Results, rituals, pageants and presidential elections - EDITORIAL

The worst feeling one can get, if not trained for it, is to wait for something that’s in the pipeline to happen. We’re all awaiting September 21 for the presidential elections. But that wait is terrible given that we know what some of our lawmakers, backing the candidates of their choice, are capable of pulling off disgusting tricks to gain mileage. All we need is a free and fair election. By the way, have you heard of the phrase ‘playing the waiting game’? This is often quoted by intellectuals. The sport of chess has coined the phrase ‘playing the waiting move’ to be used when two players sit on the 64 square board. Such a situation demands that one player is forced to blunder and a waiting move helps the other player who continues to play it.

The lawmaker at present playing the waiting game is the incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe. An executive president, in such a situation wielding much power, can watch or scrutinise every move of other candidates and even manipulate things to his advantage. Fingers are already pointed at the incumbent president for using state resources for his election campaign; thereby denying a level playing field for others. 

On Thursday, we read in newspapers that a lawyer had filed a fundamental rights petition in the Supreme Court ‘seeking declaration that Wickremesinghe infringed upon the fundamental rights of the citizens by failing to appoint an acting IGP; thereby leaving the security of the people in danger. Hence the petitioner seeks interim relief restraining Wickremesinghe from contesting the upcoming elections.  

Forget about the majority of the 225 parliamentarians who wielded power for so long and are now actively involved in the next elections; either as elections’ candidates or as supporters of candidates. A good many among the majority Buddhists in Sri Lanka believe that a person benefits from accumulated past good karmas when they enjoy the perks of being a parliamentarian. But spiritual teacher ‘Aghori’ guru Pashupati from India (in a YouTube interview with Shweta Danawade) says it’s not karma and links a good period of a person to benefits coming from a ‘seasonal change’. Yes, this is the season to benefit from the presidential elections. Similar to what we can cultivate only during the Yala and Maha seasons, the elections is the time to make money through donations and raise revenue generated through advertising and publicity campaigns. Sri Lankans have placed their feet firmly on the thought or teaching that this is a blessed island and we’ll be looked after as long as we are loyal to our faith. But we were never taught to use common sense and remove unwanted red tape when so many opportunities came our way during the tsunami. So many containers loaded with essential goods weren’t given to us because we didn’t have an honest system to distribute them to the needy. These donors just said ‘bye-bye’ to Sri Lanka and headed to countries like Thailand and Indonesia (Sumatra) which had better systems of governance in tsunami-affected areas. Sadly we failed to benefit from the ‘tsunami season’. 

This is the season for elections. We saw Muslims in certain parts of the country and members of the Tamil community having discussions with Sinhalese voters during post-elections. But did the Sinhala voters demand, for their community and also for others, a corruption-free rule from candidates who can win? 

These are also days for pageants (peraharas) conducted by temples. Over the years, certain rituals haven’t been properly honoured; hence the commotions and unbecoming activities at these pageants. In the golden era of Sri Lankan politics, the role of being a lawmaker was taken to with the dedication of serving God or performing a religious ritual. Like with some of these pageants, the parliament was also encroached upon by unscrupulous individuals.   

Coming back to the elections, we don’t need to perform rituals or go through the motions at polling centres. We must demand that nominations be given to candidates who have shown results or can promise results. Going by family or party name must now come to an end; at least with this election.