By Veeragathy Thanabalasingham
Colombo, November 1: Anura Kumara Dissanayake took over the reins of power in Sri Lanka from President Ranil Wickremesinghe following a free and fair election. However, Wickremesinghe, who believes that Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is not going to come to an end in the near future, seems to be under the illusion that Dissanayake might ask him to take over again if he is unable to solve the problems.
In a message to Disanayake after the election, Wickremesinghe said: ” I am handing over to your care the lovable child called Sri Lanka, whom we both love very dearly. I safely carried the child Sri Lanka safely over the last two years along a long distance on the dangerous rope bridge. Close to the very end of the bridge, people have decided to hand over the dear child to you. I wish that you will be able to carry this child away from the bridge to the other bank, even safer than the way I carried the child.”
But it seems that within a month, the former President has come to the conclusion that Dissanayake may not be able to carry the child safely to the ‘other bank.’
Although he is not contesting the parliamentary elections later this month, Wickramasinghe is actively campaigning for the new alliance called New Democratic Font (NDF ) formed by politicians from various parties who supported him in the Presidential election.
Known for being unfazed by electoral defeats, he has been saying that it is necessary for those who held important positions in his administration to be in the next parliament to handle economic issues.
Not only that, the ex-President has warned that Dissanayake will face an insurmountable challenge in raising state revenues when he starts repaying foreign debts after four years. He also expressed hope that the new President will be able to serve his entire term. It appears that Wickramasinghe is saying this because he has a feeling that Dissanayake will not last full five years in office.
Wickramasinghe often says the leaders of the NPP, who have no experience in governance, can seek advice from him on government administration and economic matters.
Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya commented that his cabinet did not follow proper procedures when it approved salary hikes for government employees. Replying to this, Wickremesinghe said he is ready to teach her the Constitution if necessary. But the Prime Minister replied that she will never take advice from a person who was rejected by the people 17 times.
At the same time, UNP politicians are pointing to reports that Dissanayake had said somewhere that he would step down from the Presidency in two years if he felt that he would not be able to govern the country properly. These are asking people to vote for them saying that it is becessary to have experienced people in parliament to take over the government if needed.
Wickremesinghe also said at an election rally last week that one cannot be faulted for thinking that opposition could eventually take power from the NPP in the not too distant future.
It is common place for opposition parties to ask people to vote for them overwhelmingly. But we see a strange trend in Sri Lanka’s current opposition parties asking to be elected to act as a strong opposition in Parliament and take over the government sooner rather than later.
Ruwan Wijewardena, deputy leader of the UNP and a close relative of the former President, had said in an interview last week that there were no discussions about bringing Wickremesinghe back to active politics and that the people might want Wickremesinghe’s services if the NPP government is unable to continue to govern. Assreting that the NPP seems to be struggling on the economic front, Wijewardene said that people could ask for the former president’s return.
Yes, President Dissanayake is inexperienced going by the normal yardstick, and so is his present team. But voters have reposed faith in his ability to deliver, which ought to be respected in a democracy.
Some politicians of the NDF have said on election platforms that their alliance only needs 40 seats in the new parliament to play the game and added that if NDF secures the opposition leader’s post it can take over the government if the need arises. In fact, they naively believe that they can re-create the political drama that unfolded two years ego.
It is noteworthy that these opposition politicians who are asking people to send experienced people to parliament to deal with the serious economic problem facing the country are wanting those who ruined the economy and created a political culture of corruption.
While they are asking the people not to send new people to the parliament, President Dissanayaka and the leaders of the NPP are calling for Parliament to be filled with representatives of their party. Their position is that there is no need for an opposition in the Parliament.
During the Presidential election campaigns, the president says that November 14, the day of voting in the parliamentary elections, is a ‘ Shramadana’ day, a day to clean up parliament to create a new political culture. Their view that there is no need for an opposition party. This is anti-democratic.
Opposition parties have been critical of Dissanayake’s month-long administration with the aim of ensuring that the NPP does not win a landslide victory. Maverick politicians like Udaya Gammanpila even say that they will bring an impeachment motion against President Dissanayake. They warn people that giving a two-thirds majority to NPP will be dangerous.
Opposition politicians who are predicting how the results of the parliamentary elections will be based on the results of the Presidential election, say that the NPP is unlikely to secure an absolute majority of seats and a ‘hung’ parliament is likely, pointing out last week’’s Elpitiya Pradeshya Sabha election where NPP and the opposition parties got the same number of seats.
President Dissanayake is asking the people to give NPP a mandate to form of a strong government to fulfil the promises made at the presidential election. It has been the political trend till now that people give massive support in parliamentary elections to the party that wins the Presidential election.
It seems that one can certainly expect people to give the new President an opportunity to strengthen his position and continue in power. But opposition leaders are sounding the alarm that Dissanayake’s government has no chance of holding on.
It is important to note that what he has now set up is an interim or caretaker government of three ministers to run the administration till the parliamentary elections. Interestingly, it is the smallest cabinet in the world. But the opposition is threatening the people that the era of long queues for supplies is soon to return and foreign tourist arrivals will plummet due to an alleged plan to target Israelis.
Responding to criticism during the election campaign that his government is weak, Dissanayake said that political power is established only when power is ensured in several institutions such as Presidency, Cabinet, Parliament, Provincial councils and Local government bodies.
“We have only the Presidency and a small cabinet. Parliament is dissolved. Provincial councils are crumpled. Only a little more than a month have elapsed after we took over power. So some media institutions and some politicians are trying to create instability when we do not have full power” the President stated.
Opposition parties are using various issues like the economic crisis, price rise, salary increase of government employees, investigation reports on Easter Sunday bombings, scrapping of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to attack the President and the NPP. But, none of these problems are not of their making.
It is not the President and his party, but those who blame the them have been largely responsible for the development of these problems.
Campaigns are being intensified against the new President even before he can consolidate his position and properly sit in power. This clearly shows that the old political elite has not digested the fact that a ‘commoner’ has come to power. All the criticisms about the lack of experience in governance are a reflection of this.
In fact, there is substantial criticism regarding the policies and positions of the NPP on various issues including the political solution to the national ethnic problem especially in terms of devolution of power. But it is necessary to allow the party to form a strong government give it a reasonable period of time to run the country under the leadership of president Dissanayake.
Within a short period of time, President Dissanayake would have a better understanding of the fundamental issues involved in carrying out a system change or a political culture free of corruption while keeping the old state machinery that had served traditional political ruling class.
In any case, it is certain that he will have to deal with a crisis arising from so many impractical promises he had made. It is easy to create huge expectations among people, but fulfilling them is a huge challenge.(The writer is a senior journalist based in Colombo
