Muddled decision-making must end

Saturday, 19 June 2021 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Karl Marx once said, history is doomed to repeat itself “first as tragedy, then as farce”. But what comes after that? Well if the Government’s recent track record of decision-making is to be analysed, the answer may very well be a lot more farce.

The latest decision open to public ridicule has been the flip-flopping over the sale of liquor online, a move that was proposed by the Excise Department, approved by the Finance Ministry – an institution headed by no less the Prime Minister himself – but then denied by the COVID Task Force.

Why exactly it is that the COVID Task Force gets final say on a matter after it has been approved by another Government Ministry, is anyone’s guess. But it does raise questions surrounding the chain of command and decision-making within the Government.

Prior to this was the fiasco surrounding fuel price hike; the Government announced a fuel price hike, a move that has been widely criticised by the public and the Opposition, but, more intriguingly, by members of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna itself. Some would point to this being the hallmark of a non-partisan democracy, but all things considered it reeks far more of a decision-making process that eschews any and all diverging opinions.

While all this has been taking place, there has been the periodic extension of travel restrictions, which has caused distress to vast swathes of the public. Indeed, trust in the Government has gradually diminished to the point of almost non-existence in recent weeks, something only worsened by the latest revelation by the President, that the 101 COVID deaths reported on 11 June were not from one day, but over four months. This fact incidentally played a large role in the decision to extend travel restrictions for a further week from 14 June.

When President Gotabaya Rajapaksa came to power in November 2019, there were many concerns about the dangers an authoritarian slant on Sri Lanka’s governance would have on democracy, human rights and the independence of institutions in the country. But his supporters dismissed those worries, citing instead the benefits of a more streamlined decision-making process, one that would potentially see the economy boom in the coming years.

Yes, COVID-19 put an unforeseen and considerably-sized spanner in the works, but a pandemic would, on paper, have been an ideal situation for the President’s autocratic leadership style to flourish – after all, Western nations far more steeped in democratic ideals struggled to keep their populations in line with health and safety regulations.

However, what we have seen in the past year and a half has been a far cry from the clear-eyed leadership we were promised. At a time when the people needed its Government the most, the Government has been found wanting. And the series of back-tracked decisions does little in helping regain public trust.

A fast-tracked decision-making process in the time of a pandemic can be a boon if the decisions taken are clear, and the thought process behind them transparent. What has transpired though has been far from transparent, and decisions more often than not muddled. Tragedy, farce, however you choose to describe, the only certainty is that the Government must do better.