Sri Lanka: Debt, Development, and Democracy? Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on U.S.-China, Domestic Governance, and Political Turmoil

In the second installment of our miniseries "Sri Lanka: Debt, Development, and Democracy?", we interview former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe about political and foreign policy developments that occurred during his tenures as premier (1993-1994, 2001-2004, 2015-2018, 2018-2019) and that are occurring under the present government. The former Prime Minister, who was the subject of a 2018 constitutional crisis, discusses Sri Lanka's governance structure while also responding to queries about the ISIS-linked Easter Sunday Bombings in 2019, which occurred towards the tail-end of his premiership. The bulk of the interview then focuses on Sri Lanka's place amidst U.S.-China competition, as Mr. Wickremesinghe gives his take on whether Sri Lanka is in a Chinese 'debt trap', and whether recent Chinese-led developments around the Hambantota Port and the Port City in Colombo are violations of sovereignty. The former Prime Minister, who has been seen by some as pro-West, outlines Sri Lanka's relationship with the United States, highlighting what it looked like under his premiership, while laying out criticisms of the current Rajapaksa-led government's approach to foreign policy. The interview concludes with a discussion on the severe economic crisis plaguing Sri Lanka and the implications of the COVID pandemic.

NOTE: The former Prime Minister at times refers to the “19th Amendment”. The 19th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution was passed during his tenure in 2015, and sought to reduce the powers of the Executive Presidency, transferring some of those powers to the Prime Minister. The 20th Amendment, passed under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2020, reversed course and essentially restored those powers to the President.