Politicians will be politicians
Editorial-March 22, 2015
Pro-democracy activists who pinned their hopes on the opposition alliance which ousted President Mahinda Rajapaksa are becoming increasingly disillusioned and disappointed. For, it is not going at full tilt to make good its pre-election promises, especially the one to bring about political reforms. A veteran political analyst, in an article we published on Saturday, lamented the signs of the rainbow coalition disintegrating within three months of its meteoric rise to power. Two prominent members of the then Opposition’s good governance campaign also sounded disenchanted and disgruntled, in a political discussion on Sirasa TV on Sunday. They should have known that reforms were never foremost in the minds of the coalition leaders who joined forces to get rid of their common enemy, President Mahinda Rajapaksa. They had short-term political agendas camouflaged with lofty ideals such as good governance to market them to the people.
Maithripala Sirisena, all out to avenge himself on the Rajapaksas who had short-changed him and prevented him from achieving his prime ministerial dream, wanted to become President. Ranil Wickremesinghe, who feared a double whammy—facing another ignominious defeat at the last presidential election and losing the UNP leadership in the process—used Sirisena as a battering ram to bring down the Rajapaksa regime; he wanted to capture power in Parliament. Troubled by a severe erosion of its vote bank and swayed by some of its ambitious leaders who were tired of playing second fiddle to the Rajapaksas indefinitely, the JHU crafted a pro-democracy platform to shore up its crumbling image; it undertook an anti-corruption crusade and took on President Rajapaksa. The JVP wanted to weaken the SLFP by dislodging the UPFA government and eat into its vote bank. The TNA wanted to oust Rajapaksa at any cost for obvious reasons; it saw him as a stumbling block. Some foreign powers desirous of seeing the back of pro-Chinese Rajapaksa threw their weight behind the oppositional forces. The various NGOs which the Rajapaksa government had antagonised also threw in their lot with the coalition of strange bedfellows. Perhaps, only a few civil society organisations like Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera’s outfit had a genuine desire to have the executive presidency abolished and corruption under the previous government probed.
Now that the Rajapaksa dispensation has been brought down, the political parties are busy advancing their own agendas much to the consternation of those who expected reforms. Their political marriage of convenience is on the rocks and the UNP and the SLFP are already at each other’s jugular over electoral reforms.
President Sirisena is apparently trying to wish away the problems, but he will have to decide when to conduct the next parliamentary election come April 23, when the UNP wants him to dissolve Parliament. The SLFP demands that electoral reforms be implemented before the next general election. He is in a dilemma over the stand-off between the UNP and the SLFP. The UNP helped him win the presidential election and, therefore, he has a moral obligation to accede to its demand. On the other hand, if he refuses to do so and antagonises the UNP, he will be in trouble in case of the UNP forming a stable government after the next general election. If he agrees to dissolve Parliament on April 23, he will be seen to be a traitor to the SLFP’s cause at a time former President Rajapaksa is all out to make a comeback.
President Sirisena has sought to defuse tension within his party by accommodating 26 more SLFPers in the government––11 Cabinet ministers, five State Ministers and 10 Deputy Ministers.
Ven. Sobitha Thera, who backed Sirisena in the presidential fray, has, expressing the dissatisfaction of the proponents of political reforms, said recently they heated the griddle and now it is up to the government leaders to bake rotis without using it to warm themselves. But, they are too ambitious to expend time and energy on baking reform rotis as it were. They are thirsting for power which they want to savour at least for five years. After all, they are politicians.
