A year for decisive action

As Sri Lanka approaches 2026 the President and the current Government have now been in office for over a year, and it is safe to say that the honeymoon period traditionally afforded to a new administration has come to an end. While some progress has undoubtedly been made during this time, the decisive system change promised to the electorate has not yet been delivered. The gap between expectations and outcomes is becoming increasingly visible, and with it, the risk of eroding public trust.

We have seen this story before. The lessons of the 2015 Yahapalana administration remain painfully relevant. That administration too came to power on a wave of hope, reformist rhetoric, and a promise of clean governance and reconciliation. Its failure to act decisively, particularly in its early years, ultimately cost it credibility and paved the way for its political collapse and a return to the draconian Rajapaksa regime. If this administration is serious about avoiding a similar fate, it must make bold, and often uncomfortable, decisions soon.

This Government enjoys an unprecedented mandate for change. Voters entrusted it with addressing corruption, resolving deep structural problems of the State, reforming the security sector, advancing social justice, confronting racism, protecting human rights, and meaningfully addressing the long-standing ethnic issue. On these fronts, however, the record is deeply uneven. If any credit is to be given, it is on corruption, where the Government can arguably be given a pass. Beyond that, progress has been limited or non-existent.

Yet, there remains a sense, fragile but real, that this Government is at least trying, and that its intentions are genuine. That perception, however, cannot substitute for results. Nowhere is this more evident than on human rights and the ethnic question, where the Government has delivered virtually nothing. Tens of thousands of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings remain unaccounted for. Families continue to wait, decade after decade, for answers that never come.

Even in cases as stark as the Chemmani mass grave, where over three hundred bodies, including those of children, have been exhumed, there is no clear policy, roadmap, or political will to uncover the truth or deliver justice. On the international stage, particularly in Geneva, the Government has repeated the same tired and failed rhetoric of past administrations, while showing little willingness or capacity to fundamentally change course at home.

This failure is especially troubling given that the President and Government received overwhelming support from minorities, including Tamils in the North and East. That trust has not been reciprocated. There is no credible plan for devolution, no framework for accountability for atrocity crimes, and no clear vision for building a more equitable and inclusive society. Symbolic gestures have replaced substantive reform.

Even when the Government has attempted to take progressive steps such as the proposed ban on corporal punishment, it has quickly caved in to pressure from religious leaders and conservative interest groups. Despite its strong mandate, it has not even attempted to extend equality and protection to marginalised and vulnerable communities, including LGBTQ citizens. Silence and inaction have become the default response.

Disillusionment, once it sets in, spreads quickly. The danger is not merely public disappointment, but the re-emergence of the worst elements of Sri Lankan politics. Racist, nationalist, and deeply corrupt forces, most notably those associated with the Rajapaksas, are waiting in the wings, eager to present themselves as an alternative when hope collapses.

The Government still has time, but not much of it. It must urgently redouble its efforts and begin delivering on the mandate it was given. 2026 will be decisive. It will be the year that either restores confidence and reshapes Sri Lanka’s future, or one that marks yet another missed opportunity and a tragic return to the politics of fear, division, and impunity. The choice, and the responsibility, lies squarely with those in power.