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infrastructure that did not yield a return, both in economic and social terms,
that was sufficient to earn back the costs by putting them to proper
economically productive use. It could not marshal sufficient foreign direct
investments to key high technology sectors. It had to depend on borrowed
money to boost the foreign reserves and its public debt repayments
exceeded its government revenue thereby trapping it in ever expanding
vicious cycle of indebtedness.
On account of these deficiencies, Sri Lanka could not convince the rest of
the Asians that it was doing better than others.
The Opposition candidate was made purposely disabled
But the outcome of the recent battle for presidency is a unique example. On
all counts, the ruling regime had made the opposition candidate a disabled
contestant. Yet, he was able to outdo the incumbent President in the
election causing a massive wave of votes to shift from the latter to his side.
His battle for the presidency demonstrated the validity of an important
principle in strategic management: Transform your disabilities into your
strong points to achieve your strategic goals.
This was exactly what the opposition candidate for presidency did by
converting the problems created by the ruling regime into opportunities.
Accordingly, the final outcome of the election was totally unexpected. Sri
capacity, worked in real time and were beyond the control and outside the
authority of the powerful incumbent executive President. Thousands of
supporters of the opposition candidate spontaneously sprang up both in the
Twitter and the Facebook generating a live debate and passing out what the
media call just-in news to others.
This writer very closely monitored the campaign launched by both parties
throughout the election period. When CTB buses were used to transport
people to the meetings of the incumbent President, video clips of same
were instantly uploaded to the YouTube and pasted on the walls of the
Facebook. Similarly, the video clips relating to the meetings of the
Opposition candidate which had been well attended by supporters who had
thronged to meeting sites on their own had been pasted to the wall. These
meetings had been given the least prominence by the traditional electronic
and printed media which were under the control of the incumbent
president.
One deficiency with the traditional media was that they were a monologue
without facility for viewers or readers to interact. They also published
information with a time lag and viewers and readers had no access to
information on a real time basis. Social media were free from these defects.
Live and real time debates on Facebook
The debate on Facebook was very live and challenging. The posters
designed for pasting on the wall were eye-catching and conveyed the ideas
very briefly and effectively in Sinhala, the language of the majority of the
voters.
When a supporter of the incumbent president or the president himself had
announced something against the Opposition candidate, immediately there
was a counter poster on the wall. Within minutes, thousands of viewers
would endorse the poster by clicking like button on Facebook. Since one
member could give one vote on the FaceBook, there were no multiple likes
as in the case of election meetings where the same person is transported
the nearest meeting by using CTB buses. The comments that followed the
posters so pasted revealed the true preference of the voters. Had the
campaign managers of the incumbent President read through those
comments, they could have changed their strategy to suit the changing
public opinion of the country.
Instead, they were all harping on the same old story: The incumbent
president won the war, it is the duty of the citizens to pay gratitude to him,
he has started a massive development program in the country, there is a
foreign conspiracy to take him to the electric chair on account of his
success at the war and if the opposition comes to power, there would be
instability in the country. These arguments were successfully countered by
thousands of spontaneously emerged individual Facebook editor who were
more competent than the editors of the traditional media over which the
incumbent president had control.
Thus, Sri Lanka was able to vote out a powerful executive president who
had all the resources, powers and means. Even the drama that is said to
have taken place on the night of 8 January while the votes were being
counted was not alien to Facebook members.
With the types of the instantaneous postings made on the wall, one could
conclude that it would not be easy for the incumbent President to continue
his rule through any unlawful means.
Sri Lankas bloodless spring has made it the Wonder of Asia
This is Sri Lankas Spring in which a very powerful incumbent president has
been voted out of power through peaceful means and without shedding a
single drop of blood. Even after the peaceful transfer of power, the country
is peaceful despite the warning that it would be unstable if the Opposition is
elected to power. Thus, Sri Lanka has done better than the rest of Asia and
for that matter better than the rest of the world.
That is the true Wonder of Asia about which Sri Lanka can now proudly
boast.
(W.A. Wijewardena, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri
Lanka, can be reached at waw1949@gmail.com )
Posted by Thavam