July, 21, 2022
By Prof. Samitha Hettige
Sidelining of JR Jayawardena within the UNP came to a peak in early 1970s by the Senanayake camp. Many expected him to cross over to the SLFP which was running the country but JR never gave up (Ref memories of late ACS Hameed). In 1973 JR became the leader of the opposition then Prime Minister IN 1977 and later President in 1978. He took oaths at the Galle face green under the sun on an open daise. JR once said that he worked hard to climb the spiral stairs to the top and came down on his own. He always referred to the life of Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli of Britain who never gave up. President Ranil Wickremasinghe who learned from JR proved that smart work is a better alternative to hard work.
President Ranil may remind of Gerald Rudolph Ford (1913 – 2006), former US President who became the 40th Vice President following the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew in 1973 and the 38th President when President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 without being elected to either positions (becoming the only person in the USA to be such). He is remembered as the leader who ended US involvement in the Vietnam War making US image acceptable to the world once again. Domestically, Ford governed over the worst economy in the 40 years since the great depression (with growing inflation and a recession) (Ref. US sources).
SL domestic crisis
SL is in an economic crisis which according to many is the worst in 70 years. Managing growing inflation is the biggest challenge for President RW and thereby managing the recession comes second. Sri Lankans can learn from the Chinese approach to the “Xiaokang Society” or the Moderately Prosperous Society. China’s Paramount leader Deng Xiaoping first used the term in 1979 indicating China’s long term goal when China first liberalized the economy in Shenzhen (which now has a GDP higher than Singapore). According to Chinese expectations and interpretations in a “xiaokang society” most are moderately well off middle class. China expected economic prosperity to place the larger majority in mainland into comfortable means with that approach. As per Chinese vision economic advancement is not the only goal of a society. They expect economic growth to balance with social equality and environmental protection.
However, the “Xiaokang” was criticized by some sociologists later as the newly rich in China focused only on material wealth and did not focus on Deng’s vision and direction by the 1990s. Ranil W should know this better as SL experienced similar situations by the mid 1980s after the economic liberalization in 1978 during JR. That may have been one cause for the youth uprising in the late 1980s and hence, the economic recovery in SL should be very carefully managed with proper monitoring and continuous civic education. The “ Xiaokang” society while recognizing the need for economic growth (for prosperity) insists the need to distribute prosperity. The vision of the Belt and Road Initiative is that and the BRI indicates that China is on the path it planned in the 1970s. This is similar to the vision promoted in Buddhist economics which is discussed when analyzing the policies of rulers such as Emperor Asoka (Ref Prof. Jagath Wickremasinghe).
Managing violence and racism in SL
As per Buddhist teachings, Buddhist economics explain the harmful and beneficial sides within human activity and the production and consumption of goods and services are explained to make humans ethically mature. In the case of SL, it is questionable if the larger majority agrees on above. Ranil W must be aware that Sri Lankans are generally violent. Thanks to President Gotabaya the world got yet another great opportunity to see how violent the Sri Lankans are. It will ensure that much wanted investors will not be coming this way. The silent tax payer will repair the property destroyed (by the few who would use this crisis as a green channel to enter a western country or Australia etc later) and work hard once again to put the economy back on track. They will have to be protected and helped by Ranil W with support from good friends like China who were distanced by President Gotabaya.
(The writer is an academic and a broadcaster. Views expressed are personal and may not be the views of his affiliations.)
