Downtown Colombo and especially its upmarket commercial areas sparkled, and will continue to do so, in the night this Christmas season until the grand finale on New Year’s Eve. There is little indication that this city of night lights had experienced dire economic collapse just three years ago. The long lines of vehicles that once queued up for fuel outside petrol stations are overshadowed the much longer lines of traffic crawling on the way to the centre of celebrations at Galle Face Green, once the epicentre of the Aragalaya protests that brought down the government and had the president fleeing the country.
The hotels and nightclubs at the higher end have been packed to capacity. The cost of celebrating in them is steep but there seem to be a large number of people who can afford this expenditure, at least once in a while. New hotels such as ITC Ratnadeepa and City of Dreams overlooking water fronts create an image of Dubai at night. The ever-rising stock market is evidence for the new found confidence in the economic management of the country. There is a sense of political stability that comes not only from the 2/3 majority that the government enjoys in parliament but also from the inability of the opposition to make suggestions or proposals that are significantly different from the policies being followed by the government.
The desire to be part of the festivities was visible also in the large number of people who participate in them at different levels. They enjoyed themselves at the expensive buffets of five star hotels and in the open spaces of Galle Face Green, where there was a carnival and mobile eateries or in the big shopping malls where they might have a bite at Pizza Hut or engage in window shopping. The high costs of restaurants and consumer items relative to income are manifest in the struggle of the government to bring down the cost of living but with little success. The ongoing battle of the government with the so-called “Rice Mafia” has yielded positive results after the import of rice. But the price of coconuts remains high along with everything else that went up in price three years ago and did not come down.
SPREAD DEVELOPMENT
Outside of Colombo the Christmas celebrations were more muted if they existed at all. Christian churches were the focus of such initiatives. The big celebrations outside of Colombo would take place during the traditional Sinhala and Tamil New Year in April. Some of the provincial capitals like Jaffna had their own displays of festive lights and decorations, but they were not on the scale of Colombo. The difference in purchasing power of Colombo, the national capital, and the provincial capitals was reflected in this disparity.
One of the key justifications for the devolution of power is that there needs to be equitable development across the country and not only in the region of the capital city. Power and wealth tend to go together as those with power to decide will tend to make decisions that benefit themselves and the area they live in. The devolution of power to the provinces is to provide engines of development to the provincial capitals, ensuring wider distribution of the fruits of development. This aspect of devolution of power needs to be explained to the general population who see the concept as being a foreign-driven one meant to resolve the ethnic conflict. Devolved systems of governance have existed in Sri Lanka from the times of the kings due to the impracticalities of centralized rule.
So far the devolution of power in Sri Lanka has been seen in the context of resolving the ethnic conflict. But it can also be justified in a broader perspective as befits the “System Change” that was the main slogan of the Aragalaya protest movement that finally propelled the present government to power. The present system of devolution has been brought into operation through the 13th Amendment to the constitution which came at the height of the ethnic war in 1987 and was facilitated by the external intervention of India. It is not surprising, therefore, that the devolution of power under the 13th Amendment should be seen in that context and as having a bearing on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. Its implementation has been resisted by all successive governments, including the one that brought it into law. This may account for the government’s commitment to devolve power with the passage of a new constitution, but on a different basis to that which exists at present.
CHANGED BEHAVIOURS
The progress of the economy, which is expected to grow by 4 percent this year, and higher than anticipated by international financial institutions, will be due in part to the stability in the polity, which is reflected in increased investor confidence. This positive growth factor will be supplemented by the government’s promise of non-corrupt governance. Unlike in the past, the first 100 days of the new government have not given rise to any major corruption scandal involving government leaders. The issue of the PhD degree of the Speaker of Parliament which led to the resignation of the Speaker has been a new practice when compared to the practices of the recent past. Those in power have not stepped down or been asked to step down when found out for things done which were much more detrimental to the country’s reputation and economy.
The non-ostentatious, non-extravagant and non-corrupt attitude that comes from the president and his top team appears to be seeping down to the bottom. During the holiday season a visit to the local government office to obtain a Grama Niladari certificate of local residence bore this out. The concerned officer was at his desk at the time of the visit, gave information about the application procedure and delivered the required document without any fuss or delay. He explained that he was following all the formalities including getting the signatory to sign in his presence. He explained his supervisor would be checking for this. He also volunteered the information that the change in behaviour at the top of the government was influencing those at the bottom to follow the rules in performing their duties.
Another point he made was that his area was a multi ethnic and multi religious one. The previous person he had attended to was from the Diaspora, a dual citizen, and asking for a national identity card. As that person had all the proper documentation, he had issued the relevant certificate even though he had no personal knowledge of this person who had lived abroad for the past twenty years. He said that person was a citizen and needed to be treated as an equal. In response to the query whether this too was part of the positive influence from the new government, the Grama Niladari said no, it was a message that he had picked up during the period of the Yahapalana government. The new government has inherited not only the bad but also the good from the past and is taking the good alone, to build on it in the year to come and beyond. This gives hope for the future.
Jehan Perera
