{"id":81966,"date":"2018-10-14T12:40:45","date_gmt":"2018-10-14T19:40:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=81966"},"modified":"2018-10-14T12:40:45","modified_gmt":"2018-10-14T19:40:45","slug":"how-mahinda-would-perform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/10\/14\/how-mahinda-would-perform\/","title":{"rendered":"HOW MAHINDA WOULD PERFORM"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Udaya P Gammanpila\u00a0Courtesy Ceylon Today<\/em><\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The JO urges the Government to resign and hand over the Government to them. However, both supporters and opponents of the JO question Mahinda Rajapaksa\u2019s capacity to solve economical, political and social crisis faced by Sri Lanka. Hence, let us examine Mahinda\u2019s true capacity to govern this nation and to restore its fading glory.<\/p>\n

Usually people judge politicians by listening to them. A classic example is President Maithripala Sirisena. Being a classic orator, he was deceived the nation with his oratory.<\/p>\n

Being mesmerized with his speeches, the public believed that he would bring in good governance. Unfortunately, he did not practice what he preached. As a time-tested politician, Mahinda can be judged by his performance as head of State. He led this nation out of darkness in its worst phase of history.<\/p>\n

During his presidency, the world was engulfed in several crises. In 2008, crude oil prices reached an unprecedented peak by recording $161 for a barrel. It is extremely high compared to the average price of $43 per barrel in 2016. The same year, the US financial system collapsed declaring several banks and other financial institutions bankrupt.<\/p>\n

Consequently, financial systems in most parts of the world collapsed. The situation turned worse because of food scarcity triggered by droughts and floods. These factors collectively triggered a global economic crisis.<\/p>\n

Negative growth<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this backdrop, the global economy recorded a negative growth in 2009 for the first time in post-world war history. Giant economies such as the US, UK, France, Germany and Japan had negative growth.<\/p>\n

Asian model economies such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea failed to avoid the global trend. A few nations recorded positive economic growths. Sri Lanka was among these few.<\/p>\n

Difficult year<\/strong><\/p>\n

2009 was a difficult year for Sri Lanka. In addition to the economic crises, there was a huge domestic crisis in Sri Lanka. The war against the LTTE was at its peak after capturing its pseudo capital, Kilinochchi by government forces. When the forces defeated the LTTE in May concluding a 37-year-old war, it had to cope with hundreds of thousands of refugees flooding from the war zone.<\/p>\n

In addition there were 12,000 terrorists under government care who either surrendered or were captured. Despite these challenges, Sri Lanka recorded a remarkable growth of 3.5% in 2009.<\/p>\n

Although the US recorded negative growth in 2009, in contrast, Apple Company recorded massive profits. When its CEO, Steve Jobs was questioned about the company\u2019s astonishing achievement, he aptly said, Leaders must go against the tide\u201d.<\/p>\n

Former President Rajapaksa is a leader of Steve Jobs\u2019 calibre.<\/p>\n

Per capita income<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite these challenges, he increased per capita income three fold in nine years setting a new Sri Lankan record. The debt burden was brought down to 71% to from 102%. Poverty was reduced to 6.2% from 16.6%.<\/p>\n

Inflation, interest rate and unemployment were brought down and maintained at single digit level. The Sri Lankan share market became the best emerging market in the world.<\/p>\n

All international indices showed a positive outlook of Sri Lanka. Fund managers and corporate giants were bullish about Sri Lanka. Brain drain was halted, and its reverse began to take place. That was Sri Lanka when it was handed over to the present government to implement much-talked good governance.<\/p>\n

Rajapaksa\u2019s rule marked the most stable period in history and he becoming Prime Minister would boost the confidence of investors and they would stop withdrawing their investments in Sri Lanka. Those who have withdrawn will be back with confidence.<\/p>\n

This Government brought Sino-Lanka relations to the bottom. In March 2015, the Sirisena-Ranil Government unilaterally stopped the Port City Project for which the foundation stone was laid by the Chinese President and caused irreparable damage to the Chinese global image as the largest investor in the world.<\/p>\n

Secondly, it levelled serious allegations against China claiming it had tactfully placed Sri Lanka in a debt trap with ulterior motives. Thirdly, it accused China of granting loans with excessively high interest rates.<\/p>\n

It further alleged that China has generously bribed Sri Lankan politicians and bureaucrats. Chinese Ambassadors and Foreign Ministry Spokespersons had to frequently respond to these allegations.<\/p>\n

When Mahinda is in power, China will recommence investing in Sri Lanka restoring its millennia-long friendship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Udaya P Gammanpila\u00a0Courtesy Ceylon Today The JO urges the Government to resign and hand over the Government to them. However, both supporters and opponents of the JO question Mahinda Rajapaksa\u2019s capacity to solve economical, political and social crisis faced by Sri Lanka. Hence, let us examine Mahinda\u2019s true capacity to govern this nation and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81966\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}