State of Emergency; is it the panacea for our ills?

‘Never let us confuse what is legal with what is right’ 
– Marian Wright Edelman

Hemmed in by the Covid-19 pandemic, the skyrocketing cost of living, the shortage of essential food items, dwindling foreign reserves and a depreciating rupee, which even prompted State Minister of Finance, Capital Markets, and State Enterprise Reforms, Ajith Nivard Cabraal to say that he was puzzled and surprised at such a strange outcome amid the massive injection of US dollars into the country and attributed it to some error that needed to be looked into. Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa too revealed in Parliament yesterday that the country was in the throes of an economic crisis precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic and pointed out that this had resulted in the Sri Lankan Government suffering a revenue loss of nearly Rs.1,600 billion this year.

The expectations, nursed by the 6.9 million Sri Lankans, of an era of peace and plenty as promised in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ‘rata hadana saubagyadakma’ or the vistas of prosperity, must be a disappointed lot indeed, considering the rising cost of living, an era of queues and the likelihood of food rationing amid the shortage of essential commodities, staring them in the face. The disappointment of course can be gauged from the comments made by those languishing in long queues for hours awaiting their turn to purchase items such as milk powder, sugar, cooking gas and kerosene, which are in short supply. Although we saw visuals of warehouses filled with hoarded stocks of rice and sugar; nothing has been heard about any miscreants being arrested or prosecuted.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the President invoked the provisions of the Public Security Ordinance, effectively placing the country under a State of Emergency with the proclamation stating that it was done to ensure the uninterrupted supply of essential food items. 

He said it was “considered expedient to do so to ensure public security, wellbeing and maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community in view of the prevailing emergency situation in Sri Lanka in the context of COVID–19 pandemic now steadily on the rise throughout the country. Section 5 and Part II of the Ordinance goes beyond the ‘supply of essential food’ by empowering the President to ensure essential services and other related matters including powers to suppress riots and civil commotions. The proclamation was seen by Opposition political parties as having an ‘ulterior motive’ because of the vast powers flowing to the President by way of Part II of the Ordinance and as such, urged that the State of Emergency be revoked. The declaration of the emergency also came in the wake of a surge in the prices of basic foodstuffs such as sugar, onions and potatoes and a worsening economic crisis after the steep fall in the value of the Sri Lankan rupee against the dollar.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed retired Major General NDSP Niwunhella as the Commissioner of Essential Services, with the power to seize stocks hoarded by traders and retailers. “The authorized officers will be able to take steps to provide essential food items at concessionary rates to the public by purchasing stocks of essential food items,” he said in a statement. “These food items will be provided at government-guaranteed prices or based on the customs value on imported goods so as to prevent market irregularities.” 

Be that as it may, Sri Lanka, which is a net importer of food and other commodities, is witnessing an increasing number of coronavirus cases and deaths. It has also dealt a severe blow on tourism, one of the country’s main foreign currency earners. And partly as a result of the slump in tourist numbers, Sri Lanka’s economy shrank by a record 3.6% last year. In an attempt to stem the outflow of foreign currencies, the government in March last year imposed an import ban on vehicles and other non-essentials while earlier this month it became the first country in the region to raise interest rates in an effort to shore up its foreign currency reserves and help ease the inflationary pressure on the high cost of imports.

We can only hope that the emergency regulations would be of some help in rescuing all our citizens from the grim situation currently prevailing in Sri Lanka. What else are we left with other than the hope and the strength that will help us traverse through the dark night hovering over this Island Nation of ours all the while clinging to the adage that it is the darkest before the dawn.