by

N. A. de S. Amaratunga

As there seems to be an unending stream of baseless accusations thrown at the Rajapaksas who ruled this country for the last ten years it is nothing but fair that their performance is assessed objectively. This scurrilous well orchestrated derogation no doubt is undertaken in view of the upcoming election.

Yet it is reprehensible and the Rajapaksas whatever their faults were do not deserve it. They do not spare even Mrs . Shiranthi Rajapaksa. It isn’t keeping with the promises made about ‘yahapalanaya’ etc.

If politics is to be cleaned up this is the last thing the new government should be doing. But their performance in this regard seems to be much worse than that of the previous government.

If there had been any corruption committed by the previous government then a prompt and thorough investigation has to be conducted. But what is happening is mudslinging of the worst kind.

There is no disagreement on the fact that Rajapaksas got together and defeated the LTTE and eliminated terrorism in the country and paved the way for peace and economic development the benefits of which are being enjoyed by the people everywhere in Sri Lanka; North and South, East and West.

This could not be done by any of the previous leaders though they tried hard. Somebody could ask why it was necessary for Rajapaksa to do it with the help of other Rajapaksas and why not with the other senior SLFP politicians who had helped him win the election. Mahinda knew the capability of Gotabaya and he had to have a person he could trust as his life was in danger. In hindsight we could say that the choice was correct as the war was won and the LTTE wiped out.

But was it correct to give so much power to Basil overlooking others who had been in the party all along? Basil proved to be a very capable minister, yet there were others who could have done an equally good job. There was no justification for allocating such a big vote from the budget to the Rajapaksas. Sons of the Rajapaksas also wielded power sometimes causing chagrin even among ministers. These errors of commission and omission created enemies within who proved to be worse than the enemies without.

Sri Lanka is in one piece thanks to the vision and mission of Mahinda Rajapaksa. The same cannot be said about some of the people who are in power now. There is no need to go into details, but suffice is to say that had they continued in power for a few more years the country would have been divided courtesy Western powers. The LTTE and these weak local politicians subservient to the Western powers had created a perilous situation in Sri Lanka from which it looked impossible to come out in one piece.

Fortunately for all of us Mahinda Rajapaksa took over the presidency and stood like a rock against the might of the LTTE and the Western powers and prosecuted the war to a finish. The grateful people voted for him at every election held after the war victory except the last. Even those who voted against him would not endorse the harassment he is subjected to now.

After the war the Rajapaksas made a genuine effort to develop the war-torn country and its economy. Thanks to their efforts the GDP grew to a level comparable to that in the regional countries; the foreign reserves improved; the rupee stopped its decline; inflation rate dropped to a single digit, and so did unemployment rate. The performance in infra structure development was unprecedented; roads, electricity and water supply reached the four corners of the country.

Several mega projects like highways, harbours, airports etc were undertaken and completed. Some of these however cannot be justified as being beneficial to the people. In fact, they have to be labeled as wasteful extravaganza. These projects have cost the people a lot and probably were one of the main causes of high taxation on essential goods and the resultant high cost of living. The less affluent could see much affluence around them while they found it difficult to buy the essentials.

This was the main reason for the defeat of the Rajapaksas. The other major fault of Rajapaksas was the inaction they showed regarding apparent lawlessness the high crime rate. People who were involved with criminal activities were taken into their midst and given high posts and recognition. Mahinda Rajapaksa with his immense popularity did not need to keep this vermin like company. He should have got rid of them and distanced himself from them.

Mahinda Rajapaksa is not a leader whom the country can afford to lose as it lacks strong leaders who love and care for their motherland. He cannot be easily destroyed either and one hopes he will learn from his mistakes and make a comeback soon.

Courtesy:The Island