By the people, of the people, for the people; but no government

Raju Korti
War has many affiliations and stakeholders, poverty has none. After witnessing the worst ethnic turmoil all through the eighties and early part of the nineties on its soil, poor (!) Sri Lanka has discovered this the harder way. What began as is usually described as "economic crisis" has blown up to a complete bankruptcy. The horses ruling the country like their personal fiefdom have bolted without shutting the door when their stables became too hot for their posteriors.

Situation came to the boil on Saturday when large swarms of protesters descended on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for a situation of the country's own making. With suspended repayments of $7 billion in foreign debt, foreign reserves almost wiped out and no import of food, fuel and medicine, Sri Lankans are faced with the prospect of not knowing from where their next meal ticket would be coming. While the Covid cut into its tourism-related economy, the dynastic Rajapakses played to the gallery with populist tax cuts,

At this juncture, it is not significant that the Rajapakse dynasty has ben evicted, A lot is being said that the President quit when it was difficult to dislodge him constitutionally. It is a question of survival of the entire country in dire straits. For those who are citing the family tree as the root cause of the crisis, forget that the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe also refused to vacate the chair for his own political agenda.

To me, it is obvious that the nation borrowing heavily to plug years of budget shortfalls and trade deficits squandered on ill-conceived white elephant projects, As Lanka's third largest creditor after Japan and Asian Development Bank, China has been blamed for exacerbating the crisis. Prime Minister Narendra Modi who never fails to refer to his philosophy of Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam, has extended a helping hand but given its nature, it remains doubtful how much of it will actually translate into genuine help.

The IMF bail-out package is nowhere in sight. In any case it comes with a rider Shylock would be embarrassed about -- that the government must raise interest rates and taxes as condition for the loan.  That is killing the country to bring it to life. Russia has little time to take time off from their military engagement in Ukraine. In short, a terrifying situation for the broke and broken Lankans. The scenes at the presidential palace were reminiscent of what happened in Afghanistan after the resurgent Taliban overturned the elected dispensation. It is a classic case of anarchy being worse than the government.

The Prime Minister has a remedy which is worse than the malaise. The cash-strapped government will print money to pay employee's salaries with zero thought for an inflation on a higher trajectory. He was just a gamble by Rajapakse that didn't pay off. However, in the midst of the raging crisis, the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka made a specious but hilarious statement. "Protests should be peaceful. Chaos and force will not fix the country's economy." She is not deprived and doesn't stand in queues.

Those who say that Covid-19 has sent the country's economy in a tailspin and is in free fall now are dreading the prospect of looking at a scenario in case international community does not unlock its wallet on humanitarian grounds.

In my blog on April 1 last, I wrote: "Gotabaya Rajapakse has a fair history of riding rough shod over country's democratic systems, Assuming the presidential office hasn't helped him get rid of the army uniform he wore in the past. He is not known to believe much in media freedom and has often threatened it of reprisals and has been accused of corruption in defence procurement. When I met his elder brother and (then) PM Mahinda Rajapakse in Mumbai in 2006, I recall how he had outlined his plans to get his younger brother in Lanka's political ma9instream.

With the security forces given a free hand to put down public protests, the Sri Lankan government is asking for bigger trouble as such measures of retribution never work in the longer run. It is difficult to believe the levels of stupidity government get to in crises of this magnitude." 
The irony is Sri Lanka has no government and therefore no governance today. It only has people by the people, of the people an for the people, Democracy of another kind!