As we move into 2016, we need to think positively, count our blessings one by one, be thankful and grateful for what happened or did not happen.

High on the list would be the people’s silent revolution of January 8 – a historic turning point that would be remembered and analyzed for decades or generations. The common candidate Maithripala Sirisena who assumed duties on January 9 reiterated last Sunday that he was the chief public servant of the people and he believed that the fruits of the new tree of consensual government could be tasted by the people in 2016 and the years to come. 

Speaking at a Galle festival, the President who has been commended by Pope Francis for his simple lifestyle and servant leadership said the National Unity Government was gradually building inter-racial and inter-religious unity in diversity. He appealed to all political parties also to come together and take consensual decisions on the middle path for the common good of all the people of Sri Lanka. He expressed confidence that 2016 would be a year of significant headway towards sustainable, eco-friendly economic development and social justice, good governance and democracy.

Referring to widespread criticism of the mid-term economic strategy and some of the 2016 budget proposals, the President said he was aware that the stomach was more sensitive than the head and some people were unhappy about the lack of short-team benefits such as price reductions. But he said that this time of unprecedented political stability where the two major   parties had come together for the first time since Independence was the right time to turn away from the path of populist policies and turn around to mid-term or long-term economic strategies to build a solid foundation for a new Sri Lanka.

Besides the January 8 people’s revolution, the President referred to the 19th Amendment to the Constitution and the proposed draft for a wholly new constitution which is likely to be implemented next year. Other positive features include the setting up of the all-party Constitutional Council with eleven independent commissions to oversee vital areas. The independent Elections Commission especially would in  future  ensure free and fair elections without large–scale vote buying as we saw in 2005 and 2010 or any form of so-called computer ‘gilmart’.

Another 2015 highlight was the long-delayed approval of the bill to set up the high-powered 13-member National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) which in 2016 is expected to take significant steps to make quality drugs available to the people at affordable prices. This will be the first step towards restoring a health service where the well-being of patients is given top priority - a radical transformation from the marketplace medicine which has become one of the biggest businesses for trans-national pharmaceutical giants, private hospitals and unfortunately some of the medical consultants also.

On Parliament’s 2016 agenda is the draft  Right to Information Bill which when implemented effectively will be a major step to revive the people’s fundamental right to the freedom of information while it will also help in preventing corruption and bribery, frauds and wasteful expenditure which were rampant during the previous  regime. 

The main attack against the President and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremaesinghe is coming from the pro-Rajapaksa faction of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA). While Mr. Sirisena is insisting that Sri Lanka cannot have two Presidents, Mr. Rajapaksa, in his new operation of temple politics, is insisting that the government cannot have two leaders. There are reports that the Rajapaksa faction with a significant number of MPs might form a new coalition before the local council election in 2016.

Since 1948, party politics has divided and devastated Sri Lanka. This new era requires new thinking, liberation from self-centred politics for personal gain or party glory.  LSSP dissident group leader Dr Jayampathy Wickremaratne, a parliamentarian and constitutional expert, who played a key role in drafting the new constitution, summed it up well. Addressing the LSSP’s 80th anniversary meeting, he said some party leaders were like dinosaurs and they needed to come into the modern era of blending our culture and civilization with the marvels of modern technology and the global village concepts.