Maithripala Has Lost His Moral Crown; He Should Go!
Lukman Harees
It is the highest form of self-respect to admit our errors and mistakes and make
amends for them. To make a mistake is only an error in judgment, but to adhere
to it when it is discovered shows infirmity of character.–Dale Turner
After weeks of political drama in our Dharmadweepa since October 26th, it was the height of irony that RW was sworn in as the PM for the fifth time this Sunday, before Maithri, thanks to a historic verdict by an independent judiciary and public activism, after having said that he will not appoint RW even if all 225 parliamentarians said so; thereby eating his own words. Maithri also screamed that he will NOT stay in office even for a day, if it happens. Now that the so-called ‘impossibility’ has happened, the nation has begun to look at Maithri with much wariness and a tinge of sarcasm whether he will do what he promised to do, at least this time. However, knowing him as he got gradually unmasked ever since he was elected in January 2015, the chances are next to nought.
Maithri has been gradually losing his credibility and proving himself to be thoroughly inefficient, slimy, political (instead of being apolitical), corrupt and since 26th October, a crackpot, betrayer, cunning figure, and a chronic liar. Only concerted public pressure can therefore force his hand to stick to his ‘promise’ and resign OR call for a Presidential election after January 2019 or force their Parliamentarians to impeach him for the unforgivable damage done to the country, recovering after 30 years of war and subsequent years of dictatorship and divisiveness.
For political leaders to be able to function and to deliver, having a healthy ‘stock’of political capital is essential. As authors Whiteley and Seyd described it, ‘political capital refers to citizen feelings about the political regime as whole, not just about the party or coalition which is currently incumbent. It is broader than the concept of legitimacy, since it encompasses citizen perception of regime competence, as well as of regime legitimacy’ (1997, p.128). It is unlikely that political capital can be put to effective use if one’s credibility becomes seriously hampered, and it is hard to imagine how a leader would succeed at that point in mobilizing others. Credibility for that matter is one of those indispensable political qualities that barely rates a mention when it is there. Yet when it is missing, nothing else matters as much.
It is clear as daylight that credibility and self-respect of the political class in Sri Lanka have becomes seriously hampered even to irreversible proportions specially during in the Post-War era. Serious levels of corruption, extravagant lifestyles, foreign travel, racism, loss of touch with the ordinary folks and inefficiency as well as excess fat in hierarchy levels of government have made this political class the most despised among the people. However, be it as it may, corrupts, cheats, drug dealers, criminals are continuing to be sent to the Lake by the House either through the ballot route or national list because of the outright stupidity of the people. It is a bane that the ones elected by the whole country to be their executive Heads of State have also been acting with impunity and thriving within the same polluted political culture instead of changing it. Maithri has now become an epitome of this despicable political culture and a fatal cancer which has engulfed our lost nation.Well! Fish rots from the top! they say and it is so much true in Sri Lanka. Many ‘Addresses to the Nation’ he made in Post- Oct.26th period have been full of lies and distortions, unbecoming of a Head of State.
It will be recalled with much humour that it was in September 2016 that a ‘fake’ article was published on a bogus ‘Guardian’ newspaper website, that Maithri was adjudged as the world’s best president by a Technical Committee made up of experts from reputable International Civil Service Organizations and think Tanks., which received at least 10,000 likes with several unsuspecting Sri Lankans also going on to congratulate and criticize him in the comment section. The story claimed that there has been ‘rapid development’ since he assumed office in January 2015. It is expected that a factual and actual article will now appear that Maithri has become the world’s worst president who has put the name of Sri Lanka in the news websites in recent times for the wrong reasons.
