Tackling ‘Clownish’ Political Culture: ‘Social Media’ Activism Paramount!
By Mohamed Harees –January 13, 2018
“Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke” –Will Rogers
“Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke” –Will Rogers
Only this week, we saw the disgusting scenes inside the well of the parliament with both sides of the House disrupting proceedings with the constant chorus of ‘Hora’- a classic case of pot calling the kettle black. Regrettably, PM Ranil Wickremesinghe too set a bad example by leading this chorus at one point and even using another un-parliamentary P word ‘Pi..piya’(p..mp) in his speech while the Speaker stood speechless. It was in 2015 that Vasudeva Nanayakkara, called RW a P word ‘Pak..ya’, during a heated exchange of words in Parliament. This type of vulgar vocabulary and debates are much frequent in Hansard records. It therefore shows something that has come to be quite common and ordinary in the day-to-day experience in Sri Lanka. The use of dirty words (kunuharapa) and lack of respect for the rule of law by those in power, are all too common things people have all got used to. It all reveals what has come to be today’s political culture in the country- degraded and debased. As for Kunuharupa and vulgarism, who really expects any polite conversations in political discourses in the public domain anymore? Only few days ago, narcissist Trump never tired of calling racist names, chose to refer to Haiti and some African countries sh.t hole countries; didn’t’ he? TV political debates and discussions are just eyesores to say the least.
Now, in a classic case of ‘Ali Madhiwata Koti’ (one disaster following another), the country is being asked to elect their local representatives from among the same breed. Despite representations made by several civic minded bodies, mainstream parties have got emboldened to still field candidates with corrupt track records and low morals at the forthcoming LG elections. Only few parties such as JVP and NFGG have reportedly kept to their promise to field candidates with proven clean track records.
The March 12 Movement, a collective of civil society groups said that a total of 25 candidates fielded by three leading main stream political parties were lawbreakers with some having pending court cases against them and have warned that it will seek court intervention to get those ‘black hats’ expelled from running for Local Government elections in February 2018. The PAFFREL also handed over the details of the candidates who had corruption charges against them to IGP. However, according to Sri Lanka’s election law, once the District Returning Officers accept the nomination lists from political parties, there is no way of disqualifying the candidates. Therefore, going by the past, most of these shady characters will get elected, thanks to the electorate well known for its’ political amnesia and fend for themselves at the tax payers’ expense.
Despite idle boasts of this Yahapalana government to ensure good governance and fairness to all, President Sirisena’s sword of Damocles only appears to fall on politicians on a selective basis, ignoring many macro scale corrupt deals which happened in the MR era and also were allegedly committed by many bigwigs hiding within the present government too. All main characteristics of good governance – Good governance is accountable, is transparent, follows the rule of law, is responsive, is equitable and inclusive, is effective and efficient and is participatory – are largely mere mirages to hoodwink the masses.
Globally, the consequences of stagnation on control of corruption cannot be greater. The failure of governments to create merit-based systems in their societies subverts innovation, the most sustainable source of economic growth, and state capacity, which leads to political instability and distrust in government. Societies with the greatest corruption scores fall victim to en masse desertion. People flee countries where advancement in both the public and the private realms depends on connections rather than work, seeking instead merit-based societies where their talents will find recognition. Indeed, half the brain drain in the world can be traced to the absence of merit-based systems in one’s society, a factor as powerful as poverty itself.
This process of political degeneration and emergence of political clowns got accentuated specially after 1977. A ‘Creepy Clown Craze’ is thus taking over the country. It is very alarming. To be honest, this craze also happens in US, Europe, Middle East, or SE Asia too; political comics and cheats being elected to office through democratic channels, Trump being an ideal example. In Sri Lanka, political powers that be continue to ignore civil society’s calls for better governance of the public sector. Political and administrative corruption are as widespread as ever. Nepotism, cronyism, embezzlement of public funds, bribery and vote buying persist. Not just politicians, even rampant corruption prevails among high public officials too. The much hyped about the ‘Anti-Corruption Commission’ has also become another farce It is the citizen who pays the price, as demonstrated by the recent multiplication of scandals reported in the media.
