President rallying the public

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who completed two years in office last month, has chosen to go around the country addressing public rallies to coincide with the second anniversary of his presidency. The last rally was held in Gampaha on 27 September, with the next one scheduled for 11 October in Kurunegala, followed by rallies throughout next month in Badulla and Monaragala, and in November in Hambantota, Galle and Ratnapura, ending in Jaffna at the end of November.

He will continue addressing rallies even during the period that Parliament will be debating next year’s Budget. The President is scheduled to present Appropriation Bill 202, or Budget 2027, to Parliament on 12 November in his capacity as as the Finance Minister. The second reading debate will be held from 13 to 20 November. Committee stage debates will follow till 14 December. But while the MPs are busy in Parliament, the President will be addressing the public, apprising them of the achievements of the NPP over the past two years.

As things stand today, there does not seem to be an election on the horizon. The Provincial Council polls are long overdue, but the Government has shown no interest in holding these elections any time soon.

The Government has been in power for only two years, too short a period for incumbency fatigue to set in. The opposition at present is weak and divided, and hence there is little that the President and his Government have to worry about. The Government’s anti-corruption drive has also won accolades, but growing allegations that investigating agencies are being politicised aren’t helping.

The main crux of the President’s message at rallies has been the anti-corruption drive, particularly the cases against the family of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. It was disclosed this week that the Attorney General has decided not to indict the former President over the May 2022 attack on protesters at ‘Gotagogama’ in Galle Face during the ‘Aragalaya’ period, as the AG deemed the evidence presented by investigators insufficient to charge him with any role in the attack.

But the legal woes of his family members are far from over, and this is an issue that the President has been speaking of at all the rallies he’s attended so far, but without referring to the Rajapaksa’s by name. These cases will unfold in the weeks and months ahead, will take a considerable period of time, and may be enough to keep the public engaged for a while. But the reality is that the novelty of dragging former presidents, prime ministers, senior military and police officers, and civil servants to courts is on the wane and no longer attracts the kind of attention it once did. The President’s announcement of fuel subsidies for the next three months at the Gampaha rally was what got the people’s attention, and it is such measures that will keep the Government in the good books of the public.

There are obvious questions as to why the President is going round the country at this time holding public rallies. Any Government in power suffers from its insecurities, and the NPP too may be feeling the pinch of the criticism and scrutiny that come its way when in power. In Opposition, it’s a completely different situation, where politicians get away with a lot more than they can when in Government.

The President and his Government have three more years in office, and there will be many new challenges ahead. Those will be amplified when the elections draw near. For the NPP, the President is the single popular figure, and it would not be surprising if people saw him on the road more often, canvassing for himself and his party.