Ranil Wickremesinghe Enslaves Himself & Will Ruin The Country Too!

By Hema Senanayake –

In classical economics it is believed that humans are rational in pursuing economic goals based on self-interest and attempt to maximize utility and profit. However, in behavioral economics, it is believed that people are not rational and sometimes they make decisions that are harmful to themselves. They argue this was the main reason behind the economic bubble which crashed in 2008, creating the Great Recession in 2008-2009 in the United States and Europe. Therefore, behavioral economists argue that people are not rational in making some investment or economic decisions. This weakness has been arising due to “human biases” as pointed out by Nobel Prize winning psychologists. 

I think, right at this moment, President Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe is making very irrational decisions that are harmful to his presidency and for the country too. Ranil Wickremesinghe is hell-bent to postpone the provincial council elections. Everybody knows this. His reckless actions enslave himself more, rather than liberating his presidency from the clutches of “Pohottuwa” MPs and will create political chaos prolonging the economic crisis.

Let me be precise on this point. Assume that provincial council election is held, and the opposition won it by a huge margin. From this moment Ranil’s Presidency will be liberated from the clutches of Pohottuwa MPs because they would know what will happen to them if the President dissolves parliament. Therefore, they would not put much pressure on him as they do now. This will provide an opportunity for the President to tame Pohottuwa MPs and to form a true “corruption-free united super democracy” of all parties to a limited period of time, possibly as per the guidelines set forth by the Maha Nayaka Theros at the beginning of his presidency. 

On the contrary, if the election is postponed, President enslaves himself on Pohottuwa for the rest of the period of Gotabaya presidency and will create a huge political chaos. This is harmful for his political career and harmful for the country as the economic crisis will be prolonged due to political uncertainty. This is why I argue that at this moment Ranil Wickremesinghe makes irrational choices that are harmful for his presidency and for the country too. Do the weaknesses of “human biases” pointed out by psychologists play a role in his decision making? Perhaps, you might say, ask from Rajapaksas. 

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