There are two factors to blame for the current situation in Sri Lanka: One, political leader’s lack of skills; two, boundless corruption.
by Swadesh Roy
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared an emergency for the second time in little after a month. By imposing emergency, he wants to save his government and control the people who are protesting on the streets. He imposed emergency for the first time on April 1, following a terrible economic crisis and huge uprising of the people. After lifting the emergency and in response to people’s demand, he agreed to remove his brother from the position of Prime Minister. People, on the other hand, did not relent in their demand which isthe removal of the two brothers from the government and a national government must be formed. Despite this, Rajapaksa could not understand the reality. So he declared another state of emergency. In any case, emergency is not the solution for Sri Lanka at the moment. The way of solution is totally different.
The solution for Sri Lanka is now, of course, the national government. Because the opposition party, which is united with the people, is unable to present a viable solution. They do not have a plan to address Sri Lanka's current economic and political problems. Once again, the government has no program in place. Despite the fact that the problem has been ongoing in Sri Lanka for more than a month, neither the government nor the opposition have been able to come up with a solution.
Many Sri Lankan think tanks believe that neither the current government nor the opposition can come up with a realistic solution. The opposition party is blaming the government, but none of them is saying why the problem occurred in the first place.
There are two factors to blame for the current situation in Sri Lanka: One, political leader’s lack of skills; two, boundless corruption. Now, members of the opposition, many of whom were in power at the time, have also committed corruption. On the other hand, those who are in the government now have already done it. Furthermore, the other thing that has happened in Sri Lanka is development without planning. Foreign loans have been obtained, and politicians and bureaucrats will receive commissions as a result - there is no more talk, and work has begun. The government's propaganda claimed that the country is developing. The nexus of Sri Lankan politicians and bureaucrats have failed to come up with a concrete plan to invest or spend money in the country. They only saw their own benefit.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka's current government is a human rights violator and genocidal. They killed about two million Tamils. They have carried out the largest genocide of the twenty-first century. Many people have read about how brutal and horrific this massacre was, and those who haven't should read BBC journalist Francis Harrison's book "Still Counting the Dead." Following the genocide, much of Western aid, as well as money from NGOs and economic forums, ceased to flow to Sri Lanka, owing to pressure from international human rights organizations. Even at that time, the world forum did not speak out strongly against the genocide. Many countries would ban the Rajapaksa brothers if they were loud.
Remove the context of genocide. However, to solve Sri Lanka's problems, a government with the blessings of the Western world is required right now. And that government will not only receive Western support, but it will also have to find a solution to Sri Lanka's problems. And, whatever happens, this government will not form a national government with members of both the ruling and opposition parties. Some of them will be able to stay, but they will need to be taken care of by qualified people from various professions. So that the national government can, if necessary, spend one year, two years, or even three years to pull Sri Lanka out of its economic crisis and restore a fair political government.
An article was written by a Sri Lankan expert friend of mine. He wants to say in his writings that Sri Lanka’s should be a Singapore model government not only for this moment but also for the future. Those who can use austerity to combat corruption. I disagree with him on this government model. Because Sri Lankans are just as argumentative as Indians or Bangladeshis. They will not be hindered by the regimental characters. Instead, it remains to be seen how this national government will be able to form a strong parliamentary government by electing honest and capable individuals to the parliament. Furthermore, it is necessary to ensure that everyone is accountable to that parliament, and that parliamentary elections are free of foreign influence and money.
As a result of this parliamentary government,the importance of the Sri Lankan government to the democratic world and world economic forums will increase. Then they'll step forward to help the Sri Lankan government. Because we must accept the fact that what the current Sri Lankan government is proposing is not a long-term solution. They claim that they are unable to repay any loans at this time. But it can't last indefinitely. Sri Lanka will be responsible for repaying the loan. It also requires assistance from other countries and financial institutions. And that will only be possible once the country has established a competent and transparent democratic government through genuine election.
The solution to Sri Lanka's problems is not difficult with the support of the democratic world and economic forums, as well as efficient and transparent government planning free of corruption. Because the country's current economic problems are primarily the result of the country's politicians' failure and corruption. This will occur if a country's politicians fail and corruption is rampant. As a result, if the politicians' failure and corruption are stopped, they will be able to recover from Sri Lanka's agricultural and mineral resources in a very short time. Agriculture accounts for about 7.5 percent of the country's GDP. They also profit from agricultural exports such as tea, coffee, and rubber. Fish export revenue is also there. They also have a number of minerals that can now be exported in various forms abroad. It contains minerals such as phosphate rock, cortisol, salt, zircon, and titanium dioxide.
Besides, tourism brings in over 3 billion dollars to this lovely country. If it fell in the previous two years, it will rise again. On top of that, if the country achieves true democracy by bringing the justice of Tamil genocide, the number of tourists will rise. Also, Tamils living outside the country will send a portion of their earnings to Sri Lanka. As a result, the seven billion dollars per year they currently earn from expatriates will grow. Therefore, Sri Lanka's income and expenditure deficit will be reduced in the near future.
In reality, solving Sri Lanka's economic problems is not that much difficult. As a matter of fact, their problem is corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, who are to blame for spreading corruption throughout the country. As a result, they will quickly turn around if they can form a truly honest, efficient, democratic, and accountable government.
Author: Senior journalist and writer in Bangladesh. Received highest state award “EkusheyPadak” for special contribution in journalism. He can be reached swadeshroy@gmail.com
Post a Comment