If Rajapaksas quit, it would result in a new political climate in Sri Lanka which may be a refreshing one , where Sri Lankan parliament would elect a new leadership where Rajapaksas would not contest.
by N.S.Venkataraman
By declaring national emergency second time in a short period, Sri Lankan President has given an impression that he cannot solve the issues confronting Sri Lanka and restore peace in the country without confronting the agitators and protestors by force.
The ground reality is that severe economic crisis in Sri Lanka have now been turned into a severe political crisis.
The economic crisis turning into a political crisis and causing serious social unrest and mass protests could have been avoided ,if Gotabaya has approached the issues with statesmanship, by taking the people into confidence about the economic issues faced , admitting that some mistakes have been done by his government and providing a time bound and feasible roadmap as to how the government would overcome the economic crisis. This approach would have built some sort of confidence in the mindset of people that a proactive government would deal with the situation in a pragmatic way.
Instead of handling the situation with a spirit of cooperation with all political parties and giving an impression that Rajapaksas have open mind, they are giving an impression that they want to stay on in power in one way or the other, whatever may be the public opinion and common man’s perspective.
Obviously, serious mistakes have been committed by Rajapaksas which have brought such economic misery to Sri Lanka. While there can be some excuses such as COVID 19, loss of tourism income etc., a leadership is not judged by the excuses offered but only by evolving solutions for the problems competently and in a pragmatic manner keeping the ground realities in view. It appears that Rajapaksas have failed in this test.
Having declared emergency for the second time in a short period and converting the grim economic crisis into a political crisis, the situation now cannot be retrieved without some political sacrifices by Sri Lankan President and Prime Minister.
Certainly, people are not looking for scapegoats and do not want to criticize Rajapaksas for the sake of criticism and without reason. People are suffering and want some transparent steps to be initiated immediately to defuse the crisis. Rajapaksas should realise the mood of the people and the intensity of the crisis and give way for some other person to lead the country. Rajapaksas need to do this to save Sri Lanka from the present crisis and give an opportunity to others .
The question remains as to who would be the next President and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and whether they can give a better account of themselves.
If Rajapaksas quit, it would result in a new political climate in Sri Lanka which may be a refreshing one , where Sri Lankan parliament would elect a new leadership where Rajapaksas would not contest.
Certainly, Rajapaksas leaving the leadership is a pre condition to restore peace in Sri Lanka and provide a new sense of direction to the country. Rajapaksas need to do this , even if they and their supporters think that they have done nothing wrong.
By resigning immediately, Rajapaksas may also gain in the political fortunes later , when people may start looking at them with different prism.
Perhaps, Rajapaksas could bounce back to leadership position in Sri Lanka in the coming years , if the next government would not do better or people in a more peaceful time may judge the government of Rajapaksas in a holistic manner.
Now, to overcome the economic crisis, the political crisis in Sri Lanka should be overcome and it is a calculated risk to prolong this political crisis. Rajapaksas have great responsibility to ensure that the political crisis would be defused .
The pre condition to restore the peaceful political climate is that Rajapaksas should quit and that would ensure people’s focus away from them.
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