Financial Times

Development and the country’s future
Business has role to play
Sri Lanka’s business community has a key role to play in guiding the destinies of this country but its involvement must be devoid of any personal agendas, a poll has revealed.

It was also pointed out that private sector interests should not be confined to the 250-odd companies listed in the stockmarket but also accommodate the needs and aspirations of thousands of small and medium sized firms in and outside Colombo.

Two weeks ago, The Sunday Times FT sought the views of its readers -- some 250 business leaders, entrepreneurs, civil society leaders, academics and corporate executives in an email poll mostly in and around Colombo to ascertain the needs of a particular segment of society vis-à-vis the forthcoming presidential election. There were a few responses from overseas.
The results were interesting, in particular the question on whether the business community has a role to play in politics and development. Here 90 percent of the respondents said “Yes”.

“Certainly .. but this role must be discharged placing the nation and its people first, the private sector second and key sectoral interests third and member interests last,” said one respondent. Another noted, “The country must be run like an organisation. It is the business leaders who have the expertise and experience. Their input is essential.”

Others said the business community could finance think tanks to develop policy. “If the business leaders representing small, medium and large organizations are invited for active participation in strategizing, implementing and monitoring economic policies of the government, then the government would not have empty coffers to work with,” one respondent said.

However there were some respondents who said Sri Lankan business leaders “have only been leading their individual companies and lining their own pockets.” One said politicians are partly to blame for this as they keep rewarding supportive business leaders. “Until we get ‘decent’ business leaders, any role that they play would be limited to that of a weathervane (that turns in the direction the wind blows),” according to one cryptic comment.

There were five questions in the poll. Respondents were asked as to which of the two main presidential candidates (Mahinda Rajapakse and Ranil Wickremesinghe) offers a better choice for sustainable prosperity and growth; which candidate has a clearer policy on peace and the economy; should the business community sign an MOU with the two candidates covering key policy issues on peace and the economy; and should the business community get a commitment to have at least 10% of the nominated members of Parliament to represent private sector interests.

The poll generally reflects the views of urban, mainly-Colombo society and not of the rural population which may have totally different views.Wickremesinghe was the choice of some 80 percent of the respondents in the question of who is the best candidate, and which candidate has a clear policy. That was not an unexpected verdict given that the poll was Colombo-centric where a majority of the people have always favoured a UNP government.

“Ranil Wickremasinghe’s strengths are in handling the economy and private sector enterprise. But what he needs is to have someone with him who can equally deliver to the rural vote base – someone who speaks the language and is close to the people,” said one respondent who voted in favour of the opposition leader.

Another who voted for Wickremesinghe said that this however is the opinion of the middle and upper middle class who do not form the majority vote of this country.

A respondent who placed her bets on Rajapakse said the Prime Minister would be more concerned about the lesser privileged persons in this country.
The response to whether the business community should sign a MoU with both candidates was mixed with some saying it would be desirable if both candidates came to the same platform and spoke about their plans.

Others rejected the MoU proposal saying MoUs were a waste of time and rarely implemented. “There have been times when even the business community amongst themselves cannot keep to MoUs,” said one.

On the question of should the business community have representation in parliament, some agreed while others said it would interfere with the concept of democracy. One said that currently parliament is fully represented by private sector interests. “I have sat on committees where parliamentarians were fighting among each other in support of private sector interests,” he said.

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