By Rehan Fernando –

Rehan Derrick Fernando

Primary argument

The major argument of this article is to discuss whether Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s political path is suitable for the socio-political recovery in Sri Lanka. Apparently, he seems to be a possible candidate for the forthcoming presidential election because of his long-term political experiences as a member of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. But is it enough to be a leader of this fallen land? This land is at present going through different crises. It is in chaos. There is no point in becoming a microphone-political-leader who addresses people with heavy arguments. That is an outdated tradition, which has no sense at all.

It is so easy to speak with so many rosy words and please people with different tongues. The majority of citizens of this land are fond of jokes but never listen to concrete discussions that lead to being better countrymen. Most of the people live in an illusion. Myths are the way of life that they deserve always. This is Sri Lanka!

Can Anura be a true leader? Can he take some important measures to uplift the Sri Lankan economy and bring some honest resolutions? Anura has, not just a challenge, but a dreadful situation.

Need a radical shift

Anura is still a political leader. He has not discerned the essence of a leader with a strong philosophy. He is attached to his power gaining propaganda and forgotten the basic needs of this country. This is an inferior reading of the realities.

What is the meaning of this suggested radical shift? I think most of us are tired of seeing political governing which is also an outdated concept. We have seen uneducated politicians coming to rule this country and fill their wallets from the country’s asserts. Is that what we desire for the future again? Anura must prepare the basic structure for that, not as a political leader who goes by political governing but as a person who can politically manage it.

My suggestion is that Anura must shift from political governing to political management. He must address ordinary citizens about this managing structure before he approaches international communities. Unfortunately, he terribly busy in addressing international communities and local citizens who live in those places. This is an outdated mega show!

Political management

It is the art of working with people with good qualities of leadership. There, a person becomes one among many. It is not an isolated political project; it is a relevant experience. Political management is the remedy to stop political governing which always brings subcultures.

Currently, the NPP plans a political project to gain power. I would suggest thinking of power as a secondary option. Priority should be given to introducing a relevant program. This is where we encounter its consistency. The NPP should be a movement of the people but not a party of political idiots. We don’t want to listen to such thugs in our life. That’s why I engaged in NPP’s first agenda.

A structure with political management makes decisions for the good of the community because management is a top priority. It fulfills the basic needs. So, there is no governing method, which eventually brings powerful structures that lead to unending problems.

Demolishing the absolute power

Most of the Sri Lankan leaders wanted to exercise absolute power, which began with the dark era of JR Jayewardene. Accordingly, the Sri Lankan parliament hardly received good educated leaders who had a desire to work for the common good. By now, most of them work for their own good.

In every nook and corner, there is absolute power. Absolute power emerges from political governing. Any politician will make due arrangements to keep his or her absolute power. Our political history provides enough records for that. I don’t have to provide examples.

In Sri Lanka, both in the public and private sectors, exercising absolute power has been a fashion. A company owner will just go by superfluous policies to keep their power over the employees. The ordinary people cannot bear such burdens. It doesn’t long exist. There can be revolutionary actions against such power centers. Therefore, absolute is an illusion.

I have a fear whether Anura would also fall into the same mud pit of exercising absolute power. He has not fully come up with the qualities of political management. Instead, he goes by a popular current. Banners, posters, mega stages, meetings are now his political interests. This is not what the country needs. This is a mask. In other words, what is appeared to be good is not really good at all.

Once lost, lost forever

We are in a moral decadence. It is quite hard to introduce a paradigm shift. However, a collective consciousness would surely work out. If the NPP listens only to their supporters and accepts their promoters, it will be another political agenda that has no effective plan. Instead, the NPP must listen to their opposition persons who genuinely work for this society.

Anura has the first responsibility to create such a valuable and timely space.

This is a rush hour, but Anura will have to find good people who can work out for this task. Otherwise, we would once again have a political governing man who repeats the history of Mahinda Rajapaksa, Ranil, and Gotabaya. Let us be mature enough to work!

I won’t be concluding this article as usually or mention concluding remarks. Instead, I prefer to begin an open discussion. We all must critically evaluate Anura’s policies before we vote. Voting is not the ultimate end. We have made such dramatic mistakes in history. Do we still need an era of errors?