Mick Moore, whose chosen title is “It’s the Party, Stupid: Sri Lanka’s Political Turnaround – Part 1” ….. while the highlighting in this version with a different title has been imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
Photo courtesy of BBC
It is not quite a miracle. But it is certainly a very impressive turnaround. From around 1970 until 2021, Sri Lanka seemed to be on an irreversible track toward steadily worsening governance: grand corruption, disregard of the law, ethnic and religious conflict, state violence and (non-military) government incapacity and incompetence. Today, by contrast, following the September 2024 presidential and the November 2024 parliamentary elections, the prospects for more substantive democracy and better governance seem bright. The old political elite and the broader politician class have been replaced almost completely through the most peaceful and fair elections that the country has seen for a long time. The prospect of military intervention in politics has entirely faded. The female proportion of MPs doubled from a very low 5 percent in a year when the global trend was in the other direction.
