Delivering his inaugural policy statement to Parliament, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake dealt mostly with the economy and, in particular, the IMF agreement. The problem he faces is that the former government agreed to terms with the IMF that did not consider the impact on the people, but gave priority to meeting fiscal targets. The President acknowledged that the government had no alternative but to continue with it as the country had gone too far down the road to change direction. He said, “The negotiations had already been ongoing for more than two years. If we were to restart discussions on the restructuring programme for an extended period it will be impossible for us to move the economy forward…”
Due to the straitjacket that the previous government has put the country into, the government cannot follow its election time pledges to renegotiate the IMF agreement and get a more pro-poor outcome. With the poverty level having doubled over the past two years, bringing increased hardships to the people, it is necessary for the government to continue with the IMF agreement without jeopardising economic stability. The fact that the country is in dire straits, in terms of the economy, and the government is a new one, would orient the government to take its decisions in a centralised manner.
The fact that the core group in the government consists of the JVP component has a Marxist ideology that would add to this centralising tendency.
Accordingly, the government would give priority to addressing economic issues from a centralising perspective rather than giving space to ethnicity, religion or region. This centralising and uniform feature can be seen in the choice of government ministers. The government has given more importance to membership in the party to other qualities such as ethnicity, religion or region. Indeed, the President pledged to create a racism-free society. He said, “I assure you with full responsibility that we will not allow a resurgence of divisive racist politics in our country. Similarly, no form of religious extremism will be permitted to take root. Our nation has endured immense suffering due to ethnic conflicts.” But the danger is that one-size-fits-all policies can fail to take into account the specific problems that people of different ethnicities, religions and living in different regions may face.
MANNAR DISCLOSURES
In Mannar, in the North, the issues that most concern the people at this time, and which they wish to have addressed on a priority basis, are the economic ones. Three issues that were highlighted during discussions in Mannar last week were the windmill project by the Adani Group, a sand mining for minerals project by a company based in Australia and the upgrade of the Puttalam-Mannar road, which has been a matter of concern to them for some time now. At the meeting, civil society members took the position that both the Adani and Australian projects are harmful to the people of the area and even threatening their very existence on the island with sea levels rising. They also highlighted that tourism potential and fishing would be affected as a result of the windmill project. They called for an independent environmental assessment, including foreign professionals, to be carried out to assess the long-term negative outcomes of the two projects.
There is frustration that the permits for these projects to be done has been secured by the Government with minimal contribution from the people of the area regarding what can be done. Both the Adani and Australian projects are seen as potentially harmful to the people of the area and endangering their fisheries and agricultural potential in the longer term. They claim that due to these projects there is flooding of their land. However, there is nothing that can be done to stop this as the permits for construction and digging are issued in Colombo. They feel that the benefits of these projects, the employment opportunities at the higher levels and profits go outside of Mannar while they are saddled with the environmental costs of the project. There is frustration that the approvals are given from Colombo without input from the affected people.
In addition, the participants at the discussion spoke about long standing issues of land, entire villages, that have been taken over by the military during the period of war, and continue to be held by them. The people of these villages live outside the village which is now a military camp, and they can see the military personnel who occupy their homes, while they live in temporary shelters outside. There are several such villages under full or partial military occupation, even though more than 15 years have elapsed since the end of the war. The new government has promised to deal with these problems. But to deal with them better there needs to be those within the Cabinet of Ministers who can articulate these problems.
INTERNAL REPRESENTATION
In its selection of the Cabinet of Ministers, the NPP has given priority to its members who have worked for the party as loyal cadres over a long period of time. The party has taken the stand that they will govern the country with their members and not form a coalition with other parties in which compromise will be necessary. The Cabinet has also those who are more recent members but with requisite academic and managerial qualifications. The Cabinet has many academics and doctors in it with good reputations. However, in a plural society like Sri Lanka, where ethnicity and religion have contributed towards creating major conflicts, the importance of a balanced representation needs to be borne in mind. It cannot be forgotten that often academics have been the part of the problem facing the country rather than contributing to resolving them.
The relatively small size of the NPP Cabinet of 21 has come in for commendation. Previous governments had more than double that number which led to high expenditures on overhead costs as well as creating incoherent and un-cohesive governance. As a consequence of restricting the number of Ministers, the government seems to have given less priority to ensuring the representativeness of its Cabinet. In particular, the absence of a Muslim in the Cabinet of Ministers has become highlighted and has caused a measure of heartburn among members of the community. They have noted that this is the first time ever that such a situation has arisen. Although the Cabinet has two Tamil ministers, both of them are from outside the North and East, although they may work there.
At the parliamentary elections, the NPP won in all parts of the country, including the North and East where the Tamil and Muslim people constitute the majority. It even won in Jaffna, in the North, which is a first time for a national political party. Therefore, all ethnic and religious communities have voted for it and, as such, they need to be represented in the Cabinet of Ministers where the most important discussions about the future path of the government will take place. In Sri Lanka’s plural society, it is very important that all communities should be represented in the Cabinet so that they can represent the needs and aspirations of those communities, which might otherwise be neglected like Mannar currently is. The NPP government has an opportunity to chart a new course for Sri Lanka, one that balances economic imperatives with the need for inclusivity and representation. By addressing these challenges proactively, it can lay the groundwork for a more equitable and cohesive society.
Jehan Perera