We may have to face the darkest era in the history of Sri Lanka in a few days and we found many important comments about it by Mr. Rasika Jayakodi.
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A few moments ago there were reports that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has officially informed the government that he will resign on the 13th.
As far as I understand, Gotabha is no longer able to hang on to power. No matter what the conspiracy theorists who want to be popular say at this time, Gotabha now has no other option but to go home.
Gotabhaya should step down because Gotabhaya and his rogue advisers and the corrupt and smuggling gang around the Rajapaksa family contributed the most to the economic crisis in this country.
Because of this, regardless of the criteria, Gotabha has no moral right to stay in power for even one more second. Gotabaya is the first president in the history of Sri Lanka to be ousted by the people.
But the vast majority of the people who came to the streets to oust Gotabhaya still believe that better times will come for the country if Gotabhaya leaves.
That means they expect a more comfortable and comfortable life after July 13th – they expect relief.
They honestly think that foreign countries will send aid to Sri Lanka after Gotabaya leaves, and Sri Lankans from foreign countries will pump dollars into Sri Lanka from then on.
Those people think like this because they still have no understanding of the extent of the abyss that Sri Lanka has fallen into. That means they don’t even know how deep they have fallen into this hell.
Most of the hopes that they had built so far will be destroyed in front of their eyes within a few weeks.
Now Sri Lanka is not in a place where it can be recovered easily. Regardless of who forms the government in the near future, it is crystal clear that the country will be pushed deeper into this precipice.
In my opinion, if we get any relief from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), it will take longer than we think – and sometimes there will be no relief at all.
Relief from the International Monetary Fund will come only if there is sustainability in terms of debt. For that to happen, debt restructuring should be done. The Sri Lankan government has already appointed international consulting firms to discuss debt restructuring.
But as we know now, China is not ready to restructure its debt. China’s argument is that if it restructures Sri Lanka’s debt, other countries including Pakistan may also have to restructure their debt. Therefore, China says that if necessary, it can give another loan just to pay off the debt.
If China does not restructure its debt, there is a big possibility that Japan will not restructure its debt. Then everyone else comes to the same position.
Sri Lanka will not receive help from the IMF until this issue is resolved.
Because of this, the people of Sri Lanka have to face a very dark time ahead. That darkness is darker than many people in Sri Lanka imagine.
In the dark times ahead, millions of people in Sri Lanka will fall into the streets while you watch. In Greece, many people who fell into the streets committed suicide. I see no reason why it should not be the same in Sri Lanka.
But still many people in Sri Lanka are going to visit the President’s House, the Temple and the Tree House, destroying the public property in them, swimming in the Gota swimming pool, bumping the bed where Gota slept, but they do not think how to intervene to solve the problems here and there.
In Sri Lanka, the people of the social column who can understand something are also glorifying these villages, getting inspired by them and behaving like crabs dancing in the water. We, as a society, love to sink into such foolishness.
But if you really think about it, the real struggle should formally begin at this moment. But the majority of people in this country don’t even care about it.
I don’t do populist politics because I know about the problem of the people of Sri Lanka. That’s why I hate the politics that justify their olamottalaks by telling stories that people want to hear.
I believe that we must face the truth, no matter how harsh, how inhumane, how ruthless. I don’t know any politics better than that.
The worst thing a politician can do at this point is to be a cheap populist. In times of darkness like this, they are going to ruin themselves and lead others to ruin.
Sri Lanka is really moving into the dark decade. Whether we will come out of this in at least a decade, or whether we will be trapped in this darkness for four or five decades, depends on how we understand this moment.”
-Rasika Jayakodi –
11. 07.2022
