A Nation Led By Petty & Corrupt Ruling Comics!
Lukman Harees
Every nation gets the government it deserves- Joseph de Maistre
What Ayn Rand said in “Atlas Shrugged” succinctly captures what most Sri Lankans feel about their country, – a blessed land with great religious traditions, which history referred to in many flowering terms like the Pearl of the Indian, and Granary of the East, but sadly bastardized and polluted by a corrupt and a petty political class, specially in the Post-Independence era. She said “When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing; when you see that money is flowing to those who deal not in goods, but in favors; when you see that men get rich more easily by graft than by work, and your laws no longer protect you against them, but protect them against you. . . you may know that your society is doomed”. Judging by the recent developments in the Post-War period and the petty squabbles within the ranks of the government these days and the re-emergence of the ghosts from the MR era , signs are clear that Sri Lanka is on the way to sure doom if the intellectuals do not step in now and stem the rot. Actress Anoja Weerasinghe aptly captured the commoners’ feelings about this cursed ruling lot, in a recent TV interview.
Every Sri Lankan who would have watched the elected Head of State Sirisena ( satirically referred to as Gamaraala) addressing the Commemoration ceremony of the late iconic monk Ven Sobitha Thero day ag , would have felt sick to the bones about the sad state of affairs prevailing in the country; seven decades after Sri Lanka got independence from British colonial rule. It was comical and a political entertainment to say the least; what he did and uttered were unbecoming of his position. Firstly, he says he did not receive an invitation to the event and therefore ‘gate-crashes’ and shamelessly bemoans that this is how he is being treated always and is being kept in the dark. Secondly, H.E goes on a tirade and delivers a fiery speech much in bad taste letting out his emotions endlessly apparently blaming his ‘other’- PM and his party for his inability to deliver goods to the country. Both reflect that he is indeed a puppet Head of State, little realizing that he is in fact the executive President of the country. He would have felt it imperative that he use this opportunity to play defence strokes when there is a general feeling and perception in the country that he is both a misfit with his credibility at an all-time low and walking the talk has not been his forte, judging by his dismal record of governance, being more interested in the SLFP than the country. He took particular umbrage in his speech at those who tried to blame him for his inaction against the corrupt by comparing him with the track record of the weeks old Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamed government, which was also elected on a similar platform against a filthily corrupt Najib regime.
During this speech , in the presence of a representative gathering including the Speaker, he began to wash dirty linen in style, not realizing that he was cutting his nose to spite his face. In a stroke of ‘ I am holier than thou’, he indicated how he, along with SLFP ministers was able to take up ‘bold’ positions within a UNP dominated cabinet , for example to save the state banks by overruling the decisions of the UNP to move funds to private banks. In the same breath, he also showed his impotence by repeatedly stating that he was not made aware of vital decisions, for example the decision to provide helicopters to MR after his defeat, to return to Hambantota, regarding which he was not consulted (He apparently forgot the fact that he stated on 09/04/2016 in a speech that it was he, who did so!!. Therefore he either lied or has been infected with the ‘Duminda’ syndrome). He also disowned any involvement in drafting the ‘100 day program’ as well. Coming from the common opposition candidate, people will wonder whether to laugh or to cry!. Ironically, one of my CT articles which appeared before the decisive January 2015 election was titled, “Can Maithri Be An ‘Attlee’ In The Making?” (who came to power defeating the war veteran PM Churchill); in retrospect, it was a misnomer indeed!
On the other hand, UNP Stalwart Ajith Perera takes the floor of the House to blast the SLFP partner for all the inefficiencies of the government, citing the ‘Samurdhi program’ as an anti-government project hell-bent on making the UNP dominant government unpopular among the masses. He charged SLFP ministers of mala-fide and hypocrisy. He, in a very emotional tone tried to convince the electorate that this so-called Yahapalana slogan was well-intentioned at the start of the journey; but he bellowed that all plans fell apart due to the half-hearted, uncommitted and hypocritical SLFP/UPFA partners. Although there was some truth in the statement , however, it was common public perception that the efficiency of most Ministers, in this Jumbo stuffed ‘scientific’ cabinet, was questionable.( we have a minister who think that floods will help the development process). PM Ranil, with his dictatorial and aristocratic attitudes proved himself to be a Colombo based leader with a top down approach, widely accused of being ignorant of village level realities offering WiFi to village peasants. He rules with an iron fist with his Royal College boy buddies. What he promised in terms of reorganization of the UNP hierarchy just fell by the wayside, limiting them to mere cosmetic changes. Of course, there was more space for freedom of expression compared to the MR times; but there is no proper process in place to deal with dissent ; in short there is organized chaos. Further, this government does not appear to learn lessons from the past in improving the quality of its’ governance and only keeps on justifying their lapses by stating that it is better than the last government in terms of degree and not quality. They fail to realize that it was because of lapses in the MR government that they were elected in the first place.
Pointedly, the Yahapalana promises to deal strongly with corruption and racism were observed more in the breach; many cases involving questionable corrupt deals of the previous government and the MR family circles being still pending. The worst scam under this government started off early in their journey :the infamous Central Bank and still it is licking its’ wounds with many more skeletons in the cupboard emerging at different times. Even the action taken to alleviate the feelings of marginalisation of the minorities were too little with Tamils still feeling alienated and LLRC recommendations too being put in the back burner despite big talk during the initial stages. Even the action taken to stop anti-Muslim violence from Gintota to Digana were considered too little and too late, although this government may argue( as it always does) that their track record of arresting the culprits subsequently was better than the former; so the argument is along the degree of response! Further, treating the symptoms rather than the underlying causes( which is institutionalization of racism in statecraft and use of racism as a political tool) will only sweep the issues under the carpet.
The country saw another bout of mud-slinging too between the two partners in government when the No-Confidence Motion against the PM was taken up in Parliament. Little did both parties realize that this series of mudslinging matches and washing dirty linen in public virtually made both of them get drenched in mud, consequently becoming the laughing stock of the nation as well as the world at large. Besides, the nation feels that there is no proper government in charge and is made to wonder where this insanity will lead it to? Reminds of times when CBK and Ranil locked horns! Hope it is still not a point of no return!
