The country was locked down last Friday night and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa addressed the Nation. The most important and interesting part of his speech was where he mentioned sacrifices that should be made by all if the country needs to locked down for a longer period in the future. This part of his speech is very important because we need to ask the questions why and how? The replies we receive for these questions give us a very clear picture about where we Sri Lankans stand today. It also tells us where we should go from here and how.
Sri Lankans stand here today at a very difficult point where the country cannot be easily locked down like New Zealand and even if we lock down the country, we cannot keep the country locked down for a long period. The simple reason for this is that poverty exists in the country and a large number of people do not have a steady income. Only public servants and some private sector employees have a steady income which is not affected by COVID-19. All others do not have such income. They live by earning some money on a daily or weekly basis. Why?
It is very interesting to see the reply for this question. Is it President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Government responsible for their plight? Certain individuals and groups who have hidden and dangerous agendas for the people of this country and another handful of youngsters who do not have any idea about the dark past of this country say so. But the people of this country who remember things for more than two weeks do not say that or believe that at all. It is because they lived in the past, are now around 65 years old, and remember history very well. Some of them have explained the bitter truth of the dark history of Sri Lanka to their children.
Now President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has to pull this country forward with heavy debt and many other issues created since 1948 and not since December 2019. Sri Lanka did not collect a huge mountain of debt within two years. That mountain was gradually created since 1948 by all Heads of State who came into power from different political parties. The SLPP was created in 2016, which is 68 years after Independence and not in 1948. The first Head of the State from the SLPP was appointed in 2019, 71 years after Independence and not in 1948. The SLPP Cabinet was appointed one year ago and not 73 years ago.
By that time, most of the Opposition politicians were aged, feeble grandfathers and grandmothers who ruled the country for several decades since Independence. By the time of the inception of the SLPP and the SLPP Government, some were residing in foreign countries such as UK. Some are still living or spending their expensive vacations in foreign countries with their grandchildren. Some are just walking along streets in foreign countries like they are original citizens of those foreign countries. No wonder they feel so because they did not think about the future of this country.
This Government is forced to do bitter things on behalf of the country and the people because of the dark history of 71 years and not because of a period of two years. In 1948, when the country achieved its Independence, the total external debt was only US$ 37.8 million. From 1968 to 1977, it recorded a very slow growth rate of outstanding debt. From 1978 to 1995, the country recorded a rapid increase in the total external debt. The amount increased from US$ 1,136 million in 1978 to US$ 9,405 million in 1995. This is only a very small part of the bitter truth about the real Sri Lankan history which has a direct negative impact on the present (2021).
It is more interesting to see the statistics from 2015 to 2019. The percentage of debt was 78.49 percent in 2015 and it was 79.02 percent in 2016. The percentage stood as 77.90 percent in 2017 and it was 84.21 percent in 2018. The percentage was recorded as 86.80 percent in 2019. In 2019, Sri Lanka’s public debt was US$ 72,888 million, an increase of US$ 1,120 million from 2018.
It was we, Sri Lankans and not just five (actually three years by 2019) years old SLPP which pushed the country into this situation by electing the wrong leaders at the wrong time. It was we, Sri Lankans, who were responsible for not chasing them away after seeing that they repeatedly failed. We did not do anything to change the political party system which ruined this country. We should have come to streets demanding to abolish the political party system and not Governments. We should have protested against taking huge loans from foreign countries and international bodies. We did not do any of those things. We just thought and still think about our stomachs and not about anything else. No one or nothing can change a history of 73 years within days, weeks, months, years or decades. Maybe it will take a generation.
Two Ministers and one doctor mentioned about donating a part of the salary of politicians, public servants and private sector employees. Two or three Ministers have already donated their monthly salaries to support the Government’s move to assist needy people during the lockdown. The Government has not taken any decision in connection with this. This is a good solution and a good move that does not harm anyone if implemented properly with a clear plan. It should have a clear time frame, criteria and strategy. The amounts could be the entire salary or 75 percent for all politicians, 50 percent for teachers, 50 percent for all the others who earn a monthly salary over Rs. 100,000 and 25 percent for those who earn a monthly salary less than Rs. 100,000 and more than Rs. 75,000 or so. There are thousands of state and private sector employees who get monthly salaries over Rs. 100,000. The time frame could be the lockdown for this.
A total of 6.5 million are self-employed. A large number of people live by earning money daily. COVID-19 hit the people who are self-employed, people earning a daily living and the people who lost their private sector employment. We need to take some money from those who receive a huge monthly salary and give that money to the people who do not have a monthly salary. But taking a part of the monthly salary of private sector employees who are earning less than Rs. 75,000 is not something practical because they undergo various hardships without adequate leave, transport, etc. to earn that small salary and sometimes they have to look after the entire family using that small salary which is not adequate at all. They are like slaves because all know how some private sector employers ‘treat’ their employees who are fully under the control of them. Sometimes they employ workers who are under quarantine or having all symptoms of COVID-19. The most important part is we cannot believe that private sector employers will give the money taken from their employees to the Government. They will keep that money with them without giving it to the Government.
Taking a part of the salary of teachers and other public sector employees is very reasonable, especially from the couples (husband and wife) who work in the public sector. When it comes to teachers, they get their monthly salary while staying at home comfortably for almost one and a half years by now and also doing conducting tuition online. They have a good income when compared with other public servants who need to report to work without a break and without transport and they do not have time to do another job such as private tuition.
All politicians belonging to all political parties in Sri Lanka can very easily give their entire monthly salary to the Government for a few months or for a longer period because during the past several decades they have earned millions of rupees when they were in power. Their children, grandchildren and relatives earned money during the times their Governments were in power. This is about all politicians belonging to all political parties and not only about current politicians who are in power. This does not apply to new politicians who joined politics a year or two ago.
We have to remember only one fact in order to save ourselves from making the wrong decision once again. That single fact is that COVID-19 did not exist in Sri Lanka or in the whole world until 2019, especially during last 71 years while Sri Lanka was hurriedly building the mountain of debt and it is here in the world since December 2019, only after one month from the date President Gotabaya Rajapaksa came into power and in Sri Lanka since March last year (2020). President Gotabaya Rajapaksa ruled the country without COVID-19 only for four months. It will remain in the world and in Sri Lanka even beyond 2025. Remembering this single fact will save us forever from making wrong decisions again and again believing lies without proof and falling into Goebbels’ Theory.
– Daily News Sri Lanka
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