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The Editorial Analysis- The Uprising

Sri Lankan Crisis- Relevance for UPSC Exam

GS Paper 2: International Relations- Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests.

Public wrath is paving the way for momentous changes in Sri Lanka. The ongoing protests against the precipitous fall in the island nation’s economic fortunes have reached a crescendo.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s secretariat was overrun by thousands of people and his official residence occupied by boisterous protesters.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private residence was also set ablaze.
Both President and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka have expressed readiness to resign from their respective posts.
An alternative all party government is to take over the affairs of the Sri Lanka as discussed in a recent all party meeting chaired by the Speaker of Sri Lanka.
The current Speaker, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, takes over as President so that, within 30 days, Parliament can elect a new President by a secret ballot.
- Under the country’s Constitution, the Prime Minister and then the Speaker of Parliament are in line to act as President if the highest office falls vacant.
- However, these moves will be contingent on the resignations actually materialising.

Forex Reserve Dried Up
- At the end of 2019, Sri Lanka had $7.6bn (£5.8bn) in foreign currency reserves.
- By March 2020 this had fallen to $1.93bn (£1.5bn) and recently the government said it had just $50m (£40.5m) left.
Despite the arrival of some overseas aid and commencement of a process for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout, there has been no significant relief for the people, especially the poor and the vulnerable.
Sustainability of Alternative Government: The concern is whether the political class can rise above its differences and put in place an alternative regime that can steer the country towards economic recovery.

The occupants of the two main offices will have to make their decisions early so that the country’s transition to a stable regime can be easy.
It is possible to argue that mere regime change may redound to nobody’s benefit, will achieve nothing more than mollifying the masses for now, and will not ease the economic travails of the people.

shivam