Thursday 19th June, 2025

The government and the Opposition behaved yesterday––for once. They agreed to have a parliamentary debate on the Middle East conflict and its impact on Sri Lanka yesterday evening itself. If only they had reached consensus on that matter the previous day itself instead of clashing. All Opposition MPs, save a few, staged a walkout, on Tuesday, berating the Speaker. The Opposition and the NPP should learn to act with restraint and address crucial issues in a conciliatory manner. It was unfortunate that the debate had to be postponed yesterday as SJB MP Ajith Perera, who called for it, was not present in the Chamber. So much for the Opposition’s commitment to its legislative duties and functions!

Sri Lanka ought to support the ongoing global campaign for the de-escalation of the Middle East conflict vis-à-vis sinister attempts by some western powers to aggravate the situation and further their geostrategic interests. US President Donald Trump made himself out to be a dove during his first term, but the hawk in him has now come out. Instead of working towards preventing the ongoing conflict from spinning out of control, Washington is busy fuelling the flames. The US unequivocally justified Israel’s retaliation in the wake of unprovoked Hamas attacks in October 2023 and has since sent military aid to Tel Aviv generously, but now it is asking Iran to stop retaliatory attacks which Israel provoked with a series of air strikes on Iranian interests. Speculation is rife that the US may even go beyond Trump’s rhetoric and threats and join Israel in attacking Iran purportedly to scuttle Iran’s nuclear programme the way the US and its western allies invaded Iraq ‘to destroy the weapons of mass destruction’, which were never found.

Only a few world leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron have called upon both Israel and Iran to stop trading missiles and drones. That should be the position the civilized world must adopt. The two powerful nations at war must be pressured to agree to a truce forthwith for the sake of their own citizens and global peace. The world already has enough and more serious issues to contend with and therefore needs another war like a hole in the head.

Meanwhile, the NPP government should initiate a broader discussion on the Middle East issue, given the economic costs of a further escalation of the Iran-Israel conflict the developing countries such as Sri Lanka will have to bear. Global oil price hikes are bound to lead to a significant increase in Sri Lanka’s import bill. Iran is an export destination for Sri Lanka’s tea, and Israel has provided jobs for thousands of Sri Lankans. So, Sri Lanka’s economy is likely to suffer a triple whammy. Besides a severe strain on the country’s scarce foreign exchange reserves, the possibility of a fuel shortage cannot also be ruled out. It is imperative that the government get the country’s import priorities right, and manage the forex reserves frugally.

The government has informed Parliament that there are sufficient fuel stocks. This is certainly good news, but it always pays to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. One can only hope that the escalation of the Middle East conflict and speculation of shortages will not trigger panic buying of fuel. Prudence demands that the government seriously consider dusting off the QR-based fuel rationing tool, which stood the country in good stead in 2022. Such emergency levers must be on standby. Fuel shortages have the potential to bring down governments, as we saw in 2022.

When fuel pumps run dry and queues extend near filling stations, people’s love for a government flies out of the window. One can ask former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who had a narrow escape from a mob including his former supporters thanks to his Olympic-standard sprint, what it is like to be in such a situation.

Meanwhile, the SJB-led Opposition ought to take its legislative responsibilities seriously, and ensure that its members are present in the House, especially when important issues are taken up for debate. The government and the Opposition must stop behaving like Iran and Israel in Parliament and concentrate on preparing the country to face the worst-case scenario.

Wednesday 18th June, 2025

The Opposition MPs, save a few, walked out of Parliament yesterday, claiming that the Speaker violated their constitutional right to have themselves heard in the House. The protesting MPs alleged that the Chair allowed the Chief Government Whip to speak freely while denying the Chief Opposition Whip and the Opposition Leader an opportunity to express their views on matters of national importance.

Leader of the House and Minister Bimal Rathnayake lashed out at some Opposition MPs for their misconduct, which, he said, was second only to that of the UPFA MPs who went berserk in Parliament in 2018, hurling chilli powder at their rivals. The Opposition has its share of troublemakers who do not act with decorum, but two wrongs do not make a right; silencing dissent is as deplorable as misbehaviour in the House.

Much has been written about the abuse of power and blatant violations of parliamentary privileges of the Opposition members under previous governments. In 2018, some of the Opposition notables who are currently pontificating about the virtues of democracy smashed up furniture in Parliament and even tried to assault the Speaker. The culprits should have been arrested and prosecuted for unleashing violence and destroying public property, a non-bailable offence. The media and civil society organisations campaigned hard to have those violent elements brought to justice, but in vain. There have been numerous other such instances where previous governments violated the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the Opposition MPs, who were even assaulted in full view of the media and schoolchildren in the public gallery. It is only natural that public anger welled up for decades and found expression in the 2022 uprising or Aragalaya, which paved the way for the JVP-led NPP’s meteoric rise to power last year.

People voted overwhelmingly for the NPP because they were desperate for a system transformation. But the NPP government is acting as though it considered its supermajority a divine right to do as it pleases in Parliament and elsewhere, and, above all, make its political opponents bend to its will.

Political power has on the wielders thereof the same effect as mind-controlling parasites on their hosts, if allowed to go to their heads. It is like a borrowed garment. It is the politicians blind to this reality who rule the country with the arrogance of an emperor, indulge in malpractices and suppress democratic dissent. They should learn from what has befallen former leaders and the likes of Mervyn Silva, who considered himself a warrior king reincarnate and flouted the law with wild abandon and total immunity while in power, knowing that he was shielded by his political masters. Now, he finds himself in the exalted company of other lawbreakers behind bars. There are lessons that politicians can learn from the predicament of former Ministers Keheliya Rambukwella, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Nalin Fernando and S. M. Ranjith, and the bureaucrats behind bars for having cut corrupt deals together with politicians. A future government will surely order thorough probes into alleged transgressions under the incumbent administration, such as the questionable green-channelling of 323 red-flagged containers. The state officials who are allegedly queering the pitch for the Opposition parties in contests to elect the heads of the hung local councils will also have to face the consequences of their actions.

The NPP’s argument that the Opposition plays the victim in Parliament to gain public sympathy, and disrupts sittings to gain media attention is not untenable. The government is right in asking the Opposition Leader and the Chief Opposition Whip to keep their unruly MPs on a tight leash. Similarly, it ought to respect the constitutional rights and parliamentary privileges of the Opposition MPs and be different from the previous governments that were intoxicated. If it wants to gain public trust and arrest the erosion of its vote bank, it should be the change it promised to usher in.

Tuesday 17th June, 2025

The battle for control of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) is over. It was a foregone conclusion that the SJB and its allies would not be able to slam the brakes on the NPP juggernaut in Colombo. NPP councillor, Vraie Cally Balthazaar, was elected Colombo Mayor yesterday. She received 61 votes while Riza Zarook of the SJB polled 54 votes. Her election was preceded by a row over how the election should be conducted—by a show of hands or a secret ballot. The NPP asked for a secret ballot, but the Opposition pushed for an open vote; the former prevailed amidst protests from the Opposition. Western Province Local Government Commissioner Sarangika Jayasundara, who presided over the election, decided on a secret ballot. The protesters gave in.

The most democratic way to set about electing the Colombo Mayor—or any other local council head for that matter—would have been to allow the councillors to decide, by a show of hands or a voice vote, whether the election should be conducted by secret vote or otherwise. An open vote allows the public to see whom the councillors accused of having taken bribes vote for.

Interestingly, before the 06 May local government polls, the NPP leaders including President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya vehemently condemned all candidates other than those representing the NPP as rogues who did not deserve to represent the public. Therefore, there is no way the NPP can deny that it enlisted the support of some of those ‘rogues’ to seize control of the CMC as well as other hung local councils though secret votes helped prevent the identities of the non-NPP councillors who voted with it being revealed.

Unfortunate as the showdown in the CMC was, it had a positive side. It made the government and the Opposition lay bare their true faces. Both the NPP and the SJB shamelessly made about-turns on their pre-election declarations that they would not join forces with others to secure control of local councils. But they resorted to horse-trading to gain control of as many as 178 hung councils. They accused each other of bribing councillors holding the balance of power. What their flip-flops signify is that they have no qualms about letting their much-flaunted moral scruples, principles and commitment to democratic best practices fall by the wayside when they safeguard their interests.

The SJB ought to realise that deal-making is no substitute for hard work in regaining popular support and recovering lost ground to win future elections. It has to conduct a vigorous grassroots level campaign; its strategy lacks initiation and engagement at the community-based tier of the polity, where the NPP is still strong, especially in the urban sector though its popularity is on the wane, as evident from the outcome of last month’s mini polls. The SJB has a long way to go before it gains wider recognition as an outfit capable of governing the country. First of all, it should resolve its internal disputes.

It is not prudent for the Opposition to seek shortcuts to power. Anomalies could occur in electoral politics, benefiting some parties and politicians in the political wilderness, due to widespread public resentment at the governments in power and aggressive social media campaigns which are far from organic and backed by algorithmic manipulation and intense click-farm activity. The regime changes in 2015, 2019 and 2024 may serve as examples. Gaining power is one thing but living up to the people’s expectations is quite another.

Ideally, the SJB and others should have allowed the NPP to run the hung councils where it secured pluralities, instead of making use of some legal provisions to manufacture majorities. The NPP is also not without blame for this situation; it has proved that magnanimity is not a trait it possesses.

Manufactured majorities may help political parties achieve their short-term objectives, but they do not help win popular elections. In 2018, the UNP-led UNF retained a parliamentary majority and scuttled President Maithripala Sirisena’s efforts to oust it and dissolve Parliament, but the UNP suffered a humiliating defeat in the 2020 general election, where it was left with only a single National List slot. The SLPP managed to secure the election of Ranil Wickremesinghe as President in 2022 and retain a majority, but it was reduced to three seats in the 2024 general election.

The mixed representation system, under which the LG polls are held, has some serious flaws, which need to be rectified. However, the political parties and their leaders should also be blamed for the unholy mess the LG system finds itself. They lack maturity and commitment to democratic best practices. The need for a conciliatory political culture cannot be overstated.

The question is whether the government and the Opposition can be expected to bring about national reconciliation when they cannot so much as adopt a conciliatory approach to running the hung local government institutions in the best interests of the public.