A Sisyphean task

Monday 1st August, 2022

Politics continues to occupy centre stage although the country’s focus should be on the economy and how to revive it. Having taken over the reins of government on a wing and a prayer, President Ranil Wickremesinghe is now calling on all political parties with parliamentary representation to sink their differences and form a national government. But the SJB has reportedly rejected his call, and the SLFP, which is part of the SLPP, is blowing hot and cold. Former President Maithripala Sirisena, true to form, is speaking in riddles. The SLPP dissidents remain noncommittal.

With only a single UNP MP on his side and no popular backing as such, President Wickremesinghe is flying on borrowed wings. It is popularly said in this country that a President is like ‘a banana without the skin’ when his party fails to control Parliament. Wickremesinghe is dependent on the SLPP, to which he also owes his election as the President; the SLPP does as Basil Rajapaksa says. If an all-party government can be formed, the President will be able to secure the support of the Opposition MPs, and thereby lessen his dependence on the Rajapaksas, but he cannot bend the SLPP leadership to his will.

A story is being floated that some SLPP MPs are planning to cross over to the UNP. Someone is trying to have the public believe that the new President is consolidating his power, and the UNP is coming in from the cold. But the SLPP can always pull the rug from under the President by denying him parliamentary support. He is safe for the time being because the Rajapaksa family wants him to act as a political hitman and be left holding the baby, but if he tries to defy its dictates, it will not hesitate to do to him what he did to President Maithripala Sirisena during the Yahapalana government; the UNP openly undermined Sirisena, who however had a section of the UPFA behind him, and could win over the Joint Opposition led by the Rajapaksas. But the UNP, which mustered a working majority in the House called the shots, and the then Prime Minister Wickremesinghe became more powerful than President Sirisena to all intents and purposes. Interestingly, incumbent Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, who leads the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, which is a constituent of the ruling SLPP, is also heavily dependent on Basil, who thus has both the President and the Prime Minister on a string. Basil is exercising power without responsibility!

What is needed at this juncture is the establishment of an interim all-party government with a timeframe for a general election—‘interim’ being the keyword—and not just a coming together of some politicians from the parties represented in Parliament. It must also be specified how the interim government intends to put the economy back on an even keel, introduce political and economic reforms, and provide relief to the public. Otherwise, the SLPP, which has ruined the country, lost popular support and put off the Local Government polls indefinitely for fear of losing them, will manipulate the administration to be cobbled together and cling on to power until the term of the current Parliament is over; it will be well-nigh impossible to extricate the country from the clutches of the Rajapaksa family for a few more years. The unity government (2015-2019) which Wickremesinghe was instrumental in forming, failed because it lacked a comprehensive action plan, and ran the country according to the whims and fancies of its leaders.

There will have to be a clean break with the Rajapaksa dispensation for the country to come out of the current socio-economic crisis. The Rajapaksa regime reminds us of a gelatinous monster in a sci-fi horror flick; like the Blob, it is extremely resilient and difficult to get rid of. Ideally, a general election should be held immediately so that the people can determine the fate of the current government, which has bankrupted the country, inflicted immense suffering on the citizenry and amply demonstrated its incompetence, but unfortunately the situation is not conducive to an electoral contest. An election however could be held early next year, after political stability is restored and IMF assistance secured, and the government must undertake to do so before calling for the formation of a national unity administration.

The SLPP leadership will be the biggest obstacle to the ongoing efforts to form an all-party government, for it wants to retain its hold on power. It is no respecter of the Presidents. Not even President Gotabaya Rajapaksa could square up to it despite being a very powerful member of the Family. This is the harsh political reality, and President Wickremesinghe has his work cut out.