Dilrook Kannangara

Anura Kumara won the most keenly contested Sri Lankan election with a large margin. He transformed the JVP into a modern and realistic political party. As a result, he won Colombo-7 along with other affluent Colombo suburbs (3,4,5,6). Same goes for suburbs with professionals including Homagama, Moratuwa, etc. His dramatic wins in former UNP bastions some identified as the Christian Belt (Negombo, Wattala, Katana, Naththandiya, Ja-Ela) shows his reach was not confined to one creed. He performed very well in key Muslim majority suburbs outside the north and east as well.

However, he totally failed in the north, east and Nuwara Eliya district. Gotabaya won more votes there than Anura.

Election map shows the areas he must focus on – the areas he won, the areas in red. This is because he can repeat the feat by retaining them. No guarantee he can win the unwinnable areas. Invest where it mattered.

Well-meaning people recite the same mantra after an election in vain – we should all unite and make everyone’s life better. Of course, it should happen. But for it to be sustainable, it must follow a certain path and a set of priorities.

Resources and opportunities are limited. Contrary to the national anthem and fairy tales of some, Sri Lanka does not sit on a pot of gold. It is a resource-poor nation earning most of its foreign exchange by the export of cheap labor, tea, garments and EPZ exports. These are near-slavery based industries. Dramatic and overnight development is not possible. A slow but steady transformation is needed.

In that process Anura should not try to appease everyone. It is not possible. Instead, his priorities should focus on convincing his voters that they made the right choice. Areas where he won must get the lion’s share of benefits of his rule, and not other areas. Mahinda, Sirisena, Gotabaya and Ranil got this wrong and paid the price. Interestingly successful politicians in Sri Lanka got it right. They also developed the nation where it mattered. It is the norm in other democratic nations. Modi knows who his voters are and champions their cause; certainly not the rest. The same happens in the US, UK, France, Germany, Japan, etc. This is democracy at work. It does not mean total disregard of those who did not join the change. A basic level of focus is needed throughout the nation. However, trying to be everything to everyone is a sure path to bankruptcy, loss of support from the sections that support you (no use depending on those who don’t support) and ultimately an untimely and inglorious exit.

Instead, areas important to sustain support for the regime must be prioritized for development and upliftment. This ensures the government survives its full term to deliver what was promised. It also earns enough returns that can be distributed to others. For instance, almost all export income and tax revenue are earned from areas outside the north and east. Therefore, development of these areas AKD won, investments, upliftment and betterment of these areas must be prioritized over the north and east. If not, there won’t be any returns to be reinvested and bankruptcy looms ugly. A good investor would first invest in solid and proven stock that already yield a good return. Thereafter he may experiment with others. Mixing them up is a disaster.

In conclusion, while trying to become everything to everyone seems good on paper and closer to what is generally understood as socialism, it is a disaster waiting to happen because resources and opportunities are very limited. Invest where most resources and opportunities are currently being created before venturing into other areas. All the best Anura. Put your oxygen mask first, before putting it on others and you will do positive change in the island nation.