Communicating policies

Incoming Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has caused a worldwide stir with his plans to replace luxury sedans with cheaper cars for Cabinet members. For a Sri Lankan public long tired of the excesses of their political elite this isolated incident being welcome news should actually be a red flag for the Government. 

Elected heads of State like to start their term in office with a bang and this decision could well be yet another stale move from the universal playbook most politicians dip into. What is harder is to keep the public on their side years into their rule. Sri Lanka’s Government, having been in power for nearly one and a half years, is finding that their honeymoon period is now transiting into a more challenging time when their public are posing harder and harder questions on policy decisions. 

Predictably a strong point of contention is the increase in taxes. It does not take a rocket scientist to understand that taxation in Sri Lanka has needed a serious overhaul for years. Just because the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has pointed out the obvious does not mean they have to be dismissed.  All economists have long agreed Government revenue has to be boosted, loans reduced, investment and exports have to increase and the economy liberalised to bring sustainable growth to Sri Lanka. Only fools would argue with the obvious.   

But the golden rule is communication. The Government has to project a united front and ensure that their policies are defined clearly and communicated consistently to the public. Cabinet approving Capital Gains tax after the Finance Minister had told parliament no new taxes would be introduced is a major blow to public confidence. In addition when discussing issues such as tax increases on vehicles there has to be a concentrated effort led by Government leaders that is not undermined by insensitive comments from ministers and self-serving decisions that anger the masses. 

Ahead of the 2016 Budget Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe made a clear statement to parliament on the economic goals of his and President Sirisena’s Government but the opposite was outlined in the subsequent Budget. Counter policies and contradictions have spawned from this mix up resulting in the Government being on the back foot over most economic policy decisions. Instead of communicating clearly with the public on what needs to be done and why, the Government has remained on the defensive for months, battling endless criticisms. Even though some of the encounters have resulted in the Government offering a compromise they are perceived as policy retractions or admissions of failure rather than attempts to responsibly engage with the public. So where the Government could have built a reputation of being more transparent, flexible, empathetic and democratic they are instead left the impression of being indecisive and easily led.

Policy changes as daunting as those facing the Government are tough for any administration but particularly more so given the vastly different economic policies of the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). As the Government moves deeper into its reform process it must work to ensure political survival does not take precedence over meaningful change.