Political stability is one of the most important variables in the economic growth of a country. On the other hand, political stability without social acceptance and solidity does not help the economic growth of a country. Both aspects are extremely important ingredients for Sri Lanka when efforts are being made to come out of the current dire economic crisis.
The country’s economy took a nose-dive beginning in 2015 for various reasons and worsened due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Adding to the causes such as the Easter Sunday attacks, the unexpectedly emerged pandemic, and the wrong or belated decisions by both political and bureaucratic hierarchy, the country’s current extreme turmoil was born.
Economic growth, let alone survival, can be established only if there is constancy and trust in society. Throughout history, states with unstable political stability have failed to grow as countries. Political instability, in a democratic State, can be defined as the failure to establish an effective and efficient structure within the rule of law of that state.
Amidst many critical public issues, the country is going through an era that has never been experienced at any time in contemporary history.
Daily essentials
The public outcry that has started because of the short supply of daily essentials such as fuel, LP gas, milk powder, and many other basic needs, has now developed into a full-blown protest campaign against the Government.
The major contrast is that this time around, the protests are taking place sans the political involvement.
The Opposition politicians who attempted to obtain self-centered political mileage were mercilessly rejected and driven off by the protestors.
Even the clergy with political interests who tried to enter the protests were chased away, perhaps for the first time in history.
The political parties that initially claimed that the protests without a leader were dangerous, shamelessly changed their tune after they were mocked and discarded. In a clear case of political dubiousness, they have changed the tune 360 degrees and declared that they will support the ongoing public protests unconditionally.
This is a habitual reaction and behaviour of the Sri Lankan political Opposition.
Almost always, they seek cheap political mileage in any grave situation, regardless of the negative impacts of such moves on the common citizenry.
Genuine intent
Aggravated campaigns without leadership on disputes can become harmful if the participants become unruly and uncontrollable during the protests. However, except for a single incident that occurred at Mirihana, the protestors have creditably displayed good control in their demonstrations. It is also fair to state that law enforcement also shows great restraint when they confront the protestors.
Similar to many other presidents in the past, there is no doubt that President Rajapksa took over the office with the genuine intent of making a change. Thus, he has devised an extremely effective plan through his election manifesto.
However, similar to many inaccurate executive decisions and actions by ex-presidents in the past, President Gotabaya Rajapksa too may have made certain erroneous decisions based on ill advice by his so-called advisors. However, this time around, unlike in the past, the prevailing economic conditions are far too volatile due to a number of factors.
Hence, the overall impact of those decisions has been extremely destructive to the day-to-day lives of the general public. In particular, severe shortages of daily essentials become unbearable to the masses. Unfortunately for the Government, all the hardships took place concurrently with each other.
The common accusation is that the Government has turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to burning issues.
Its efforts to resolve the emergency situation seemed non-existent to the general public.
The members of the Government, including senior Ministers who are directly responsible for many of these issues, were seemingly ignorant and careless whenever they spoke to the media.
False statements
They not only gave false statements and promises, but were also evidently unaware of the gravity of the situation.
As this writer has pointed out many times previously, usually the Government media machinery is late in responding, ineffective, and seemingly out of focus. Its communication with the masses was grossly inadequate and its messages were unclear.
The President’s call to form an interim Government, which would have been the most appropriate action in this distressing situation, was rejected by all Opposition parties. All of them backed out, citing various reasons, but, in truth, they wanted to exploit the situation to increase their own vote base.
They fear that if they join hands with the Government for the common good, they will lose popularity on the next election.
According to legal experts, there are several ways to oust the Government. One such method, showing a parliamentary majority of 113 votes, is one such method, and perhaps the only viable routine currently. After the denial of forming an interim Government, the President invited the Opposition to form a Government by showing the majority. None of the Opposition parties even attempted to do so, as they understood that such a move would be of political disadvantage.
In the middle of all calamities, President Rajapaksa made another decisive move by bringing in Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe who is a respected veteran of economics. Dr. Weerasinghe is a former Senior Deputy
Widely applauded
Governor of the Central Bank as well as an Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).The appointment of Mahinda Siriwardena, another veteran with extensive experience in macroeconomic management, as Secretary to the Ministry of Finance was also widely applauded.
According to the constitution, there are very few methods to remove a President in Sri Lanka, although a section of the people insists on it, unless he is willing to abandon the presidency of his own will. Bringing an impeachment to overthrow the President is also a long, hard, and complex process.
As per political analysts, ousting the President may not be an effective move at this extremely critical juncture. According to legal experts, even if the President resigns and calls for a snap election, the processing time will be several months. It is clear that the country may not survive economically without a head of state for that long.
Also, as per the estimates of experts, the cost of a national election can be between 800 million and 1.2 billion rupees, which clearly is unaffordable at this point.
Hence, the country has no alternative other than to arrive at some sort of political consensus to come out of the current gruesome state of affairs.
There are a few of them proposed by several Opposition parties, independent groups, and Government factions that represent the Parliament. Hence, giving consent to one of them is a national need. It is imperative that all politicians set aside opportunistic sentiments and reciprocally agree to find the best solution for the country.
Unbearable hardships
Social stability is marred because of the continuous unbearable hardships the public has been forced to endure every day for the past few months. It is a fact that the public’s trust cannot be restored unless the Government, incumbent or future, provides a lasting and concrete solution to the dire issues.
It is evident that Sri Lanka is desperate for financial assistance from external sources. Therefore, in order to obtain external help from the IMF and friendly countries, both political and social stability are absolute necessities. The main criteria for a country to achieve economic stability is a strong and stable political structure.
An unstable political structure affects the economy in many ways. A strong political authority that is knowledgeable and conscious of the country’s citizenry is required to sustain stability.
However, without the consent of the general public, such stability can be feeble.
Hence, the political decisions that are taken by all politicians will impact the immediate future of the country. Depending on how honest the decisions are taken at this crucial stage of the country, history will judge them.