Can those who love this country be ‘reformed’? - EDITORIAL

Any reforms the government makes to put its economy in order will be painful for the people. Right now people are concerned about how their salaries would be taxed in the future. Apart from that President Ranil Wickremesinghe said during his speech at the ceremonial opening of parliament on Wednesday that he would not be soft on implementing new tax policies because there could be a loss for the government if he didn’t grab this opportunity. 

This regime is trying its best to give life to its wobbling economy by scraping the purses of the people. The regime has conveniently forgotten that this economy is in a precarious state because of faulty decision making and mismanagement of funds by lawmakers. In a more raw way of explaining the latter there were ‘white collar’ crimes. What seems to be a pity is that the government led by Wickremesinghe is more focused on repairing a damaged economy rather than finding and punishing the culprits who created this mess. 

This regime will move on with the reforms despite ongoing protests. On Wednesday alone there were around representatives of 40 odd trade unions taking to the streets. One key issue they protested against was the unjust tax system that’ll be introduced immediately. The saffron robed monks too protested against the government’s intention to make effective the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. The saffron robed monks who were a big part of the Pohottuwa Party and the Sri Lanka People’s Freedom Alliance in past elections are rebelling against this regime at the risk of being hounded by the police. This regime that is in power without the mandate of the people doesn’t care much about having the support of the majority when it comes to decision making. 

The regime led by Wickremesinghe maintains that it will pursue with reforms with the majority of the people; who the president labels as those who love this country. This statement can be fiercely debated because when this issue is viewed through the eyes of the general public this nation as a whole is not backing this president.  

This regime wants to make this economy a modernized one opened to the world apart from making the people not depended on a corrupt political system. The government believes that this is the change that protesters and the youth of this country are seeking. This regime also labels those who are protesting as ‘anarchists’. How can those agitating not rebel against this government when they know that a president unelected by the people knows nothing about people’s real love for their motherland?  Those who love this country want stealing of state funds to be stopped and crooks brought to book. This regime and its leaders have not promised any of that! Instead of doing that this regime believes it can reform the thinking pattern of the people. 

This regime must know by now that those who love themselves have left this island in search of brighter prospects. It’s those who want to turn this nation around that remains here harbouring hopes that the Local Government Polls would be held as scheduled. This election could serve as a starter to clean this system, which promotes corruption, nepotism and the survival of aged politicians who can barely disembark from their vehicles and walk into the parliament complex. 

Those who love this country must cast their votes; not stay away from exercising their franchise at elections because they have zero hope. The future would not be friendly for protesters given the mind frame of the government to crack down on those who agitate regardless whether they are male or female. Voices of dissent are a must at a time like this when the ‘good’ men are again silent minding their own business. Did the aragalaya fail or were the agitators silenced? The choice as the answer is yours. But remember that the silence for long in the face of injustice would put people in the ‘forget file’; akin to the name ‘Slave Island’ in Colombo 2 which was taken out of the equation for good.