<p>Events over the past week in Sri Lanka provide little hope for an early resolution of the multiple crises that have engulfed the country. With the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa a week ago, an important demand of the anti-government protesters was met. However, it has not resulted in calming the anger of the protesters. The Rajapaksas brought hundreds of their supporters into Colombo and unleashed them on the protesters. The horrific violence that the pro-Rajapaksa mobs inflicted on the anti-government protesters has only served to firm up the latter’s resolve to oust all members of the Rajapaksa family from power. Consequently, Mahinda’s resignation was not seen to be enough. Not only does his brother Gotabaya remain in power but he is also in control of the most powerful post in Sri Lanka. Mahinda’s resignation was at best a cosmetic move aimed at buying time. Meanwhile, the Gotabaya government has declared curfew and called in the armed forces ostensibly to usher in security.</p>.<p>An important step that the Gotabaya government took last week with regard to breaking the political impasse is to appoint a new prime minister. While he has done well to appoint an opposition leader, the choice of Ranil Wickremesinghe raises serious questions about Gotabaya’s motivations. Wickremesinghe has much political experience; this is the fifth time he is Sri Lanka’s prime minister. However, in the 2020 election, Wickremesinghe’s party did poorly. It failed to win a single seat in parliament. Wickremesinghe himself lost his seat. Understandably, many Sri Lankans are raising questions about his legitimacy. It does seem that Gotabaya decided to appoint him the prime minister precisely for this reason; given his lack of support among the masses, the opposition, or even his own party, Wickremesinghe poses no threat to Gotabaya’s grip over the presidency.</p>.<p>The Rajapaksas’ Sri Lanka Podujana Party has promised to support the Wickremesinghe government. The new prime minister will therefore be dependent on the Rajapaksas for his political survival. President Gotabaya promised a national unity government as a way out of the political impasse. But what Sri Lanka has now is not a government of national unity. It is the same government that led Sri Lanka to the crises minus Mahinda, and with Wickremesinghe now taking orders from Gotabaya. While Sri Lanka’s politicians play their wily games, the people continue to suffer as the economic crisis deepens and shortages of food and fuel make daily living sheer misery. Sri Lankans are repeatedly signalling that they are fed up of all parties and politicians. That is a dangerous situation which Sri Lanka’s leaders aren’t taking seriously.</p>
<p>Events over the past week in Sri Lanka provide little hope for an early resolution of the multiple crises that have engulfed the country. With the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa a week ago, an important demand of the anti-government protesters was met. However, it has not resulted in calming the anger of the protesters. The Rajapaksas brought hundreds of their supporters into Colombo and unleashed them on the protesters. The horrific violence that the pro-Rajapaksa mobs inflicted on the anti-government protesters has only served to firm up the latter’s resolve to oust all members of the Rajapaksa family from power. Consequently, Mahinda’s resignation was not seen to be enough. Not only does his brother Gotabaya remain in power but he is also in control of the most powerful post in Sri Lanka. Mahinda’s resignation was at best a cosmetic move aimed at buying time. Meanwhile, the Gotabaya government has declared curfew and called in the armed forces ostensibly to usher in security.</p>.<p>An important step that the Gotabaya government took last week with regard to breaking the political impasse is to appoint a new prime minister. While he has done well to appoint an opposition leader, the choice of Ranil Wickremesinghe raises serious questions about Gotabaya’s motivations. Wickremesinghe has much political experience; this is the fifth time he is Sri Lanka’s prime minister. However, in the 2020 election, Wickremesinghe’s party did poorly. It failed to win a single seat in parliament. Wickremesinghe himself lost his seat. Understandably, many Sri Lankans are raising questions about his legitimacy. It does seem that Gotabaya decided to appoint him the prime minister precisely for this reason; given his lack of support among the masses, the opposition, or even his own party, Wickremesinghe poses no threat to Gotabaya’s grip over the presidency.</p>.<p>The Rajapaksas’ Sri Lanka Podujana Party has promised to support the Wickremesinghe government. The new prime minister will therefore be dependent on the Rajapaksas for his political survival. President Gotabaya promised a national unity government as a way out of the political impasse. But what Sri Lanka has now is not a government of national unity. It is the same government that led Sri Lanka to the crises minus Mahinda, and with Wickremesinghe now taking orders from Gotabaya. While Sri Lanka’s politicians play their wily games, the people continue to suffer as the economic crisis deepens and shortages of food and fuel make daily living sheer misery. Sri Lankans are repeatedly signalling that they are fed up of all parties and politicians. That is a dangerous situation which Sri Lanka’s leaders aren’t taking seriously.</p>
