By Nasriya Naffin, TON Sri Lanka

Prevailing economic crisis in Sri Lanka has brought many political changes in structural reforms. After both the Prime Minister and President's resignation the country became politically unstable. Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena was appointed as the acting president immediately until the parliament to elect a President from among its members which will lead to an interim all-party government.

The ruling party Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) held several discussions with the country's main opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and few other political parties with regard to forming an all party alliance. Since the parliament majority was obtained by the SLPP, the other political parties did not show much interest in supporting the ongoing government to overcome the country's situation.

Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) another leading party in the country disagreed on a joint government while SJB held discussions with Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). SJB also held discussions with Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, Tamil Progressive Alliance and All Ceylon Makkal Congress on same regard.

Meanwhile, the National Freedom Front, one of the oldest political parties in the country, held separate discussions with a few other political parties.

However, none of these discussions brought a prominent change to the country's prevailing political turmoil.

Later the Sri Lankan MP’s elected Ranil Wickramasinghe as the country's new president. Mr Wickremesinghe got nominated himself under the party list system to the parliament despite his party United National Party being wiped out in the 2020 election.

During the parliament election for choosing the new president, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa withdrew himself from the presidential race giving the support to Dullas Alahapperuma from the SLPP.

The new president's attempt on establishing an all-party government so far has not shown any success. The main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) has stated that they will support the government’s reform efforts through parliamentary committees without joining the cabinet.

Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has also refused the idea of a joint government stating that they will only support a new government with a newly elected set of ministers. They also requested a presidential election. While the same old MPs were given different ministries to keep the country up and running and to stabilize the political scenario. Many political parties are organizing discussions and getting prepared for the next general election.

A few new parties have been popping up with some from former ministers that have left the government and some with backup from ex politicians in the country.

Meanwhile a group of independent political parties and Parliamentarians launched a new political alliance, the ‘Uththara Lanka Sabhagayaon 4^th of September emphasizing the need for a wider national programme to address the grievances of the public.

A group of 13 SLPP members declared in parliament on 31^st August that they will function as an independent group in future. It is unclear which path they are going to head in the future. However, the SLPP still retained the majority in Parliament.

On the other hand, chairman of the Sri Lanka freedom Party, former president Maithripala Sirisena has said that by observing the present situation of the country there are signs of election coming soon and at the next election an alliance led by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party will have the greatest advantage in forming the next government. He also mentioned that some of the parliamentarians who represented the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna will soon sit in the opposition and become independent. As some disagreements between the SLPP parliamentarians grow some members may leave the party and join other leading parties in the future.Then SLPP will lose the majority at the parliament.

Sri Lanka former President and former leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has also formed a new political party named the New Lanka Freedom Party (NLFP). The party will be headed by former SLFP member and the Kalutara district MP Kumara Welgama. He contested the 2020 parliamentary election from the Samagi Jana Balawegaya but has since been functioning independently in parliament.

The island nation has failed both economically and politically and there’s no shortcuts to overcome the issues. The general public is so fed up with the skyrocketing inflation and the country's ongoing politics. The political crisis has also interrupted the IMF negotiations and the help from the international community which is something the country needs urgently.

The country's major foreign income source tourism also has a negative impact from the political instability. Immediate political stability can only help the country's economic recovery. A fresh election cannot guarantee a full stop to the ongoing crisis. Even a strong mandate was not always a promising answer for stability or success. Instability will only delay Sri Lanka from the funds it needed to get out of the crisis.