Simple Criterion To Select Next President

By Hema Senanayake – 

People may seek a reason to justify what they want to do, based on their desirability as opposed to using logic (or scientific reasoning) to find out the best thing to do. This nature of human behavior is known as motivated reasoning. Almost all Sri Lankan politicians just do this. They have a lot of biases and hence do not discover the optimal thing to do for the country.

At this moment political stability achieved via consensus is what the country needs. The longer the political confusion, uncertainty, and chaos, the deeper would be the adverse economic consequences. The prolonged political crisis would affect the balance of payments adversely. This means there will be no dollars to pay for imports. It might ruin the country economically.

It is timely that the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has issued a warning prior to the legislative election of next president, possibly happening on or around July 20^th. He said that if there is no political stability the country would face a shutdown soon. This is a serious warning. He knows what he says because he has all the data to make a such an enlightened opinion.

The Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe has already said that he got information that there are certain people who forced the members of parliament as to how they should vote. I think by this he didn’t mean the opinion expressed by the Governor of CBSL. From the view of the Governor of CBSL, like the views of Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA), MPs can form a very basic criterion as to how they should vote in the election of next president.

This is a kind of elimination method you find in mathematics. First, choose the person who is most unlikely to create political stability as the next President of Sri Lanka. Defeat him first. Or, do not allow him to contest by not proposing his name if he is the only man from his party in the parliament so that other candidates may contest as they wish. According to my opinion, Ranil Wickremesinghe, if elected is the weakest president to bring political stability to the country.

That is why FUTA, issuing a communique requested him to declare to the nation that he would not be a candidate in the impending election. The focus of FUTA might be the political stability, nothing against Ranil Wickremesinghe personally.

The Governor of CBSL might have expressed the same opinion if he had the liberty to do it. Ask Cardinal, Rev. Malcolm Ranjith. Ask Venerable Buddhist monks or religious leaders of other faiths, they all have one name to be eliminated from the candidacy or in the election. It is Ranil Wickremesinghe. Talk to Chambers of Commerce, exporters associations, bankers and general public mostly apolitical, they all have one name to be eliminated to ensure the political stability.

I would suggest all MPs, get rid of motivated reasoning, just think of ensuring political stability via consensus to prevent shutting down the country. If elected, Ranil Wickremesinghe might create the next economic crisis which is much worse.

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