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After many weeks of foot dragging, the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB), the country’s main opposition, added its might to protest the worsening economic turmoil, delivering multiple blows to the ruling coalition last Tuesday.

Creditably, the party was able to muster more than 25,000 to gather outside the Presidential Secretariat, the first major public show of dissent. That was a filtered crowd from different parts of the country, including the north and the east. In many areas, state run buses were denied to them. In others, fuel was not issued to private buses for the journey to Colombo. Some made it. Otherwise, the numbers would have been much higher, said SJB General Secretary Ranjit Madduma Bandara.

On Friday, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led Socialist Youth Union also staged a protest outside the Presidential Secretariat. The numbers present were relatively less but their slogans were all directed against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. It was carried through three loudspeakers mounted on a pole and the noise was loud. Heavy security was in place.

Those turnouts, for the first time, laid bare the widespread public resentment against the ruling coalition from all parts of the country. They revealed the discontent and anger at the fuel shortage, the ongoing power cuts, rise in food prices and a variety of related issues. Breaking silence, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in his address to the nation on Wednesday said he was “aware of the shortages of essential items and increase in prices.” However, he insisted that “the crisis was not created by me”. More on that later.

The President, had to keep away from his office that Tuesday afternoon on the advice of his security detail. That led to the cancellation of a meeting between him and a delegation from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). The fact that the President of Sri Lanka, who is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, was unable to meet a delegation in his own office, or for that matter elsewhere, for fear of disruption by the crowds, did not bode well. As former Defence Secretary, he is among those credited for the military victory against Tiger guerrillas in 2009.

Early Tuesday morning, President Rajapaksa was discussing security arrangements so he could have the meeting. He telephoned his elder brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, to invite him.  However, the latter politely declined the invitation and said he was leaving for Tangalle, part of his onetime home constituency. From there, on Friday he flew to Jaffna. He is staying in a chalet in the Jaffna Security Forces complex. He did not favour a complex specially built for VIPs. It is now being handed down to the Water’s Edge to be run as a tourist venture.

Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, who was to emplane for New Delhi on Tuesday evening, was to carry the good news to the Indian government that the talks on reconciliation, which they have sought, had begun. However, an hour after the discussion on security preparations, Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris, who was also to be associated with the talks, informed TNA’s Abraham Sumanthiran through an SMS that it had been called off. It has now been re-fixed for March 25 at 10.30 a.m.

This is almost a week before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar arrive in Sri Lanka. All TNA MPs were to take part in the planned talks.

There are some doubts cast on the visit of Premier Modi. It was originally linked to the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Co-operation). Heads of government of member countries from other countries are not taking part forcing the government to consider a virtual event. Yet, the meeting of BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers and Foreign Secretaries will be hybrid.

The planned visit is a notch up for the Bharatha Janatha Party (BJP) Government in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was only on Thursday that New Delhi extended a billion-dollar loan facility to Sri Lanka to procure food, medicines, and other essential items. The new détente between Colombo and New Delhi is the result of initiatives by Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa. He personally ensured that the Government heeded a wish list from New Delhi as a prelude to the loan. During his initial approaches, he was told that the Government did not fulfil the previous assurances given to India. This time, he was driven to the Lok Sabha (Parliament), which was in session, for a call on Premier Narendra Modi. “Neighbourhood first. India stands with Sri Lanka,” said a tweet from External Affairs Minister Jaishankar. Posters carried by protestors accused Finance Minister Rajapaksa of selling the country’s national assets to those outside.

In Colombo, the large crowds outside the Presidential Secretariat were distinctly different in character from those at a May Day rally. There was exuberance there, displayed by participants, mostly in good spirits. Their anger last Tuesday, in the form of slogans, were directed almost entirely on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. There was little exuberance and more orderliness. The rest were against Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa. The voices against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa were indeed a marked, if not significant, transition of events from the past. In the days and months after the military defeat of Tiger guerrillas in May 2009, there was an aura of reverence about the then Defence Secretary. That came from most Sri Lankans. He ensured the wherewithal and was a key player who ended the Tiger guerrilla terrorism.  A wave of triumphalism then swept the country.

Any glory wanes with the passage of time. It was no different with Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Both as Defence Secretary and later as a President elected with 6.9 million votes, exponentially he became the object of criticism over a multitude of issues. “Today, you cannot find anyone who would say he voted for him,” said Thushara Perera, a three-wheeler taxi driver. Though I voted for him, he lamented, the President has driven us all to the brink of starvation, he added. He complained that now he could not feed his three children — a common complaint among the working class since the foreign exchange crisis.

As the seed of public discontent grew, criticism against him mounted. President Rajapaksa, it is no secret, is described as short tempered. He reacted towards those expressing dissenting views against him or his government. There was fear in the minds of the people of reprisals. Those making it became the subject matter of inquiry by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Last Tuesday’s crowds changed this. That transition is significant. There were open accusations. Fear has now been replaced by anger. They also carried cutouts. People were publicly critical. Here is a sample of what the crowds chanted standing a few inches away from the Police. That provides an idea of the change now.

“Gota Go home”, “Weda barinam gedara yanna” (Go home if you cannot peform”, “Den sepada” (Do you feel happy now) , “Katin Putin, weda Tin-tin (Talks like Putin – works like Tin Tin), “Gota get back to America”, “Viyathmaga Parajai – Ratama Arajithi’ (Viyathmaga – a failure – The country in disaster), “Sir fail – Janathawa Badaginne ,“ Sir – a failure – People in hunger” , “Diyaw –Diyaw Pohora Diyaw (Give us fertiliser),  “Janathawa Kaluware – Amathiwaru surapure” (People are in the dark – Ministers in luxury), “Gota fail – Viyathmagath fail” (Gota and Viyathmaga fail)” “Saubhagaye Dekma Kohomada” (How do find the Vistas of Prosperity And Splendor). “Gas Ne, Viduliya ne, Thel ne, Beheth Ne“(No gas, electricity, fuel, and medicines)”.

Opposition SJB leader Sajith Premadasa seen among the crowd during Tuesday's protest rally at Galle Face. Pic by Eshan Fernando

There is no gainsaying that a larger number that took part were backers of the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB). However, there was also another segment that seized the opportunity to join the protest rally. This segment was apolitical.  One would have observed from postings in the social media of groups that spoke of the difficulties they faced but refrained from espousing the cause of any politician or political party. Instead, they focused entirely on the current issues. The SJB protest rally had given them a platform to personally take part and give vent to their anger. Protestors, women included, walked right up to a row of Police commandos, and gesticulated angrily in actions that almost touched their noses. For their part, they were well composed.

The message from Tuesday’s rally for the SJB is that they had waited too long. Yet, the people, mostly their supporters and others who were angered by the untold hardships they were going through, wanted the people of Sri Lanka and the outside world to know. They joined in. Though late, the reality dawned on Premadasa that remaining silent for any longer would only be politically costly. Hence, he agreed to the protest rally — one, a pincer movement of protestors from the Technical College Junction via Pettah to the Presidential Secretariat. The other group marched along Green Path to Galle Road. SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara said the final venue had to be kept a secret since the Police were planning to obtain a court order to halt their rally. He did not know that the Police had been kept puzzled. Some of them telephoned newspaper offices on Tuesday morning to find out where the protestors were headed. Obviously, their own intelligence networks have not kept them in the picture.

The SJB protest was titled “RATA VINAASAI. IVASUVA ATHI” or the country is ruined; enough of our patience. Leader, Sajith Premadasa, climbed a makeshift platform mounted on a taxi to make a speech. Since the campaign for the parliamentary elections in August 2020, this is the first time that SJB leader spoke to a bigger audience. He did leave behind a few questions. First to excerpts of what he said:

“Today is a historic day, it becomes such a day because we have begun the battle to send the terrible Anti-Popular Rajapaksa government home. We are doing it by using people’s power. The hero who said that he would work has become a hero who increases prices. People earlier addressed him “Your Excellency the President, but today they say enough Mr President. People have come here facing difficulties – there is no cooking gas and fuel. They have come here keeping their starving children at home, keeping aside their need to earn, and feed themselves.

“We would like to remind you that the terrible, wicked Rajapaksa government has driven the people towards such a fate. Today, farmers, fishermen, labourers and three-wheel drivers, small and medium scale industries and the business class have been affected. The whole society have been affected. We raise both of our arms and salute all those who came here and demonstrated the strength of the SJB without any fear or suspicion.

“We came here to pass the message to the Government which has destroyed the country that it should go home. This egoistic Government does not understand the people’s wishes and is not ready to hear the woes of the people. We ask you whether you are ready to chase away this Government. From today onwards we would begin our move to act against this nondemocratic government. We are sending this Government home by the power and the strength of the people. We plan to give solutions to the problems the people are facing by carrying out clean governance which is free of corruption and fraudulent activities. Our government would limit titles and privileges for rulers and provide all the titles and the privileges to public.

“Our government does not have deals or secret agreements. The only deal that we have is between the social contracts with the people of the country. Prosperous Sri Lanka has become a land of auction during the rule of the Rajapaksa governance.

“They are signing treacherous agreements and selling resources of the country. Local properties are being sold to foreigners at giveaway prices. We the Samagi Jana Balawegaya through our government would give the lost nationality, National Pride back to people.

“We only initiated the start of our programme by coming to Colombo. In future we will initiate the programme at district level to chase away the Government. We will go to each village and create a strong rule that could not be suppressed by conspiracies. We will keep the right foot forward and create a sovereign government under the SJB. Today the youth of this country are leaving due to the issues created. We request them to remain in this country keeping trust in our policies. The educated people, scholars are leaving this country due to these issues. It is causing a massive loss to the country.

“In our government, there are no nominal ministers, we would give portfolios for the talented. The SJB is a huge tree, a rainbow alliance. Persons belonging to every nationality, religion and caste can join our alliance according to policies. We ask the people’s support to chase away the cruel Rajapaksa Government which is driving this country to the state of Somalia and Zimbabwe.

“President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and the Government should give us the power to develop the country if they cannot perform. We will show them how we work if we are given power. We tell the people who are awaiting at fuel queues that three Middle Eastern countries have agreed provide fuel for two years for our Samagi Jana Balawegaya government.”

The gathering was meant to be a protest rally. However, his speech makes clear he has turned it into an election rally and was seeking to oust the Government. No government is going to cede power to him because he demanded it during a speech. When an entire nation is focused on the event, would it not have been wiser for him to have dealt more on the difficulties of the people, the wrong doings of the Government like the unbridled corruption which has cost the country millions in foreign exchange? He also broke a self-imposed ban on referring to the ruling coalition leaders by name. An earlier theme in Premadasa’s public speeches was to emphasise that he was not in a hurry and had more time. Now, he wants the Government to go, so that he could take over.  There are three more years for the Government’s term to end.

A veiled warning to Premadasa came in the news bulletin of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) on Wednesday evening. Without referring to him by name, the news item quoted National Heritage State Minister Vidura Wickremenayake as saying there were no funds to protect the country’s heritage sites. The previous Minister (who was Sajith Premadasa during the Yahapalana Government) had used Rs 25 billion from the Central Cultural Fund. In fact, a probe was conducted into the disbursement of these funds after the ruling coalition came to power. Such funds had been disbursed among Buddhist temples countrywide.

It was not only Premadasa’s speech at the protest rally that came in for some criticism. There was much more on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s address to the nation. First to edited highlights broadcast by all television channels while the power cut was relaxed on Wednesday night for the purpose.

“I am well aware of the shortages of essential items and increase in prices. I am also aware of issues such as gas shortage, fuel shortage and power cuts. I am also very sensitive to the many sufferings the people have to experience over the past two months. I know that this situation will continue for reasons beyond our control though we make maximum possible efforts with regard to these situations.

“I accept responsibility for the actions I take. Today, I am determined to make tough decisions to find solutions to the inconveniences that the people are experiencing. I have appointed a National Economic Council and an Advisory Committee to assist it. I will constantly monitor whether the decisions I make through this are implemented. Therefore, first of all I request you to have faith in the actions I will take on behalf of the people.

“I am well aware of the difficulties faced by the people. I was able to better understand and manage all the difficulties faced by the soldiers who were at the forefront of the war against the brutal terrorism and the innocent civilians who were affected by the war.

“Our country is not the only country in the world affected by the prevailing crisis situation. The entire world is engulfed with various hardships. Increasing shipping costs, rising commodity prices and shortages of certain goods caused by the Covid-19 pandemic are all beyond our control. However, we have adopted concessionary initiatives for the benefit of the people.

“This crisis was not created by me. When those who contributed to the creation of this crisis are criticising the Government in front of the people today, I am attempting to immediately resolve this crisis and provide relief to
the people.

“In a crisis situation like this, it is the responsibility of the politicians and intellectuals of a country to collectively find solutions to the issues.

“The root cause of current issues is our foreign exchange crisis.

“The projected export earnings for this year is USD 12 billion, before the rupee was floated. According to the data of the last two months, we have to bear USD 22 billion as the import cost for this year. Accordingly, this will result in a trade deficit of USD 10 billion.

“Based on recent data, this year we will receive about USD 3 billion from tourism, as well as export services such as information technology, and USD 2 billion from remittances from expatriate workers. Accordingly, the trade deficit will be USD 5 billion.

“Meanwhile, USD 6.9 billion will have to be paid in loan instalments and sovereign bonds this year. Then there will be a deficit of USD 11.9 billion.

“We expect to generate USD 2.5 billion from other grants and investments. Accordingly, there is a total deficit of USD 9.4 billion in foreign exchange.

“However, once the rupee is floated, export earnings are expected to reach USD 13 billion. This will also reduce the cost of imports from USD 22 billion to USD 20 billion. If that happens, the trade deficit could be reduced to USD 7 billion. We should aim for this target.

“We can also expect USD 4 billion by providing
export services and USD 5 billion in remittances from expatriate workers. Accordingly, our trade deficit will be USD 2.4 billion.

“We must take action to fill this deficit and increase our foreign exchange reserves.

“To this end, we have initiated discussions with international financial institutions as well as with our friendly countries regarding repayment of our loan instalments. The Government is in discussions with various parties to implement a new method regarding this which will be beneficial to our country. Yesterday’s discussion with the International Monetary Fund was also held for this purpose.

“Through those discussions, we hope to find a way to pay off our annual loan instalments, sovereign bonds, and so on. Subsequent to my discussions with the International Monetary Fund, I have decided to work with them after examining the advantages and disadvantages.

“Due to some decisions, I have taken in the recent past, we were able to control the import expenditure to a great extent. We suspended importing vehicles two years ago because we saw this issue in advance. In addition, we encouraged local industries. We also stopped the importation of many non-essential food items and took steps to cultivate those crops in our own country. Now we can witness the successful results of those initiatives.

“The most serious issue we face in controlling the cost of imports is the rapidly rising fuel prices in the world market. Generally, more than 20 percent of our import expenditure is spent on purchasing fuel. In the last few months alone, fuel prices in the world market have more than doubled. This is the reason why the increase in fuel prices in our country was inevitable. Fuel is widely
used in our country not only for vehicles but also to generate electricity.

“This is why, I constantly took steps to discuss and encourage relevant agencies to use renewable energy sources as much as possible.

“Therefore, by limiting the use of fuel and electricity as much as possible, the citizens too can extend their support to the country at this time. I hope that you will understand the responsibility lies with you at this challenging time.

“The tourism industry, which was collapsed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is revving. The last two months have seen a clear increase in tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka.

“Also, due to the acceleration of the Government’s provision of infrastructure facilities in the IT and telecommunications sectors, the revenue generated through these sectors is increasing. I urge the Cabinet, the Parliament and public officials to work together as a team to achieve our desired goal of providing a better country for our children with a great commitment.

“I entered into politics on your invitation. All of you have placed an utmost trust in me. I will never betray
the trust you have placed in me and protect it with a
great commitment.”

There are, a few elements that are new in President Rajapaksa’s address to the nation. As expected, he has re-iterated once more his achievement during the separatist war. He has also referred to the reported praise from abroad for his handling of the COVID pandemic. He declared that he had decided to turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for help. Here again, that was made public after the Cabinet of Ministers took a decision and it was formally announced. Of course, his assertions laid to rest doubts that existed particularly in the light of repeated assertions by Nivard Cabraal, the Governor of the Central Bank that Sri Lanka was not turning to the IMF for debt re-structuring. This notwithstanding, in separate comments, President Rajapaksa declared that he had the fullest confidence in him. It came after a newspaper (not of the Wijeya Group) reported that the President had sought Cabraal’s resignation. In heaping praise on the Central Bank Governor, the President ignored the fact that he had been engaged in a war of words with his brother, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa over going to the IMF.

Other than that, here are aspects which came into the public domain for the first time through President Rajapaksa’s address to the nation:

=    I am well aware of the shortages of essential items and increase in prices. I am also aware of issues such as gas shortage, fuel shortage and power cuts. I am also sensitive to the many sufferings the people have to experience over the past two months.

Despite knowing them, President Rajapaksa did not tell the nation until last Wednesday. Those were issues that directly affected every Sri Lankan.

=    Our country is not the only country in the world affected by the prevailing crisis situation. The entire world is engulfed with various hardships.

        No other country in the world suffers from a zero foreign exchange shortage that led to power cuts, fuel shortages and price increase.

=    In a crisis like this, it is the responsibility of the politicians and intellectuals of a country to collectively find solutions to the issues.

        Would it not have been his responsibility to invite other politicians and intellectuals, if indeed, he wanted their help? What about his own Cabinet of Ministers?

=    The root cause of the current issues is the foreign exchange crisis.

        President Rajapaksa does not say how it was caused. If he has appointed an Economic Council, belatedly though, to resuscitate the economy, he has not probed how the foreign exchange situation was brought to zero. Was the Central Bank not politicised like many other government institutions?

=            This crisis was not created by me.

        That remark appears to be misleading. He is the head of state, head of government, and head of the Cabinet among other matters. Who then is accountable? Economic experts consulted by the Government has made it unequivocally clear that it was caused by the cut in Value Added Tax in 2019, seven months before the COVID pandemic struck. They pointed out that this caused rating agencies to downgrade Sri Lanka’s credit rating to near default levels. These warnings were not paid heed to.

=    I entered politics on your invitation.

No political party, public group or known individual outside the SLPP invited Gotabaya Rajapaksa to contest the presidential election. The prime mover was his own brother, now Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa who single handedly promoted his candidature. Many others including Wimal Weerawansa joined thereafter. Others fought many a court battle to keep Gotabaya Rajapaksa out on the grounds that he was a dual citizen.

In his address to the nation, he did not offer a proposal or solution to alleviate the hardships faced by the people. Even before he addressed the nation, the answers to the issues he raised were given by those men and women standing in long queues outside fuel stations.  Their lament – they had to speak for themselves and not those leaders in the opposition who were pussy footing.