Entrepreneurial Presidential candidates

In the wake of diverse views about the direction of our motherland, some have opined an entrepreneur should take over the helm of the country to propel an era of progress and prosperity. This belief is shared by Colombo-based, ambitious, driven, white-collar workers who are frustrated about the stagnation of the country. 

They expect that everything would fall into place with a successful businessman becoming Head of State and the economy would immediately start to boom, thus, laying the foundation towards a glorious future. Unfortunately, such misplaced thoughts are held by highly academically qualified individuals in the private sector.

Governing a developing country such as ours which is at the crossroads of an economic recovery with a multiplicity of political and social challenges is a completely different proposition to managing a commercial enterprise with an obedient set of employees, whose performance is closely monitored. Moreover, can a person with no political experience at all be entrusted with the responsibility of steering the nation during one of the most critical times in the history of the island in view of the dismal failure of the former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa who had no prior political experience? Undertaking broad-based economic reforms that are politically unpopular is not as straightforward as earning profits and maximising the wealth of shareholders.

This year’s Presidential poll features a number of entrepreneurs and the most prominent among them is the media/advertising business magnate Dilith Jayaweera. Though he is known to the country as a businessman, he had been involved in student politics in his university days apart from spearheading the advertising campaigns of presidential and parliamentary elections in the past. The Presidential candidate was heavily associated with the election campaign of Gotabaya Rajapaksa apart from having been a highly influential individual during the latter’s presidency. Jayaweera was an enthusiastic advocate of the former President’s ill-advised ban of importing chemical fertiliser and his media network passionately promoted the disastrous move.

The advertising maestro’s bid for the number one job is driven by the theme of creating a so-called entrepreneurial state/society to drive economic growth and innovation. First and foremost, not everybody can become a successful entrepreneur as skills and traits of successful entrepreneurship are possessed by a minority. Culturally, the Sri Lankan society is risk-averse and its inhabitants are grown up in an environment where contentment is admired while denouncing the excessive pursuit of material wealth. Our citizens are not as industrious and competitive as Americans or Chinese. In the light of such cultural and anthropological dimensions, how feasible it is to convert our polity into an entrepreneurial State?

In a great irony, the prominent advocate of entrepreneurship is contesting from the Communist Party of Sri Lanka which has a track record of standing for policies that stifled private enterprise in the country. The confusion about the richest Presidential contender’s policies is further compounded by his recent condemnation of the move to privatise SLT. It is well known that throughout the history of the nation, bureaucrats have failed in the task of running commercial enterprises successfully. In spite of such empirical evidence, an owner of private business establishments expressing opposition to privatisation is quite strange. 

Jayaweera’s manifesto also proposes direct State investments towards high-risk, high-reward areas of technology that are overlooked by private investors. Is it logical to put taxpayers’ money into high-risk ventures given the precarious state of public finances?

Another attention-grabbing candidate from a business background in the contest is former 

PUCSL Chairman Janaka Ratnayake of Trillium fame was featured prominently during the impeachment of former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranaike. The Parliamentary Select Committee report on the impeachment probe against the former Chief Justice concluded that the controversial businessman was not fit and proper to serve in any position in the public sector. However, this has not deterred him from seeking the most powerful post in the country. We live in a truly phenomenal island.