President Rajapaksa’s growth factory

| by Victor Cherubim

( May 23, 2012, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) Everybody in Sri Lanka has heard the President proclaim time and again that he wants to turn Sri Lanka into the “wonder of Asia.” Almost everybody in Sri Lanka is in “virtual amasement,” while in the outside world there is “virtual amusement,” whether this is ever possible. Yet like the football fanatics in Britain, including the Chelsea supporters, not to mention the G8 Summit World Leaders, none had ever dreamed that Chelsea will lift the European Championship Cup beating Bayern Munich 4 -3 on penalties after extra time, on their opponents home ground in Munich, Germany.

Likewise, nobody can believe that according to a recent Gallup Poll, 91% of Sri Lankans approve MR’s performance. Sri Lanka’s President has an approval rating above other world leaders coming below Hun Sen of Cambodia with 93% and above Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore at 84%.

This implies that President Mahinda is slowly capturing the hearts and minds of not only the Sinhalese by pardoning Gen. Sarath Fonseka, but has also has won over a large majority of Tamils and Muslims, within three years of his leadership, by what he has said and what he has done quietly.

Whilst the euro zone and Europe as a whole, is caught up in financial turbulence with too many alternatives - growth vs. austerity among others and the Greek election looming over the horizon on the future of the Euro, Sri Lanka is slowly making headway on many fronts.

The President has a personal invitation to attend the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in London, a plus point for Sri Lanka. Ties between the United States, strained over many years and recently at breaking point by the U.S. sponsored resolution passed by the UN Human rights council in March, has now surely eased. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, once an envoy to Sri Lanka, has said: “attempts to force international investigation on Sri Lanka without the sovereign state‘s permission and bypassing the UN Security Council are absolutely wrong, they also contradict our aspirations in the human rights sphere.” China too has valued Sri Lanka’s friendship by more or less bankrolling development projects. All these point in the right direction.

What is the “dei yogey” magic?

There is not one thing that we can point our finger at, but many things that have come to play. Sri Lankans among others have underestimated the “knitty gritty” of MR, to ride the tide or “the tiger.” By his absolute silence, and by silencing the rhetoric of loudmouths of both the left and the right, the President has contained the Muslim Dambulla incident, the Macdonald’s burger and Coca Cola boycott, the mistrust both inside and outside his government. He has taken sensible security measures to reduce the ever present threat to the nation by getting his siblings to work together. In short, President has transformed the end of each day into the beginning of Sri Lanka’s future.

On the downside, the cost of living has risen, the gripes and grievances of those in public service has risen, the trips of ministers abroad has risen, the number of times contaminated petrol has been imported has risen, whilst the value of the rupee has declined, the number of MP’s crossing over to the Government front and back benches has declined, the incidence of crime particularly “grease yakkas” has also declined. The devaluation of the S.L. Rupee, is a blessing, with more tourists flooding in and our exports more competitive.

The people of Sri Lanka over the past twenty six years of war have got accustomed to one major feature. Their minds and their money wallets have been bulging with the weight of uncertainty. They have thrived with the element of surprise in their everyday life. President Mahinda having assessed the mood of the people has tried every possible way to provide this element of surprise in the actions of his government. He has carried the flag to the four corners of continents. He has opened and closed the import of goods and services. He has played various roles using “more carrot and less stick” and vice versa in his foreign policy. He has courted his foes and cuddled his enemies. He has uplifted the woes of the masses and subdued the role of generals. He himself is the embodiment of a “Growth Factory,” rebooting Ruhunu rata, and opening up the once forlorn and forsaken North and East by his development mantra.

The sense of wonder has been re-kindled in Sri Lanka. The people are eagerly looking forward to it. Reviving curiosity, replenishing the knowledge bank, discovering how to survive in a world of uncertainty and how the world works, is a new challenge. Opening Sri Lanka to the world and the world to Sri Lanka by massive infrastructure projects, exporting not only our labour but our talents and also surplus rice and maize to countries abroad, has been accomplished. The unspoken element of surprise yet to come is national reconciliation.

( The writer can be reached at victorcherubim@aol.com )