Friday 22nd December, 2023

Marriages are said to be made in heaven, but the political marriage between the SLPP and the UNP was made in hell, (‘economic hell’ being the term President Ranil Wickremesinghe has used to describe the politico-economic situation in the country last year). There are signs of the matrimonial bond between the two parties falling apart. Political marriages of convenience are usually short-lived.

SLPP leader and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has fired another salvo of accusations at the UNP; he has issued a media statement, tracing the genesis of the current economic crisis to the issuance of ISBs (International Sovereign Bonds) by the UNP-led Yahapalana government to the tune of USD 10 billion.

Rajapaksa’s aforesaid media statement could be considered the SLPP’s response to the UNP politicians’ claim that their leader, Wickremesinghe, is toiling to rebuild the economy ruined by the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government, and therefore he deserves to win the next presidential election with the UNP being voted back into power. With an election year approaching, the SLPP is apparently trying to rubbish the UNP’s claims.

What Rajapaksa has left unsaid is that his rule (2005–2015) also saw a sharp increase in the country’s debt with borrowed dollars being invested in Ozymandian projects, such as the Lotus Tower, the Mattala Airport, the Hambantota Port, etc.

Rampant corruption, which characterised that regime, also led to huge increases in the costs of highway construction projects, etc., funded with foreign loans. But for such reckless borrowing, wasteful expenditure and corruption, it would have been possible to reduce the country’s debt burden significantly.

The Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration totally mismanaged the economy and ignored the Central Bank’s warnings of an impending foreign exchange reserves crisis and calls for remedial action. If the Rajapaksas had sought IMF assistance before the depletion of forex reserves, the country would have had some bargaining power, and a bailout could have been negotiated on less stringent terms.

True, Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia war adversely impacted the Sri Lankan economy, which however would not have gone into a tailspin if it had been managed properly. Excessive money printing, and an ill-conceived blanket ban on agrochemicals, and politically-motivated tax cuts and pandemic relief also accelerated the pace of the economic crisis.

The Rajapaksas, while in the Opposition, made an issue of excessive borrowing under the Yahapalana government, which consisted of the UNP and the SLFP among others. The question is they made UNP leader, Wickremesinghe, the President and entrusted him with the task of reviving the economy. Nothing can be more damning to a ruling party than to rely on a person it has defeated and declared as a failure to handle the economy. Hence the validity of the assertion that the SLPP-UNP administration is without either a mandate or a moral right to govern the country, and elections therefore must be held without further delay.

SLPP Chairman Sagara Kariyawasam has lamented the aggravation of the people’s woes due to tax hikes, which, he says, run counter to the SLPP’s policies. Will he explain why the SLPP overwhelmingly voted for the VAT (Amendment) Bill on 11 Dec.? There is no way the SLPP can absolve itself of the blame for the tax and tariff hikes and other such painful measures. It has fully endorsed President Wickremesinghe’s economic strategy.

Sri Lankan politicians are adept at playing the blame game. But they cannot dupe the discerning public. None of the political parties represented in Parliament is free from the blame for the current economic crisis. The holier-than-thou JVP threw a lifeline to the UNP in 2018, when President Maithripala Sirisena and Mahinda attempted to wrest control of Parliament by sacking the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Yahapalana government; it sided with the UNP purportedly to protect democracy, and thereby prolonged the latter’s rule and borrowing spree. The TNA did likewise by helping the UNP retain a working majority in Parliament. The SJB leaders were in the UNP at the time. Hence the popular demand that all 225 members of the current Parliament go home.