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The Sunday Times Economic Analysis By the Economist

Economic policy a political football
One expects political parties in a democracy to have a declared economic policy. To pursue one course of action when in power and another in opposition is a clear example of a lack of political responsibility. All parties have been guilty of this violation from time to time. The clearest instances are in the history of the ethnic conflict. When a government attempted to come to a settlement, the opposition objected. The same opposition, when returned to power tried to come to a settlement, but the previous government now in opposition was similarly opposed. This is history. Where such politics led us is too well known to readers.

Our concern today is with respect to economic policies. The same attitude of opposing policies that could muster political support and upset the economy appears to be the main concern of opposition parties. The current opposition by the People's Alliance to privatisation is a clear example of this type of political culture.

The People's Alliance government pursued a vigorous policy of privatisation and sale of assets both nationally and internationally. Although the UNP government that came to power in 1977 announced privatisation to be a key element of its policies, the privatisations that they embarked were feeble compared to the bolder efforts of the PA government. Besides this, the first Budget of the PA government announced a full-scale programme of privatisation that even surprised, if not shocked many observers.

The " selling of the family silver" that President Chandrika Kumaranatunga had scoffed at when in opposition became an important policy thrust of her government. Most notable among the privatisations of her government were: the privatisation of the National Development Bank (NDB); the privatisation of the state owned plantations; the sale of the gas company to Shell Gas; and the sale of a 35 per cent stake in telecommunications and the establishment of the Sri Lanka Telecom.

There were also other smaller privatisations as well that the PA government effected between 1994 and 1999.

The irony is that the party which spearheaded these important privatisations is now providing the leadership to a joint opposition to privatisation. In as far as the other parties are concerned they have been consistent in their opposition to privatisation, especially the Marxist parties including the JVP. But some of them, notably the LSSP and the CP, were part of the PA government that privatised these enterprises.

The question is how principled is it for the People's Alliance to lead this campaign of opposition to privatisation, when its own policy stance was for privatisation of nearly all public enterprises? The question of the merits and otherwise of privatisation does not come into this discussion, as it is the question of privatisation itself that is being opposed. However one of the elements of the opposition is the sale of the assets to foreigners. Here again it was the PA government that did it on a large scale. The privatisation of the enterprises quoted earlier, the NDB, Telecom, Gas to Shell Gas were all sales to foreigners.

What right has the PA to oppose the present government to sell public enterprises to foreigners when they themselves did the same? What this clearly demonstrates is that parties do not have policy principles. The only principle they follow appears to be that if the opposition to a policy could raise their popularity, then they must mount a vociferous protest to embarrass the government.

This is indeed a dangerous and irresponsible political culture. All political parties have a moral duty to make a clear statement of their policies and to act in accordance with them, when in government as well as in opposition. Economic policies should not be a political football that is kicked anywhere to gain political popularity. People must expose the hypocrisy of the People's Alliance that opposes the very policies they themselves pursued when in power.

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