Insight by Sunil Kumar For Lankaweb

Monday, 11 June 2024

 SJB Leader SajithPremadasa in a recent  election pledge to the people of Sri Lanka where he highlights plans to engage with India’s top 500,000 firms could be an unsubstantial proposition.

While he encourages existing investors to bring friends and partners who are yet to take a chance on SL he pledges to act as catalyst and facilitator for valuable investments which is all very good but where was he when the Presidency was offered to him on a platter but declined, paving the way for present President Ranil Wickremasinghe to step into the slot and initiate phenomenal changes which not only changed the composition of Sri Lanka from being a country on a downward spiral on the road to economic and financial disaster but also sustained the world’s confidence particularly the West that he was a man of vast leadership capability and someone who is assertive and forthwith driving away many fears the country harboured in times of adversity.

One can hardly be presumptious about the role Premadasa would play as National Leader by comparison with Ranil Wickremasinghe as his pledge whichs at this time seems rather hollow with an acumen far below that of the President whose success lies in his capacity to make judicious decisions and win over the confidence of many who have despaired over the situation in Sri Lanka and today in Sri Lanka there is hardly any other individual who could be as assertive as he is where the people should be thankful to him for having delivered at least for now that the country is stable in a manner of speaking and that he could be relied upon to deliver the needs of Sri lanka in a vortex of  near impossible circumstances where all else  seems hollow rhetoric by anyone else in the political spectrum.

When Opposition leader and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa urges top Indian companies to invest in Sri Lanka  promising stability and growth if he wins the upcoming Presidential election it seems he has stolen a page out of the Wickremasinghe Agenda who seems to have already fortified the issue on similar terms with the rapport he has built up with India especially after the Indian president Mody’s recent election victory where caution is need about what concessions need to be granted India with out compromising integrity and too much leeway for India which could always be perilous from many perspectives if certain protocols are not adhered to and it takes someone with political savvy to maintain this and be aware of it.

It should not be  a random invitation for Indian companies towards uncontrollable investment which could easily lead towards difficult circumstances as history has proved and the Indians ever so glad to be granted ‘ Carte Blanche’ to a free run of industrial Sri Lanka where they call the shots! It could be a downright dangerous venture which in the long run could prove to  be regrettable.

Premadasa’s pitch despite assurances to potential investors that his administration would create a favourable business environment does not necessarily mean an end to the nation’s financial issues where to the contrary it could easily compound them for very obvious reasons as learned from the past.

Although it may seem like there is a lot of darkness which it really is, the aim to create a silver lining in a few more months according to Premadasa who has neither substantiated the securities that are need for such a venture nor the areas in which he intends to conduct them, the task seems an improbable one.Premadasa highlighted his plans to actively engage with the top 500,000 companies in India, inviting them to set up operations in Sri Lanka which does not have a popular mandate towards guaranteed success by virtue of what may seem reckless rather than judicious.

We will ensure that stability with growth will be the order of the day,” Premadasa said, promising a bright future for Indian investments in Sri Lanka under his leadership which of course is rhetoric in an election year.

In the overall scheme of things such ventures probably need consensus through a referendum perhaps or best handled by the President who is a taskmaster of navigating through situations that need judicious aforethought so as not to imperil the delicate balance which now exists between stability and growth planning for the future despite the creativity of the scheme which could be more destructive and detrimental to the country if viewed objectively relative towards the annexation of territory by India!!.

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