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| Sunday, 7 July 2002 |
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Editor, Sunday Observer. E-mail: [email protected] Snail mail : Sunday Observer, 35, D.R.Wijewardana Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Telephone : 94 1 429239 / 331181 Fax : 94 1 429230 Burdens The Prime Minister has gone to the people in a direct appeal for understanding and solidarity with the efforts of his Government to deal with the problems of the national economy. In doing so Mr. Wickremesinghe follows in the footsteps of many Sri Lankan political leaders before him, all of whom have similarly addressed the people. One advantage this Prime Minister has over his predecessors: they were compelled to labour in the context of an unmitigated gloom while he and his fellow Sri Lankans live in more optimistic times. Whether it was the much-respected Dr. N. M. Perera who exhorted people to "tighten their belts" or, whether it was other Premiers or Finance Ministers of past decades, the total pre-occupation of their national constituency was the economic crisis and the resulting economic burdens that had to be borne. In later years, the raging ethnic war only served to add to the general gloom. Today, however, Sri Lankans live in more hopeful times thanks to the United National Front Government's peace effort. The bold move by Mr. Wickremesinghe and his governmental colleagues to meet the LTTE more than halfway and end the military hostilities has created an atmosphere free of conflict and tensions that has not been felt by Sri Lankans for decades. Whole new generations of Sri Lankans are experiencing some form of peace for the first time in their young lives. Thus, the currently intensified economic burdens come at a time when Sri Lankans are celebrating a considerable improvement in their general life and nurture some optimism for an even more positive development in the future. The joys of a growing peace, then, mitigate, even if moderately, the sorrows of greater socio-economic deprivation. The burden is that much lighter. The people may hear the Prime Minister with some appreciation of his role in mitigating their oppressive condition, resentful though they may be over the heavier economic pressures. The Government, however, is keenly aware that the ethnic peace it has managed to usher in may soon be disrupted by social turmoil due to economic pressures. On the one hand it must work hard and fast to ensure that every measure is implemented to facilitate a recovery of economic dynamism that has now become possible due to the peace. On the other, it has to guard against misjudgments of policy that could serve to worsen the economic burdens borne by the people. Economic growth policies need to be carefully balanced with not just the rhetoric of poverty alleviation but real, effective measures to cushion the worst effects of structural adjustment on the mass of poor. The UNF Government does have the experience to understand the inadequacy of economic dogma and that economic policies must be mediated by the pragmatic concerns of politics and social management. Just as much as good governance is needed to ensure the success of economic reform, it is only a politically negotiated economic strategy that can be sustained in the long term. Here, the Government's own image of style of administration, of strict accountability, of communicability with the people, will all help in cultivating a positive response from the people for its economic strategy. While one cannot expect the poor to cheerfully bear the burdens of increased deprivation, it is possible to a create better understanding of the national predicament and avoid the kind of social upheavals this country has experienced in the past. |
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