that are being conveyed by protesters, she said, contain a searing critique of the political establishment and also the need to reform the country’s political system. In this regard, she noted that Sri Lanka must do away with the Executive Presidency, and strengthen the Fundamental Rights chapter of the Constitution especially by identifying social and gender rights.  IMF and the economy  Speaking extensively of the state of foreign reserves and how it affected the Government’s recent decision to suspend all kinds of external debt repayments, Dr. Wijewardena said that this is not an action taken by the Government of Sri Lanka on its own, but an action it was forced to take due to the prevailing circumstances.  He added: “Along with the suspension of the repayment of foreign debts, the government has announced that it would go for a restricting of foreign debts, plus it will seek financial assistance from the IMF, to solve the current acute balance of payment crisis. These are very important measures which the Sri Lankan Government would be taking. If we plan to go forward from here, we will have to keep in mind that seeking funds from the IMF and restructuring the existing foreign debts will not solve everything.”  He said that the reason for this, is a fundamental difference between the financial sector and the real sector, or the economy.  “The financial sector is simply an imagination, in our minds, and it does not have a real existence. It is the real sector (economy) that actually provides benefits. For example, one cannot eat a Rs. 5,000 note, but we can eat the rice we can purchase with that Rs. 5,000.”  Adding that in the past, Sri Lanka has gone to the IMF on 16 occasions, Dr. Wijewardena explained that on nine of those occasions, Sri Lanka completed the IMF programme, while on six occasions, Sri Lanka defaulted such programmes or merely completed them in part. In this context, he said, many parties are questioning the validity of Sri Lanka going to the IMF, as there is a misunderstanding about what an IMF programme can do, and what Sri Lanka should do in order to ensure welfare of the people.  “That is because the IMF would provide funding to the CBSL to overcome the acute shortage of foreign exchange within the banking system, and these are financial sector resolutions. The financial sector of any country is only a facilitator for the development of the real sector.”  He explained that most governments that sought the IMF’s support in the past had limited their efforts to resolving balance of payment-related challenges, and had ignored the fact that Sri Lanka requires real sector reforms to develop the country. He pointed out the importance of Sri Lanka paying attention to real sector reforms.  Governance  Adding that Sri Lanka has to pay serious attention to reforming the constitution in the long run once the most urgent challenges are resolved, Dr. Welikala said that the prevailing crisis has a very strong constitutional and governance dimension.  He spoke about the present Constitution: “The problem with the Executive Presidency is that it over-centralises political powers in one person, and the effects of over-centralisation are the undermining of checks and balances. The court becomes less important to the constitutional system, the separation of power is affected, and that is not a democratic way of making decisions.  “When one person has much greater scope to make decisions or to be poor at the job, and when the whole system is geared towards this office and all powers are concentrated around him, what happens is that if that person fails, the whole system fails.”  He stressed that the said situation is the central argument that can be seen during protests, and added that this is not simply a matter of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Rajapska family resigning.  Speaking of a better system that needs to be introduced to replace the existing system, Dr. Welikala said that a democratic system that works efficiently and delivers what it is supposed to deliver is necessary as part of good governance.  He added: “Good governance does not mean just protecting rights and democracy, although they are important. Good governance also means efficient and delivering. Abolishing the Executive Presidency system is an absolutely essential condition of our recovery from this economic disaster Sri Lanka is in.” Speaking of pressuring the Government to resign, he stressed that due to the limited time and urgency, ideally, Sri Lanka should direct political pressure sufficiently to ensure that members of the Government resign, and that it is not impossible. That, he said, is a political question for the Opposition parties, in particular, and all other parties or even individuals within the current Government.  Adding that the next constitutional amendment will be the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, Dr. Welikala discussed what it must focus on. He pointed out that the two main substantive elements of the next constitutional amendment should be abolishing the Executive Presidential system and returning power to a Parliamentary executive, and re-establishment of the Constitutional Council (CC) which existed under the 19th Amendment to the Consultation.  In terms of abolition of the Executive Presidency, Dr. Welikala put forward several changes that must be taken into account in this process. Among them were redefining the President’s role and the way the President is elected.  With regard to the nature of the President’s role, he said that the President should be kind of a symbol of national unity rather than an active player in the Executive. He noted that the President should generally act on the advice of the Prime Minister, who will convey to the President the advice of the Cabinet collectively. In this context, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet will be those who enjoy the confidence of Parliament.  He noted: “The Prime Minister and the Cabinet are accountable to Parliament, and must enjoy the confidence of Parliament to survive in office.”  Regarding the mode of election of the President, Dr. Welikala said that it is the direct election of the President that gives him or her a lot of powers, and that the President is the one person in the current system who can claim a kind of democratic mandate from the whole country. He stressed that this system should change, and that the President should be electable by Parliament.  Meanwhile, Dr. Saravanamuttu, speaking of the protests and the Government’s response to the protests, said that if the pressure does not intensify out of the streets to result in the resignation of the President, as has been suggested by some, subversive elements may infiltrate the protest movement in order to create a violent situation.  In regards to the larger issue, he said that the present situation is not only a systemic problem, but is also a political issue.  “We have treated the electorate not as citizens, but rather as voters. We need to come to accept that beyond the immediate problem of getting rid of the Rajapaksas, we have this proper institutional reform, because that is the only shield against this recurring in future.”  In terms of long-term solutions, Dr. Saravanamuttu further said that Sri Lanka needs a good communication strategy, especially when it comes to reforms that will be necessary in near future.  He explained: “What we badly need is a communication strategy of why we will have to do these rather uncomfortable things to get ourselves out of this mess. As we all know, the communication strategy needs credible and effective communicators to reach the people in a language that is accessible to them and they understand. If we can do that, we can not only begin to change the institutions but also begin to change the culture that animates all the good constitutions and all the good legislation that we have.”  It is becoming clear that even if the President resigned, that is going to be a mere first step, and to revive the economy, the country will still need long-term economic, political, and social reform. Therefore, the protests and related discussions should pay more attention to discussing and demanding what Sri Lanka needs in the long run, and it is the experts’ duty to support it.


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