Austerity Of Truth Can Starve This Government To death!
“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” - Albert Einstein
Surrounded by the grandeur of loot, corruption, nepotism and lies, this government, it seems, could be starved to death only by the austerity of truth. One stark example of that truth was shown most glaringly in the recently concluded elections for the Western and Southern provinces. The monolith that has been withstanding many storms and tempests seems to be eventually showing mild signs of vulnerability. The Emperor’s clothes are beginning to fall.
The ultra-nationalist cloak that has been concealing the true nature of a corrupt regime may be showing real cracks but the peeling off is being done not by the main antagonist, United National Party (UNP). It’s being executed, not so much with military precision- no pun intended- by an ex-General and a leader of another political party, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) which was once armed to the teeth to massacre innocent members of the public.
The people are showing increasing disenchantment with the old; the ‘Grand Old Party’ aka United National Party does look not just old but proving to be ‘ancient’. Fresh ideas, fresh faces and fresh avenues are all blocked; a beginning of certain decay was most unceremoniously launched with the advent of its present leader to the helm in the wake of the assassination of Gamini Dissanayake. So much has been written and talked about regarding the ineptness of the current leader and his latest maneuverings to build a wall around himself in order to insulate and fortify himself and thus it’s rather redundant to berate Ranil Wickremesinghe anymore. Both his Party, the UNP and himself are becoming increasingly irrelevant. Securing a mere 25% of the electoral vote when the other two Parties, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and Democratic Party have collectively matched it in the recently concluded Provincial Council elections has more or less reinforced the argument that when political parties do not adapt themselves to changing circumstances and realities, they go into definite decay.
The art of political attacks on opponents has been refined but instead of sculpturing a more sophisticated craft, it has ended up in the hands of our ruling clique and the way they handle this modern-day craft reminds one more of ‘a mad monkey with a razor in its hands’ than a fine craftsman stroking a chisel. Abuse of state-controlled media outlets to manufacture lies and propagate them via some popular personalities whose political allegiances in the past had been with the UNP government and naked bribery and ‘santosams’ offered to coerce these personalities are just the tip of a giant iceberg that’s floating underneath the surface of a corrupt regime.Read More
