It has taken a year and a half after the end of the war, but finally the landscape is beginning to change before our very eyes. For starters, the police no longer carry firearms in the line of duty, and high-security zones in town and country appear a thing of the past… although the occasional high-speed convoy and a remnant military presence in the capital and key strategic points on the periphery marginally mar the perfect picture.
In other areas, development is beginning to shake off sloth and rear its still somewhat sleepy head… and the rolling out of roads and highways and expressways, the building of bridges and flyovers, the construction of hard infrastructure such as super-ports is poised to take the centre as well as the periphery by storm.
At the heart of the seemingly visionary programme of national reconstruction, there is an administration that appears to have heard, if not the voice of devolution, at least the clarion call of progress that all people can see, hear, and taste. And while a few democratic norms and safeguards may have been martyred, or sacrificed, or dropped by design or default along the way, the masses en masse seem happy enough.
So much so that they have forged a pact with the incumbents to forgo those libertarian luxuries which you and I may treasure – such as freedom of speech in tandem with the guarantee that what you say will not be held against you in a court of law (if you’re lucky) or what you do won’t result in a gun being held against your head (if you’re really stupid and cross the line of prudence). All of this, it would seem, is in order that they may avail themselves of pragmatic realities like bread, and even cakes and ale, to say nothing of the ubiquitous buth packet.
Now, the government is getting a tad bit more sophisticated in its developmental ambitions. Having shaken off the tyranny of the First World, it is apparently looking to the so-called Two-Thirds World for succour and sustenance. Moral support, ideology, and the clenched-fist rhetoric of emerging economies such as Cuba and Libya and Iran prop us up as far as catering to the progressive-minded hoi polloi goes. Money, manpower, and the modus operandi of emerging superpowers such as China boost us into a regional economy that is poised to dispense with Western ethics, capitalist imperatives and post-imperial agendas, and handouts with strings attached. In the first flush of domestic battles fought and won, this can take the shape and form of a hands-off attitude coupled with no little verbal aggression.
The spirit of compromise (some call it hypocrisy) creeps in when embattled local politicians can skilfully skirt the tough questions at home and find the spare time to flirt with the very same international bodies that pointed fingers at them previously, at the very same international forums in which our track record has been pilloried not time out of mind yet! Punters at home don’t get the contradictions in this… they prefer to interpret it as savvy one-upmanship. Into this mix, factor the crippling ‘soft loans’ that hardly cushion a hard landing for future generations of Sri Lankans as yet unborn; the avalanche of aid and goodwill cascading in, from vested interests in the region who know a good thing when they see it; and opportunistic dynasts, who know how to strike while the won ton soup is hot…
Last but by no means least, consider how the time of our post-republican economic reformers is spent. For instance, the intriguing announcement recently that the country’s premier investment-promotion agency is to be abolished and replaced by a new body that will have wider powers to ostensibly fast-track our quantum leap into a globally competitive investment climate. There’s nothing new in the idea itself – self-proclaimed pundits have been saying the same thing for decades since the economy was supposedly opened up.
The part that should interest the patriot is the assurance that the new agency will be geared to make Sri Lanka the most preferred investment destination in the region by being dynamic, devoid of red tape, and allegedly corruption-free. Really? The heart leaps for joy! That’s why we love the powers that be: they’re always thinking about improving future endeavours. What would give us real peace is if they would focus their efforts on present concerns. How about having MPs, ministers, and other mandarins declare their assets and income streams, for example?
Is it possible in the same breath to eliminate bureaucracy, waste, and redundancy in the plethora of ministries that continue to drain national coffers? And don’t get us started on putting a plug in the most expensive item on the national budget, which is ironically bleeding a country at peace dry – in the name of national security… |
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