Sri Lanka; A nation in shame, begging for survival

ll non-essential cabinet positions, all State minister positions should be temporarily suspended. The emergency government should be given unfettered powers to get the country out of its dire predicament while the parliamentarians are kept out of such a government and directed, by the people, to get the 21st amendment passed and implemented.

by Raj GonsalkoraleSri Lanka has defaulted on a foreign loan interest component for the first time in its history. It is a day of shame for a country that boasts of such a rich and ancient cultural heritage, and which has produced so many people of eminence in so many fields of expertise over the years.

It is regrettable that the people of Sri Lanka had been remiss in their responsibilities and acumen not to have had accountability, credibility, and honesty as priorities in selecting their political leaders to govern the country on their behalf. It is shameful that the political leaders and their flock who were trusted by the people have been utterly irresponsible in allowing the country to sink to this depth of despair and hopelessness.

A country that has no fuel, no cooking gas, no medicines and now, increasingly, no food, power cuts, water cuts, with all this contributing to the anger and anguish of millions of people. Whether the President of the country thinks or not, or like it or not, he has to take full responsibility for this shame as he had all the powers he needed under the 20th amendment to take early preventive action to avoid a catastrophe of this degree.

The buck has to stop with him, and although none of his predecessors ever did that, he should have set an example. His immediate predecessor Sirisena did not even apologize to the nation for the Easter bomb fiasco that happened under his watch.

The first Executive President Jayewardene did not either in the aftermath of the 1983 pogrom against the Tamil community in Sri Lanka. This is the quality of leaders voted in by the public.

Despite being a nation of beggars now, undergoing such ignominy as looking for firewood to cook the next meal, standing in queues for hours for some fuel, foregoing some medicines as they are not available, facing possible food shortages and being unable to buy these even if available due to the astronomical price hikes, power cuts, now water cuts, political leaders and their flock are still placing their quest for power over the welfare of the country. They should have all thrown their party labels to the Diyawanna Oya and...