'In the political arena'

Dr. Sarath Amunugama in the final volume of his autobiographical trilogy entitled “In the Political Arena” covers the period 1992 to 2022 which is the contemporary period of politics in Sri Lanka and his frontline role in it.

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This memoir covers the presidency of R. Premadasa, the abortive impeachment process against him, the rupture in the UNP and the formation of the DUNF by Lalith Athulatmudali (LA) and Gamini Dissanayake (GD), the author's sidelining by Ranil Wickremasinghe (RW) in the UNP and his support of Chandika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (CBK), his Ministerial roles under her presidency and that of Mahinda Rajapaksa and Maithripala Sirisena.

Amunugama in his Introduction observes that as “the modern history of Sri Lanka is full of paradoxes,” asks how did Sri Lanka which at independence had surplus sterling reserves, and one of the most promising States in Asia year marked for modernization and economic growth, end at the bottom of the pile? How is it that a country predominantly Theravada Buddhist could be engaged in fratricidal warfare for almost half the years since independence; and despite a high literacy rate and vibrant intellectual life become reduced to a second rate cultural backwater? One recalls even Lee Kwan Yew trenchantly remarking how we as the envy of Asia had squandered all the positives we had at Independence.

The author goes on to explore these tragedies as a failure of a process of modernization and that Sri Lanka 75 years after independence has yet to discover the growth model that suits us. He quotes David Riesman, “The hatred sown by anti-colonialism is harvested in the rejection of every appearance of foreign tutelage. Wanted are modern institutions but not modern ideologies, modern power but not modern purposes, modern wealth but not modern wisdom”.

The failure of economic development is attributed to statist nationalization after 1956 primarily by the SLFP and its “toadies in the left”, the welfare measures commencing from 1933 and rapid population growth which cast an enormous burden on the national exchequer. This led Joan Robinson to sardonically comment “Sri Lanka is trying to taste the fruit of the tree without growing it”.