Elusive unity in crisis

'Hope is said to 'spring eternal'. So, when the Opposition urged President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to declare a state of emergency and offered to cooperate with the government on disaster management, many may have thought that the NPP and its political rivals would sink their political differences and unite for the sake of the country. But the government and the Opposition went for each other's jugular soon afterwards.

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The Opposition yesterday staged a walkout in Parliament, blaming the government for having denied it an opportunity to discuss disaster management policies, strategies and measures. It also claimed the government had ignored warnings of Cyclone Ditwah. The government stood its ground, and resorted to divisive rhetoric instead of trying to enlist the support of its political opponents for handling the post-disaster situation effectively. A truce between the two sides does not seem to be in the realm of possibility.

The Ditwah catastrophe could not have come at a worse time for Sri Lanka, which is struggling to straighten up its ailing economy and shore up its foreign currency reserves with a view to resuming external debt repayment in earnest in 2028.

The actual cost of the weather disasters is yet to be calculated. It is bound to have a crippling effect on the economy, and only a truly national effort free from partisan politics will help the country to come to grips with it.