for 30 - 40 years we lived in a country without regulation
No rice regulation (haal mudalali), no vegetable, eggs (biththara mudalali), chicken regulation, no bus regulation (bus mudalali), no regulation of media (hiru, derana). There was an unofficial system, a mafia of traders (mudalis) working behind the official system, often with the blessing of politicians, and contribute at times of elections.
Now that the govt is trying to regulate things, this unofficial mafia which held sri lanka by its throat is up in arms. The govt has an uphill task battling this trade mafia.