Insight By Sunil Kumar

 March16.2023

 ” Political, social and economic issues have suddenly sprung up alarmingly” says a popular and credible Watchdog reporting to the Media  which despite their negative sounding nature needs to be heeded  in  this expected” Era of Progress ” since the woeful troubles of the past due mainly to a wayward, corrupt and deplorably failed administration still not apprehended for their crimes of attrition and continue their existences perhaps covertly in some measure.!

 Indisputably the Watchdog says  “The constitution is appreciably violated, state thuggery and aggression are set in place to restrain  people’s uprising thus silencing the people’s voices as a violation of  democracy. The Government has no concern of people’s sovereign rights  but says the priority is to restore the economy at any cost,  neglecting social responsibilities as a form of Governmental Policy  which precludes the rights of the population beyond any small  measure.”

 Now here’s the alarming part ! “With these actions, the Government  displays very specific characteristics towards heading to a tyrannical> regime. Will people tolerate such evolving of a power center or resort to an arms struggle in the near future? The leaders should very well  be aware of the 1971 and 1989 insurrections of the JVP and the civil  war with LTTE which intensified since 1983 and ended with mass  killings  and carrying out violence through State machinery, is the  Government inviting the” Aragalaya” or very forceful group of  organized conscientious objectors  to resort to similar struggles the  question has been asked? Where it is certainly hoped not as the Nation  has been,through the rigors of  domestic uprisings of the recent past  of a painful nature.The Government needs to be warned and advised  towards taking the necessary measures within a legitimate and> constitutionally correct framework towards correcting an erratic path> it seems to be following.

 Regarding elections (with relevance to the LG Elections also) : These are the core principles of a democracy and the sovereign rights of the  citizens to choose the members to serve for the country and people for  a set period being followed?. Tactics recently employed by the  Government are said to be in total violation of democratic rights and  against the norms of a Socialist Democratic Republic” which has  become a decorated label of the state and for marketing.The ruling of  the Sri Lanka Supreme Court (SC) with three judges on the bench sent a  clear message to the President and the respective heads of government  who carry out orders scripted by the executive, willingly or  unwillingly. People are waiting for a new date to be announced by the  Election Commission (EC) where the State Minister of Finance assured  that the Government will abide and honour the SC ruling. It is the> fervent hope of all concerned that the Government will not resort to  any further detrimental scenarios to delay or null the local> government election.

 It is visibly apparent that the past few weeks have seen opposites  expressing their views criticizing the tactics of the Government to  delay and prevent the elections sighting quotes of Government MPs that  the current situation is not conducive for elections and must restore  the economy first before any elections. In support of the  Government,.A debatable point with some credibility where the> President has addressed Parliament lately and said there is no  election in the offing and addressed Government MPs for assurance> asking “how many of you have been canvassed by opposition, primarily the SJB not to hold elections? While this rhetoric on the part of the of the Chief Executive has been deemed questionable yet his parliamentary cohorts unreservedly acknowledge what was said including the PM,  leader of the house and chief Government whip.Point to ponder upon certainly.

 While the opposition party leaders vehemently were critical of  the  Government action, the NPP response was somewhat gentle and in total,  quite opposite to their street protests. The President also mentioned  that some have told him that they will continue aggressive street  protests but will sit-down when the time is ripe, also somewhat  alarming wondering what exactly was meant by such a duplicitous  statement!

  While the SJB approach is totally in contrast to the NPP which  believes that the path to force the Government was through street  protests and criticizing  the Government on their political platforms.

 In the recent protests however where one of their comrades got killed  as a result of confrontation with Police, Government will exercise its  full force within reasonable restraint to restrain the advancements  which is not surprising as the maintenance of Law and Order has to be  the foremost priority.

 For the past several months, the Government and Governor of CBSL

made> announcement that SL is now ready and the deal with IMF will be

signed

 off forthwith. Such statements will make the public happy in the short  term, but the prolonged delay and uncertainty will definitely create> anger and animosity. Rather than making damage control statements at> convenience the Government put enormous burden on the most vulnerable of the country which is the majority,and rather unfortunately has not moved a finger to lift the burden in spite of protests but instead are  spending lavishly on State celebrations as the Watchdog has observed..

 The recent economic performances should not be judged only by a few  details perhaps which favour the Government, such as the rise in  Rupee, bringing down inflation, thus saying the country is on the

path> of recovery. The rate of unemployment – very critical, GDP,

primary

 account balance, trade balance, per capita income, wage growth and many more need to be assessed and not to be compared with countries in  the South Asian region thus deceiving the public as their status of  the economies are not the same as Sri Lanka at present.

 The recent heavy-handed action of Police to disperse the nonviolent  protesters with  tear gases and water cannons are deplorable.

It is believed the officers on ground were carrying out  orders as per the Government’s instructions.The Government apparently does not care about the appeals of the Human Rights Council of Sri Lanka; it is also  questionable as to why international communities are keeping a blind  eye for carrying out these atrocities. Delayed intervention by the international communities will bring severe and multiple repercussions.

Countries cannot be governed by falsely presented  economic factors, neglecting the social responsibilities where  one  day the mass protestors are bound to achieve what they are aiming for,  social justice for every citizen, every family and every community  where the Watchdog’s observations do not seem to be inaccurate from  many perspectives albeit somewhat inflammatory and stringent to some observers  which of course is a matter of opinion.