Political stability is a very important variable for a conducive operating business environment for businesses thus economic growth to induce consistent development. Unless there is political stability in the country, there can be no economic stability and despite this awareness, the country seems to be failing to bring in political and economic stability.
Have we ever considered the reason why our beloved country has always been in a state of instability and uncertainty in terms of politics and economy? A few wondrous years pass by and then another such accident or tragedy appears that all good hopes are shattered and the country begins the journey backward.
There is no point engaging in a blame game anymore. There is an issue at hand for all of us to respond to no matter who created it. Unless we co-own the issue and do something about it as business leaders and the workforce, the situation can get further aggravated where we will lose the last hope too. The world is in a recession and the current Managing Directress of the IMF, Ms Kristalina Geogeiva has stated that two-third of the global economies will go into recession this year.
Promises
For decades, our political system has been the driving force behind all the failures and decline, which for one reason or another is always in a state of instability and uncertainty. This is sometimes due to the actions of undemocratic astrologers and occasionally due to the mutual animosity of our politicians or may be an incompetent and ignorant government bent on uprooting and cancelling all the actions and plans of its predecessors because of their stubbornness and arrogance.
Successive governments have given promises but no government has so far been able to honour the majority of the promises. Voters on the other hand have not learned any lesson and easily get misled with false premises over and over again. There has been an outcry for political and economic stability in every government but in practice, no progress has been made.
The first political priority of every incoming government here has been blaming opponents and obtaining loans financially. Political and economic stability permanently has not been a priority in any government in this country. Until the government reaches the root of all crises and ensures practical steps, it is not possible to get rid of successive crises.
Let’s do what we can
It is no secret that the country’s economy does not belong to any one party or government but is directly linked to internal political stability, which is why there is always a national consensus on such issues in developed countries and it does not matter if there is a change of government while the nations that put their differences ahead of national interests have lagged far behind in the race for development.
It has been a tragedy of our political leadership that first, they blame each other to come to power and then they resort to accusations to remain in power. In this country sometimes dictators and sometimes political leadership have sabotaged democracy.
If fortunately, a government completes its term, the newcomer must consider all its actions to be rolled back if it is not in the interest of this country and nation. Political stability is very important for economic stability. Both of these are necessary and inseparable. Let the nation know that unless political stability is possible in our country, there will be no economic stability.
Let’s do politics after we have stability
The private sector in Sri Lanka is said to be the engine of growth but for the private sector to perform, the environment has to be conducive. For FDIs, tourism industry growth, exports to grow, expatriate remittances to come in through the banking system, and for a fair exchange rate, we need political stability.
No political party will have a perfect solution to the ever growing issues globally. So further turbulence in the environment will naturally further aggravate the issue. We as a nation have to think about where we are heading and what our destiny is?
These are the questions that the political leadership along with all Srilankans have to think about, because the lack of rights across the country, the storm of inflation, and the unjust distribution, are pushing the people towards despair and uncertainty. It breeds unrest in the society, then the same unrest drives the society towards genocide by inciting hatred.
For the sake of the future of the country, let’s leave aside all political differences for the moment and do what we can as business leaders and businesses to gain stability. Let’s do politics thereafter. If not all voters of all parties will lose. This is the last chance we have as a country.