Change thyself first

President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday made yet another “throne speech” at the ceremonial opening of the Fourth Session of the Ninth Parliament.

The proroguing of Parliament for this itself drew flak from the opposition and good governance activists especially at a time when there is countrywide campaigning for Local Government polls.

Yesterday was the second such ceremonial opening by President Wickremesinghe with 3 August 2022 been the previous instance.

This, as well as an unprecedented number of policy statements in Parliament by a President within a span of six months, perhaps prompted Opposition benches to jeer Wickremesinghe’s entry to the House yesterday with shouts of “Rajasana Meniyawa” (throne speech obsession).  

Be that as it may, the President in his now customary style, delivered yet another policy statement in a candid manner. Any assessment of his yesterday’s statement must be viewed in the context that only three days prior he addressed the nation via television to mark the 75th Independence Day on 4 February. He runs the risk of being over spoken or verbose judging by his address within Parliament and outside.

Wickremesinghe himself admitted that some of the contents in his statement yesterday were emphasised by him many times before. One was reiterating the need to “think anew and embark on a journey accordingly and that traditional politics followed so far was no longer valid”.

Yesterday’s statement recapped the difficult times experienced by the masses with the onset of the economic crisis starting from power cuts starting from exactly a year ago, shortage of essentials, foreign exchange crisis, debt default etc.  

Having articulated how economic stability has been brought, the President also stressed the need for economic, social and political reforms and announced slew of new measures and proposals to sustain the momentum.

In the milieu of many statements was President Wickremesinghe reiterating the need for change.

“Change should begin from within ourselves. We all should change and that too should be for the betterment. As politicians we should change for the better. Political parties, the Parliament, the Executive, the Judiciary and the public service should change for the better,” Wickremesinghe said in his throne speech yesterday.

Such a pontification by an electorally defeated and accidental President to an audience that included more successful political leaders and parties is bemusing. Indeed, Wickremesinghe must change himself first and show the masses that the change is for the better.

Wickremesinghe has previously served as Prime Minister for five times and led six governments between 1993 and 2019. When he came forward to take the reins of the country after the humiliating out-throw of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa expectations were high.

Given the people’s revolution in a dynamic setting and the challenges, what the country ideally required was a new version of Wickremesinghe or a Wickremesinghe 6.0.

Six months on, Wickremesinghe remains stuck in his original version, relying on a chosen few (from his past) for advice. He remains insensitive to the advice of a more phased out and measured rollout of reforms. Despite much talk, implementation of certain important alternative initiatives to raise Government finances has been slow or a non-starter.  

In his speech in Parliament yesterday the President said: “I’m not here to be popular. I want to rebuild this nation from the crisis situation it has fallen into. Yes, I’m ready to make unpopular decisions for the sake of the nation.” 

Likewise, Wickremesinghe who is considered by his political fans and certain sections within the private sector believe is the best leader at present, too has the responsibility of making the uncomfortable decision of changing, reforming himself before calling for and expecting others to do the same. Such a course will ensure that the challenging journey ahead Wickremesinghe keeps reiterating to masses will be more successful and less arduous.

The situation in Sri Lanka can be turned around for the better, quicker if the President himself is more inclusive, rational and pragmatic and less rhetoric, learning from his own past.