Easing Of The Lockdown: Dipping A Toe In Risky Waters

The decision by the government to ease lockdown restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation was obviously motivated mainly by the need to hold a general election without further delay.

Even a rudimentary grasp of modern political dynamics would suggest that after a famous Presidential electoral victory, the momentum would be too precious to be wasted, as Ranil Wickremesinghe and the UNP learnt, at the expense of a chance of obtaining a clear majority, in 2015 by waiting till August to hold a general election after recording a remarkable victory over the then President and strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa through the common candidate Maithripala Sirisena. The delay had resulted in not being able to build on the momentum obtained by the January 08 victory and the debacles such as the central bank bond scam allegations.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, obviously rues having to waste the high tide he was enjoying after the November Presidential election victory and the new hopes that had been kindled by even those who did not vote for him that some change of system would be good by a strong fisted leader.

The Economic fallout

The decision could, at the same time, partly be prompted by a concern that an economic fallout of such an extended lockdown would have on an already gloomy economic and fiscal landscape, a thing that the Rajapaksa presidency would have wanted to rectify to the extent and as soon as possible. A quickfire good performance at least in one or few sectors of the economy or one aspect of socio-political life would have kept the hopes smouldering. Yet the onset of the pandemic put paid to any expectation of a decent, if not a stellar performance, in the economic sphere and the problem of servicing foreign debt which is now looming large over the entire economy to the extent that the very sovereignty of the country, when in such seemingly inextricable a debt trap, is a challenge that the President faces.