Politicians need to be august and sincere

Today, we begin August and for those who wish to know, this month was first called Sextilis – a Latin word for “sixth”, as it was the sixth month of the Roman year. When the emperor Augustus Caesar was in power, however, he wished to have a month named after himself. The Roman senate satisfied him by changing Sextilis to Augustus.

For most Sri Lankans of course, the month of August this year is the month of nominations for the September 21st Presidential Elections.

According to newspaper reports, 92 Parliamentarians, mostly from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) met Wickremesinghe last Tuesday evening and pledged their support to him. It was also reported that at the Government Parliamentary Group meeting on Tuesday (30), MPs in support of Wickremesinghe had announced that they accepted the President’s economic vision and had pledged their support to work with him.

Meanwhile, State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe had also informed Daily Mirror that at least 60 Parliamentarians from the SLPP had attended the said meeting and pledged their support to Wickremesinghe, adding that these figures are likely to be higher as some MPs were overseas. Other senior sources from the party had also informed the newspaper that the MPs were also now looking at forming a broad alliance with Wickremesinghe in the coming weeks.

The SLPP is seemingly divided in two camps with one camp, which has the majority MPs, pledging their support for President Wickremesinghe, while the other camp has decided to field its own candidate.

Although the SLPP Politburo decided to field its own candidate at the Presidential Election, after it convened on Monday evening, the pro Wickremesinghe camp of the SLPP is however hopeful that the SLPP Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa will reconsider this decision.

At a media briefing on Tuesday afternoon, Semasinghe claimed that the SLPP had made a wrong decision to field its own candidate and said such a decision was against the majority opinion of the party.

Sources from the pro Wickremesinghe camp in the SLPP had also told Daily Mirror that they will look at holding discussions with Rajapaksa in the coming days and will remain hopeful for a positive outcome to reverse the SLPP’s decision to field its own candidate.

It was also reported that on Monday evening, just shortly after the SLPP Politburo committee decided not to support Wickremesinghe, that 30 SLPP MPs who had pledged their support to Wickremesinghe had immediate begun discussions on his campaign strategy and how they would proceed forward to begin work in the ground level in all districts.

Meanwhile, independent people are confused by who is saying what and to what extent stories are being twisted and turned. United Republic Front Leader and Former Minister Champika Ranawaka told the media recently that he would not back any candidate supported by the Rajapaksa family. Meanwhile, even in the North, the situation is confusing, though most independent analysts say it is not likely that the northern parties will field a common candidate. If they do so, it would draw votes from Wickremesinghe or the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. 
As for the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna led National People’s Power party Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, he has still not made his deposit. But independent analysts say that he is expected to contest.

Most independent analysts believe that President Wickremesinghe is the front runner at the moment as he has pulled Sri Lanka out of its debt crisis. As for the support from the SLPP, they believe that eventually the Rajapaksa led party will support Wickremesinghe in giving conditional support so that he will have a clear majority in Parliament, which is known as the August assembly of the four pillars of democracy. Over and above all, the party leaders and MPs need to be august and sincere in their work by putting the country first, party second, and their own personal gain or glory far down the list.