Three years since Gota

This week marks three years since Gotabaya Rajapaksa ascended to the highest office in the land. At an election that witnessed a record turnout of 83.7% Rajapaksa secured 52.25% translating to over 6.9 million votes. He was further given a near two-thirds majority in Parliament when his brother’s political party that fully supported him won a landslide at the next general election. Despite the overwhelming trust and mandate provided to him, Gotabaya Rajapaksa managed in little over two years to bring Sri Lanka to its knees and economic ruin. 

Rajapaksa is responsible for the total economic collapse that has rendered the country bankrupt. Due to his economic policies, Sri Lanka for the first time in its history recorded a sovereign default in April 2022 making the currency worthless in international monetary markets. Further the ill-advised fertiliser ban devastated the agricultural sector and diminished food security. Corruption and financial crimes were also rampant during his short two-and-a-half-year administration. In addition, the former President stands accused of some of the most heinous crimes committed in this country. Among these are war crimes, including the killing of surrendered combatants and civilians during the war, and the killing, abduction and torture of journalists, activists and political opponents. 

In addition to the suffering he caused due to his incompetence in handling the economy, the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration caused enormous personal and individual harm to numerous people. Shani Abeysekera, the former director of the Criminal Investigations Department was incarcerated for 11 months over false charges which the Court of Appeal later called a “concocted story.” Abeysekera, Sri Lanka’s best known super-sleuth contracted COVID-19 and experienced a life-threatening cardiac event while imprisoned. His lawyers, activists and foreign governments had to lobby for basic healthcare to be provided. 

This was a deliberate attempt by the Rajapaksa Government to kill the policeman who had uncovered numerous crimes, including several that incriminated Rajapaksa. Hundreds of other policemen attached to the CID were transferred, harassed, and discriminated against for the sole crime of doing their jobs diligently. Lawyers, activists, poets, journalists, diplomats, civil servants, and numerous others were victims of the Rajapaksa wrath that was unleashed in those couple of years. 

Despite any of the above, Gotabaya Rajapaksa is today a free man living on State expense. He has been granted political protection by the current political dispensation, and it has been made abundantly clear that justice will not be delivered to Rajapaksa’s victims by the Sri Lankan judicial system. In this reality the very least that can be hoped for is that the Sri Lankan electorate will not repeat the same mistakes that propelled a manifestly unsuitable individual to the highest office in the land. 

There was no secret as to who Gotabaya Rajapaksa was when he was elected. The corruption behind the ‘MiG deal’ and the reasons behind Lasantha Wickrematunge’s murder were public knowledge. Yet the desire for an efficient leader who can deliver on a promise of economic development, even at the cost of civil liberties, human lives and rights of many, particularly from the minority communities was too alluring to a majority. As history has often proven such bargains usually end up in disaster and Sri Lanka today stands as testament to that truth. With the very high probability that Gotabaya Rajapaksa will never face justice within Sri Lanka, at least the electorate will hopefully learn the glaring lessons in order not to repeat this colossal mistake.