Better managing the negative excesses and maximising the positives

Last week President Mahinda Rajapaksa had to come to terms with two political realities. One was the accommodation in the Cabinet of the faithful ally the Wimal Weerawansa-led National Freedom Front. The other was the broadside from another ally – Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) on the Government’s political solution to minorities.
There is no disagreement that both allies have supported the Government both in good and difficult times though President Rajapakse given his unwavering popularity could very well stand as well as rule on his own strength. The envisioned emphatic re-election at the forthcoming Presidential election is a good pointer.
However the two developments last week also brought into limelight the perennial issue of leaders of the day having to deal with political excess. How much should a leader give in or accommodate to the aspirations of political allies irrespective of whether such expectations are valid or not.
The offering of two Ministerial positions to NFF comes amidst the country itself besieged with the fall out of the global economic crisis. Despite indications that the crisis has bottomed out, its impact on developing countries such as Sri Lanka will be felt rest of the 2009 and perhaps in to 2010 as well. Given its resilience Sri Lanka has managed to mitigate a more serious blow.
Whilst the first quarter GDP growth was only 1.5% and forecast is a higher growth in the next three quarters, the economy continues to face daunting challenges. It was in this context that President last month urged the public sector to rise to the occasion and work tirelessly to rebuild the nation.
Since the resolute victory over crushing the LTTE terrorism, Rajapaksa has been using every opportunity with the public to inspire the nation with the core message of greater vigor and vitality to rebuild the country.
In that context all key stakeholders – the public and private sector need to be smarter, efficient and enthusiastic. Cutting the excess fat applies to both sectors and for the Government better management of recurrent expenditure is key! A further expansion in the Cabinet is likely to be a further stress when there is genuine concern that the Government is getting too bigger at the expense of public funds.
Whilst having to accommodate the NFF in the Cabinet, given the ally’s own principles of promoting good governance and accountability, it is expected that “bigger is better” would have a positive impact than negative.
Amidst economic difficulties, the broadside from JHU on the Government’s plans for a political solution is yet another challenge. The 13th amendment or something beyond the 13th amendment and even phrase of a “home-grown” solution has regained their media hype. Ever since the 13th amendment was conceived, it has been a contentious issue politically. Those who accept that Tamils have genuine grievances do advocate 13th amendment. A section of the political fraternity thinks otherwise. The outcome of the upcoming local polls in Jaffna and Vavuniya is likely to make political solution aspect more vocal.
Quite rightly President Rajapaksa during weekend told The Hindu newspaper in an interview that no finality has been reached but the best political solution to Tamil grievances would only come after his re-election as well as getting the mandate from the people.
Given his experience, President Rajapaksa is well aware how to deal with political dissent within his coalition and outside. His acumen has certainly improved ever since he rose to the highest office in Sri Lanka and the successful annihilation of terrorism has only made Rajapaksa much stronger and more confident.
There is no denial that Sri Lanka faces its best ever opportunity to achieve lasting peace as well as sustainable prosperity in the now blossoming post-war era. All stakeholders must seize this “unique and non-recurrent opportunity” as Japan’s special envoy Yasushi Akashi emphasised last week in his address at the opening of the Ceylon Chamber’s Sri Lanka Economic Summit. This requires sincerity, maturity and inclusiveness from the political space whilst the private and public sector must be more inspired, committed and dynamic.
As a nation we all need to better manage the negative excesses focusing on maximising and promoting the positives.