The elections are over and the dust is settling on a campaign strangely lacking the usual Sri Lankan drama and exuberance. As expected the SLPP has won handsomely. It was perhaps the most orderly and peaceful election in our democratic history. The fear of the virus, Covid-19, probably doused the usual popular enthusiasm that is associated with Sri Lankan elections but it may also have contributed to more mature electioneering. A discredited and divided Opposition, more given to self-destructive, infighting fared poorly. Now the task of delivering on the promises made, not only during the parliamentary election campaign, but also during the Presidential election campaign of 2019, becomes the overwhelming challenge.
The new government’s ten point platform, Saubagye Dekma - Vistas of Prosperity, is familiar to all. It was the vision that was projected to a jaded public by an enthusiastic coalition of influencers in the Sri Lankan society - doctors, lawyers, teachers, journalists, engineers, public servants, top notch business people, farmers, students and importantly, the clergy, through an imaginatively developed and committed organisation, the Viyath Maga - The Way of the Intellects. Disenchanted with the decline in our society, many saw this as the ‘Last Chance - Anthima Awasthawa’ to arrest Lanka’s rapid slide to the bottom of international rankings, economically, socially and politically.
Many placed their simple faith in the message eloquently and passionately articulated by the Viyath Maga speakers and will expect the Government to deliver.
From being a small but respected and well regarded player in the international arena, Lanka achieved a status of insignificant non-relevance over the years and this condition would be even more accentuated if not for nature’s generous endowment of geographical location.
Immediately, the new Government will be required to address the difficult task of arresting the economic decline of the country. Saubagye Dekma sets out the blueprint for this. Ravaged by the impact of Covid-19, the unprecedented global downturn and the lack of vision and consistency of the previous regime, there will be no magic wand type solution to our economic malaise.
Economic challenges
Any substantive recovery will take time. The Government will need to take firm, at times unpopular, measures in the short term. But primarily, it must take the people into its confidence and explain its economic challenges in simple terms, not as excuses for non-performance and incompetency, but as the foundation for the solutions it is proposing.
The people must be ready to work with the Government during this difficult period.
The solutions must be the result of careful analysis rather than ad hoc or populist impulses.
Whether the focus is on productive job creation, the diversion of scarce resources into agriculture and food production or the proactive encouragement of foreign direct investments, the Government will need to draw up a strategic plan and stick to it.
The key people appointed to formulate and implement these initiatives must be those with a recognised intellectual and practical background with the national interest at heart and not those who supported the campaign of the winning party with a view to securing a part of the spoils on victory. The people need to be informed in clear terms what is intended so that their confidence in the Government can be retained. As an example, I recall in the early eighties, with Australia facing an economic quagmire, the newly elected Labour Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, convened a summit of political parties, trade unions, business groups, primary producers, artists and intellects and hammered out a policy framework which laid the foundation for Australia’s unprecedented and sustained economic growth for the next 28 years until the shock disruption caused by Covid-19.
At the time, Australia was socially divided, economically in sharp decline and in the words of Foreign Minister, Bill Haydon, Australians were fast heading towards becoming the poor whites of Asia. The business community expects economic policy consistency and predictability to instil confidence. Reliable political leadership and clear messaging becomes critical.
No one can be expected to invest in a country, especially, foreign investors, that is lurching from one ad hoc experiment to another.
Decisions must be made through thorough study and adequate consultation taking into account global circumstances. Perceptions matter considerably in generating business confidence and transparency becomes critical.
Education system
The country has produced outstanding economists and business people and it will be the responsibility of the government to attract the best into its fold. Many of Sri Lanka’s talent left the country to escape the uncertainties of the times and many achieved admirable success. Some, at least would return to serve the nation if the circumstances and challenges were right. Others, given the proper incentives may consider moving their assets to Sri Lanka.
Reforming the education system goes hand in hand. The current system of producing students in crowded tutories with no marketable skills must be changed to one that produces young people with skills needed for a modern economy. It is an embarrassment that we have only succeeded in producing 1.4 million tuk tuk drivers through our much vaunted free education system. The students we produce with paper qualifications but no employment potential only generate disenchantment, social instability and a burden for the Government as we have nurtured a culturally inculcated tendency to blame the Government for not providing them with proper employment. Three youth uprisings must surely have taught us appropriate lessons.
Saubagye Dekma contains proposals for creating a better education system that will contribute towards economic advancement, and it is an immediate challenge to the new Government.
The country needs to look at options to extend technological know how to the rural areas, employ distance learning and teaching and make the population tech savvy.
The economy must be nurtured in a secure environment. The electorate, including the minorities, responded overwhelmingly to the promise to beef up security.
The type of event that hobbled our economy in 2019, the Easter Sunday bombings, must never be allowed to happen again as it dealt a serious body blow from which we never had the opportunity to recover. The security sector, in particular, intelligence gathering must be beefed up and adequate resources provided.
Training both locally and overseas with friendly security services must be encouraged. While Sri Lanka can rightly boast of a competent security establishment, there are other countries with cutting edge abilities from which we can learn.
Up-to-date technology should form part of a new security architecture. Security these days is an essential factor in enhancing perceptions, especially of economic stability and safety. Perceptions that suffered hugely due to the security lapses connected with the Easter Sunday bombings and the attendant carnage need to be restored.
Sri Lanka also suffers from allegations of corruption and mismanagement. These perceptions can be rectified and Saubagye Dekma promises this. Singapore did not enjoy a particularly glowing reputation in the sixties and seventies.
But under Lee Kuan Yew’s firm and visionary leadership, not only did Singapore drop its sleazy reputation, it also acquired a blemish less one. Competent and skilled managers were given the responsibility of making Singapore great.
Lee eschewed nepotism and came down hard on graft. Today Singapore sets the standard to the rest of the world, including the West which has taken upon itself the role of establishing and implementing standards.
Sri Lanka also needs such visionary leadership and the election victory provides the Prime Minister and the President the mandate to do exactly that.
Move forward
There are many initiatives adopted by the international community which Sri Lanka must usefully emulate, not only to keep pace with the rest of the world and enjoy their goodwill but also to move forward socially and economically.
Our efforts to realise the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the UN in 2015 were materialising slowly despite the multifarious challenges, but we are now seriously hampered by Covid-19. Progress, to the extent possible, with the SDGs, would be immensely helpful in our economic revival efforts. The environmental goals of the SDGs reflected in the Paris Accords found ready acceptance in the Saubagye Dekma which committed Sri Lanka to producing 80% energy needs with renewables.
While a high profile switch to renewables will enhance Sri Lanka’s global image as a responsible country, in the medium and long term it will bring financial and ecological advantage by introducing Lanka into a leading edge sector of technology.
Many elements of the Western media lose no opportunity to discredit the political and military leaders of the country without much substantiation.
The military is continuously denigrated without much evidence and on hearsay as war criminals.
The attitude of elements of the international media will influence other countries’ and their leaders’ perceptions of Sri Lanka.
This will also impact on tourism and those making investment decisions. We will need to take a serious look at how to address this issue to rectify the damaging negative perceptions of the country, its leaders and its Security Forces.
