EDITORIAL - Extraordinary move for a new Sri Lanka

15 February 2015 07:08 pm Views - 3130

n a mysterious or miraculous way, Sri Lanka on January 8 — in a silent revolution by the people — was liberated from a family
dictatorship and is now soaring in the orbit of an all-party National Unity Government.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, one of the creative thinkers behind this new political
culture, said last week he hoped the National Unity Government could go on for the next five years to build a new Sri Lanka of good governance, democracy and social justice. These and other political virtues would be based on the foundation of multi-religious, multi-racial and multi-party unity in diversity.




Addressing a  meeting at his alma mater Royal College to felicitate him and other new
ministers who are past pupils of this prestigious school, Mr. Wickremesinghe said he hoped the whole of Parliament could be a part of the Government with representatives from all parties being Cabinet Ministers. We see this unprecedented phenomenon with a golden opportunity for Sri Lanka to reach new heights and work beyond the divisiveness if not the curse of excessive party politics where most leaders seek personal gain or party glory instead of working for the common good of the people.




President Maithripala Sirisena — repeatedly stressing he is not a king but the chief servant leader of the people — is setting a wonderful example to all through his simple and humble lifestyle. He has called on other party members also to live in a simple and humble way—avoiding luxuries, extravagance and the wasteful expenditure as seen by the shocking exposures of what the leaders of the former regime did and how they lived.
President Sirisena was the common candidate of the New Democratic Front which comprises the UNP, the JHU, the TNA, the SLMC, a breakaway group from the SLFP, other parties and about 40 civic action movements. Estimates show that of the more than 6.2 million people who voted for Mr. Sirisena, about 4.4 million were UNP supporters and others were from other Common Front parties, mainly the TNA.


President Sirisena received only a small
proportion of SLFP votes and on the contrary former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and other SLFP ministers bitterly attacked him from election campaign platforms with the then Government’s stooge media indulging in malicious or defamatory propaganda about his personal life.
Today, the people know the truth that Mr. Sirisena is an honest and simple son of a Polonnaruwa farmer. He has told ministers and others not to refer to him as “Your  Excellency” or to his wife Jayanthi as the First Lady. Maintaining the simple village tradition Jayanthi Sirisena still cooks the meals for the family with home grown vegetables, setting a wonderful example of the charm in a simple lifestyle.




Through a strange turn of events on January 16, President Sirisena who had been hammered to pieces by SLFP leaders, was elected President of the SLFP and presided over last Saturday’s crucial meeting of the party’s Executive Committee, which made major changes in important posts. Political analysts say that with the upcoming constitutional changes, President Sirisena would be the Head of State with limited
executive powers and will not take part in party political campaigns for the next parliamentary election.




The UNP, which runs the Government but has less than 50 seats in Parliament, appears to be keen to hold parliamentary elections after 100 days to consolidate its position. But many analysts believe it might be better for the country if the current Parliament continues till its term ends in April next year when Sri Lanka would be more stable in terms of people-centred development and ethnic reconciliation. When general elections are held next year the main parties could contest on their own, as an alliance or have no-contest pacts as we saw in the 1960s and 70s.
Whatever the constitutional and parliamentary electoral changes, we hope the new political culture and attitude will continue till we build a new Sri Lanka that will be a model in terms of multi-party, multi-religious and multi-ethnic unity in diversity with an all-party National Unity Government.