We Must Abandon The Idea Of Elections Anytime Soon

Former Jaffna District Parliamentarian and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Spokesman M. A. Sumanthiran PC engaged in an informative conversation with the “Daily Mirror” on topics of current importance such as the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic, postponement of elections, imperative need to re-convene Parliament, legal validity of curfews being enforced, urgent necessity for drafting new laws and the refusal by Governors to let Local authorities in the North and East utilise funds to help affected people. The Excerpts:

- D.B.S.Jeyaraj

Q The entire world is undergoing a severe health threat and facing a severe crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sri Lanka too is experiencing this “Corona Effect”. So far, the Govt. and authorities seem to be tackling the issue reasonably well. However, difficult problems are emerging. What is your assessment on the current situation?

I think the slogan, “Flatten the Curve” explains this best. The success in containing this virus is said to be keeping the number of those infected at any particular time to a minimum, so that the health system can cope. If you look at the demonstration graph, it looks as if, either way the number of infected persons will be the same, except that if we flatten the curve, we can reduce fatalities. It also means that the time taken to eradicate the virus will be longer. If we are going to stretch the time to deal with this issue in order to “successfully contain it”, then we must necessarily keep the economy going at a rate which can feed the people and keep them healthy. That would mean that all economic activities in relation to food production, distribution, medicines, healthcare services for all other ailments, banking, insurance and a host of other sectors must continue to function.

Q What needs to be done to achieve that?

In order to achieve that, people MUST ‘Go Out’ as well as ‘Stay at Home!’ So, in effect what needs to be done is to find an optimum point between staying at home and going out - not just staying at home only. For this to happen over a long period of time, we need laws and regulations enacted with certainty and not to leave it to executive fiats that are issued in a haphazard manner.