Marking national Independence or founders days are important for nation states. While they may be sober, understated events or full of pomp and pageantry, the idea is to remind nations of collective aspirations and achievements. They are reminders for resets, honest reflection and taking stock.
For Sri Lanka, 75 years of self-rule should have been cause for celebration. But most Sri Lankans are not just vexed by the political tribe for their failure to be accountable but are angrier due to the lack of delivery and politicians’ refusal to steer towards a new economic and political order despite being in the face of a deepening crisis.
If the recent large-scale protests had one message, it was the collective public outrage towards Sri Lanka’s failed political elite. For the large majority of Sri Lankans, February 4 should have been the day to mark a resplendent island’s proud history but instead, it is now a reminder of a legacy of irreversible damage, of self-destruction.
Never have Sri Lankans been as critical of a national celebration as they were of the February 4 event. Overlooking the public outrage, President Ranil Wickremesinghe decided to mark the event at a cost of nearly USD 529,997 and in his address to the nation, called for a course correction by rectifying “errors and failures”. Sri Lankans by now have run short of patience for the meaningless promises that were designed to be broken, and the practice of busting millions to go on ego trips as the island continues to bleed.
However, there is the counterpoint by a fraction of the society that national days are important as the idea is to mark such events as a “collective”, with emphasis being laid on the collective celebration.
Further, it is argued that if divided among the population of 22.6 million Sri Lankans, it would cost every individual less than Rs. 20 and is not something to be critical of.
Neck deep in debt with the ruling elite still locked in negotiations to secure a bailout, convenient math is not something the people have the aptitude for. Instead, they want to see the national mess cleared, both at the financial and political level.
People want uninterrupted electricity supply, the killer taxes to be slashed, and overall inflation and food inflation to be controlled (the latter driving one-third of the population towards food insecurity and spiking malnutrition, especially among children). People are tired of watching Sri Lanka serving as Asia’s case study of how a nation goes broke.
Just as Independence was being marked with a ceremony that was unaffordable, Lanka Coal Company was seen requesting USD 12.32 million to purchase essential coal for the power plants. As angry Sri Lankans were heard saying, it is not about a single event but about the ruling elite’s callous disregard for the public’s essential needs.
In April 2022, the government indicated bankruptcy by announcing a temporary suspension of all external debt repayments, claiming Sri Lanka was not able to honour its commitments due to the worst financial crisis post-Independence—a position confirmed by Ranil Wickremesinghe in July 2022, just after assuming the office of prime minister.
Sri Lanka’s current external debt exceeds a staggering USD 56 billion and it is the first time that the island nation has defaulted on debt repayment. With an overall inflation rate of 54.2% in January 2023 and food inflation at 60.1%, 36% households are food-insecure, says the World Food Program (WFP) in its October 2022 Household Food Security Survey.
The government desperately needed a bailout as a first step towards stabilisation. And there was a glimmer of hope—on February 3, Sri Lanka’s bondholders expressed willingness to urgently engage with the relevant authorities to design and implement restructuring terms that would help Sri Lanka restore debt sustainability. The Paris Club is considering a 10-year debt moratorium coupled with a 15-year debt restructuring process.
But for six months, an anticipated International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout had appeared illusive after the IMF insisted on a similar undertaking from China but to no avail, deepening the island’s economic crisis.
Ending months of sidestepping, China on February 3 offered Colombo a two-year moratorium on loan repayments. According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, China has presented a plan to provide an extension on debt service due in 2022 and 2023 during which period the cash-strapped nation is not required to pay the principal and interest on the existing loans. This arrangement, though critical, comes as a serious contrast to that of the Paris Club’s undertaking.
There lies a lesson for the Rajapaksas who, though populist, were not capable of securing a multilateral bailout and renegotiating debt with their sworn creditor, China. Their impudence had come at a severe political cost, driving an elected president out of office and decimating popular support for the powerful family.
But Sri Lanka has a long way to go towards recovery. It is not something a financial bailout alone can fix. 2022 has held a mirror to our collective faces and offered a painful reality check. Angry protests were held in every corner of the country, demanding refocus and reforms. The rulers have been reminded of the need to heal ethnic wounds, to meet youth aspirations, and address a nation’s severe democratic deficit. It has shown what little has been achieved post-Independence.
Perhaps a meaningful way to mark the 75th anniversary of political independence from the British is for the ruling elite to genuinely reflect on the string of mistakes, the bad faith, lack of accountability, shameless corruption, absence of timely action, and the foresight to ensure self-rule actually serves public purpose.
It is also a moment for the people of Sri Lanka to question the choices made over 75 years, to assess the role of the citizen, and recommit towards creating the country we all deserve.
It is only by taking responsibility and committing to a reformist agenda that Sri Lanka can hope the 80th Independence celebrations will be any different.
Dilrukshi Handunnetti
Award-winning journalist and lawyer; founder and director of the Colombo-based Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR).
(dilrukshi@cir.lk)
(dilrukshihandunnetti@gmail.com)