Weighty tasks

Monday, 4 May 2020 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sri Lanka is stepping into a fresh week, carrying multiple challenges. On a practical level, the Government has to lay the groundwork with the private sector to return high-risk areas back to some level of working normalcy.

Moreover at a macro level, the Government also has to contend with growing concerns and unease pertaining to treading in a constitutional grey area after the lapse of the Vote on Account on 30 April and postponed elections.

The Government’s last statement on curfew confused many as it did not clearly state whether the curfew in the Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, and Puttalam districts would be extended till 11 May. However, it is clear that the public sector has been instructed to roster its staff and begin to provide State services to the public, much like what has happened in the rest of the country.

Reopening on an expanded scale will be from 11 May as schools and the private sector return to their tasks. There is no doubt that the lockdown has come at a colossal cost to both the public and the economy but it bought the country much-needed time to ramp up testing and put in place COVID-19 countering measures. Testing needs to continue being expanded as curfew measures ease, perhaps even exceeding the 3,000 tests that have been targeted.

As more people return to work, the responsibility of implementing COVID-19 mitigation measures will be on the private sector, and it is essential that these are implemented consistently. Not all companies may have the resources to provide the support their staff will need and there are bound to be teething issues, but these cannot be allowed to lapse for any reason. For companies already suffering financial losses, there will be the need to have uncomfortable discussions with their staff on future work arrangements.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has called for a meeting of all 225 Members of the former Parliament at Temple Trees today. This was decided after refusing multiple requests from the Opposition to reconvene Parliament.

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) have already declined to attend, and it is unclear what will be discussed at the meeting but it is unlikely to deviate from the steadfast stance that Executive power is sufficient to run the country.

The Opposition, divided by and preoccupied with internal issues, has so far showed no indication that it will go before the Supreme Court for clarification on the matter. The Elections Commission has also declined to take the matter before court. The former Speaker does not want to push the country towards a full-blown constitutional crisis by unilaterally reconvening Parliament and has said so. The Government will obviously prefer a set of circumstances where they do not have to consider the requirements of the Legislature and Judiciary.

The public are fighting for their survival and are bothered little by constitutional questions, but the actions of the President and the Government could end up setting a worrying precedent. There is no higher law than the Constitution; disregarding it, even in the middle of a pandemic, leaves more than a tinge of disappointment.