[Editor’s note]

While government plans to impose an island-wide lockdown and place restrictions on travel were initially successful during the first wave, they were inefficient to address the repercussions of the following two waves. The Centre for Policy Alternatives Government explains that such failures resulted from the lack of stringency in the implementation of the restrictions in the latter waves, lack of testing, and dealing with the after-effects of government measures in regards to a decrease in household income and accessibility to necessities. Additionally, the political landscape following the COVID-19 pandemic provided an environment conducive for democratic backsliding in Sri Lanka. Along with the establishment of new governmental structures such as Presidential Task Forces, the military has been increasingly involved during the pandemic. Moreover, the postponement of elections resulted in a constitutional dilemma. Also, minority rights have been left unprotected and political speech against government officials was shut down. The policy decision making process overall during the pandemic has been opaque, with many decisions left unjustified. Moving forward, the author claims that the country needs to put a halt to trends of de-democratization.

※The following is an excerpt from the article. For the full text, please check the attached file at the top of this page.

1. Challenges Posed by the Pandemic

The pandemic has posed a number of unprecedented challenges in Sri Lanka, with socio-political effects spanning far beyond the immediate public health and economic crises. Given that the number of issues goes beyond that which can be adequately analyzed in a single article, this working paper will focus primarily on an aspect of the pandemic crisis which is of particular salience in Sri Lanka and from which lessons can be drawn for other countries in the region. Namely, the challenges to democracy that have emerged during the pandemic period. The paper will look at the ways in which the post-COVID-19 political landscape has been a conducive environment for democratic backsliding, focusing on the period between the beginning of the pandemic response in March 2020 until the time of writing in May 2021. It will look, in particular, at how the policy space opened up by the pandemic has created an ideal context for the acceleration of the processes of executive aggrandizement, militarization as well as the infringement of citizens’ civil liberties.

Before we enter this discussion of democratic backsliding, we must consider the public health background against which it has taken place. During the first three months of the pandemic, the number of cases was at a relatively manageable level of less than 100 new cases a day. However, this was followed by a second wave in September 2020 and a particularly damaging third wave beginning in April 2021 which has left Sri Lanka reeling. What was initially lauded as a comparatively effective public health response has proven to be rife with miscalculations and short-sightedness. As of May 21, 2021, Sri Lanka had a seven-day average of 2712 new cases per day.

■ The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is an independent, non-partisan organisationthat focuses primarily on issues of governance and conflict resolution.Formed in 1996 in the firm belief that the vital contribution of civil society to the public policy debate is in need of strengthening, CPA is committed to programmes of research and advocacy through which public policy is critiqued, alternatives identified and disseminated.

• Typeset by Junghye Suh, Research Associate
    For inquiries: 02 2277 1683 (ext. 207) I jhush@eai.or.kr