31 October 2022 12:01 am Views - 643
As the world watched in fascination, five days ago - on October 30 to be exact, Rishi Sunak of Indian extraction, became Britain’s first Prime Minister of colour - a former colonial, has now become the Prime Minister of the coloniser.
He has however, the somewhat dubious distinction of being Britain’s third Prime Minister within two months and the fifth in six years. Until last year Sunak was also, surprise, surprise, a US green card holder despite being the Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) of the UK.
Why did he keep a green card for so long despite being a UK MP since 2015?
Critics of UK’s ruling Conservative Party describe the quick turnover of leaders, as the Conservative Party scraping the barrel in its efforts to remain in power.
Like our own president, Sunak was not popularly elected to the post of premier. Rather he was ushered into power via a system governing rules of election within the ruling Conservative Party.
Sunak came into power almost by default, following the resignation of former premier Boris Johnson and subsequently, after Johnson’s successor Liz Truss who though popularly elected by the membership of the Conservative (Tory) party, lost authority in the House of Commons.
After a swift Conservative selection via the party’s parliamentary members, the man who originally lost to Truss (Sunak) has now been given the top job.
Whatever the circumstances, Britain has now a Prime Minister of colour and not of the Christian faith. The fact that a non-white and a non-Christian is now the premier of the United Kingdom speaks highly of the democratic nature and open mindedness of the people of that country.
We cannot but remember, at this point during the tenure of Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge as president of our country, she attempted to appoint a non-Sinhalese and non- Buddhist person to the office of premier. Her initiative was thwarted by her fellow members of parliament.
The question that arises however, is really, whether Sunak’s appointment is going to benefit the lot of the common Englishman/woman whatever his/her colour and faith may be.
The UK’s new Prime Minister, according to ‘Forbes’ is an ex-Goldman Sachs banker, as well as an alumnus of Oxford University in the UK and Stanford in the US. He and his wife have a household net worth of over US$830 million!
On completion of his academic career Sunak went on to work in investment banking for Goldman Sachs, before moving to a London based hedge fund where he would become a partner in 2006. He moved on to a number of different hedge funds, including a stint at Theleme Partners in California.
In 2009 he married Akshata Moorty, the daughter of Indian billionaire and founder of tech giant Infosys. The company currently has a market cap of around US$77 billion.
So, can the million dollar wiz kid relate to the problems of struggling ordinary Britons, grappling with the high cost of living and inflation which is affecting the UK and countries the world over?
It is reported that the new premier is expected to announce a wide range of tax hikes as well as cuts to government spending.
In other words the ordinary British man/woman on the street is going to face a tough time. They too will soon face a situation similar to we, the Sri Lankans are facing, with tax hikes, rising inflation, cuts in subsidies and stagnant wages..A fear the new British premier can scarcely be expected to understand.
Even more sadly, Sunak’s recent appointment of Suella Braverman - another British MP of migrant parentage - whom the ‘Guardian’ reported resigned from Truss’s Cabinet, as she was angry as the regime wanted her to announce plans to liberalize immigration rules.
At it’s worst it exposes Sunak’s own attitude toward Asians in general and immigrants in particular.
In the end, the race for power and position make race, caste, creed, religion and ethnicity immaterial.
For instance, the US had a non-white president... the blacks in America still continue to be discriminated against by the police in that country.
We in Sri Lanka had the world’s first female prime Minister in 1960. Today, nearly 63 years later, we still have lesser than a dozen females elected to parliament in a house of 255.
O tempora, o mores, the more things appear to change, the more they remain entrenched.