Political crisis in Sri Lanka

This mismanagement, coupled with the brothers’ authoritarian stylings, is the source of the crisis

Sri Lanka is drowning in a political crisis amid record inflation and widespread food and fuel shortages which have also affected power supply in several areas. Add to the mix the allegations of misrule, corruption and nepotism, and the situation begins to closely parallel that in Pakistan.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s party has lost its majority in Parliament, with former allies joining the opposition to demand his resignation over the ongoing economic crisis. He has also been losing cabinet members at a breakneck pace — his most recent finance minister quit after just one day on the job. A few days earlier, the entire cabinet — minus the prime minister — resigned en mass, although a few members returned with new portfolios.

Meanwhile, the threat of violence remains high after almost a week of protests despite the imposition of a state of emergency. More than 60 people have been arrested, and human rights groups are claiming that they were tortured in prison. Former members of his own party have also warned that the situation will get worse if Rajapaksa refuses to step down.

Rajapaksa, for his part, has refused to step down but made an offer for a unity government led by him and the prime minister. However, this is also a problem because the prime minister just happens to be his older brother — former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. Incidentally, another brother was finance minister for a year, and several other siblings, cousins and children are active in the system. Some recent reports estimated that over 70% of the country’s budget is controlled by the Rajapaksas.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, who led the country through the end of the Sri Lankan civil war, set the country on the path of debt-driven growth with a heavy focus on tourism. Gotabaya, who became president in 2019, took his brother’s policies into overdrive. This worked reasonably well till 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic brought tourism to a halt. Meanwhile, massive tax cuts that took effect just a few months before the pandemic had significantly reduced government revenue.

This mismanagement, coupled with the brothers’ authoritarian stylings, are the source of the crisis. Unfortunately, much like Pakistan, the incumbent leader’s refusal to honourably step down is forcing the country down a rabbit hole.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 8^th, 2022.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.