LAST CHANCE FOR LANKA

WHY THE PRESIDENTIAL POLL ON SEPTEMBER 21 IS A MAJOR TURNING POINT FOR SRI LANKA EVEN AS IT RECOVERS FROM THE 2022 ECONOMIC COLLAPSE

- RAJ CHENGAPPA

These days, the famed Galle Face in Colombo, lapped by the waves of the Indian Ocean, wears a deceptive calm. Hordes of families throng the beachfront playing ball games and snacking on fried fish peddled by eateries. Just two years ago, in July 2022, it was packed with angry supporters of the aragalaya (Sinhala for ‘The Struggle’), who mounted a massive protest against the ruling dispensation headed by the Rajapaksa brothers for the economic hardships they had to endure. These included inflation, which had soared to over 100 per cent, a critical shortage of fuel for motor vehicles and a food and fertilisers crisis that pushed Sri Lanka to the brink of a shocking economic collapse. Both Mahinda, who was prime minister, and his younger brother Gotabaya, who was president, had to resign and flee in a hurry as irate mobs stormed into their residential compounds.

Since then, the situation has stabilised under the steadying hand of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was forced to take tough measures, including borrowing $2.9 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)—and helped by generous funding from India of over $4 billion—to stem the economic meltdown. But India’s southern neighbour could still easily slide over the economic edge. That’s why the upcoming presidential elections on September 21 will be another turning point in Sri Lanka’s troubled history. A clear verdict may be the last good chance for the island nation to redeem itself.