Get to grips, Gota!

by Dr. Upul Wijayawardhana

Oh! What a contrast it has been! As 2020 dawned we were dreaming of a new era. For the first time, we elected a president who was not a career politician and his initial actions gave hope like never before. It became pretty obvious that Gota was not there for the glamour of office but to get the country out of the mess created by Yahapalanaya. After all, he was elected not because he attacked his opponents but because he placed his track record before the electorate. Although the drafters of the ill-fated 19A predicted that he would be a puppet President, Gota showed how to use the limited powers to the maximum benefit of the country. He met the challenge of the totally unexpected devastating pandemic with finesse, earning plaudits all round. Notwithstanding Covid-19, we had one of the most peaceful elections in living memory in Sri Lanka, and the voters endorsed the President’s actions by giving his party a two-thirds majority, which enabled the passage of the 20th amendment.

As the year the world wants to forget came to a close, an air of despondency descended; even the strongest of supporters of the President are asking what went wrong. Was this all due to the second wave of Covid-19? True, it could have been handled better, but compared to the rest of the world Sri Lanka is not that badly off. Therefore, we need to look elsewhere.

To what extent is the President responsible for the current chaotic state of affairs?

In my opinion, most of the fault lies not with the President but the politicians around him! During the first part of his presidency Gota’s performance was superb, maybe, because they were not powerful. Then came the general election and the country has been on a slippery slope. Contrary to predictions that he would be a dictator, Gota has turned out to be a liberal President; perhaps, too liberal to allow the politicians to do whatever they like. He mistakenly believed that they would follow his example.

I am asking the President to get to grips as he is the only person who can prevent this slide down the slippery slope. The biggest problem the this government faces is that it has scored too many own goals! Adding to this is the poor communication strategy. People’s hopes have been dashed many a time, and to avoid a repetition Gota needs to do an immediate course correction.

Whilst the President has displayed exceptional diplomacy, many others in the government display a total lack of it. The first test for the President was the ‘abduction’ of the Swiss Embassy employee. The way Gota handled it embarrassed the Swiss Embassy, which had already smuggled a policeman who hounded yahapalana opponents.

Then there was the MCC. When Gota was silent about it even some of his supporters opined that he might sign the compact on the sly. Rather than shouting about it and antagonising the most powerful nation on earth, he moved diplomatically and did what was best for the country: not selling our sovereignty for a few millions of dollars!

What about his ministers? Except a few, ministers seem to be behaving in the traditional manner of Sri Lankan politicians. They express differing opinions which makes the government lose credibility. Let me cite a few examples.

Instead of admitting difficulties they face, some Ministers give bogus excuses which make them the laughing stock. It is a well-known fact that no government has been able to tame the rice-mafia, so far, for whatever reason. The Minister of Trade published a gazette notification fixing the prices of some rice varieties, but no one could buy rice at those prices. He gave the wonderful excuse that rice would be available at those prices after the next harvesting season! One does not have to be a genius or a tuition master to know that the price of rice always comes down with the harvest!

When the Mahara prison riot happened, some ministers concocted conspiracy theories. One spread the canard that diazepam had made prisoners behave erratically. Some others claimed deaths were not due to shooting but clashes among the inmates. When the Judicial Medical Officers presented their findings to courts, they must have been hiding their faces.

Coming back to Covid-19, the Army Commander, who heads the Covid-19 task-force said that a report had revealed how the second wave had started; it was widely rumoured that a tourist hotel in Seeduwa had triggered it and Brandix factory had contributed to it. Although it is agreed that what is important is controlling the pandemic and not making all facts public, one feels that the government is hiding the truth to prevent embarrassment to its ardent supporters.

The behaviour of the Minister of Health is disgraceful, to say the least. On top of the fiascos of the ‘removal’ of the Director General of Health Services and the appointment of the Director of MRI, she decided to pollute rivers with a concoction prepared by a faith healer and was joined by other ministers. She decided to taste a concoction prepared by a kapuwa, apparently on the basis of instructions from goddess Kali. After tasting, she requested all the Professors in Medicine in the country to check whether it was effective! Another minister promoted the concoction, equating the kapuwa to the great Sir Isaac Newton. Some have got Covid-19 in spite of drinking the peniya!

Rather alarmingly, there is a group of intellectuals who promote this type of cure. The leader of the pack is an ambassador who is convinced that useful information emanates from beings above humans. He who called Western Science a palpable lie (pattapal boru) now says he respects Western science but is against its domination. In a recent post he has stated that although he wanted to be a scientist in his youth, he was never one. This makes me wonder why the Kelaniya University had a non-scientist as the Dean of its Science Faculty!

The disposal of bodies of the victims of Covid-19 has been internationalised by the overseas Tiger rump ever willing to discredit Sri Lanka. As a Buddhist, I was embarrassed at the way some Bhikkhus behaved in a protest at Galle Face completely misinterpreting the concept of one country-one law. They seem to have a total lack of compassion, one of the noble characteristics of the Buddha, and were attempting to dictate to the President. I urge Gota to take a decision without further delay on the basis of expert opinion, without being swayed by the views of men in robes.

The appointment of Lalith Weeratunga to oversee procurement and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines is an interesting development and may be a pointer that Gota is taking corrective action. Lalith, a top administrator of the highest integrity, was a victim of “Temple Trees justice”. In spite of the guilty verdict, though later reversed, Gota chose him as his senior advisor, which was a bold move. Entrusting him with this vital task is certainly a move in the right direction and I do hope we would have an equitable vaccination programme soon so that economic recovery may commence.

Covid-19 is far from controlled. Therefore, any elections are out of question at this juncture because of safety concerns and the worsening financial situation. We have managed without Provincial Councils and even the TNA voted with yahapalanaya to postpone elections. As India failed to discharge its obligation why should we be bound by 13A? Neville Ladduwahetty, in an excellent article “Province unsuitable as the unit of governance” (The Island, 1 January), has pointed out the absurdity of holding elections before deciding on the unit of devolution in the new constitution. In spite of all these considerations, some government politicians are clamouring for PC polls! Perhaps, giving jobs to their kith and kin and henchmen is more important to them than containing the raging pandemic.

I am in total agreement with Laduwahetty’s well argued case that the unit of devolution should be the district for proper empowerment. I would urge the drafters of the new constitution to ensure that members of parliament are truly representative by being elected from an electorate, as in the past, not on the district basis. The present system of district-based election with preferential votes has resulted in many disputes.

Gota has started visiting remote areas to solve poor people’s problems and still commands great affection from the public. It is all the more reason why he should not let us all down. He should get tough and get rid of the useless politicians. We badly need a disciplined government. That is the only hope for Sri Lanka!