K. Ratnayake
The crisis of the Sri Lankan government has deepened as big business this week demanded immediate measures to end the country’s economic, social and political turmoil, including the formation of national unity government.
The corporate and financial elite are fearful of the revolutionary implications of the mass protest movement that has convulsed the country as major sections of the working class show signs of taking up the demand for the resignation of President Gotabhaya Rajapakse and his government. The brutal police shooting of unarmed protesters in Rambukkana on Tuesday that killed a poor workingman has further enraged the masses.
On Wednesday, all big-business lobbies, including the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka, wrote to the president requesting he immediately initiate legislative action to repeal the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, saying it “contributed to the present situation.”
The 20th amendment enacted in October 2020 reinstated all of the sweeping draconian powers of the executive presidency and, among other things, transformed the parliament into nothing more than a rubber stamp.
The big-business chambers expressed the fear “that the current political deadlock coupled with growing public unrest could potentially derail the actions being taken to resolve the serious economic crisis” of the country. Repealing the 20th amendment had to be combined with a “consensual approach.”
The letter stated: “We recommend that a bi-partisan national government is established… to come out the current economic crisis” and “resolve the issues relating to fuel, electricity, gas and other critical elements of the supply chain.”
Sri Lanka’s major conglomerates Brandix, MAS, Hemas, Dialog, Dilmah, John Keels yesterday wrote separately to the president calling for “swift changes to [establish a] good governing system.”
The direct unprecedented intervention of big business is not because it has an iota of concern for the plight of working people. The corporate and financial elite amassed huge profits during the COVID-19 pandemic while insisting on a policy of herd immunity that allowed the virus to ravage the island.
The ruling class fears that, unless the protests are brought rapidly to an end, a far broader political movement will erupt once talks currently underway with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package conclude, revealing the extent of the austerity measures required.
In talks with Sri Lanka, the IMF has required “adequate assurances” that the country’s debts can be put on a sustainable path. This means deep cuts into government expenditure, increased taxes and the extensive restructuring of state-owned enterprises among other things.
Rajapakse knows such measures cannot be implemented peacefully. Both the president and his brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, have blamed protesters for the police shooting on Tuesday in Rambukkana. Yesterday the president yesterday renewed his order for the military to maintain law and order in 25 of the country’s districts.
However, the ongoing mass protests against the Rajapakse regime have continued for more than two weeks, driven by rampant inflation, shortages of food, medicines and other essentials, such as fuel and electricity and are growing.
Workers have participated in the protests as individuals. However, they are now pressing for industrial action for wage hikes and other measures to alleviate the social catastrophe they are confronting.
To deflect the groundswell of opposition, the trade unions have been forced to call limited protests and strikes.
On Tuesday, tens of thousands of workers took part in protest demonstrations in Colombo and other major cities. They demanded an immediate wage increase, an end to shortages and a reduction of prices, and branded the IMF talks as a trap.
About 1,500 workers, including teachers, health, port, electricity, telecom and postal employees, demonstrated outside the Fort railway station. On the same day, teachers at all universities went on strike and thousands marched in Colombo opposing the government.
On Thursday, about 150 plantation workers at the Gartmore Estate held a demonstration and marched to nearby Maskeliya town. They chanted slogans against the police shooting in Rambukkana and the huge price hikes. The previous day, Maskeliya Alton Estate workers held a similar demonstration while yesterday Agarapatana workers took protest action.
On April 25, public school teachers will engage in one-day sick leave strike, opposing unbearable skyrocketing price of fuel and shortages. The same unions that organised Tuesday’s large protests have announced a one-day general strike to be held on April 28 that will involve up to one million workers.
Far from seeking to build the opposition movement against the government, the trade unions are seeking to contain the anger of workers. The unions that called the latest protests have betrayed every struggle that has erupted over the past year, enabling the government to impose the burden of the worsening economic crisis on workers and the poor.
Having lost the confidence of big business, the ruling coalition is falling into further disarray. Yesterday, the newly-appointed media minister, Nalaka Godahewa, offered his resignation and called for an interim government. President Rajapakse refused to accept the resignation.
Thirteen of the ruling party’s parliamentarians met this week with the president and called for an interim government under a new prime minister. In a meeting of government MPs, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, the president’s brother insisted that the present government would continue and try to find solutions to the economic crisis.
The opposition parties—the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)—are also desperate to bring the mass protest movement under control. In a bid to tap into the popular opposition, SJB leader Sajith Premadasa submitted proposals on Thursday to the parliamentary speaker to abolish the executive presidency. However, his deputy, former army commander, Sarath Fonseka, told the media that abolishing executive presidency would solve nothing.
The JVP completed its three-day march to Colombo that involved thousands. JVP speakers addressed the crowd, demanding Rajapakse government go, but did not explain what the party proposed next. Over the past month, the JVP has been campaigning for an “interim government” and new elections. Any government involving the SJB and JVP would, like the current one, impose the IMF’s austerity agenda on working people.
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