Vicious cycle of govt. blunders, violent protests and economic chaos

Sri Lanka is not self-sufficient to any significant degree and depends on a export –import economy for survival. Garment exports, tourism and remittances from foreign employees are the main foreign exchange earners for the country to import essentials for life. If due to internal blunders or external adverse circumstances any of these activities decline our existence becomes perilous. At present we are in such a situation as both internal and external factors had hit us hard in a double whammy. If we are to recover political stability, peaceful environment and sound economic policies with minimum blundering and corruption are required. Whether we have the ability to ensure such conditions is conjectural as political expedience seems to prevail over all other considerations.

Sri Lanka has a very vibrant trade union movement backed by radical and potentially militant political forces. The latter have seen a good opportunity to grab power and are going all out to disrupt the smooth economic recovery. Violent protests are their strategy. Economic chaos and consequent public dissatisfaction seem to be the only situation where these political parties, which have hitherto failed to significantly perform at polls, could hope to do better. It is these political parties which hijacked the peaceful Aragalaya movement and later wreaked havoc ending up with murder and arson. If the country recovers its economy they will run out of ammunition. In the past these political parties have not been able to secure more than 5% of votes at elections. However recent surveys have reported that their popularity has considerably improved relative to other mainstream political parties. They wouldn’t want that situation to change which could happen if the government manages to improve the economy and bring down the cost of living.

Government blunders, mismanagement and corruption have brought the country to this woeful state where there is an internal equity crisis as well as a foreign exchange crisis. For the situation to improve government revenue must rise, exports must increase, tourism must improve, lender confidence must build up and foreign direct investments must come in. Obviously, none of these things could take place in a country which is politically unstable and where there is violent demonstrations with threat of trade union action. Much needed debt rescheduling would not be possible. Consequently, even the proposed much awaited IMF package may not materialise. If that happens lenders would be reluctant to extend any debt facilities to us. Tourists would not want to come to a godforsaken place. Industrial output also could decline. Our foreign reserves would further decrease making it difficult to import essentials like fuel, medicine and food. Shortages of essentials would rise and queues will become longer. Violence and rioting would become worse and the country would fall into an abyss from which it may never come out.

First and foremost, we must all come to an understanding of what is meant by peaceful protests which is an undeniable right of the people and no government must try to deny that right and disrupt such demonstrations. However, what happens in this country very often is not peaceful protests. Demonstrations that obstruct people from getting about in their daily work or deny the people their right of way on any public road cannot be called peaceful. Very often roads are blocked by demonstrators and traffic is held up for hours. Demonstrators march towards the parliament or president’s office occupying the whole width of the road and clash with the police when they are stopped from entering restricted areas which are essential for the functioning of the government. These protests are designed to be non-peaceful and violent. The occurrence of violence and instability is what these demonstrators badly want. Then only their ulterior motives would be fulfilled. Then the chaotic situation will continue and the economy and normalcy would never return.

The government supply enough and more reasons and topics for slogans for these never-ending protests. Corruption, bribery, commission taking, manipulation of tender procedure, importation of poor-quality goods, wastage and mismanagement have not abated though the country had gone through the most violent political convulsions in recent times that shook the country to the core. The tender procedure for the import of coal is a case in point. Some priests had to go to courts to stop the deal. If there was no irregularity in the tender procedure the government should have stood its grounds instead of accepting defeat and withdrawing the tender. These politicians do not seem to have even a wee bit of the human character called shame. Who could rob a beggar?

Another wrong thing that the government does which give ammunition to the protesters is to hold people in custody without trial for long periods. If these people have committed an offence take them into custody by all means but hear their case as soon as possible and punish them or acquit them. Keeping them locked-up would only tarnish the image of the government in the eyes of the international community and may even discourage financial aid and also foreign direct investment. Moreover, such acts are grist to the mill of the political movements that use violence as a means of gaining power.

All opposition political parties are seen to be making a desperate bid to jump the wagon of protest and get as much mileage from it as possible and they are fighting over it. Such ridiculous things could happen only in Sri Lanka I suppose. But it shows how important the political demonstrations bordering on violence have become and how the opposition is trying to use it to impress the people. Responsible political parties must detest violence and keep away from these protests for the sake of the country. Surely, they must have better ways of attracting votes. But if the government is deaf to the demands of the opposition, as for instance the call for LG elections, the opposition has no alternative but get on to the streets.

Thus, there seems to be a vicious cycle of government blunder, violent protests and economic decline. Unless this cycle is stopped economic recovery would not be possible. Public sympathy has not turned away from the protesters for they could see the government misdeeds which cannot be allowed to continue without a protest. Hence first and foremost the government must put its house in order. Responsible political parties must stop supporting violent protests. Then there is hope that public sympathy would not be with the protesters. If we follow such a path there is hope that the country may recover with the assistance of lending organisations, foreign investments and tourists.

N.A.de S. Amaratunga