The non-exciting agreement of May 2022

The latest pitch by President Ranil Wickremesinghe and his acolytes is that he reluctantly stepped into a position of leadership since there were no other takers to save the country from anarchy. This is in reference to him taking over the premiership under then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in May 2022. 

By neither leader accepting the premiership, Gotabaya Rajapaksa was to be forced to change the constitution, abolishing the executive presidency.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe now refutes that there was such an agreement among political leaders. Those who are aware of the moves by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka say that there was in fact an understanding that envisioned to seize the momentum created by the Aragalaya to introduce systemic change to the governance structure of the country. By not accepting the premiership, Gotabaya Rajapaksa was forced to change the constitution, abolishing the executive presidency. The mood in the country was for systemic change, ending corruption and even power sharing with minority communities.

One of the most poignant moments during the Aragalaya was the realisation of the divisions within the country that had created and sustained animosity between ethnic and religious communities. For even a fleeting moment, there was talk of justice for minorities, their grievances and possibilities of devolution and power sharing. There was even an acknowledgement of the war crimes and the need for accountability.

This once in a generation opportunity was destroyed by a single individual, who later went on to reap the benefits of the popular uprising after the ouster of Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Today, none of the aspirations of the Aragalaya have been achieved. Corruption continues unabated. The same individuals who brought the country to its knees through mismanagement and corruption reign in power while others have been given political protection. Gotabaya Rajapaksa who had to flee the country like a thief at night is today well looked after by the Wickremesinghe administration after his return. The Rajapaksa family and their cronies are not facing any legal challenges for their roles in bankrupting the economy nor their involvement in numerous human rights violations including killing of journalists, activists, and even personal opponents.

There is no longer talk of devolution, power sharing or correcting historical wrongs done to the minorities. The President’s half-hearted attempts to even grant what is written in the Constitution via the 13th Amendment has come to nothing. Those nationalist and racist forces that had brought Gotabaya Rajapaksa to power and were battered during the Aragalaya are raising their heads once more. Rather than change for the better, Sri Lanka is destined to suffer in perpetuity with the same old rotten political system that serves a handful of individuals and families.

This then is the legacy of the betrayal of the May 2022 agreement that the President claims didn’t exist. When dusk settles on this chapter, and old men who desperately hold on to power pass on, history will be unkind to this moment when so much was possible but so little was achieved due to the greed for power of a few.