Don't Make Sri Lanka A Vulnerable Nation

Sri Lankans have got used to living with a lot less. Salary cuts have been announced and even the sick have been made to go into survival mode. Pharmacies are opened only on selected days of the month. People have to toughen up and most importantly if one observes closely there are few or no options to complain about anything.

- Ravi Nagahawatte

Overall the country is in a way under military rule. There may be a lot of good things to say about how the men in uniform are administrating the country. But still people who love democracy and a certain amount of liberty wouldn’t fancy this system of ‘military rule’. Hence their only wish is for the COVID-19 to be eradicated, elections be held and a democratically elected government to be in parliament.

But leave aside that new parliament to be elected, the system of governance we experience now could be an indication to what we’ll see as the system of rule in the future. The president is rarely heard and seen, but operates the system from behind the scenes. The Army Commander appears daily on national television and makes statements about how the country is progressing health-wise. The only other sector which gets television time is national health care; invariably government doctors and medical experts who are in the state payroll. Aren’t we seeing a model of the system of governance which is to come? And what’s scary is when someone puts a post on facebook stating ‘shall we let the security forces continue to run this country’.

There is much criticism regarding the government wanting to resume day-to-day activities pretty soon. The authorities have always wanted to hold general elections at the earliest. But later the talk was to open state universities in stages, before the elections; now scheduled for June 20. The FUTA has requested the University Grants Commission to explain logically the basis behind the decision to reopen universities in May.