Columns

As the youth protests at Galle Face enter the second week, what happens in Parliament in the coming days will be critical and will determine how soon the misery of the people will come to an end.

Invariably and inevitably the thoughts of the public will go in the direction of who is responsible for the national tragedy that has befallen the nation. But the situation is so grave there is no time for such discussion now.

Those responsible for such a situation will no doubt have to be held accountable. But first the political deadlock gripping the country has to be resolved or at least placed on the path to resolution. As a result of the deadlock the country is in a state of paralysis with the Government’s inability to deliver essential services and basic necessities to the people.  

With no Ministers for Health, Energy and Trade holding office there is no political authority to direct and oversee these critical areas. As a result the public continue to helplessly languish in queues for their basic essentials.

The need for an immediate resolution of the political crisis has now gained added importance in view of the Government’s belated attempts to obtain an IMF bail out as well as distress assistance in the form of economic aid from other multi lateral agencies and friendly countries.

Even if such assistance is forthcoming, the question in everyone’s mind is whether the current Government is capable of managing such assistance for the benefit of the country and its people. Going by the information coming into the public domain from the Government’s own sources, clearly the President and the Government are clearly out of their depth in governing the country.

Take a few examples of such incapacity. Minister of Finance Ali Sabry has publicly admitted in several interviews that the Government knew for over a year that going to the IMF was absolutely necessary in order to avert the impending economic crisis. Despite this knowledge they did not do so thus causing immeasurable hardship to the public.

The Finance Minister tried to shift the blame for such Governmental inaction on several officials. This of course is keeping with the Government’s practice since its assumption of office. They have always blamed everybody else rather than taking responsibility for any thing that goes wrong.

Another amazing revelation came from Dr. Suren Raghavan the SLPP Parliamentarian in an interview on Ada Derana Television last week. He said that at one of the meetings with the President the previous week, the Head of State had stated that he was not aware of the seriousness of the economic situation until his Secretary P.B. Jayasundera had left his position in the President’;s office.

In other words what President Gotabaya Rajapakse was saying in his own defence was that the former Secretary to the President had pulled the wool over his eyes with regard to the economic situation faced by the country. This despite the fact that according to Dr. Ragavan the SLFP had been warning the President where the country had been heading for the past one and a half years.

So had the Opposition in and out of Parliament. That the truth could be hidden from him by one official to the detriment of the country does not speak well of the President’s governance skills.

It also confirms the dangers of the Executive Presidency where any incumbent President could be misled or controlled by an individual or a coterie of individuals who are not answerable to Parliament or the people.

Another instance of such misgovernance is the President’s unilateral decision to switch overnight to organic fertiliser from chemical fertiliser. When things went wrong he blamed officials for not implementing his proposals correctly.

The case of State Minister Roshan Ranasinghe is another case in point. The State Minister who represents the agricultural district of Pollonaruwa issued a statement a couple of weeks ago stating that he had been repeatedly asking the Private Secretary to the President for an appointment to brief the latter on the difficulties faced by the farmers as a result of the misguided fertiliser policy implemented by the Government.

Since he had been unable to access the President he said that he would step down from his Ministry on May 1.This is another instance of the Executive President being inaccessible to the public.

The Head of Litro Gas Thushara Jayasinghe too resigned last week stating that for the last one year he had repeatedly sent proposals to crush the Gas Mafia and resolve the Gas crisis to the President but all to no avail.

In fact the leaders of constituent parties of the Government had been complaining over a period of time that they had no access to the President. Professor Tissa Vitharana Leader of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party has been highlighting this and contrasting it with the situation in the Mahinda Rajapaksa Presidency where party leaders were offered an opportunity to meet the President on a regular basis.

It is in such a context that one has to understand the Youth struggle under the “Gota Go Home” banner. It is simply not a struggle to send an individual home but a signal that the current leadership has failed and is incapable of leading the country out of this mess.

Parliament in its deliberations this week will have to reflect on the mood of the youth at Galle Face, as well as that of the people elsewhere and work out solutions.

The role of the Opposition in this regard is vital. In the face of the obstinacy of the Government, the different Opposition political formations have to keep talking to each other and implement a minimum agreed plan of action in order to set in motion the “ rescue operation” of the country.

A few of the possible scenarios that can develop or be developed are as follows:

1.   President Gotabaya Rajapaksa must step down. This is the best option. As at present there is no sign of this happening. The Opposition will have to lobby with Government Parliamentarians to put pressure on the President to step down on the basis that the failure to do so is not only harmful to the country but also to their own political future. Also the Mahanayake Theras too should be lobbied to persuade him to step down in the interest of the country.

2.   If President Gotabaya Rajapaksa refuses to step down the Opposition should persuade Parliament to repeal the 20th Amendment and revert to the 19 Amendment as an interim measure and canvass for support to set up an interim government for 6 months.

3.   Move a no confidence motion in consultation with all sections of the Opposition

4.   Move an Impeachment motion as a long term strategy to remove the President.

The Opposition should try to achieve any one or more of the above objectives depending on the evolving ground situation. Whatever can be achieved in the shortest possible time must be achieved.

Only then will the struggle of the youth at Galle Face be seen to have borne fruit.

(javidyusuf@gmail.com)