What Can Be Done?

By TU Senan –APRIL 6, 2022

TU Senan

The bourgeoisie, in fear of their losses, is trying to frighten people by saying default would be a disaster, but with or without default the continuation of capitalism will be a disaster for the masses. But economic defaulting will not be a ‘huge disaster’ if the burden is not transferred to the wider population. In fact, capitalism is such a crisis-ridden system that a majority of countries have had frequent crises and defaults. So-called international relations set up by the profit-mongers are designed to punish the poor and protect the wealth of profiteers. As punishment for non-payment of debt, the Sri Lankan government will face difficulties in borrowing and many other dealings with international agencies and banks. The government will be forced to agree to harsh conditions and for further borrowing, which will lay the foundation for future crises, as the Argentine experience shows. However, these measures will not stop the economy from functioning. Armageddon will not descend on Sri Lanka on the day after the default. But the fear created by the government and the capitalists about the default is linked to preparing the masses to bear the brunt of the losses. This should be resisted.

It will not be so bad if the government refuses to pay all its debt. Without any agreement –without surrendering any rights, land, or resources to the capitalists – the government could flatly refuse to pay the debt. Not just sovereign debt but all the micro-debt of small businesses and individuals should be cancelled. Of course, this will provoke much harder punitive measures by international agencies. In order to withstand these pressures, the refusal to pay the debt alone will not be enough. Various additional measures have to be taken. Default is not a full solution but a first step. Additional socialist measures need to be taken. Full capital control must be implemented immediately along with price control of essential commodities. The commanding heights of the economy – its key parts – should be brought under the democratic control of the workers to plan and produce the immediate needs of society. It should be paralleled with decisive investment in improving local manufacturing and farming. Workers’ committees should be formed in workplaces to oversee production and distribution democratically, and to improve productivity. This should be linked to improving wages and working conditions. This does not however mean that Sri Lanka should cut all its links to the outside world – rather deals had to be made to import machinery, fuel, and other key materials that are essential.

Any of these measures of course will not be implemented by the Gotabaya government or any capitalist government. Hence taking such decisive action is linked to re-organizing society. Unless the workers who produce all the commodities democratically control state affairs, such a plan cannot be implemented. We cannot get there by parliamentary means alone. Workers, farmers, and students should start forming their own committees in the workplaces, colleges, universities, and local communities to mobilise mass opposition. As a first step, a national assembly can be organized to bring together rank-and-file trade union activists and socialist organizations, and other activists, to prepare for further struggle. Democratically organized assemblies can begin to take measures to refuse to pay debt, and organize production and distribution. This will create an alternative power base that can challenge all the capitalist institutions. Trade unions can bring together their members to form a national body that can organise strike action, including a general strike along with mass protests. The general strike of 1953 forced the government of Dudley Senanayake to resign and pushed back on its anti-worker policies. Conditions today are many times worse than in the early 50s, yet union leaders are refusing to take decisive action.

Trade unions have the power to stop the hardship put on workers. Empty rhetoric such as ‘it will have to get worse before it can get better’ is now popularized by all bourgeois sections in the country. This is to justify the further misery that they want the masses to face. This should not be tolerated. Strike action, including general strikes, along with mass struggles can stop the onslaught.

Unfortunately, there is no force that exists in Sri Lanka that can advance such a programme. Where to borrow from is the only difference that exists between the government and the opposition. Even the JVP, which dresses its liberal views in Marxist rhetoric, stated that they will negotiate with China and the IMF once they have “taken power”! However, they are happy to postpone their ‘revolution’ until the next election which they hope to win! The JVP leaders did not spell out what they will be negotiating or how they will start to solve the current crisis. The central question is that change needs to start with a repudiation of the debt and taking control of the key parts of the economy from out of the capitalists’ hands, then a government representing the workers and poor would both call for the workers and poor in other countries to follow their example, while also being open to negotiate, on a principled basis, concrete issues with both individual capitalists and other countries.

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