Wisdom and Cohesion…

5 January 2016 06:30 pm Views - 2515

One year has passed since the historic resolve taken by the masses of the country to restore democracy and good governance that had deteriorated to dangerous levels. The year gone by has seen the natural receding of the euphoria in victory and more significantly, has also witnessed resurgent efforts by certain elements acting with ‘not-so-hidden’ agendas to paint a picture of instability and uncertainty among the people of Sri Lanka. The idea was to pull the country towards a realm of petty partisan politics.  This, in fact, was not a totally new phenomenon because the Sri Lankan body politic has exhibited this characteristic at least on two past occasions when the country experienced similar changes in power after a prolonged rule by one party.   The changes that occurred both in 1956 as well as in 1994 were met with similar reactions.



  In a society where freedom of expression was in question for years, the receptiveness of the present government or simply its resolve to give a patient hearing to diverse views of various parties was a change. This is being construed, more often than not, as the result of a dearth of ideas in the current political environment.  However, society would no doubt, fast adapt to the norms of being receptive, tolerant and inclusive, without allowing it to be misconstrued.  
There is yet another section of society that is not content with the degree of urgency shown by the government in taking action on certain fronts.  

What needs to be emphasised, and understood is that a truly democratic government is sometimes compelled to delay taking certain actions, however prudent they may seem to be in the long term, unless the citizenry is ready to appreciate or accept them. Premature action can seldom give optimum results!
The year gone by witnessed several attempts by certain vicious elements to pull apart our society along the traditional fault-lines of ‘tribal’ party-politics and ethnic and religious divisions. The present government of national consensus, built on an unprecedented union of traditional rivals- the UNP and UPFA, has obviously been an indigestible proposition to those who used to live on ‘tribal’ party politics.  However, their tactics in creating divisions have not worked.  

In the meantime, there were repeated attempts by those who were living on ethno-religious politics in the South as well as in the North to disturb the environment of ethno-religious harmony that has been settling down after decades.  

While there were attempts by extremist elements in the South to create tension by arousing communal feelings, which fortunately did not flare – up, there were other attempts by sections of the political leadership in the North to instigate, nurture, and ride on a wave of communal sentiments among the Tamils in the North. This too failed to create the expected results.  

This was because of the growing political maturity of the people in both the South and the North.It is certainly an encouraging development. 

Former US President, John F. Kennedy, once famously said, “Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate”.  Though his comments were directed against the growing concerns of the US over the impending talks with the Soviet Union during the tensions of the Cold War, his statement is pertinent in the current political climate of Sri Lanka.  No- one should fear to talk to anyone in finding a nationally acceptable solution for sustainable peace. The theory on the possibility of resurgence of a separatist war, has no foundation in the current environment.     Those who believe in intimidation-and-violence based ethno-religious politics as a means of achieving their political agendas, in the final analysis, could only bring misery to the nation. 

There is another important fact that should be considered in addressing current socio-political issues- the irrelevance of mega-narratives, be it Marxism, Capitalism or Liberalism. Formulas based on such mega-narratives that may have appeared to work before, are no longer valid. 

Turning to the ‘January 8’ victory, there is a significant gap between ‘aspiration’ and ‘delivery’.  There are cases of mega-scale corruption such as those involving the RADA, Avant-garde, and foreign bank accounts maintained in Singapore, Dubai, the Bahamas, and other atrocities and crimes such as the Thajudeen case. The ‘delay in justice’ in that incident has caused frustration among sections of society  - particularly the professionals and the middle class  that voted for good governance. The reaction to ‘Budget 2016’ was more an eruption of that frustration rather than sheer opposition to the budget  itself.  
The government should be wary and also sensitive to the pulse of the people, because the number of its constituent parties and the number of its parliamentary seats could hardly compensate any serious erosion in public confidence. 

Nor can it afford to worry too much or be sensitive to the highly publicised, concerted media exhibitions, which are often based on concocted agendas devised to sling mud.  ‘Character hit-men’ in the media cannot be accorded too important a place.  

In looking forward, the cardinal rule is pragmatic identification of priorities even when they involve ‘good things’ in isolation, because they could often bring disastrous results. We as a nation share a common dream for ourselves and future generations- to live as proud citizens of a prosperous nation, with social equity, harmony while enjoying a high degree of individual happiness.  

Those are the pillars of our guiding philosophy on development, and for the same reason,  they stand as the single largest-ever national development drive that we are about to embark upon – the Western Megapolis.  The project is envisioned and conceptualized as the country’s grand strategy for enabling achievement of the status of a high income developed nation by 2030.

Constitutional reforms, excepting the proposed reforms to the electoral system, could hardly justify the degree of prominence and priority that political rhetoric has accorded it.

As the ‘change’ of ‘January 8’ marks its first anniversary, the need of the hour is wisdom in identifying our national resolve for cohesive action.