President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s first year anniversary and the road ahead

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa taking oaths in November 2019

This week in Parliament Former Minister Kabir Hashim told the House passionately that Gota had failed because people had now been forced to even pawn their personal items. He said it was Rs. 650 billion during the last 10 months. What he did not say is that the same thing happened after the Easter Sunday attacks. Pawning grew exponentially. Also, we all know Kabir Hashim was not an effective Minister. What did he really achieve as Minister of State Enterprises other than making the enterprises more inefficient and loss-making? 

Challenges

Leaving Kabir Hashim aside, the President’s first year is not without its fair share of challenges. The first six months of his presidency was a welcome change to the infighting and indecision during the last few months of the Yahapalana regime. In fact the anniversary celebration unfortunately is marred with the pandemic uncertainty and also policy inconsistencies.

The general view is that the COVID pandemic is no longer in control and many questions are being asked about the management of the economy, including simple things like the importation of turmeric and sugar, which has created so much heartburn for importers.

There is no doubt the President has done a good job in very trying conditions. His determination and discipline has got us thus far in this pandemic. According to independent observers, some of his officials have led him astray on key issues and have let him down by not speaking the truth and giving him the right advice.

Now we all know it is not easy to give it straight to him given the personality of the individual. But then they must go away if they can’t do their job and give it to people who can do the job. Because it must be country first. 

20th Amendment

The other challenge for the President is that the 20th Amendment did not go down well, with many right-thinking people going against it. But we all know how dysfunctional the 19th Amendment was in the eyes of the public. 

The President has promised to bring a new constitution in one or two years. Given the credibility the President has when it comes to walking the talk, the clergy believes he would bring a new constitution in the next two years. The President would therefore have to deliver this before the next Presidential Election in 2024. 

Pandemic management 

The biggest challenge for the President according to Dr. Rannan-Eliya who studied Medicine at the University of Cambridge and Health Economics at Harvard University, as said recently in an article: “We’re in a moment of great peril. More than at any time during this pandemic. Unless we shift course, single-mindedly focus on the critical issues, and make the correct decisions and implement them decisively, we face not only an out-of-control epidemic, but an economic disaster.”

So the President would do good for the country if he has not done so far to bring in the best medical and scientific minds in Sri Lanka into the Presidential task force to fight the pandemic. The first year anniversary is the best time to take stock of his team’s performance and do the changes without fear, based on public feedback and merit. Mid-course corrections are often very tough and counterproductive.

The President surely has the capacity to overcome both the public health challenges and the economic challenges and rises to high presidential stature where he would surely leave a mark in our history, because he is the only president thus far who has never held political office and therefore does not carry heavy political baggage like the previous incumbents. So good luck and happy anniversary for the 18th, Mr. President!