With Sri Lanka reeling under the worst economic crisis and the people continuing to stage angry protests against the current regime in the island nation, a strong alternative regime should be put in place at the earliest. The need of the hour is that the crisis-stricken country should have a strong political leadership at the helm without any further delay. Needless to say, a strong political leadership alone can steer Sri Lanka towards economic recovery which is the only way to pacify the people of the island nation. Definitely, the next few days are going to be quite crucial for Sri Lanka, given the politically fluid situation amid the rising public resentment against those in power. What will, now, be important to see is whether the political class can rise above its differences and huddle into what will give the embattled nation a strong and meaningful regime to deal, effectively, with the current crisis, particularly the economic mess that the island nation is facing so severely. Every citizen of Sri Lanka must be expecting that any new ruling combination in Colombo should be efficient enough to ensure that the current turmoil comes to an end as soon as possible. As Sri Lanka is in free fall, the task to tackle the current situation will be quite challenging for whosoever is at the helm. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar just a couple of days ago gave a clear picture about the situation in Sri Lanka, while describing the situation prevailing in the island nation as “very sensitive” and “very complicated”. He hastened to add that India’s focus right now is on the economic aspects of the neighbouring country. What he signaled was that India has nothing to do with the political aspects of the current crisis. But yes, India will not hesitate to help aid the economic recovery of Colombo. So, the new leadership in the country should seek India’s guidance and help in terms of tackling the economic crisis. Jaishankar’s statement is a clear signal that New Delhi is ready to help it out on the economic front.
Undeniably, what is happening in Sri Lanka is the result of bad politics and bad economics. The Rajapaksa family is widely blamed for pushing the country into the crisis of such an alarming proportion. The situation came to such a pass that there were shortages of food, fuel and medicines for months together, which triggered violent protests and attacks by angry people on the presidential palace and torching of the prime minister’s private residence. This indicates the level of anger among the people against the political class of the country. This also shows the trust deficit between citizens and the ruling class, attributable to the latter’s inability to handle the policy matters bringing down the Sri Lankan economy. The situation was such that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had to flee the country. With this in view, what the people of the debt-strapped island nation must be looking for is a strong political leadership who can give the country an equally reliable and powerful regime.
The process of putting a new regime in place should be completed soon, as any delay in creating conditions to pave the way for emergence of an alternative regime will not go down well with the people. This will then lead to more violent protests on the streets, as people have already run out of patience, wanting some able leadership to be in place to steer the country out of the troubled times. Significantly, Sri Lanka cannot afford a fresh election as of now, given the poor economic condition and massive law and order problems. But the island nation cannot also at the same time afford to be without leadership. A strong leadership to be more precise. What is indicated is that Sri Lanka is expected to have an all- party government. If this happens, the new government will have many huge challenges to deal with. What the new dispensation cannot lose sight of is that Colombo’s crisis has been in the making for more than a decade. Whosoever comes to the helm will have to deal with the problems resulting from the economic mismanagement by successive governments. However, a leader with a strong political will can make a difference.