Features

The politics of growth

Published

7 months ago

2025/07/13

By Uditha Devapriya

Review of Sustaining transformative growth in Sri Lanka 2025 – 2030. ODI Global. 2025. 54 pages. Available for download online.

The big question facing Sri Lanka today is not how growth can be sustained; it’s whether it can be sustained at all. By growth here I mean the kind that can readily transform the economy, not the sort that helps us to hang on until the next crisis. This week marks two years since Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned as president, and two years since the start of perhaps the most painful round of austerity and economic reforms in post-independence Sri Lanka. What are the mistakes that were made, the lessons learnt? How do we take them forward? More crucially, will political officials take them forward?

Sustaining transformative growth in Sri Lanka 2025 – 2030, published “under the auspices” of ODI Global (UK) and the Centre for Poverty Analysis (Sri Lanka), combines in one slim volume the prescriptions of nine policymakers who try to answer these questions. Not all of them are economists, but most are. All but one are Sri Lankans, though not all of them are living here. They include Sirimal Abeyratne, Indrajit Coomaswamy, and Ganeshan Wignaraja, who work today at the intersection of policy and academia.

It’s that combination of policy and academic research which comes out in what these nine authors have to say, and though one may not agree with their prescriptions, they are there for all to see, and they can serve as a blueprint for the future.

Unfortunately for us, of course, the future does not look all that bright. From the word go, the report underlies our paradox: the economy has stabilised “remarkably well”, but there remains “a substantial risk of a relapse.” Sri Lanka is hardly the first country to have weathered a major crisis, and other countries which have gone through crisis have faced such relapses: Latin and Central America being just one notorious example. The question whether Sri Lanka will follow suit or whether it will defy (economic) history will largely depend on the policies it adopts. This, of course, is a no-brainer, yet it cannot be emphasised enough. That begs the question: just what are these policies?

Sustaining transformative growth gives us 30 of them, spread across six topics. These range from the practical to the idealistic, the doable to the doubt-if-we-can-get-it-done. They all try to factor the uncertain external environment, which obviously includes Donald Trump’s economic agenda, specifically his tariffs. One can question whether the report does enough to explain to us how its reforms will adjust to variations in the external environment – the most obvious scenario being an escalation in China-US trade wars – but as the authors point out, such contingencies can only be categorised as “looming risks.”

Not being an economist, I can’t really comment on the viability of what the authors have proposed. I will say, however, that much of what they said has been said in many ways by many people before, and that so long as the country, the economy, and the government operate the way they are now, many others will continue to highlight them. The challenge lies in the balancing act that Sri Lanka must achieve now – maintaining stability while enabling transformative growth. The problem, however, is that not everyone is in agreement over what must be done to achieve that balance.

Of course, there is consensus over some issues, such as continuous engagement with the IMF. I come across as a critic of the IMF, but even I recognise that, given our state in mid-2022, there really wasn’t much of an alternative. Engagement with the IMF would have made more sense when our reserves were high – in late 2020 and 2021, when calls were made, by Opposition MPs, to go to the IMF. What happened in 2022 was an avoidable crash, but it happened, and there is nothing that can be done today to reverse it.aConsidering all this, what is the road ahead? Sustaining transformative growth makes several recommendations, economic, political, and geopolitical.

The economic prescriptions are those which have been made before: debt restructuring, privatisation, broadening of the tax base, and consensus over economic reforms. The political and geopolitical prescriptions are as important: among them, a recommendation to form an independent growth commission drawing on the lessons of South-East Asian economic giants. It is surprising not to see even a mention of BRICS – especially given the present geopolitical climate – but then, given Trump’s belligerent threats to that group, the authors may have felt it wiser not to harp on it as a way ahead for Sri Lanka. In any case, economists are debating what must be done with Trump’s tariffs: some argue we need to concede more to Washington, others contend that we need alternatives.

All in all, the report comes across as concise and succinct, qualities which documents of this sort usually do not have. However, the recommendations it makes underlie three distinct, but somewhat interrelated, challenges.

The first of these is the recognition of the political aspects of the crisis. As one political analyst implied at the launch of the report last week, countries caught up in a polycrisis of the sort we are now end up reverting to the old political order. The truth is that Sri Lanka will face debt repayments from 2027, and it will face elections in 2028/2029. What happens then is left to be seen, but the experience of other countries does not offer consolation, for the government or for those of us hoping for better days.

The second is the need to communicate these prescriptions and reforms, and why they are important, to the country at large. It is heartening to know that the report has incorporated the views of a diverse, representative segment, including not just trade and business associations and Colombo-based economists, but also students and Sinhala and Tamil language communities outside Colombo.

But to hear them out is not enough: one must also be mindful of their weltanschauung, however much it may differ from the conventional wisdoms of the economic and policy elite. As I found out for myself while working on Beena Sarwar’s documentary on the crisis, Sri Lanka Beyond the Headlines (2024), in far-off places people have very different views on issues like social security. Aswesuma, for instance, may be a roaring, visionary success for policy elites. But villagers view it with almost uniform hostility, saying that in depoliticising social security, they have been disconnected from the political process – a problem they say they did not face with Aswesuma’s predecessor, Samurdhi.

The third is the inadequate state of our education system. Our schools and universities do not produce thinkers; they produce rote-learners. As one person observed at the launch, university students do not seem to be curious enough about these matters. Such curiosity crops up only sporadically and temporarily; for instance, the constitutional crisis of 2018, which provoked people everywhere to think of the constitution, and the economic crisis of 2022, which got them to reflect on, discuss, and debate economics.

Yet in the longer run, people seem to lose interest in such topics. The corollary to this is that students tend to lap up everything they are told: there is hardly any attempt at questioning what is taught. Moreover, our economics departments remain outdated and ill-equipped to deal with the challenges of the present, and the future.

It is these three challenges that run across, and through, the policies, prescriptions, reforms, and recommendations in Sustaining transformative growth, and for better or worse, the authors leave them unanswered – perhaps because they cannot be answered in the first place. The truth is that economics cannot be discussed in isolation from politics, or for that matter geopolitics, and it cannot operate in an elite vacuum. Yet for far too long, this is how reforms have been discussed and implemented in Sri Lanka.

I suppose what I am trying to say here is that though it must remain in the hands of the experts, economic policy cannot always be the mainstay of economists: one must also consider the compulsions and motives that drive political decisions.

Now, it is true that political decisions do not always tally with economic practices. But in a country like ours, which has been a democracy for so long, there is no point pontificating on economic policy to the exclusion of politics. I know it is frustrating to reconcile the one to the other. Yet unless our political system transforms into what they have in East Asia – in particular countries like Vietnam, which are regularly celebrated by our economists – I do not see how we can enforce reforms without factoring politics in.

To be sure, such transformations come at a hefty price. As 2022 clearly demonstrated, if Sri Lankans feel dissatisfied with the electoral process, they will protest in the streets and throw governments out. This is a trend that has become apparent even in the technocratic states of South-East Asia. No amount of wishful, idealistic thinking can belie such developments – a point which reports such as these would do well to acknowledge.

The writer is a researcher and foreign policy and political analyst and commentator based in Sri Lanka. He can be reached at udakdev1@gmail.com.

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Features

More state support needed for marginalised communities

Published

5 hours ago

2026/02/13

Thilina Walpola

A landslide in the Central Province

Message from Malaiyaha Tamil community to govt:

Insights from SSA Cyclone Ditwah Survey

When climate disasters strike, they don’t affect everyone equally. Marginalised communities typically face worse outcomes, and Cyclone Ditwah is no exception. Especially in a context where normalcy is far from “normal”, the idea of returning to normalcy or restoring a life of normalcy makes very little sense.

The island-wide survey (https://ssalanka.org/reports/) conducted by the Social Scientists’ Association (SSA), between early to mid-January on Cyclone Ditwah shows stark regional disparities in how satisfied or dissatisfied people were with the government’s response. While national satisfaction levels were relatively high in most provinces, the Central Province tells a different story.

Only 35.2% of Central Province residents reported that they were satisfied with early warning and evacuation measures, compared to 52.2% nationally. The gap continues across every measure: just 52.9% were satisfied with immediate rescue and emergency response, compared with the national figure of 74.6%. Satisfaction with relief distribution in the Central Province is 51.9% while the national figure stands at 73.1%. The figures for restoration of water, electricity, and roads are at a low 45.9% in the central province compared to the 70.9% in national figures. Similarly, the satisfaction level for recovery and rebuilding support is 48.7% in the Central Province, while the national figure is 67.0%.

A deeper analysis of the SSA data on public perceptions reveals something important: these lower satisfaction rates came primarily from the Malaiyaha Tamil population. Their experience differed not just from other provinces, but also from other ethnic groups living in the Central Province itself.

The Malaiyaha Tamil community’s vulnerability didn’t start with the cyclone. Their vulnerability is a historically and structurally pre-determined process of exclusion and marginalisation. Brought to Sri Lanka during British rule to work for the empire’s plantation economies, they have faced long-term economic exploitation and have repeatedly been denied access to state support and social welfare systems. Most estate residents still live in ‘line rooms’ and have no rights to the land they cultivate and live on. The community continues to be governed by an outdated estate management system that acts as a barrier to accessing public and municipal services such as road repair, water, electricity and other basic infrastructures available to other citizens.

As far as access to improved water sources is concerned, the Sri Lanka Demographic Health Survey (2016) shows that 57% of estate sector households don’t have access to improved water sources, while more than 90% of households in urban and rural areas do. With regard to the level of poverty, as the Department of Census and Statistics (2019) data reveals, the estate sector where most Malaiyaha Tamils live had a poverty headcount index of 33.8%; more than double the national rate of 14.3%. These statistics highlight key indicators of the systemic discrimination faced by the Malaiyaha Tamil community.

Some crucial observations from the SSA data collectors who enumerated responses from estate residents in the survey reveal the specific challenges faced by the Malaiyaha Tamils, particularly in their efforts to seek state support for compensation and reconstruction.

First, the Central Province experienced not just flooding but also the highest number of landslides in the island. As a result, some residents in the region lost entire homes, access roadways, and other basic infrastructures. The loss of lives, livelihoods and land was at a higher intensity compared to the provinces not located in the hills. Most importantly, the Malaiyaha Tamil community’s pre-existing grievances made them even more vulnerable and the government’s job of reparation and restitution more complex.

Early warnings hadn’t reached many areas. Some data collectors said they themselves never heard any warnings in estate areas, while others mentioned that early warnings were issued but didn’t reach some segments of the community. According to the resident data collectors, the police announcements reached only as far as the sections where they were able to drive their vehicles to, and there were many estate roads that were not motorable. When warnings did filter through to remote locations, they often came by word of mouth and information was distorted along the way. Once the disaster hit, things got worse: roads were blocked, electricity went out, mobile networks failed and people were cut off completely.

Emergency response was slow. Blocked roads meant people could not get to hospitals when they needed urgent care, including pregnant mothers. The difficult terrain and poor road conditions meant rescue teams took much longer to reach affected areas than in other regions.

Relief supplies didn’t reach everyone. The Grama Niladhari divisions in these areas are huge and hard to navigate, making it difficult for Grama Niladharis to reach all places as urgently as needed. Relief workers distributed supplies where vehicles could go, which meant accessible areas got help while remote communities were left out.

Some people didn’t even try to go to safety centres or evacuation shelters set up in local schools because the facilities there were already so poor. The perceptions of people who did go to safety centres, as shown in the provincial data, reveal that satisfaction was low compared to other affected regions of the country. Less than half were satisfied with space and facilities (42.1%) or security and protection (45.0%). Satisfaction was even lower for assistance with lost or damaged documentation (17.9%) and information and support for compensation applications (28.2%). Only 22.5% were satisfied with medical care and health services below most other affected regions.

Restoring services proved nearly impossible in some areas. Road access was the biggest problem. The condition of the roads was already poor even before the cyclone, and some still haven’t been cleared. Recovery is especially difficult because there’s no decent baseline infrastructure to restore, hence you can’t bring roads and other public facilities back to a “good” condition when they were never good, even before the disaster.

Water systems faced their own complications. Many households get water from natural sources or small community projects, and not the centralised state system. These sources are often in the middle of the disaster zone and therefore got contaminated during the floods and landslides.

Long-term recovery remains stalled. Without basic infrastructure, areas that are still hard to reach keep struggling to get the support they need for rebuilding.

Taken together, what do these testaments mean? Disaster response can’t be the same for everyone. The Malaiyaha Tamil community has been double marginalised because they were already living with structural inequalities such as poor infrastructure, geographic isolation, and inadequate services which have been exacerbated by Cyclone Ditwah. An effective and fair disaster response needs to account for these underlying vulnerabilities. It requires interventions tailored to the historical, economic, and infrastructural realities that marginalized communities face every day. On top of that, it highlights the importance of dealing with climate disasters, given the fact that vulnerable communities could face more devastating impacts compared to others.

(Shashik Silva is a researcher with the Social Scientists’ Association of Sri Lanka)

by Shashik Silva ✍️

Features

Crucial test for religious and ethnic harmony in Bangladesh

Published

1 day ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

A political protest that led to governmental change in Bangladesh mid last year. (photograph: imago)

Will the Bangladesh parliamentary election bring into being a government that will ensure ethnic and religious harmony in the country? This is the poser on the lips of peace-loving sections in Bangladesh and a principal concern of those outside who mean the country well.

The apprehensions are mainly on the part of religious and ethnic minorities. The parliamentary poll of February 12th is expected to bring into existence a government headed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Islamist oriented Jamaat-e-Islami party and this is where the rub is. If these parties win, will it be a case of Bangladesh sliding in the direction of a theocracy or a state where majoritarian chauvinism thrives?

Chief of the Jamaat, Shafiqur Rahman, who was interviewed by sections of the international media recently said that there is no need for minority groups in Bangladesh to have the above fears. He assured, essentially, that the state that will come into being will be equable and inclusive. May it be so, is likely to be the wish of those who cherish a tension-free Bangladesh.

The party that could have posed a challenge to the above parties, the Awami League Party of former Prime Minister Hasina Wased, is out of the running on account of a suspension that was imposed on it by the authorities and the mentioned majoritarian-oriented parties are expected to have it easy at the polls.

A positive that has emerged against the backdrop of the poll is that most ordinary people in Bangladesh, be they Muslim or Hindu, are for communal and religious harmony and it is hoped that this sentiment will strongly prevail, going ahead. Interestingly, most of them were of the view, when interviewed, that it was the politicians who sowed the seeds of discord in the country and this viewpoint is widely shared by publics all over the region in respect of the politicians of their countries.

Some sections of the Jamaat party were of the view that matters with regard to the orientation of governance are best left to the incoming parliament to decide on but such opinions will be cold comfort for minority groups. If the parliamentary majority comes to consist of hard line Islamists, for instance, there is nothing to prevent the country from going in for theocratic governance. Consequently, minority group fears over their safety and protection cannot be prevented from spreading.

Therefore, we come back to the question of just and fair governance and whether Bangladesh’s future rulers could ensure these essential conditions of democratic rule. The latter, it is hoped, will be sufficiently perceptive to ascertain that a Bangladesh rife with religious and ethnic tensions, and therefore unstable, would not be in the interests of Bangladesh and those of the region’s countries.

Unfortunately, politicians region-wide fall for the lure of ethnic, religious and linguistic chauvinism. This happens even in the case of politicians who claim to be democratic in orientation. This fate even befell Bangladesh’s Awami League Party, which claims to be democratic and socialist in general outlook.

We have it on the authority of Taslima Nasrin in her ground-breaking novel, ‘Lajja’, that the Awami Party was not of any substantial help to Bangladesh’s Hindus, for example, when violence was unleashed on them by sections of the majority community. In fact some elements in the Awami Party were found to be siding with the Hindus’ murderous persecutors. Such are the temptations of hard line majoritarianism.

In Sri Lanka’s past numerous have been the occasions when even self-professed Leftists and their parties have conveniently fallen in line with Southern nationalist groups with self-interest in mind. The present NPP government in Sri Lanka has been waxing lyrical about fostering national reconciliation and harmony but it is yet to prove its worthiness on this score in practice. The NPP government remains untested material.

As a first step towards national reconciliation it is hoped that Sri Lanka’s present rulers would learn the Tamil language and address the people of the North and East of the country in Tamil and not Sinhala, which most Tamil-speaking people do not understand. We earnestly await official language reforms which afford to Tamil the dignity it deserves.

An acid test awaits Bangladesh as well on the nation-building front. Not only must all forms of chauvinism be shunned by the incoming rulers but a secular, truly democratic Bangladesh awaits being licked into shape. All identity barriers among people need to be abolished and it is this process that is referred to as nation-building.

On the foreign policy frontier, a task of foremost importance for Bangladesh is the need to build bridges of amity with India. If pragmatism is to rule the roost in foreign policy formulation, Bangladesh would place priority to the overcoming of this challenge. The repatriation to Bangladesh of ex-Prime Minister Hasina could emerge as a steep hurdle to bilateral accord but sagacious diplomacy must be used by Bangladesh to get over the problem.

A reply to N.A. de S. Amaratunga

A response has been penned by N.A. de S. Amaratunga (please see p5 of ‘The Island’ of February 6th) to a previous column by me on ‘ India shaping-up as a Swing State’, published in this newspaper on January 29th , but I remain firmly convinced that India remains a foremost democracy and a Swing State in the making.

If the countries of South Asia are to effectively manage ‘murderous terrorism’, particularly of the separatist kind, then they would do well to adopt to the best of their ability a system of government that provides for power decentralization from the centre to the provinces or periphery, as the case may be. This system has stood India in good stead and ought to prove effective in all other states that have fears of disintegration.

Moreover, power decentralization ensures that all communities within a country enjoy some self-governing rights within an overall unitary governance framework. Such power-sharing is a hallmark of democratic governance.

Features

Celebrating Valentine’s Day …

Published

1 day ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating love, romance, and affection, and this is how some of our well-known personalities plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day – 14th February:

Merlina Fernando (Singer)

Yes, it’s a special day for lovers all over the world and it’s even more special to me because 14th February is the birthday of my husband Suresh, who’s the lead guitarist of my band Mission.

We have planned to celebrate Valentine’s Day and his Birthday together and it will be a wonderful night as always.

We will be having our fans and close friends, on that night, with their loved ones at Highso – City Max hotel Dubai, from 9.00 pm onwards.

Lorensz Francke (Elvis Tribute Artiste)

On Valentine’s Day I will be performing a live concert at a Wealthy Senior Home for Men and Women, and their families will be attending, as well.

I will be performing live with romantic, iconic love songs and my song list would include ‘Can’t Help falling in Love’, ‘Love Me Tender’, ‘Burning Love’, ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’, ‘The Wonder of You’ and ‘’It’s Now or Never’ to name a few.

To make Valentine’s Day extra special I will give the Home folks red satin scarfs.

Emma Shanaya (Singer)

I plan on spending the day of love with my girls, especially my best friend. I don’t have a romantic Valentine this year but I am thrilled to spend it with the girl that loves me through and through. I’ll be in Colombo and look forward to go to a cute cafe and spend some quality time with my childhood best friend Zulha.

JAYASRI

Emma-and-Maneeka

This Valentine’s Day the band JAYASRI we will be really busy; in the morning we will be landing in Sri Lanka, after our Oman Tour; then in the afternoon we are invited as Chief Guests at our Maris Stella College Sports Meet, Negombo, and late night we will be with LineOne band live in Karandeniya Open Air Down South. Everywhere we will be sharing LOVE with the mass crowds.

Kay Jay (Singer)

I will stay at home and cook a lovely meal for lunch, watch some movies, together with Sanjaya, and, maybe we go out for dinner and have a lovely time. Come to think of it, every day is Valentine’s Day for me with Sanjaya Alles.

Maneka Liyanage (Beauty Tips)

On this special day, I celebrate love by spending meaningful time with the people I cherish. I prepare food with love and share meals together, because food made with love brings hearts closer. I enjoy my leisure time with them — talking, laughing, sharing stories, understanding each other, and creating beautiful memories. My wish for this Valentine’s Day is a world without fighting — a world where we love one another like our own beloved, where we do not hurt others, even through a single word or action. Let us choose kindness, patience, and understanding in everything we do.

Janaka Palapathwala (Singer)

Janaka

Valentine’s Day should not be the only day we speak about love.

From the moment we are born into this world, we seek love, first through the very drop of our mother’s milk, then through the boundless care of our Mother and Father, and the embrace of family.

Love is everywhere. All living beings, even plants, respond in affection when they are loved.

As we grow, we learn to love, and to be loved. One day, that love inspires us to build a new family of our own.

Love has no beginning and no end. It flows through every stage of life, timeless, endless, and eternal.

Natasha Rathnayake (Singer)

We don’t have any special plans for Valentine’s Day. When you’ve been in love with the same person for over 25 years, you realise that love isn’t a performance reserved for one calendar date. My husband and I have never been big on public displays, or grand gestures, on 14th February. Our love is expressed quietly and consistently, in ordinary, uncelebrated moments.

With time, you learn that love isn’t about proving anything to the world or buying into a commercialised idea of romance—flowers that wilt, sweets that spike blood sugar, and gifts that impress briefly but add little real value. In today’s society, marketing often pushes the idea that love is proven by how much money you spend, and that buying things is treated as a sign of commitment.

Real love doesn’t need reminders or price tags. It lives in showing up every day, choosing each other on unromantic days, and nurturing the relationship intentionally and without an audience.

This isn’t a judgment on those who enjoy celebrating Valentine’s Day. It’s simply a personal choice.

Melloney Dassanayake (Miss Universe Sri Lanka 2024)

I truly believe it’s beautiful to have a day specially dedicated to love. But, for me, Valentine’s Day goes far beyond romantic love alone. It celebrates every form of love we hold close to our hearts: the love for family, friends, and that one special person who makes life brighter. While 14th February gives us a moment to pause and celebrate, I always remind myself that love should never be limited to just one day. Every single day should feel like Valentine’s Day – constant reminder to the people we love that they are never alone, that they are valued, and that they matter.

I’m incredibly blessed because, for me, every day feels like Valentine’s Day. My special person makes sure of that through the smallest gestures, the quiet moments, and the simple reminders that love lives in the details. He shows me that it’s the little things that count, and that love doesn’t need grand stages to feel extraordinary. This Valentine’s Day, perfection would be something intimate and meaningful: a cozy picnic in our home garden, surrounded by nature, laughter, and warmth, followed by an abstract drawing session where we let our creativity flow freely. To me, that’s what love is – simple, soulful, expressive, and deeply personal. When love is real, every ordinary moment becomes magical.

Noshin De Silva (Actress)

Valentine’s Day is one of my favourite holidays! I love the décor, the hearts everywhere, the pinks and reds, heart-shaped chocolates, and roses all around. But honestly, I believe every day can be Valentine’s Day.

It doesn’t have to be just about romantic love. It’s a chance to celebrate love in all its forms with friends, family, or even by taking a little time for yourself.

Whether you’re spending the day with someone special or enjoying your own company, it’s a reminder to appreciate meaningful connections, show kindness, and lead with love every day.

And yes, I’m fully on theme this year with heart nail art and heart mehendi design!

Wishing everyone a very happy Valentine’s Day, but, remember, love yourself first, and don’t forget to treat yourself.

Sending my love to all of you.