Running for president is an ambitious project!

There is much campaigning going on by political parties and alliances with the Presidential Elections scheduled for September 21. The people of this country only hope for a free and fair election 

Sadly, this country is so divided from a political perspective; strangely this division isn’t shown when spectators from all walks of life gather under the lion flag and cheer our cricketers pursuing glory in the international sports scene

At the time of writing this column, the second candidate expecting to contest at the upcoming presidential elections-Sajith Premadasa- saw the required cash deposit being made in his name at the Election Commission of Sri Lanka. Premadasa has been ambitious enough like any other person eyeing the presidency. There are so many lawmakers, lawyers, university lecturers, trade union representatives and social media activists already engaged in ‘the battle for presidency’ and backing their preferred candidate. A trade union leader, aligning with the government, is reported to be using the catchphrase ‘this is the political moment we’ve been waiting for’ when inviting people for rallies or forums that support the regime. This guy doesn’t understand that ‘every moment’ in the past 76-year political history of this country was vital and the island’s citizens were caught napping most of the time; hence they have hell to pay now! This writer is referring to the debt payments that have to be made and how much of that will be facilitated through taxing the people’s income. 

Sadly, this country is so divided from a political perspective. Strangely this division isn’t shown when spectators from all walks of life gather under the lion flag and cheer our cricketers pursuing glory in the international sports scene. We want our cricketers to win, but that spirit is not shown when the time comes for us to use our franchise at elections with the country’s welfare at heart. 

The catchphrase ‘this is the political moment…’ must be stretched to the maximum. It must be kept in the ‘news’ because this is the time where a presidential candidate or party can make a mistake. Going by newspaper reports, the Sri Lanka Pudujana Peramuna (SLPP) is now playing the tune that ‘a group having decided to field a separate candidate was aimed at catering to a personal agenda and that this wrong decision would be rectified soon’. What a costly mistake to make at this juncture, because SLPP deciding to go alone simply divides a possible block vote which would have otherwise fattened Wickremesinghe’s chances during the upcoming poll.  

From the time Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the Executive President via an election by parliament on July 20, 2022, the people of this country have gone into a shell and feel redundant. From the people’s point of view, the majority of the presidential candidates- who’ll receive nomination from their parties or alliances- will not represent the people’s wishes. That vote taking inside parliament two years ago, which gave Wickremesinghe an extended lifeline in politics, has numbed the senses of the people. One Facebook post recently gave a vital reminder to Sri Lankans. It read ‘it’s the people who’ll vote this time and not the parliamentarians’. 

In 2005 the stage was set for Wickremesinghe to get the better of Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential Elections. The accepted analysis of the final result was that Wickremesinghe was made to lose because terrorist leader Velupillai Prabhakaran stopped the northerners from going to the polls. This is because the terrorist leader didn’t want to give Wickremesinghe and peace a chance. Instead he ‘chose’ Mahinda by default because both the newly elected president and the tiger leader knew the ‘workings of the war’ better than developing a country. That was the period where the majority of the country’s people began to think that they are superior to other races. The worst of it was elevating the country’s president at that time to demi god status. An ambitious president made sure his ‘catchers’ and ‘yes men’ were well looked after. There was no questioning the authority of the seasoned politician wearing the blood red shawl. This Rajapaksa was floored by the power of unpredictability. No one had the slightest inclination that an individual as unimpressive as Maithripala Sirisena would the turn tables on Rajapaksa. This sense of unpredictability- in terms of who will represent what party- is in the air even now as Sri Lanka braces to go for polls on September 21. 

We need to delve more on the words ‘demi god status’. From the perspective of the average voter, such a person is intelligent or educated, hasn’t a questionable track record in politics and most importantly doesn’t blunder during decision making. National People’s Power Leader and its probable candidate for the upcoming election Anura Kumara Dissanayake fits the bill to have this label pinned on him. But sadly, as reported in a leading newspaper on Tuesday, fingers are pointed at Dissanayake for attending a National All Ceylon Nurses’ Conference.

What reflects badly on Dissanayake is that the nurses are government servants and were in uniform at that time. It’s good that Dissanayake makes mistakes. This shows that he is not a demi god and is a human. It’s high time that the voters of this country long for a leader with a human touch. They should not wish for a demi god, King Ravana or Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva who many think will come and save them and this blessed island. News trickling down from the north indicates that the Ilangai Tamil Arasu Katchchi has mooting the thought to field a candidate for the presidential elections. 

It’s good to know that there is at least one alliance that will not entertain lawmakers with a questionable past from other parties in the event the former secures power in the future. This country needs a leader who has the ambition to lift the country from the gutters, not someone who’ll use the elections to secure power for himself, his party or the alliance he represents. The former type of leader is hard to find at an election when the majority of the people don’t aspire Sri Lanka to make its first motor car, but dream of using public transport with a boarding pass issued at a nominal fee or given free by the state.