Opinion
Rise of Siri Laka Hingamanaya
There is one more Gotabaya Gazette, (of course signed by Basil) announcing the ban or restrictions on imports of non-essential goods. GG is the stuff of Pohottuva governance or misgovernance.
You must not worry too much about the absence of apples, grapes, raisins, beauty creams and lotions, and even freezers and air-conditioners in the coming weeks and months. You can be sure there will be a revised GG or BG, which is the stuff of the current trend in governance.
Just keep remembering that you are not anywhere near the Members of Parliament, Cabinet or State Ministers, who have such amazing earnings, and feel so bad about not having enough milk flowing in the Parliament canteen!
The Prices are Rising. Just keep a watch on the rise. That is all that citizens or saamanya or podu janaya can do, when Rajapaksa or Gota Power of today makes a joke about protecting the rights and easing the hardships of the people.
There is also a greater possibility of the Rajapaksa Pavul Kattiya or Pohottuva fellows getting the licenses to import newly banned non-essentials. That is how Gota Business works today, which has nothing to do with the realities of life or hardships in society.
Sri Lanka is moving to a new Age of Hardship, ensured by our Rajapaksa Rulers, and also made worse by the armed battle going on in Ukraine, with the full-force backing of Russia. This is the same Russia that is facing huge sanctions from almost the entire West – US, EU, NATO or any others – and the Russia from where we have sought some millions of rubles helping us have a few more imports! That is the style of Gotabaya or Rajapaksa Begging, which is the trend of Siri Laka Hingamanaya.
This begging is not confined to the search for dollars, sterling, francs or rubles and any other foreign currency. It is the very stuff of today’s Economic Council thinking. We have been through 74 years of independent governance, and had Economic or other councils to advise the government on many key issues. Have we ever had such a council with three of its members being from the same family? Never.
The 11-member economic Council has three Rajapaksa members – President Gotabaya, PM Mahinda and Finance Minister Basil. Does anyone know what their special or high-level knowledge of Economics and Financial Management is? Just keep guessing. They are also joined by Highways Minister Johnston Fernando and Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage. Keep guessing more on how much this Council will be able to tell us about progress in the Economic Sector.
If you need any more confused thinking of the current economic situation in Sri Lanka, this Council also has the Central Bank’s Governor Ajith Nivard! How great this can be,
The Pohottuva Governance must feel better in the Beggarly Politics of none other than the United States and President Joe Biden. The US has suddenly found the need to get help from Venezuela and President Nicolas Maduro, who has been cut off from all US relations for several years. Guess why?
To get oil to help bring down the price of oil in the US, having banned imports from Russia, and hopefully stopping any sale of Venezuelan oil to Putin and Russia.
There is even more beggarly politics from the US, with its call to Saudi Arabia and the UAE to increase oil exports – to help Europe with its rising oil and gas problems. The two ME countries have not agreed, so far. Has President Biden forgotten how much he has criticized Saudi Arabia for the killing of journalist Jamal Khasoggi? Has the US and Biden also forgotten that Russia is also a member of OPEC – Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries!
This beggarly politics of the US will certainly give good feelings to the Pohottuva leadership, which has US citizen Basil Rajapaksa, and also has Gotabaya, who was a US citizen till middle 2019, and still has all family members having US citizenship. This is the Americanu Balaya – the American Power in Rajapaksa Governance.
The editorial of The Island on March 10, was headlined “Legalised plunder”. It spoke of the hugely draconian laws that are being used to grab the funds and assets of Russian oligarchs in the West. Criticism and some actions against Russia and Russians certainly have reason and purpose. But what will soon happen to the countries of the Third World, including Sri Lanka, as this sanction battle between Russia and the West goes on? What will be the new range of prices of oil, wheat, fertiliser and gas in our parts of the world?
Are we to await many more Gotabaya Gazettes to deal with prices rising and economic disasters that will give more meaning to the Siri Laka Hingamanaya?