A little bit of luck: Sri Lanka’s impressive turnaround from the brink of collapse

This is the first of a two-part series.

It is not quite a miracle. But it is certainly a very impressive turnaround. From around 1970 until 2021, Sri Lanka seemed to be on an irreversible track toward steadily worsening governance: grand corruption, disregard of the law, ethnic and religious conflict, state violence and (non-military) government incapacity and incompetence. Today, by contrast, following the September 2024 presidential and the November 2024 parliamentary elections, the prospects for more substantive democracy and better governance seem bright.

The old political elite and the broader politician class have been replaced almost completely through the most peaceful and fair elections that the country has seen for a long time. The prospect of military intervention in politics has entirely faded. The female proportion of MPs doubled from a very low 5% in a year when the global trend was in the other direction.

The new National People’s Power government, with 67% of parliamentary seats, shows every sign of intending to reduce corruption, obey the law, respect expertise, negotiate political solutions to pressing problems and generally rule in accord with the instincts of the educated, middle class professionals who provide so much of its ideological and organisational heft. The policy preferences of the government…

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