• It is true that the Sri Lankan economy fared better under Wickremesinghe’s stewardship, particularly when Mangala Samaraweera was Finance Minister. Welfare measures were carefully targeted. There was a plan to resurrect the economy with a few well thought out strategies. Samaraweera valued the opinion of economists, listened to them and respected their views. The economy was slowly but surely growing
Sri Lanka’s economy may be in its deathbed and millions are suffering immensely as a result but as far as the major political parties are concerned, it is business as usual which, in effect, means they are still playing politics.
The latest trick is to try and look good in the eyes of the public. Therefore, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by former President Maithripala Sirisena, which keeps criticising the government but has its members remaining in the cabinet, met with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and proposed an All-Party Conference (APC) to address the current economic crisis.
As much as they want to be their own party, the SLFP is aware of harsh political realities: left to its own devices, it will come a very distant third (or fourth) in a general election and just a handful of seats, possibly less than ten. Then there is the little matter of Sirisena being potentially prosecuted for his lack of decisive action with regard to the 2019 Easter terror attacks.
Naturally, having being mercilessly taunted in the media for his incompetent handling of the economy, President Rajapaksa grabs this idea gleefully. That way, he can invite all parties to a talk fest, pose for the cameras. Then, when we don’t live happily ever after, Rajapaksa can claim that decisions were taken with the agreement of all parties and he is not solely to blame!
The two major opposition political parties, the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) didn’t fall for that trick. They would rather take their case before the people instead of parading themselves before the cameras at the Presidential Secretariat. This, both parties did, organising successful protests outside the Secretariat which gained them good mileage.
The APC went ahead, nevertheless. There was the usual rhetoric about how the gathering was the need of the hour and how parties should forget their political differences in this national crisis. If one person stood head and shoulders above the rest at the APC, it was former Prime Minister and United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Wickremesinghe first castigated Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal for implying that the previous government was responsible for the country’s current plight. “If we start blaming previous rulers, we can go back to the time of King Vijaya,” he said, prompting an uncharacteristic apology from President Rajapaksa.
Next it was Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa’s turn to feel the heat. Pressed for a copy of the report submitted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Basil was trying to play the artful dodger, but Wickremesinghe would have none of it. Establishing that the IMF had indeed submitted a report, he insisted that it be submitted to Parliament despite Rajapaksa’s lame excuse that it was in draft form.
This performance by Wickremesinghe has sent Colombo’s cocktail circuit into a spin. He is being hailed as the ‘man of the match’ at the APC. There was feverish speculation that Mahinda Rajapaksa would step down as Prime Minister to make way for Wickremesinghe who would head a national government under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Adding fuel to this fire were comments by UNP Chairman Vajira Abeywardena. Abeywardena said that there will be a national consensus soon where all political parties will get together to resolvethe crisis which Sri Lanka has been plunged into and Ranil Wickremesinghe will play a “major role” in it.
Abyewardena is known to be a staunch Wickremesinghe loyalist who stood with the leader through thick and thin. This led to queries as to whether he was only echoing His Master’s Voice. The former minister however probably got his metaphors mixed when he compared Wickremesinghe to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, currently not the most popular leader on the planet.
This speculation reached such an intensity that Mahinda Rajapaksa was forced to deny it. He stated that he had no ‘deal’ with either Wickremesinghe or SJB leader Sajith Premadasa and that he would serve as Prime Minister until the end of his term. Perhaps to add some spice for the media, he ventured to say that he could even serve beyond that ‘after winning the next election’!
Wickremesinghe played the role of elder statement well at the APC and he deserves all the kudos he gets for that. However, is appointing him the Prime Minister a panacea for all of Sri Lanka’s ills? That is a question worth asking in the current context.
It is true that the Sri Lankan economy fared better under Wickremesinghe’s stewardship, particularly when Mangala Samaraweera was Finance Minister. Welfare measures were carefully targeted. There was a plan to resurrect the economy with a few well thought out strategies. Samaraweera valued the opinion of economists, listened to them and respected their views. The economy was slowly but surely growing.
However, it was also under Wickremesinghe’s watch that the Central Bank bond scam occurred. The former Prime Minister did not act with alacrity to punish the culprits because they included his close allies, Ravi Karunanayake and Arjuna Mahendran. Had he done so, it could be argued that the UNP would have fared much better at subsequent elections.
Wickremesinghe’s critics would also argue that, had he carried out the mandate he received in 2015 and ensured impartial investigations into allegations of bribery and corruption, many ruling the country now would be either behind bars or would have to take refuge overseas. Then, they wouldn’t have returned to hold office and quite possibly, the country wouldn’t be in the plight it is today.
From Wickremesinghe’s perspective, he has nothing to lose. Being the seasoned politician that he is, he must know that if the UNP and the SJB do not work together, the chances of the UNP returning to power on its own in his lifetime are near zero. Therefore, if invited by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, he wouldn’t say ‘no’ to a record sixth term as Prime Minister.
That is however an extremely unlikely scenario. Mahinda Rajapaksa has already raised the alarm. It would only occur if the Rajapaksas are certain that Wickremesinghe can be given the ‘karapincha’ treatment, that of being used and discarded, the same kind of treatment Wickremesinghe thought he could give Maithripala Sirisena, but couldn’t.
Nothing though is impossible. As every Sri Lankan will agree, these are desperate times and, desperate situations need desperate solutions.
