It is illogical to believe that there will be an overnight solution to the many problems facing the country today as a solution is going to be complex and time taking.
by Raj Gonsalkorale
“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear.” - The spirit of ancient Rome in its last days of glory. The hero of the story, the man called "a pillar of iron" is Marcus Tullius Cicero, the lawyer-statesman who tried vainly to save the republic he loved from the forces of tyranny. - Taylor Caldwell, A Pillar of Iron
Judging from press reports, indications are that Sri Lanka is heading towards anarchy and its leaders and citizens are now acting in a manner that invites anarchy. It is a situation fraught with danger with even greater political instability and consequently, further economic ruin.Sri Lanka doesn’t have a Cicero, so, for the sake of the once resplendent island, it is perhaps opportune, even imperative, for all stakeholders including the Mahanayakes, the vociferous Cardinal Ranjit, political party leaders, politicians, union leaders and the Galle Face protestors, to take a breather and call off the protest action for the moment. They have achieved a significant victory in remaking the government, and the general political ethos. Now, their protests appear to be leading the country to a situation that may get out of hand and lead to violence and damage to property, and even a confrontation with the Armed Forces, should they be called to restore law and order in the event of large-scale unrest.
Emotions are too high and rational thinking is too low.There is an expectation that a change of the Presidency and the government will bring about an immediate solution to the problems affecting most people of the country. Genuine, spontaneous protestors as well as opportunistic protestors, are raising the stakes for such an overnight solution that will result in shortages and queues for fuel, gas, food, medicines disappearing as soon as their demand for the President and the government to resign eventuates.Hardly any of the protestors have come up with solutions to the structural issues, both economic and political, that have led the country to where it is in now.
It is illogical to believe that there will be an overnight solution to the many problems facing the country today as a solution is going to be complex and time taking. If their sponsors are promising the opposite, then they are being mischievous, brazenly opportunistic and taking the protestors to be people who can easily be fooled.Whatever the outcome of any resignations, of the President, the cabinet or the government, there will not be any immediate relief to the people, and this will, without question lead to further protestations, and anger being directed towards a new government which would have replaced the current one.
In order to facilitate everyone taking a breather, a circuit breaker is needed to make it happen. A couple of immediate measures are suggested
a. A meeting of all party leaders, and the following agreed upon.
b. The Prime Minister and the newly appointed cabinet to resign.
c. A multi-party interim government to be formed with party leaders deciding on a new Prime Minister.
d. A new interim multi-party cabinet to be formed with no more than 20 ministers.
e. All State ministries to be temporarily suspended and their allocated functions re allocated to cabinet ministers.
f. The 20th amendment to the constitution to be replaced with a reconstituted 19th amendmentwith appropriate changes to shift executive power vested with the President, to the Prime Minister, who will be the head of the cabinet, and a cabinet of ministers, both answerable to the Parliament. The subject of Defense and Foreign Affairs to be retained under the President with a multiparty parliamentary committee to determine policy in these two areas.
g. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to submit himself to a vote of confidence from the Parliament once above is done, and to resign if the vote of confidence is lost. The Parliament will then elect a President from amongst the Parliamentarians to serve the remainder of the outgoing Presidents term.
h. The new Prime Minister and the cabinet assesses the status relating to the current shortages, how they will address these, and their action plan to ensure a shortage free supply situation relating to essentials and issue a statement to the public giving them a truthful picture
i. A general election is held in 2 years
It is heartening to note that party leaders have already begun discussions on the 21st Amendment and proposals have been submitted to the Speaker. In developing a final version, it is hoped that public consultations are also held to enable inputs from the many who have been part of the political revolution, especially the Galle Face protestors, who effectively conceived the need for the 21st amendment.The mechanics for a more meaningful, explicit role should be included in the 21st Amendment for people’s participation in policy determination.
Secondly, the 21st Amendment should also include mechanics as to how professionals, academics and other technocrats could contribute to policy determination. If these two essential elements are not included, the 21st amendment would only be an exercise where power is still retained with the very people who failed the country and merely a shifting of that power from one entity to another.
The current extent of protests, the numbers who participate, although understandable in the circumstances the country is in, have raised some questions and increasing concerns amongst many. There appears to be a growing concern as to how well these protests have been organized and how they have been funded. Reports have surfaced that some people have been ferried from area to area to participate in protests. Participation of huge numbers at long distance protests are questionable at the best of times and so are sudden protests labeled as “spontaneous” protests taking place in different parts of the country.
A possible scenario relevant to Sri Lanka might be an unseen hand manipulating the situation either from within or without, or both. The question to ponder is whether there is an unseen hand operating from within or from outside choregraphing events for some purpose, even a sinister one.Of course, it is true that it is the President and the government that has provided the fodder for such an unseen hand to do what it is doing if indeed it is doing it.
Quoting Taylor Caldwell, “anyone saying or doing things in the open is less formidable, for he is known and carries the banner openly. But the unseen hand will move amongst protestors freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself”.
If such an unseen hand is a local hand, another question to ponder would be about the end objective of that intrusion. It could be for good reason such as bringing about a drastic upheaval of the political system which has brought the country to a state of bankruptcy. Dynasty politics, crony politics, involvement and influence of criminal elements including drug dealers in election outcomes, divisive politics where Sri Lankans have been pitted against each other using religion, ethnicity as tools to divide, have all contributed to the soiled political system in the country. Changing this situation through these protests is a welcome development and the protestors have managed to achieve some outcomes which would not have been possible without this revolution.
However, if the local hand has as its ultimate objective the seizer of power using these protests and introducing violence into the protests and creating a total anarchic situation where the forces of the unseen hand themselves resorts to violence to seize power, then the protests are an unwelcome and dangerous development.
If the unseen hand is from outside and it has funded their local allies to stage these protests, the ultimate objective would be an attack on the sovereignty of the country. Such occurrences are not uncommon and is the modus operandi of some major powers in the world. Sri Lanka is a pivotal strategic location and superpower interest in the country is a known fact and not anyone’s figment of imagination.
If the protestations become rudderless now, and the country ends up in the creek without a paddle, anarchy in other words, the suspicion that an unseen hand either from within or without, or both, manipulated it to end up in that situation would acquire some credibility.
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