By Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha
By the time this article appears, the crisis besetting the country may have been resolved, but I much doubt it. The solution is so obvious, but though most people understand it, and many people want it, it will not happen because Ranil Wickremesinghe simply will not resign.
He will have to be removed, and that will take a long time because no one has the will to bell the cat. And while all those who will benefit from his prowl around in circles, those who will benefit from his clinging on, namely the Joint Opposition, will enjoy the spectacle.
But they too want him gone, not only for the sake of the country, which he will damage more and more the longer he stays, but also for the sake of returning to a simple two party system through which we will be better able to resolve the difficult issues now faced by the country. These include not only the national question but also the question of how to restore confidence so that we get the investments we so desperately need.With regard to the national question, the solution will now be easier, since the flirtation the TNA engaged in with the UNP has clearly damaged it massively. In 2010 it emerged as the only serious representative of the Tamil people.
Given the circumstances then, it was ready to compromise, but the Rajapaksa Government failed to settle the issue when it would have been relatively easy. Then however, doing well again in the 2015 election with the UNP was clearly prepared to sacrifice even the unitary nature of the country to please those it saw as its principal supporters, the TNA raised the stakes.
One argument was that they would lose out electorally to extremists if they did not play hardball, but that argument has conclusively been exploded by the latest elections, which brought moderates as well as extremists to the fore.
Now if there were a Government that were sympathetic but firm in place even Sumanthiran, who has spent the last three years aspiring to an Anton Balasingham role, will return to sanity and work on the basis of what is possible, not what will allow him to inherit the TNA.
With regard to investment, if they do not have to deal with Ranil Wickremesinghe and his cohorts, who they know are concerned only with pleasing the West, the Chinese will go back to being the sympathetic interlocutors as they have always been to Sri Lanka unless they feel both insulted and threatened. And having made it clear that we are not aligned to anyone, we will be able to deal on equal terms with the West without having to accept blindly whatever they offer.
Our External Resources Department, if properly advised, can insist on aid being aid, and not poured in to swell the coffers of the advocacy groups that enjoy such lavish lifestyles while the people who should be the real recipients of aid have to tighten their belts more and more.
And with a solid more honest Government in place we can make sure that the billions Mahendran and his associates plundered are returned, that Interpol will work in terms of Sri Lankan needs not Wickremesinghe’s instructions. If new legislation is required to ensure restorative justice, that can be expedited without Ranil putting endless spokes in the wheel to save his agents.
But all this requires determination. It requires Karu to make it clear that he wants to be the Prime Minister, instead of being mealy mouthed about it as he has been for the last decade, with increasing damage to his credibility and his career.
It requires the Joint Opposition to guarantee that it will not bring him down for the rest of the Presidential term, provided they are given the Leader of the Opposition post and also that Karu restricts the Cabinet to thirty since there should be no pretence of this being a national government. And it requires the President to be firm in allocating portfolios to able and honest people, with clear instructions to work to repair at least some of the damage which are inflicted recently.
Courtesy : Ceylon Today
