Why AKD must achieve the unthinkable

Sri Lanka is now trying to walk on a straight line in terms of putting the country in order. Many moons ago and many governments before this, ambitious people who walked ‘crooked’ and disregarded ethics entered Parliament easily. Now we see the new government in place attempting the unthinkable; trying to reinvent a nation that many thought didn’t have a future. 
This writer uses the word ‘unthinkable’ instead of ‘impossible’. This is because there is some hope of ‘the unthinkable being achieved’ given there is a struggle and the right effort is put. But this thinking cannot be applied to a task termed as the unthinkable because if you achieve the unthinkable then that word has no meaning. Another thought that falls in the category of impossible is the phrase ‘acid test’. This is a test that an individual is doomed to fail; when taking into account all calculations and astute thinking. The challenge ahead of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) must be overcome and can be termed as ‘unthinkable’. That task is not impossible to achieve. 

One main reason that stands in the way of putting this country in order is the fact that those who were defeated and labelled as corrupt are still on the scene and gearing up for the parliamentary elections. Some have already dropped out of the race. But there are a few who are demanding their ‘pound of flesh’ in politics. The thought of all right-thinking people is that their names must be erased from politics. In this context, the regime taking a decision to rename a school which functioned under the name ‘CP Keheliya Rambukwella Model Primary School, Kundasale must be lauded. Probably this politician didn’t even know that there has been a circular in place since 1996 which doesn’t permit schools to be named after lawmakers who were still alive. 
This regime wishes to revamp education, so that it is aligned in keeping with the demands for jobs in the world. Enhancing national human capital is important for the country’s future progress, as pointed out by AKD in one of his recent speeches after becoming president. It’s good if the president encourages including a study of the basic laws of the country in the school syllabus. This will help create an educated set of school leavers who, once finishing school, would be ready to serve as trainees in business establishments here and overseas. 
Speaking further about the law, the new regime has taken the initiative to ‘reinvestigate several sensitive unresolved court cases’ in an attempt which many believe is to punish culprits who thought they got away scot-free after committing heinous crimes.  
AKD knows the role of the Executive President and the role played by the judiciary. He would not interfere in areas where it’s not ethical to do so. The president spoke at length about his role as the Executive and the role of the judiciary when he spoke to surviving members of families who are still moaning the deaths of loved ones, who perished due to the Easter Sunday carnage in Katuwapitya. AKD said, “I know my boundaries when serving in my role as president” and added that he knows about the saying in the scriptures that specifies that what belongs to God must be given to Him and that Caesar must receive what belongs to him. (The recordings of the speech are in the archives of media units which have YouTube channels)  

There was a time when some of the best brains in the country and the most pious people had nothing to do with politics and virtually lived in their ‘professional cocoons’. Even at the very recent presidential elections, as many as 3.5 million people with a franchise refused to cast their votes.
It’s essential that these law-abiding citizens also step in and make their contributions to making this island a better place to live. Their absence in this equation and silence amounts to aiding and abetting the corrupt politicians in this country to enter Parliament and form the opposition. If the new Cabinet to take over governance can be termed clean the next task of the people must be to send a clean set of lawmakers to Parliament to form the opposition.