What’s Next for Sri Lanka?
VIEW EVENT DETAILSAsia: Beyond the Headlines
Embattled by protesters, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled Sri Lanka to Singapore and resigned as president, appointing Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as acting president. After months of frustration with the government over the worsening economic crisis, Rajapaksa’s departure may only spell the beginning of a worsening political crisis. Though protestors were successful in expelling Rajapaksa from his post, the next leader has immense challenges ahead, including continuing negotiations with the IMF as well as implementing political and economic reforms.
Please join us for a timely discussion on what to expect for Sri Lanka politically, economically, and geopolitically, and the implications to the wider region. Asia Society Policy Institute Director of South Asia Initiatives Akhil Bery will be joined by The Millenium Project's Asanga Abeygoonasekara, Frontier Research SL's Chayu Damsinghe, and the Centre for Policy Alternatives' Bhavani Fonseka.
Speakers
Asanga Abeyagoonasekera is a senior fellow at the Millennium Project Washington DC. He has led two Government think tanks providing strategic advocacy on foreign policy and security in Sri Lanka. He was the Founding Director-General of the National Security Think Tank under the Ministry of Defence (INSSSL) until January 2020. Before this, he has served as the Executive Director at the foreign policy think tank Kadirgamar Institute LKIIRSS). He has served as a senior researcher for Social Impact(USA) and a fellow Alumni of NESA(Washington DC) and APCSS(Hawaii). He is the author of Conundrum of an Island (2021) and Sri Lanka at Crossroads (2019).
Chayu Damsinghe is a product head at Frontier Research and works primarily with the economics team. He plays a leading role in helping Frontier understand debt crises across the world and tying those into the Sri Lankan situation. He also heads work around understanding COVID-19 pandemic and other black swan risks, and tying those into the macroeconomic stories of the country and takes a key role in in the development of Frontier's views on interest rates and the LKR and in the presentation of content to Frontier's clients. Additionally, he handles work surrounding consumer demand and sales patterns in Sri Lanka along with the impact of global markets on the Sri Lankan economy. He has been featured on LMD's 'Benchmark' business programme, Channel Eye's 'Business Today' programme, TV1's, "Bisnomics" programme, and Echelon magazine. He also acts as an Executive Director for DaddysLanka (Pvt) Ltd, a family-run institute working in the field of special needs and mental health care.
Bhavani Fonseka is a Senior Researcher and Attorney at Law with the Centre for Policy Alternatives, with a focus on research, national and international advocacy and public interest litigation. Her work has revolved around assisting victims and affected populations across Sri Lanka, legal and policy reforms and public interest litigation. Bhavani is an Asia 21 South Asia Fellow. She is the editor of the book Transitional Justice in Sri Lanka: Moving Beyond Promises (2017). She is on the editorial board of the International Journal on Transitional Justice. She was an adviser to the Consultation Task Force appointed by the Government of Sri Lanka in 2016 and a member of the drafting committee to formulate the National Human Rights Action Plan for Sri Lanka for the period 2017-2021.
Akhil Bery (moderator) is the Director of South Asia Initiatives at the Asia Society Policy Institute, where his research focuses on the U.S.-India relationship and developments in South Asia more broadly. Previously, he worked at Eurasia Group, where he was responsible for the firm’s coverage of South Asia, including political and economic developments in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Prior to Eurasia Group, he worked with McLarty Associates, where he led the research for the India & South Asia Team. He has also worked at Fujitsu Research Institute in Tokyo, Japan, as well as at 9.9 Media, a B2B start-up based in New Delhi. He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.