26 July 2024 12:02 am Views - 1482
Sajith Premadasa Opposition Leader
Plato, one of the greatest and highly respected philosophers (427 – 348 BC), once said ‘envious jealousy is a state of mind or a disposition of the soul in which pain is mixed with pleasure, because one affected by envious jealousy is rejoicing at the misfortunes of those around him and being sad at their happiness’.
With the presidential election fever coming to a boiling point, rivalry among politicians are in fierce battle to overtake one another.
Politicians are in a major strategic endeavour to overtake their rivals to collect a few brownie points.
They have inundated mainstream media, social media and print media to attack each other with hyperbolized comments and extremely vituperative, and allegations more often than not to score in their political expediency.
To have an idea about the current political climate, he/she could figure out that Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna alias National Peoples Power (JVP/NPP) are in front of the fray. Almost all other political parties such as the SLPP, UNP, SLFP and all left aligned political parties are behind.
The prospect of success of politicians at upcoming polls except two main parties is extremely remote. No doubt the outcome of the November presidential election will be the end of the world for a number of top politicians and a large majority of MPs and ministers of their respective parties.
Many of them will not be in a position even to return to parliament after the forthcoming general election that would follow soon after the presidential poll. It will be a political vanquish to many a politician and political party in the south as the political party of the newly elected President will have a landslide at the general election that will follow soon.
If someone were to give these politicians a piece of advice it should be to ask them to pay attention to win a seat at the general election from their traditional hunting grounds, leave alone wasting their time, energy and financial resources to contest the presidential election which is only a pipe dream to almost all of them.
According to all opinion polls, the public sentiment and the ground reality clearly indicate that the SJB led by the leader of the opposition Sajith Premadasa is gaining ground regularly. Any Sri Lankan living in and out of the country, an apolitical mind-set, can see that Sajith’s popularity is far and wide.
Sajith is being loved by people of all strata of society where ever he goes to address the public and ceremonial meetings of his welfare programmes such as ‘Husma’, ‘Sakwala’ and ‘Sasunata Aruna’ worth billions of rupees aimed at benefitting thousands of under resourced and under served hospitals, schools, places of religious importance.
It is no secret that Sajith is a target of all rival parties, political opponents, mainstream print, electronic and the social media that oppose the SJB and Sajith. He has not killed, misappropriated public funds, taken commissions, maintained accounts at foreign banks, engaged in money laundering, bribery or corruption.
This is what the antagonists of Sajith cannot stomach. They are hard pressed to find any fault, misdeed, unworthy or indecent act of Sajith to lambast and make him a target of character assassination.
However, Desmond Mallikarachchi (DM) has found a way.
In an article by him in the Daily Mirror on 22 July 24, entitled “BOASTERS in politics and American Trump” he says, the Leader of the Opposition and the leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), Sajith Premadasa has a habit of self – promotion when he addresses the masses and uses the term ‘I am the smartest, and I am the wisest’ etc. and adds further that the man who thinks so is really ‘a fool’.
Probably after many searches, DM finds using ‘I’ by Sajith to introduce himself at public rallies and meetings is no good. If using ‘I’ is the only mistake he makes, it manifests that he could claim to have a clean sheet of character when it goes through between the lines of DM’s rhetoric.
This mistake or weakness alluded to him by an opponent or by a pawn of a rival political party is indeed a credit to Sajith; but, DM’s comments are marred with malicious intent.
If one implies that the use of ‘I’ by a politician to identify himself at public meetings is his only weakness in a country where almost all the politicians including lawmakers are lambasted and accused for bribery, corruption, murder, embezzling, inefficiency and many more misdeeds and crimes, it can be presumed as a sign of honesty, integrity and statesmanship of him.
Besides, here is a politician who has refused to accept the premiership offered by the Executive President of the day, not once, but at more than several dozens of time simply because he has a name to safeguard, a political party to protect and a family to save.
If Sajith is incapable of leading the nation as suggested by DM, why do many other politicians desert their parties, under which they returned to Parliament in 2020, to join the SJB accepting Sajith’s leadership? Why have other political parties failed to attract politicians and voters from the SJB to their fold if Sajith is a weak leader?
Look at the face of average voters who participate in the ceremonial meetings held at government schools, hospitals and temples that reflect the sense of gratitude, appreciation and happiness when Sajith gifts brand new buses to students, electronic and IT equipment to set up smart classrooms for under privileged schools, as well as medicine and medical equipment to hospitals and renovates dilapidated temples.
Sajith is carrying out all these meritorious and social welfare acts from funds raised with the help of philanthropists and benefactors of the SJB.
President Trump (R) won the presidential race in 2016 on a pompous propaganda campaign. Trump continues to aggrandize himself despite having been accused of 34 charges in New York. Nonetheless, he is very popular in the US electorate right now. Trump’s main tool in electioneering is self-aggrandising and pompous rhetoric.
Dr. Philippe Beauregard of the University of Aberdeen, highlights in his 2022 best seller ‘The Passion of International Leadership - How Emotions Shape Transatlantic Cooperation’ how international leaders emerge and why they are successful in bringing followers converge on their positions.
Leaders are driven by their convictions. They must strike a balance between the intense emotions associated with belief and their need to represent a broader community as they seek to bring followers on board by persuading them, they need to pay attention to emotionally contagious and resonate events.
DM while raising doubts on leadership qualities of Sajith says that researchers have found that ‘the art of boasting have found out that people who are stating in public that other people are scared of them is an expression of narcissistic syndrome including perhaps it somatic variety.’ Sajith has never ever said in public or otherwise people are afraid of him. It’s up to DM to point out one instance where and when Sajith has said this.
However, Sajith is honoured, welcomed and adored by millions of Sri Lankan voters, global leaders, the diplomatic community and religious leaders with one voice. They are unanimous that. He is the most suitable and astute statesman in Sri Lanka who possesses the ability, skill, vision and a plan to take Sri Lanka out of the current economic, political and social downturn.
The government has been forced to amend or withdraw a number of draft Bills that contravene the Constitution and violate fundamental rights of the people before they were passed in Parliament. The best example is the Electricity Bill of Sri Lanka which was passed on last Wednesday.
Consequent to a petition filed by the legal team of the SJB on the advice of Sajith, the Supreme Court convicted 8 respondents including three Rajapaksa brothers namely Mahinda, Gotabaya and Basil for the mishandling of the national economy that led to the bankruptcy of Sri Lanka.
The government will increase the annual interest rate on fixed deposits of senior citizens to 15% from the current 8% on the insistence of Sajith shortly. The grievance of the opposition now is that Sajith is acting fast.
DM fails to question the JVP/NPP combine on what they do with their massive funds collected from JVP supporters.
Why does DM not raise a voice against the declared policy of the NPP which envisages giving power to its cadres in village to mark individuals, file charges and pass judgments against those who commit offences under the law dictated by the JVP/NPP combine if and when they came to power?
He does not question the economic and trade policy of a JVP/NPP government.
Sajith has not taken a single meal or purchased a litre of fuel using funds donated to the SJB by his well to do supporters, as far as I know. He has done all these commendable deeds with no help from the government. He has not discriminated against millions of families Sinhala, Tamils, Muslims and followers of all religions with no discrimination against any.
DM has no courage to talk about President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s haste to distribute free rice packets orders given to finish development projects, before June this year, while budgetary allocations 2024 were meant to finish them by the end of 2024. It is no concern for DM about the tricks of Ranil to postpone the Presidential election not once but thrice as pointed out by the opposition parties.
Ranil has suddenly become a munificent benefactor to all Sri Lankans. He freely gives away the masses free goodies and money from government coffers. Distributes land deeds to families living on state lands for decades without any.
He, being the minister of finance, aggressively refused to release funds allocated from the budget 2023 to the Election Commission ignoring repeated attempts by the Supreme Court to facilitate the conduct of the LG polls
Ranil is in the process of fulfilling his childhood dreams right now. Though not having a people’s mandate, he has ascended to the Presidency because he was at the right place at the right time. So he is of the view that he has every right to enjoy the power and privileges of the executive presidency to the fullest...
DM adds that a ‘superiority complex’ as Sigmund Freud stated: ‘is intense thinking about one’s own capabilities and achievements and surfaces, often as a result of failing to live according to internal aspirations or reactions to it’. Very true!
Sajith has shown what he and his team are capable of doing on behalf of this failed and bankrupt nation after winning the November presidential poll.
Right throughout his political career, Sajith has maintained, followed and displayed courage, empathy, passion, vision, self-awareness, innovation and integrity, the much talked about qualities of leadership and statesmanship.
If the stand taken by DM on the use of the term ‘I’ and ‘I am’ by Sajith is bad enough to get negative comments as a national leader. He has never ever declared that he is the greatest, most important or influential politicians in this country at any stage or at any time.
Finally, to open the eyes of DM, I will quote below Robert A Heinlein (1907 – 1988) the respected American novelist who has said ‘Jealousy is a disease. Love is a healthy condition’.