Opposition fears the past, NPP fears the present

Opposition party politicians are fond of discussing current issues on rice prices for instance and scornfully lash out on the NPP government 

If dealing with the past when discussing the fruit of the IMF programme is valid, it applies to any discussion on the corrupt legacy that has been passed on to the current government as well

Irrespective of the Opposition politicians being averse to revisit the past, it would be impossible to discuss the current politics and the economy without delving into it

A bizarre situation has arisen in the country where Opposition parties fear to speak about the past while the ruling National People’s Power (NPP) fears to speak about the present. 
This is clearly evident during the talk-shows telecast in various television channels. The politicians of the Opposition parties during these talk-shows are very fond of discussing the current issues on the rice prices, coconut shortage and the island-wide power outage that happened last Sunday after which a short power-cut was implemented daily until Thursday. They scornfully lash out at the NPP government for these problems. 
Ruling party politicians defensively try to explain how these issues cropped up blaming past governments, especially the last two governments of Presidents Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe. 
Then the Opposition politicians would respond saying “You have been relating this 76-year history from so many months prior to the Presidential election and we are sick of listening to it. Why don’t you explain how you are going to resolve these problems?”  Ruling party MPs would then argue that it would take time which would be rejected by the Opposition who demand an instant resolution of the problem, citing NPP promises during the recent elections. “You said these problems would be ironed out at the stroke of a pen” they would say while insisting not to dwell on the past. Now we are also sick of this pattern of discussions. 
The writer feels that the current NPP government must be given some more time to showcase their political ingenuity for they were handed in a bankrupt country, the economy of which had been tied to a programme implemented in line with the conditions and policy adjustments of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). They have to work with a set of high-ranking state officials including those who worked hand in glove with the corrupt politicians of the past governments. 
They have to bring in a system change using a state machinery that is inefficient to the core in a country with a low political literacy. Besides, their team which is new and just gaining experience has to encounter a well experienced and Machiavellian Opposition hell-bent on defending the existing corrupt social order.

Irrespective of the Opposition politicians being averse to revisit the past, it would be impossible to discuss the current politics and the economy without delving into it. Even the Opposition became fond of giving credit to the leaders of the past governments when discussing about recovering the country from bankruptcy, successful debt structuring and increase in foreign reserves etc. 
Needless to say, the AKD government cannot lay claim to the total credit for those achievements which are the fruits of the conditions and the reforms dictated by the IMF and the external loans that were received by the country following the implementation of its programme. If a Sri Lankan has to deserve some degree of credit of that programme, he is none other than former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who approached the global lender in March 2022. What the government of President Ranil Wickremesinghe did and that of President Dissanayake is doing is just to execute that programme, according to those conditions. 
Hence, if dealing with the past when discussing the fruit of the IMF programme is valid, it applies to any discussion on the corrupt legacy that has been passed on to the current government as well.  For instance, the first media report on the rice shortage had been written by the Polonnaruwa reporter of the Daily Mirror on September 26 last year, six days after AKD was sworn in as the President, indicating its origin.  And the reports on shortages of eggs and coconuts followed during the following weeks. 
However, the NPP leaders and the MPs are in a difficult position due to their electoral rhetoric that such issues could be resolved easily under a government of their party. From a practical point of view these issues cannot be solved, nor could their causes be identified within days. Nobody contested when the NPP leaders claimed that no accurate data on the rice industry could be found in any relevant state institution - a fact that was proved during a recent meeting at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) headed by SJB Parliamentarian Dr. Harsha De Silva. How can a government plan and execute a solution to the problem? 
When a power outage affected the entire country last Sunday the engineers of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) attributed it to an imbalance of the system due to the supply from the rooftop solar panels.  It is strange that they are blaming only solar panels for the imbalance when the country has planned to increase the renewable energy ratio up to 70 percent of the total power supply in 2030, just in five years. However, why couldn’t they predict the imbalance if they have relevant data on power supply on holidays and week days remains a pertinent question? It cannot be a situation that cropped up after September 21, 2024. We cannot refrain from delving into the past when dealing with these issues.   
Yet, the question of whether the NPP government has done anything tangible for the people is also justifiable. During a TV talk-show on Wednesday, this question was put forward to Lakmali Hemachandra an NPP parliament member who in most of the time speaks sensibly, for which she seemed to be embarrassed. In fact, the government has somewhat managed the rice issue and let the egg issue to be resolved automatically, but failed to address the coconut issue – three issues that tormented the government since it assumed power. It has not passed a single Bill in the current Parliament. 
Hemachandra said her party has taken action to create a healthy political culture in the country which one could agree. The President and the MPs have shown very little interest in their privileges, minimizing waste. And they have initiated action against corrupt politicians of the past and their corrupt relatives. However, even those who were very keen in taking fraudsters to task during the recent elections are not happy with the government’s performance in respect of their economic woes.