Electioneering, and false promises end today

It’s here at last. Today at midnight, election campaigning must necessarily come to an end. Hopefully cutouts of the varied candidates and the posters with their none too beautiful faces will not spoil our days and nights. Our brains will not be seared by the plethora of false election promises the candidates keep parroting. 

Our job is to sit down in the relative calm of electioneering and analyse the promises within the parameters of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement signed between our government and officials of that organisation.  
All the main aspirants to the office of the presidency have accepted the deal, though some have suggested renegotiating some aspects of it.  

The presidential election itself is being held in the backdrop of the economic collapse, food, medicine, fuel shortages, rolling power cuts and spiraling cost of living.  

In 2022, the country was in slow-motion collapse. Schools closed, government hospitals barely functioned, the transport system was collapsing. As chaos raged, the then president asked leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake to form a government. 
Both refused, it was only then, the president asked Wickremesinghe to form a government. Wickremesinghe brought an end to the political instability. Whether we agree with the manner in which he achieved this goal or not is debatable.  

But calming the political atmosphere is to his (Wickremesinghe’s) credit as were the re-opening of schools and ending of shortages. 

With the help of an Indian credit line and support from an IMF debt restructuring package he was able to regain the country’s international creditworthiness. Soon limited quantities of necessary food, medicine and other essentials appeared on shop shelves, easing the situation. 

The implementation of his QR code-based system saw the end to the long queues around and outside petrol sheds. It also re-energised the failing transport system. Changes were made to the administration of the state-owned Litro Gas. The new management effected a turn-around enabling the company to order several consignments of gas and end the shortage of cooking gas.  

Today tourism has picked up and foreign remittances have bounced back. 

The strict austerity measures implemented -a precondition to the signing of the IMF agreement- brought inflation down to single digits. But unfortunately the weak rupee saw the rise in the cost of living. In turn it has left nearly a quarter of families in the country having to cut down on meals and child malnutrition is on the rise. 

The massive hikes in electricity and water rates that were introduced as part of the IMF package hit the poorest sections of the population hardest.  

In 2023, the CEB and Lanka Electricity Company Limited (LECO) had cut supply to 965,566 and 98,834, respectively, or more than 1.06 million out of 7 million users. At the same time, wages, especially in the private sector have remained static or were cut during the Covid-19 epidemic.

It is in this backdrop we will have to judge whether the promises made by the candidates contesting the presidential election will lead to enabling our country repay its international debt or whether it will worsen our economic situation. 

One of the candidates has promised to ensure a continuous supply of fuel and gas. The reality is that there is no shortage of either of these items today. Another has vowed to shut down bars and wine stores in sacred areas. Another speaks of not devolving police and land powers to the provinces. While yet another asks for a chance to correct the mistakes committed during the time of his family ruled the country! 

Yet others promise to double the number of foreign visitors entering the country as a means of increasing our dollar earnings. All main candidates have also promised to raise wages! While workers and voters rejoice, none of the candidates have shown how funds needed to implement the promise will be raised. 

Another empty promise. It puts one in mind of a past premier who promised to bring rice from the moon if it was necessary to lower the cost of that commodity. 

When casting our vote we need to, separate the wheat from the chaff.