The declaration of the winner of the 2015 Presidential election was a moment when the decision of the democratic citizens became a glowing beacon that shone brightly in Sri Lanka. The decisive mandate was very crucial to the lives of citizens who rejected the previous regime that became a tyrannical threat to ordinary citizens in their day-to-day living uncertain and miserable. There was the despotic rule instead of the rule of law; what prevailed was an environment where the politically aligned acted with impunity. The phenomenon of white vans, grease devils and individuals in tri-forces going beyond their remit and committing crime came to be justified.
The majority of citizens, who were silently dissentient, transcended party affiliations and entrusted their destinies to the new leadership considering them, at the crucial juncture, more responsible politicians of a higher quality. Yet surprisingly, the duo did not correctly gauge the rising tide. The citizens who supported their alliance hoped for a return to a law-abiding sanity instead of the law-flouting demonic political forces and their underworld henchmen ruling the roost. Unfortunately, they both blundered irretrievably because besides the election they seemed not to have had even an outline of plans to set the country on the right course.
At the present point, it is useless to surmise what could and should have been done. Though it is three and a half years late, the Prime Minister is talking of a renewed united national front. The President and Prime Minister are both supposed to be experienced politicians. Yet what needed to be done expeditiously eluded them, the expected parliamentary election obscuring the reality before them. Many citizens feel that the party affiliations of the leaders and their close supporters made them blinkered confining them to a tunnel vision of the unfolding scenario.
Disunited, divided, politically blind, hesitant and indecisive they could not agree on genuine democratic reforms and the most important things to be done. They could not present to the people a viable programme and appeal for their support at a general election to liberate a country caught up in a stranglehold. They could not do so, because the dictates of very selfish feelings distorted their heads and led them to bad judgements and decisions. Paradoxically, the two who were elected to find the solutions became a part of the problem!
TREACHEROUS POLITICS
Ministers once appointed are in the murky habit of assessing the importance of their Cabinet posts according to the prestige they attach to them. The importance and prestige depend on the wide powers they wish to wield, the luxurious vehicles and other perks to being had, the many opportunities for self-gain through favours to their business friends, kith and kin, chances to make underhand kickbacks and the number of supporters they can pack into lazy jobs in the government ventures and departments under them and do all that without being circumspective or thinking of the repercussions to the country or looking beyond their nose. Frank Consultation, Communication, Coordination, Collaboration and Collective responsibility among Cabinet Ministers were clearly absent. In the former regime, they were cowardly silent.
Appreciating the intrinsic worth of every citizen, giving them leadership and incentives, energizing them to use their abilities to take initiatives to revitalize economic activity in their own localities and enhance peoples’ lives, and collaborate in advancing the progress of the country on all fronts is not their highest priority. The treacherous brand of politics now prevailing in Sri Lanka is incapable of making it so.
WOLFISH HIDE, LAMB’S CLOTHING
In their life, most politicians have not imbibed qualities of genuinely national and patriotic citizenship. Instead, caste, creed and political ideological biases compounded by racial prejudice predominate. They have not been able to be open-minded to nurture a healthy love of their particular language, religion and their ethnic and cultural heritage without being frogs in the well, obstructing others. The unscrupulous among them are more cunning, shrewd and clever at slipping through any difficult issue to stay in power without solving any problem. Though they haven’t passed the 8th grade in school, they pose as experts of state affairs and confuse the socio-political environment and muddy the water to wield a rod and fish there. They have no shame over their abusive financial exploits and despicable corrupt activities hiding as they do their wolfish hides in lamb’s clothing. Unfortunately, there are lawyers who defend the corrupt activities of political scoundrels and their ilk.
CITIZENS’ RESPONSIBILITY
To redeem this country from the clutches of this rapacious gang of ill-bred low-quality politicians, common citizens island-wide should be alert and active more than ever before. It is not the prominent gang of scheming politicians with their henchmen in the stupid leadership of the GMOA that has no regard for poor patients but the conscientious citizens who should usher a new, honest way of living and a transparent political culture of high quality.
More civic conscious women should enter politics and clean up the political field by ousting corrupt men and that at the national summit too. Though women in politics will not inevitably make all good citizens they could bring vital good order, sensitivity and human feeling to public life.
The people in keeping with good citizenship should seriously assume family responsibilities and keep to integrity in their occupation or trade. Apart from exercising their voting rights responsibly, they should make clear civic choices with the common good in mind.
It is important for all citizens not to be tied up definitively to any political party. Party hierarchies do not consistently uphold and stably maintain principled policies and stands on any issue over long periods. They tend to vacillate even on issues on which they should be highly principled. Prominent but devious party politicians jump from side to side and campaign to satiate their greed for power despite their own nefarious activities. The corrupt party leaders, opportunistic ‘jumpers’, with their mediocre hearts and selfish brains lead the country to dead ends citizens should ignore them completely.
The intellectually endowed resourceful citizens should feel obliged to enlightening the rulers as well as other citizens to bring to all greater clarity and clearer understanding of the main issues the country faces and the ways of solving them in a satisfactory and just manner. They cannot do so if they are straitjacketed in their narrow professional confines.
The citizens should demand that policies upholding the common good of all the citizens of the country be prioritized rather than the discriminatory ideological, caste, racial and other prejudicial policies of political parties. The citizens should pull down the pompous politicians from the pedestals they have erected for themselves financed by their ‘Foundations’ that amass funds in various ways.
Citizens should sensitize foolish politicians blind to the long-term effects of their rash decisions. Constructing the Norochcholai Power Plant, their covert instigation and reaction to the Aluthgama tragedy were as foolish as those that adopted the ‘Sinhala only’ policy, denied basic human rights to the Tamil people, created racial and religious conflicts, took-over of denominational schools and adopted the 18th Amendment. Conscientious citizens should unite to prevent power-hungry charlatans who have crept into political power ever returning to power by deceiving and manipulating the people.
Citizens should regularly review the performance of their representative and insist that they attend to constructive work, extend critical collaboration to bring about reconciliation and unity among the people, not create disharmony and bitterness that aggravate the problematic situations beyond the control of the helpless people. Though elected and paid to build a cohesive society, the politicians show themselves to be completely impotent unless they occupy despotic positions. So they often mess around creating confusion and delusion. Let us demand that they attend to various tasks of nation-building without wasting time.
The citizens should sensitize politicians about the meaninglessness of their spending lavishly for pandals, cut-outs, posters and tamashas at every turn and indulge in boastful propaganda.
The party leaders already see a dearth of persons of integrity coming forward to be nominated due to other contestants being uneducated, coarse rowdies who plan to engage in corruption. Hence the citizens should insistently demand all political party heads to nominate well-educated men and women of integrity to contest elections and discard boorish, uncouth, vulgar, ill-behaving scoundrels bringing ill-gotten laundered money to political campaigns.
Let the citizens not fall at the feet of any politician of any political party. Let parents and school teachers instruct schoolchildren how to be courteous to all in manner and disposition and not to go down on their knees and worship politicians. Let the citizens have the courage to frankly tell the politicians that they are paid to serve the people and not to become political idols.
Let the citizens demand that the politicians be present in their electorates to meet the citizens and to listen to their representations and grievances without merely showing their faces at weddings and funerals, absenting themselves from Parliament and gallivanting all over the world after their elections.
All citizens in public administration and law enforcement should shed their apathy and lethargy and without expecting bribes, attend to serving ordinary citizens, especially the more helpless and marginalized among them who feel unsafe and threatened by dehumanized elements. When in a locality untoward incidents between individuals could tend to blow up to a civil disturbance of the peace, the citizens in peacekeeping and law enforcement agencies should nip it in the bud lest it escalates to unmanageable proportions necessitating the intervention of the highest authorities in the land.
Recently, the Hali Ela Police, as citizens vested with responsibility and power to enforce the law were unable to control a mad rowdy named Sandaruwan from pestering and harassing the nuns taking care of inmates in their elders’ home, at Mawalagoda, Hali Ela. The police expect his legs to be broken and brought to the police station to expedite a solution! So, how could they uphold law and order in the face of politicians who with impunity flout the law? Indeed they failed when the politicians went into scuffles among themselves and disturbed the peace some time ago.
It is the duty of more enlightened citizens to educate and invite fellow citizens to live up to higher levels of responsibility and improve the quality of citizenship of all citizens if we are to live in peace, harmony and unity in our land to prevent it being turned into a hell by a few scheming scoundrels who take the law into their own hands. The knowledgeable citizens should drive sense into the heads of the heartless leadership of the GMOA who in contravention of professional and ethical conduct, abuse trade union norms to engage in political activity in support of the defeated corrupt captains of the last regime leaving the poor patients in the lurch.
The politicians and the privileged rich who wish to become good citizens should disclaim privileges and exemptions from paying taxes as they have no good reasons for doing so. The rulers do not provide tax relief to the worthy but to the corrupt privileged who suck the life-blood of the poor!
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