Financial Times

Ominous start for new regime

The new presidency of Mahinda Rajapakse seems to have got off to an inauspicious start. If the deluge unleashed by the weather gods, the likes of which we have not seen for over a decade, creating floods and disrupting life in many parts of the island, was an ill-omen just days after he became president, the beginning of Rajapakse’s term has also been marked by what can be called man-made disasters.

The new cabinet portfolios doled out by Rajapakse leaves much to be desired and have disappointed many of his supporters who were hoping for a cleaner, and leaner, administration.

Although some have hailed his decision to limit the size of the cabinet to 25 ministers, the fact is that nearly everyone in the ruling party parliamentary group has been accommodated with some portfolio or the other, given the plethora of non-cabinet ministers and deputies. Whatever the name board, the fact remains that all of them will enjoy similar perks the cost of which has to be met by the public.

The size of the cabinet remains a jumbo one however much the government may try to camouflage it. What is even worse is that even rejects like Mervyn Silva have been given portfolios – a puzzling choice given the unsavoury controversies Silva has been involved in and his obvious contempt for law and order and anything that’s decent. Rajapakse seems to be willing to risk losing popularity with such choices.

Another potential cause for losing popularity is VIP security or the ham-handed manner in which security is performed here. That’s what security usually amounts to here in this country – a performance that looks impressive but is usually ineffective, given the casualty rate among our VIPs, civil as well as military.

On Thursday, a dress rehearsal for the new session of parliament caused severe disruption to city life as roads were closed with no warning or explanation. Some roads remained closed for over half an hour as motorists fumed and cursed the new administration. There was gridlock on many roads and parts of the city came to a virtual standstill.

The public does not grudge the leadership their need to ensure security but hopes that it could be done in a less abrasive and more enlightened manner that minimises disruption of normal life. In his inaugural speech soon after being sworn in as president, Rajapakse spoke of the importance of punctuality.
His words rang hollow for those stuck in the traffic jam and who got late for work. Surely, the security experts should be able to come up with more effective arrangements to protect their charges without disrupting business and normal life in the city?

The insistence of the new administration to go ahead with a new budget to implement the raft of promises made by Rajapakse in his election campaign is also disappointing. It has been pointed out by numerous commentators that implementing all those promises would be very rash indeed and would bankrupt the treasury. The government has not spelt out how all those sops and hand outs would be funded. If taxes are to be raised this is likely to dampen investor sentiment.

The latest gyrations on the stock market have prompted some observers to wonder whether such movements are rigged to give the impression that the election of Rajapakse with the support of leftwing allies is being perceived negatively by investors.

As his supporters and advisors have pointed out, the private sector can go by the track record of Rajapakse’s ruling coalition – they did not do anything hostile to business – in fact the stock market boomed under the previous left-leaning coalition.

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