Sri Lankans ousted president. Now they want a government they can trust.
Women wait in a queue to buy kerosene in in Colombo, Sri Lanka, June 11, 2022. Sri Lanka's economic crisis, the worst in its history, has completely recast the lives of the country's once-galloping middle class. For many families that never had to think twice about fuel or food, the effects have been instant and painful, derailing years of progress toward lifestyles aspired to across South Asia.
Eranga Jayawardena/AP
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Crowds set off firecrackers and danced along Galle Face Green after news spread that Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had officially submitted his resignation letter from Singapore on Thursday.
The latest and largest in a series of political oustings, Mr. Rajapaksa’s departure has further energized a growing civilian protest movement – and created a power vacuum in the island nation. The next president will be tasked not only with managing ongoing civil unrest and severe economic crisis, but with restoring some sense of trust in the institutions that were responsible.
Sri Lankans aren’t picking their new president, at least not directly. Mr. Rajapaksa fled the country after protestors stormed his official residence and office over the weekend, and the deeply unpopular Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is serving as acting President until Parliament chooses a successor on July 20. Nominations will be announced the day before.
Why We Wrote This
Sri Lankan protesters have succeeded in getting President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign, but his exit leaves many issues unresolved. Experts say new leaders will face not only an economic crisis, but also a crisis of trust.
Sri Lankans have strong ideas about how the country should move forward – including dissolving executive powers of the presidency, restarting negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, and addressing ethno-religious prejudice – but many say their confidence is low, given the government’s track record of corruption and incompetence. However, their faith in fellow Sri Lankans seems to be growing.
Amjad Moulana, a political activist based in Colombo, says that scheduling direct elections as soon as possible will be critical to phasing out the old guard and restoring trust in government. “What we have witnessed through this struggle is the Sri Lankan spirit is still strong,” he says, “and that if younger and more capable leaders who embody this spirit emerge in the near future, therein lies hope.”
On Thursday, protestors announced they had decided to vacate the government buildings they had occupied since the weekend, in what appeared to be a move to preserve calm and trust in the movement.
Loss of trust
Mr. Rajapaksa hails from a political dynasty and swept to power in November 2019 with the help of the Sinhalese Buddhist voters. But his popularity tumbled this year amid a spiraling cost of living and severe shortages of essentials such as fuel, cooking gas, and medicine. Sri Lankans have been demanding his resignation since April.
But faith in the country’s economic growth and governing institutions more broadly have plummeted since 2020, according to Gallup polls. In recent months, political mismanagement and crackdowns on protests have only added to people’s grievances, and as much as Mr. Rajapaksa’s exit has inspired celebration, it also halted critical talks with the IMF on a possible bailout package.
For Shehara Muthuwady, a human resource professional, Sri Lanka’s harrowing economic collapse has made daily life a battle.
“Personally, I don’t like the idea of an interim government, but it looks like the only short-term solution at the moment,” she says, adding that she’d want interim leaders to “look closely at more feasible solutions for the benefit of the public, rather than fueling up more corruption.”
Sharine Gunasekera, a mother of two from Colombo, has little faith in those in power. When asked about the president fleeing the country, she said she’d be happier if there was a way to hold Mr. Rajapaksa and his administration accountable for jeopardizing Sri Lankans’ futures.
“Call me delusional, but there is a small glimmer of hope that we might come out of this, with the right people at least, and with international help. ... Without that, I don’t think we or our children will have any chance or use living here,” she says.
Economic support
Sri Lanka’s future leader will also need to restore trust internationally. Political instability has halted negotiations with the IMF, with spokesman Gerry Rice saying on Twitter that they are “deeply concerned” about the ongoing crisis. “We hope for a resolution of the current situation that will allow for resumption of our dialogue on an IMF-supported program,” he said.
W.A. Wijewardena, former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, expects the current political impasse to delay negotiations further.
“Sri Lanka now must prove that it has a stable government to the satisfaction of [the] IMF,” he says. “This will be a difficult task.”
Mr. Moulana, the political activist, says that years of dubious leadership in Parliament means “Sri Lanka has not progressed socioeconomically compared to the growth trajectory of other nations, even those in the South Asian neighborhood.” He says interim leaders should focus on “resuming and expediting negotiations with the IMF,” as well as “restoring confidence” in international markets.
Rebalancing power
Ambika Satkunanathan, former commissioner of Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Commission, says via email that minority groups will be slow to trust any government until leaders address Sinhala Buddhist supremacy, “which has been the driver of discrimination and violence against Tamils and Muslims, and an obstacle to finding a solution to the ethnic conflict.”
The Rajapaksas returned to power in 2019 in part by stoking anti-Tamil fears left over from the country’s civil war period, and by fueling anti-Muslim sentiments after the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks. The family then concentrated power through the 20th Amendment to the constitution, a controversial measure that dramatically expanded presidential executive power and limited that of the Parliament. Ms. Satkunanathan says this is how “the Rajapaksas were able to act in authoritarian and unaccountable ways and bring Sri Lanka to its knees.”
Shortly after being sworn in on Friday, the acting president vowed to reverse the 20th Amendment.
For Ashwin Sandanakrishnan, an aircraft design engineer from Colombo, the new government should move quickly to abolish the executive presidency and return power to Parliament, so that one person cannot decide the future of the country. But he also considers the majority of current parliamentarians unqualified or downright immoral.
“The people were led to electing them over false promises and lies,” he says. “The people seem to have realized this in the past few months and they should be given an opportunity to elect better representatives.”
Ms. Satkunanathan, Mr. Moulana, and Mr. Sandanakrishnan all agree that direct elections are the way forward, though Sri Lankans may not get the chance to choose their president until 2024, when the next election is scheduled. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for 2025, but could happen earlier if the president chooses.
“Since the people are showing an interest in exercising their civic duty by holding people in public office accountable, one hopes they will elect people with integrity and a commitment to serve the public at the next election. For this, extensive political education and awareness raising by political parties and civil society is required,” says the former human rights commissioner.
Editor's note: This article has been edited to clarify Ambika Satkunanathan's position at the Human Rights Commission.