Wickremesinghe back in the saddle; for how long?

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is capable in dealing with the risks; but has limited time

The familiar face of Ranil Wickremesinghe with his Golaya Sagala sitting next to him, a familiar scene within the political landscape that was not very popular in the last days of the Yahapalana government, is now becoming a regular feature again. The duo unfortunately developed a very bad public opinion that they were supporters of the Rajapaksas. 

Ratnayake who was in charge of the police was accused several times for dilly dallying with the Rajapaksas. That resulted in him being forced out of the ministry. One of the reasons Wickremesinghe fared so badly and the UNP got wiped out at the last general election was because of this public opinion. Ratnayake did not contest knowing the writing on the wall. Now he is back with Prime Minister Wickremesinghe. 

The UNP political team led by a former Minister Vajira Abeywardena is now running the food security efforts which is obvious by looking at national TV. All this is good, if the immediate issues are resolved, that is the petrol queues, the gas queues and the electricity issue. There seems to be no resolution to this yet. A news item recently said Sagala Ratnayake has been put in charge to resolve this. 

Now it is four weeks since Ranil Wickremesinghe took over. The queues in question are again growing longer. There has however been a flow of humanitarian aid. This would have come anyway. The big thing that has happened is Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was on the verge of getting pushed out by the people is slowly cementing himself and beginning to assert himself once again without taking a backseat.

It was very ironic to see him chairing a meeting on food security. When it was he who destroyed the agriculture industry. In another country the person would have bowed down gracefully. If he is smart he will allow Ranil Wickremesinghe to take charge. Because if Wickremesinghe fails Gotabaya can appoint a person of his choice. 

Ranil Wickremesinghe certainly has the knowledge and connections internationally to take charge of a situation like this, given that he has vast experience in running governments since the 1970s. But so far for the public the results are slow in coming. 

The crisis is far greater than he estimated now it seems. So far other than talking to the Ambassadors, other dignitaries nothing much has happened by way of funding. Very little is known of the funding that is available in the pipeline. The debt of the country is $ 53 billion, around $ 12 billion is to be restructured. The majority of the debt is from Japan and China. 

According to sources IMF is not comfortable in participating to pay off the bilateral creditors. Sri Lanka has asked for $ 5 billion from the IMF which will take months to clear. 

Meanwhile, what do we do to bridge the gap to fund our immediate needs? The Prime Minister needs to come out with a few viable options soon to win the confidence of the public. Because the story goes that the SLPP is planning to launch a “PM has failed” campaign. The 21st Amendment too is marred with controversy. The President wants it as a joint resolution. Basil wants it delayed. He still believes he can become Prime Minister. The PM wants it to be his baby. 

Both need to shed their egos and work together for the betterment of the public, otherwise before long the fate of Mahinda Rajapaksa will be upon them. The other news item that has gathered huge public interest is the tussle between the Finance Minister and the Governor. Social media was abuzz that the Governor had made disparaging statements of his boss and that the rift was due to the bond scam. Ironically both the Prime Minister and the President had overlooked the Governor twice over. 

Also news reports said that the Governor had complained to the President of undue interference. The President in return had assured him of his assistance. The President had not invited the Prime Minister – the subject minister for the meeting. The President at least now should know what protocol really means? He should be working to regain his lost goodwill, not his pride. That is dented forever. The next visit he has from the youth won’t be very pleasant because every ounce of life has been destroyed or disrupted.