By Vishvanath
The NPP government may not have bargained for the situation it finds itself in at present. It is struggling to fulfil its election pledges and even denying that it ever made some of them. Minister of Power and Energy Kumara Jayakody told the parliament on Thursday that his party had not promised an outright 30% electricity tariff reduction. The Opposition insists that the NPP pledged to do so.
Percentages aside, the NPP promised substantial fuel and electricity price reductions, before last year’s presidential and parliamentary elections; the people believed in its pledges and voted for it, but promised relief has not yet been delivered. These unfulfilled promises have become grist for the Opposition’s mill and led to public resentment so much so that even some of the government sympathizers such as student groups and trade unions have begun to protest.
Supermajorities and high expectations
Securing huge majorities in elections is one thing, but delivering on what they are given for is quite another. The higher public frustration with an incumbent government, the bigger the wins its opponents score in electoral contests. In this country, there have been several instances where mass resentment fueled by economic hardships and attacks on democracy found expression in massive protest votes that propelled opposition parties to power, beginning from the 1970s. Economic difficulties and the curtailment of social welfare, especially the reduction of the rice subsidy, during a UNP government in the late 1960s, mostly contributed to the 1970 regime change, and the emergence of an ultra-radical movement, which later came to be known as the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).
The SLFP-led United Front government, which came to power with a two-thirds majority in the 1970s caused even more economic difficulties to the public; its approval rating plummeted, causing its humiliating defeat in the 1977 general election, which the UNP won with a five-sixths majority. The UPFA and the SLPP succeeded in mustering two-thirds majorities thereafter—in 2010 and 2020 respectively. But they did not win outright supermajorities; they obtained about 145 seats in the 225-member parliament, and engineered defections to secure two-thirds majorities. Only the JVP-led NPP was able to win a two-thirds majority straightaway late last year, after the UNP’s mammoth victory in 1977; its electoral performance was far more superior to the UNP’s in that it won a supermajority under the Proportional Representation system.
The massive electoral shock that sent the Opposition reeling, in Nov., 2024, led many people to think that it would be plain sailing for the NPP government at least for a couple of years to come, but the anti-government forces have shown signs of bouncing back sooner than expected. What is of more concern to the NPP government may be the growing disgruntlement of its sympathizers, some of whom are holding public protests.
Govt. backers up in arms
The first noteworthy protest under the incumbent government occurred on Dec. 02, 2024, when a large number of Development Officers currently attached to the state-run schools as teachers agitated in front of the Education Ministry in Battaramulla, demanding that they be absorbed into the teacher service immediately. The protesters campaigned hard for the NPP in both presidential and parliamentary elections. In an unexpected turn of events, the police descended on the protesters, who were blocking the Kottawa-Borella road, and made several arrests.
Intriguingly, several police personnel suffered cut injuries; protesters have denied their involvement in the attacks on the police. However, some of them were arrested and one person has been further remanded. The lawyers appearing for the Development Officers have blamed a military intelligence officer, caught by the protesters and handed over to the police, for having acted as an agent provocateur. The matter is now before court.
The NPP government has demonstrated that it is no different from its predecessors in handling protests. Maybe having witnessed and participated in the 2022 anti-government protests that snowballed into a mass uprising and ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the NPP leaders do not want to run unnecessary risks where street agitations are concerned.
On January 08, 2025, a group of university students took to the streets in Colombo, demanding solutions to the problems in the education sector. They called upon the government to grant all students Rs. 6,000 each to buy stationery. They protested opposite the Fort Railway Station, and the police obtained an order from the Fort Magistrate’s Court preventing the Convener of the Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF), Madushan Chandrajith and others from entering the Presidential Secretariat, the President’s House, the Finance Ministry premises, etc.
Additionally, the court order prohibited the student activists from causing any inconvenience to pedestrians or obstructing vehicular traffic on several roads in Colombo, from 1.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. on Wednesday. It named IUSF, Madushan Chandrajith, Convener of the Inter-University Bhikkhu Federation, Convener of the Medical Faculty Students’ Action Committee Rashmika Chamod Ranasinghe, Convener of the Student Union at the Open University Udara Ranasinghe, and Convener of the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences Student Union Tharushan Piyumantha Herath.
The Colombo Magistrate’s Court issued that order in accordance with the provisions of Section 106(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP), after considering the facts presented to the court by the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Fort Police Station, according to media reports.
The year 2024, drew to a close with a major incident, which must have caused much concern to the NPP government. On Dec. 30, two of its MPs were mobbed by a group of angry villagers when they visited a garment factory in Bingiriya.
The police had to intervene to save the MPs, Wijesiri Basnayake of Kurunegala and Ajith Gihan of Puttalam. The protesters, who turned aggressive and abusive, said they were providing transport to the factory workers and the MPs were trying to take the bread out of their mouths, a charge the NPP has denied. The two MPs have blamed a former SLPP MP for inciting the incident. The SLPP has denied any involvement in it, claiming that the villagers have protested as they feared they would lose their livelihood.
The beleaguered NPP MPs managed to escape unhurt, but the incident must have had an unsettling effect on the government. Not only have anti-government protests erupted, but some of the ruling party MPs are also coming under attack. Worse, the Bingiriya protesters have identified themselves as NPP supporters. Some protesters were arrested and remanded.
The problem with extraordinary parliamentary majorities is that they come with high public expectations which governments find it difficult to live up to, especially during an economic crisis. Teachers’ trade unions have demanded a pay hike and school principals are calling upon the government to redress their grievances. This must be a disconcerting proposition for the NPP government. The new year seems to be full of challenges for the JVP-led ruling coalition.
