For decades, Sri Lanka’s ruling elite acted above the law, shielded by privilege and power. But with the arrest of Ranil Wickremesinghe, the myth of political untouchables may be crumbling, raising the question: will equality before the law finally prevail, or will old habits simply wear a new mask?
“Some are more equal than others” is a famous paradox from George Orwell’s Animal Farm, capturing the hypocrisy of societies that preach equality while allowing a privileged few to enjoy special treatment. Sri Lanka today finds itself asking whether that age-old privilege is finally coming to an end.
Political theatrics in the country have reached new heights with the arrest, remanding, and subsequent bail of Ranil Wickremesinghe, former President, Prime Minister, Opposition Leader, and long-serving Member of Parliament since 1977.
Ironically, many of the very opposition politicians who had once rejected Wickremesinghe, mocking his legitimacy and questioning his mandate, have rushed to rally around him. When he became President, critics dismissed him as a leader without public backing since he had only entered Parliament as a nominated member. His party’s electoral humiliation in 2020, securing just 249,435 votes, underscored his weakness. The 2024 general election was even worse, with the UNP collapsing further to only 66,234 votes nationally.
Despite this political decline, some continue to credit him for stabilizing the economy of a bankrupt nation during his presidency. Others argue his achievements would not have been possible without IMF-backed fiscal discipline and bailout conditions. They point to his poor record from 2015 to 2019 as Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development, where GDP growth fell from 6% to 2.3%, while debt ballooned from 70% of GDP to nearly 90% by 2019, much of it due to heavy international borrowing. Those failures, critics claim, fueled the economic collapse of 2022. Even so, his leadership during crisis years is acknowledged for initiating some degree of recovery under IMF guidance.
This dramatic political stage has left many amused, particularly by the sudden unity among opposition politicians who previously vilified him. Questions abound about their motives, the government’s objectives, and what this spectacle reveals about Sri Lanka’s democracy. Much of this debate now thrives on social media speculation.
The case against Wickremesinghe for alleged misuse of state resources has now reached the courts. Yet beyond politics, the larger issue resonates with the public: no leader should stand above the law or be considered “more equal than others.” For decades, Sri Lanka’s political elite surrounded themselves with enablers politicians, sections of law enforcement, military, even elements of the judiciary, shielding them from accountability. Families of such leaders basked in inherited privilege, enjoying immunity denied to ordinary citizens.
This culture of impunity created an aura of superiority where ruling families were treated as unofficial royalty. Citizens, knowingly or not, legitimized this privilege by repeatedly electing such leaders, normalizing their status as untouchables beyond the law. But recent elections marked a dramatic break. For the first time since independence, the public voted overwhelmingly to reject such exclusivity, signaling a shift toward leadership that must stand accountable.
Yet, a word of caution looms. As Orwell’s Animal Farm warns, those who rise promising to end privilege often risk becoming mirror images of the very system they dismantle. If new leaders fall into the same cycle—maintaining power through undemocratic or authoritarian means, the culture of “more equal than others” will simply change hands, not disappear.
Sri Lanka’s history reflects this challenge. From the feudal systems of kings and nobles to the colonial transfer of power in 1815, and the ruling elite that emerged after independence, privilege has long dictated political culture. Even the so-called independence struggle was as much a negotiation between elites and colonial rulers as it was a movement of the people. Post-independence politics merely replaced one privileged class with another.
For true change, Sri Lanka needs more than arrests and trials. It requires a cultural shift where status is no longer determined by political power, wealth, or connections, but by values, ethics, and service. Religious teachings, examples of selfless leadership, and moral integrity must replace transactional politics. Leaders must embody accountability rather than privilege, proving that no individual or family is untouchable.
As explored in the article System Change and Ushering a Value-Based Society, this shift must go deeper than politics. Democracy itself cannot thrive without moral foundations truth, fairness, honesty, equality, and justice. Otherwise, it risks becoming a hollow exercise where corruption and falsehood are disguised as democratic choice. Only by aligning democracy with values can Sri Lanka finally end the hypocrisy of leaders claiming to be “more equal” than those they govern.
For the first time in decades, people have shown they will no longer tolerate the myth of untouchable elites. Whether the nation can truly end this cycle depends on whether today’s leaders resist repeating history and ensure that the law applies equally to all.
