Rajapaksa castle crumbling

Sri Lanka is confronting the worst economic crisis with extraordinary economic and social implications never witnessed before. This demands immediate steps from our leaders that may be difficult, but given where we are, with a sense of panic gripping the people, the only way out is for all parties to start to work together; ironically, no opposition party wants to get near the Rajapaksas anymore, given the public sentiment. 

Those who have nowhere to go, about 108 MPs, are staying with the Government. Simply because they don’t want to face an election. The rest of the SLPP MPs are flirting with the Opposition sitting on the fence, not knowing what to do. Most SLPP members know the President wants his elder brother, once the uncrowned king of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa, to resign as the Prime Minister. 

It is said the Prime Minister has lost the majority support. It is only a matter of time, they say before Mahinda gets removed. Mahinda wants to go, but his immediate family don’t want him to resign. His sons have certainly not been shining examples for society for the public to say good things about them. So they know what is in store for them if their father bows out of politics, publicly. SLPP sources say the #gotagohome campaign to oust the President was an inside job. 

Some accuse the Rajapaksa boys. This has upset the President very much; also, his once trusted confidant, a big beneficiary of this Government, is going round Colombo giving interviews saying the President has only himself to blame for bringing the family into the Government, hiring P.B. Jayasundera and S.R. Attygalle and appointing Nivard Cabraal. That has surely been the root cause of his failure; also the President’s stubbornness to change and the fertiliser policy ruined the agriculture sector. Same with the pandemic. 

Unnecessarily many Sri Lankans perished for want of better medical decisions. Mahinda Rajapaksa is certainly not the culprit for this collapse. It is the President. On the other hand, the Opposition too has been a dismal failure. They have not been able to convert the opportunity given to them by the public into any kind of success. The knee jerk reactions of the Central Bank has also made matters worse for the country. The country is now out of foreign exchange. This has even impacted the airlines flying to Colombo. One by one they are pulling out of the country. Simply because they can’t take their money out. 

The coterie of private sector bigwigs round the President are hoping for a miracle. So they are staying on in their roles. Some of them are accused of promoting policies that have resulted in the current situation and also getting government contracts.

A timely resolution of the crisis is now only possible with a good economic plan; unfortunately, this is not going to happen with this inexperienced Cabinet. So the protesting is not going to go away. The Rajapaksas therefore certainly need to watch out; if living gets really bad, which is very likely, they could have an unceremonious exit, if they fail to bow down to the will of the people.