Back To Work

The dust has once more settled on another recently concluded presidential election.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been re-elected by the majority of the voters to usher in an era of prosperity, peace and security.

He is also obligated to deliver on his election promises, but in Sri Lanka’ case, generally those, once elected to power, conveniently forget the promises they made to the masses at election meetings, and such pledges, more often than not, are observed on the breach.
The onus is on Rajapaksa to urgently bring about law and order, stamp out corruption, cut down on waste and nepotism, boost development and keep the economy ticking.

Since the opening-up of the economy in 1977, Sri Lanka has been growing at an average rate of about 4-5% annually. The war end, after 26 long years in May 2009, would be an added boost to the economy.
It has been said that the war used to shave off 1-2% of the country’s g.d.p. growth annually.

But with the war end, it may be interpreted that in the event there is no change in the open economic policies pursued since 1977, then g.d.p. growth would increase to between 5-6% or 6-7% annually under the normal scheme of things.

An increase in g.d.p. growth translates to an increase in per capita g.d.p. of the people.
It may grow faster if there is a greater flow of development aid which would spur investments in infrastructure, and the growth momentum will also be maintained if the G.S.P. + concession is not lost. Reforms in the public sector, including those in the utilities, would be another boost to growth. Sometimes to attain such objectives for the good of the people may be painful and politically inexpedient in the short run because they may include reforms in the public sector, in the theatre of education and in land policy, which implementation is easier said than done.

Winning investor confidence; mending fences with our traditional friends the West, our biggest export market as well as our biggest tourism generating market; are also important and will all contribute to growth.

Tourism is one industry that will recover fast with the war end, and indeed, this industry has made remarkable progress in those few months since, after the 26 year old conflict was finished in May.

Reforms in education too are an urgent need. Our syllabuses, from school to university, should be geared to the market. English, the lingua franca of the world will have to be given pride of place in the schools’ curriculum.  English is also the language of commerce.

With only a fraction of those passing the advanced level exam obtaining seats in the local university system because of accommodation problems, the question of varsity education being a monopoly of the state would need a rethink. It needs to be liberalized and opened up to the private sector so that deserving students who have got the necessary qualifications to enter campus, but are precluded from doing so because of  lack of seating, would then have an alternative, in the event private universities are allowed to set-up operations here, to enter such universities.

Such a move would also result in the saving of valuable foreign exchange.

Then, no more will students, who failed to get a seat in the local varsity system due to  accommodation problems, despite having the minimum qualifications required to gain such entry, have to seek placements in overseas universities, in the event private universities, with proper regulations, are allowed to set-up operations here.

Opening up state land for private sector investments and land titling of land held by the smallholder farmer are also important to take the country forward.
Those are things that Rajapaksa will have to deliver for the good of the people and for the country.

Now it’s back to work, though the parliamentary elections that will have to be held in another few months time, is bound to slow the pace of progress in the country once more.

Politics is enmeshed in the Sri Lankan psyche, that, in the backdrop of a major election, Sri Lanka comes to a standstill and government’s recurrent expenditure, in a vote catching ploy escalates, while at the same time government revenue also suffers a body blow, because of the lowering of food and other commodity taxes, to make such items cheaper to the consumer, in an attempt to woo his or her vote. With the conclusion of the presidential elections, all this is now at least temporarily past.

However the issuing of such election handouts may re-appear in another few months, coinciding with the parliamentary elections that will have to be held before the year end, according to the law.

Those vote catching gimmicks have to be replaced by tangible and sustainable economic policies. Then only can the country move forward.