Features

Keep space open for protest and electoral change to facilitate economic recovery

Published

3 years ago

2022/11/15

Sahan Weerasooriya

President Wickremesinghe delivering budget speech

by Jehan Perera

The primacy being given to the defence budget at time of cost slashing in virtually every other area is a pointer to the government’s reliance on the security forces to maintain and exhibit political stability and their grip on power. It is also a reflection of the government’s fears that the worst is still to come. This does not bode well for the people who are hoping that the country will come out of its worst ever economic crisis soon. President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s accession to power was greeted with the hope beyond its query of legitimacy that he would be able to navigate through the prevailing political instability and access international support through his familiarity with international systems. This hope has still to materialize. The last significant economic support to the country came from India before President Wickremesinghe took office.

At the present time hopes are pinned on the IMF giving the country the loans it needs which will be a green light to other credit agencies to restart doing business with Sri Lanka which has been ostracized since it defaulted on its debt in March of this year. President Wickremesinghe has been forthright in saying that the budget will reflect the economic targets set by the IMF. The president has also promised to disclose the IMF proposals which have so far remained a tightly guarded secret to the general public which has created doubts as to its impact on the living standards of the majority of people. The anger at the sacrifices the IMF package is likely to call for may be directed against the president by potential successors. Other aspiring leaders in both the government and opposition have been conveying the message that they will protect the people better if they get the chance.

In this context, it appears that the president and his team do not wish the people to express their opposition to the economic reforms either by elections or public protests. The sudden appointment of a National Delimitation Committee for the demarcation of wards for local authorities and to reduce the number of local councillors by one half has been explained as a cost cutting measure that takes the economic crisis into account. It may be seen as a clever ploy as it will almost certainly lead to a postponement of local government elections which fall due in March of next year. This will prevent the people from expressing their opinion regarding the government’s performance. The large defence budget, which exceeds that of health and education combined, will ensure that the security forces are motivated to suppress any uprising against the government.

LEGITIMACY CRISIS

Ever since the economy started to collapse this year and the protest movement took to the streets, the government has been facing a crisis of legitimacy that it is unable to shake off. The resignation of the president, prime minister and cabinet of ministers in the period from May to July this year seems to have scarred the government and made it insecure. The arrest this past weekend of two women protestors who were marching by themselves on the road carrying a placard demanding the release of two student leaders is an indication of this governmental insecurity. The government was not taking any chances in dealing with the two women. Dozens of police surrounded the two women prior to forcing them into a vehicle. In the melee, male policemen were seen on social media videos treating female police officers very roughly, even squeezing the neck of one and shoving them for reasons unknown to onlookers.

It is very unfortunate for the country, and indeed for the government itself, that it has become so preoccupied with its security concerns that it does not perceive how others may perceive its actions. The insistence on keeping two student leaders incarcerated for over three months without charge under the Prevention of Terrorism Act is costing the government dearly in terms of outrage on the part of any right thinking person let alone human rights activists. The costs can be high to the economy as well as the EU’s GSP Plus tax concession which is hugely beneficial to Sri Lankan exporters comes up for review next year and its extension is dependent on human rights considerations. The violations of human rights that have taken place in the past and which continue into the present are being taken up in the UK parliament and UN Human Rights Council among others to the country’s detriment.

The House of Commons last week discussed the human rights and economic situation in Sri Lanka with several parliamentarians accusing Sri Lanka for continued violation of human rights in the country. They called on the UK government to act on Sri Lanka in the form of sanctions which included referring Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court; urging Sri Lanka to meet its GSP+ commitments; and to reduce its military spending. One member recommended that the Global Magnitsky Act, the first of a new generation of human rights sanctions programmes be applied. The Act, in contrast to traditional sanctions targeted at individual countries, can be flexibly applied to alleged perpetrators from all over the world, regardless of their geographical location.

MILITARY LIMITS

Regrettably, the government’s security-centered approach is going to be counterproductive in the longer term as well. It can only suppress the symptoms for a while. The latest UN report titled ‘Sri Lanka: Multi-dimensional crisis -Humanitarian needs and priorities JUNE – DEC 2022’ by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on behalf of Humanitarian Country Team and partners, says that an estimated 13.5 million, or 61.1 percent of the population, are using food-based coping strategies, and 47.7 percent of households use livelihood coping strategies. The report published on Nov 8, 2022 says that “About 5.3 million people, or 24 percent of population, are reducing the number of meals, and the same percentage of the population are reducing adults’ consumption so that children can eat, with women being the last to eat in the household. The proportion of households with unacceptable diets is ten times higher compared to the end of 2021.” This shows that people literally are starving.

Especially in a context in which elections are being postponed and people cannot elect the representatives they have confidence in, the tendency will be to come out and protest against the hardships that people experience. The security forces cannot be expected, and will not be able to, suppress the masses of people when there is a desperate need as was the case in the period of the Aragalaya when prices shot up, fuel and fertilizer was not available and power cuts stretched for half the day. The main need at the present time is for the government to allocate its scarce resources to meet the needs of the people rather than suppress their legitimate protests. On the other hand, the government appears to be relying on the security forces to keep the people in check and cope with the potential unrest of the future.

In a speech at the Kotalawala Defence University, President Wickremesinghe acknowledged that there may be questions raised as to why the government is focusing so much on the armed forces, and why the government is looking at Defence 2030. He is reported as having said “When we were born, there was no tussle for the Indian Ocean. At one stage, no one wanted it. Today it is not so. If we are to survive, the skills, the security skills, Strategic Studies, all that has to be utilized.” The President is also reported to have said that the country cannot have an export-oriented industry unless it has the freedom of navigation. This answer was not convincing, because the bulk of the defence budget goes to support the army which is bigger in numbers than the British or French armies. It is such claims and justifications, redirecting or misdirecting the public that has taken the country to its present status over the 74 years of Independence. Holding elections on schedule and negotiating the way forward with the political representatives who emerge is the democratic way to sustainable political stability which is needed for economic development.

All News Advertisement

Related Topics:President Wickremesinghe President Wickremesinghe Budget Speach

Up Next

Need to preserve country’s school talent?

Don't Miss

Marxism and nationalism: A never-ending debate

Click to comment

Features

Maduro abduction marks dangerous aggravation of ‘world disorder’

Published

9 hours ago

2026/01/8

Sahan Weerasooriya

Venezuelan President Maduro being taken to a court in New York

The abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by US special forces on January 3rd and his coercive conveying to the US to stand trial over a number of allegations leveled against him by the Trump administration marks a dangerous degeneration of prevailing ‘world disorder’. While some cardinal principles in International Law have been blatantly violated by the US in the course of the operation the fallout for the world from the exceptionally sensational VVIP abduction could be grave.

Although controversial US military interventions the world over are not ‘news’ any longer, the abduction and hustling away of a head of government, seen as an enemy of the US, to stand trial on the latter soil amounts to a heavy-handed and arrogant rejection of the foundational principles of international law and order. It would seem, for instance, that the concept of national sovereignty is no longer applicable to the way in which the world’s foremost powers relate to the rest of the international community. Might is indeed right for the likes of the US and the Trump administration in particular is adamant in driving this point home to the world.

Chief spokesmen for the Trump administration have been at pains to point out that the abduction is not at variance with national security related provisions of the US Constitution. These provisions apparently bestow on the US President wide powers to protect US security and stability through courses of action that are seen as essential to further these ends but the fact is that International Law has been brazenly violated in the process in the Venezuelan case.

To be sure, this is not the first occasion on which a head of government has been abducted by US special forces in post-World War Two times and made to stand trial in the US, since such a development occurred in Panama in 1989, but the consequences for the world could be doubly grave as a result of such actions, considering the mounting ‘disorder’ confronting the world community.

Those sections opposed to the Maduro abduction in the US would do well to from now on seek ways of reconciling national security-related provisions in the US Constitution with the country’s wider international commitment to uphold international peace and law and order. No ambiguities could be permitted on this score.

While the arbitrary military action undertaken by the US to further its narrow interests at whatever cost calls for criticism, it would be only fair to point out that the US is not the only big power which has thus dangerously eroded the authority of International Law in recent times. Russia, for example, did just that when it violated the sovereignty of Ukraine by invading it two or more years ago on some nebulous, unconvincing grounds. Consequently, the Ukraine crisis too poses a grave threat to international peace.

It is relevant to mention in this connection that authoritarian rulers who hope to rule their countries in perpetuity as it were, usually end up, sooner rather than later, being a blight on their people. This is on account of the fact that they prove a major obstacle to the implementation of the democratic process which alone holds out the promise of the progressive empowerment of the people, whereas authoritarian rulers prefer to rule with an iron fist with a fixation about self-empowerment.

Nevertheless, regime-change, wherever it may occur, is a matter for the public concerned. In a functional democracy, it is the people, and the people only, who ‘make or break’ governments. From this viewpoint, Russia and Venezuela are most lacking. But externally induced, militarily mediated change is a gross abnormality in the world of democracy, which deserves decrying.

By way of damage control, the US could take the initiative to ensure that the democratic process, read as the full empowerment of ordinary people, takes hold in Venezuela. In this manner the US could help in stemming some of the destructive fallout from its abduction operation. Any attempts by the US to take possession of the national wealth of Venezuela at this juncture are bound to earn for it the condemnation of democratic opinion the world over.

Likewise, the US needs to exert all its influence to ensure that the rights of ordinary Ukrainians are protected. It will need to ensure this while exploring ways of stopping further incursions into Ukrainian territory by Russia’s invading forces. It will need to do this in collaboration with the EU which is putting its best foot forward to end the Ukraine blood-letting.

Meanwhile, the repercussions that the Maduro abduction could have on the global South would need to be watched with some concern by the international community. Here too the EU could prove a positive influence since it is doubtful whether the UN would be enabled by the big powers to carry out the responsibilities that devolve on it with the required effectiveness.

What needs to be specifically watched is the ‘copycat effect’ that could manifest among those less democratically inclined Southern rulers who would be inspired by the Trump administration to take the law into their hands, so to speak, and act with callous disregard for the sovereign rights of their smaller and more vulnerable neighbours.

Democratic opinion the world over would need to think of systems of checks and balances that could contain such power abuse by Southern autocratic rulers in particular. The UN and democracy-supportive organizations, such as the EU, could prove suitable partners in these efforts.

All in all it is international lawlessness that needs managing effectively from now on. If President Trump carries out his threat to over-run other countries as well in the manner in which he ran rough-shod over Venezuela, there is unlikely to remain even a semblance of international order, considering that anarchy would be receiving a strong fillip from the US, ‘The World’s Mightiest Democracy’.

What is also of note is that identity politics in particularly the South would be unprecedentedly energized. The narrative that ‘the Great Satan’ is running amok would win considerable validity among the theocracies of the Middle East and set the stage for a resurgence of religious fanaticism and invigorated armed resistance to the US. The Trump administration needs to stop in its tracks and weigh the pros and cons of its current foreign policy initiatives.

Features

Pure Christmas magic and joy at British School

Published

9 hours ago

2026/01/8

Sahan Weerasooriya

Students of The British High School in Colombo in action at the fashion show

The British School in Colombo (BSC) hosted its Annual Christmas Carnival 2025, ‘Gingerbread Wonderland’, which was a huge success, with the students themseles in the spotlight, managing stalls and volunteering.

The event, organised by the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), featured a variety of activities, including: Games and rides for all ages, Food stalls offering delicious treats, Drinks and refreshments, Trade booths showcasing local products, and Live music and entertainment.

The carnival was held at the school premises, providing a fun and festive atmosphere for students, parents, and the community to enjoy.

The halls of the BSC were filled with pure Christmas magic and joy with the students and the staff putting on a tremendous display.

Among the highlights was the dazzling fashion show with the students doing the needful, and they were very impressive.

The students themselves were eagerly looking forward to displaying their modelling technique and, I’m told, they enjoyed the moment they had to step on the ramp.

The event supported communities affected by the recent floods, with surplus proceeds going to flood-relief efforts.

Features

Glowing younger looking skin

Published

9 hours ago

2026/01/8

Sahan Weerasooriya

Hi! This week I’m giving you some beauty tips so that you could look forward to enjoying 2026 with a glowing younger looking skin.

Face wash for natural beauty

* Avocado:

Take the pulp, make a paste of it and apply on your face. Leave it on for five minutes and then wash it with normal water.

* Cucumber:

Just rub some cucumber slices on your face for 02-03 minutes to cleanse the oil naturally. Wash off with plain water.

* Buttermilk:

Apply all over your face and leave it to dry, then wash it with normal water (works for mixed to oily skin).

Face scrub for natural beauty

Take 01-02 strawberries, 02 pieces of kiwis or 02 cubes of watermelons. Mash any single fruit and apply on your face. Then massage or scrub it slowly for at least 3-5 minutes in circular motions. Then wash it thoroughly with normal or cold water. You can make use of different fruits during different seasons, and see what suits you best! Follow with a natural face mask.

Face Masks

* Papaya and Honey:

Take two pieces of papaya (peeled) and mash them to make a paste. Apply evenly on your face and leave it for 30 minutes and then wash it with cold water.

Papaya is just not a fruit but one of the best natural remedies for good health and glowing younger looking skin. It also helps in reducing pimples and scars. You can also add honey (optional) to the mixture which helps massage and makes your skin glow.

* Banana:

Put a few slices of banana, 01 teaspoon of honey (optional), in a bowl, and mash them nicely. Apply on your face, and massage it gently all over the face for at least 05 minutes. Then wash it off with normal water. For an instant glow on your face, this facemask is a great idea to try!

* Carrot:

Make a paste using 01 carrot (steamed) by mixing it with milk or honey and apply on your face and neck evenly. Let it dry for 15-20 minutes and then wash it with cold water. Carrots work really well for your skin as they have many vitamins and minerals, which give instant shine and younger-looking skin.