the Aftermath of July 2022 revolution…

One may not be happy with the dramatic turn of events that occurred over the weekend, but he/she has to accept it to be the reality. No amount of restrictions by the authorities were able to prevent the people form converging in Colombo on Saturday after giving notice to the authorities that they were going to wage the final push against the incumbent government. People from faraway places managed to throng the Capital in their thousands, braving the police curfew imposed in certain areas in Colombo and Gampaha Districts, unprecedented fuel shortage resulting in transport hurdles and the special warning statement by the IGP C. D. Wickremaratna.

They have almost overthrown the government by Saturday (July 9) evening. Both President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe have conceded to the demand by the protestors who had launched a continuous agitation since April 9 pressing for the ouster of the President and his government. The President, after the protestors occupied the President’s House and the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo Fort had informed Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena his consent to step down tomorrow (Wednesday), while the Prime Minister had stated that he too would relinquish his position once a new government is appointed. 

There is a semblance of logic in the Prime Minister’s statement, but not in that of the President. The President did not give any strong reason for the delay in his resignation. Also, there is a possibility of the Prime Minister’s stance creating another tense situation with him being taking over as the President once Gotabaya Rajapaksa vacates that post. The absence of agreement among various political parties and various groups among the protestors might compound the situation. 

The protestors who are aligned to many political parties seem to be content with the announcements by the President and the Prime Minister while being wary of them. Their original demand was that both the President and the government should go straightaway. Some protestors who were suspicious of the two leaders’ reluctance to resign forthwith have warned them not to resort to what they called “palace coups,” giving a new meaning to the term. 

In fact, there is a need and urgency on the ground on the part of all stakeholders to understand the gravity of the situation. We are on the summit of the volcano which seems to have not been realized by the politicians. Their insensitivity to the people’s uprising and the rage underneath, it was well manifested with some of the decisions arrived at during the party leaders’ meeting presided over by the Speaker immediately after the protestors occupied the Presidents’ official residence and the office. It is dangerous at the moment for the politicians to attempt to exploit the situation to implement their power hungry agendas. 

They must understand that there is a great communication gap between them and the protestors who forced the President and the Prime Minister to decide to quit. People’s uprising and the groups that successfully mobilized the people who had been enraged by the economic crisis to rebel against the powers that has now been forced to be reckoned with. No politician can ignore this fact to manipulate the situation in order to implement his political agendas such as the all-party government. It is a spontaneous force emerged through the economic hardships and seemingly grown across the country during the past several months. It is a live force.

Whatever the agenda or programme now has to be implemented through a dialogue between the traditional political machinery and the new forces that have emerged during the three month-long uprising against the government. Hence, it is imperative to develop a mechanism to exchange views between the traditional political machinery and the new forces that represent the masses more practically than the traditional representatives elected during the last elections. Therefore, filling that communication gap is an immediate need to prevent clashes between the two sides.  

The people’s uprising which is unprecedented in the Sri Lankan history has been largely peaceful and disciplined, except for some isolated, but serious despicable violent incidents. However, the fact that one has to seriously take into account is that it was a fury that has become the driving force of the uprising. Therefore, it might be counterproductive and amount to playing with fire  attempting to hoodwink them.