“T.I.N.A” Vs “N.O.T.A”
Emil van der Poorten
Recently there has been, I don’t know whether orchestrated by the UNP or not, a fall back on “There is no alternative” arguments with Ranil Wickremesinghe as the beneficiary of the Hobson’s Choice scenario being depicted. The primary argument for this theory is the fact that the current government, from the very top down, is absolutely corrupt and beyond redemption and Ranil has never been tarred with the brush of financial dishonesty.
For starters, in and of itself, this is a pretty poor justification for putting someone as head of a country where he will inherit dictatorial powers over its entire populace. Even if Sri Lanka still had in place something resembling a democratic liberal constitution, it still would not be an acceptable choice.
You might well say, “Better half a loaf than no bread at all,” but after 2500 years of recorded history, this country should be aspiring for more than a tarnished bronze medal in the stakes of governance. Certainly, some in the rural neighbourhood that I inhabit appeared, a while ago, to be prepared to settle for ANY alternative to the present lot because they figured that no one could be more violent and corrupt and any change would be for the better. There is now a perceptible change in that response. Many of us are old enough to remember better times when we had far better governments running this country without the monumental corruption that is the current reality, not to mention the absolute suppression of dissent under one guise or another and that too with a ham-handedness that is indicative of the kind of arrogance only mad men would be guilty of. As a side-bar to that central argument it needs to be stated, that ham-handedness of that kind has another side to it and that is the knowledge, subconscious though it might be, that the current “glory days of impunity without limit” cannot last forever and when they end they will do so on a very sticky note. That is not simply crystal-gazing of a kind practiced by soothsayers in the deep south inhabiting four-storey houses, but simple logic that it does not take a PhD to comprehend.
Without beating around the bush, one needs to take a look at dramatic changes in the governance of countries that might well provide a clue to what might be possible. In fact N.O.T.A – “None of the above” – would be a more logical and practical response to what faces Sri Lanka today. Read More
