By Vishwamithra –

“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature has made them.” ~ Bertrand Russel

Extinction of a societal system, dismissal of its traditions and values and its very raison d’etre could be defined as a birth of another system of values, morals, ethics and manifestly different social dynamic whose entry would be rather slow in arrival than what it was thought to have been. When the promised elements of the new system suffer delays in deliverance, the would-be recipients  of the Utopian components of the ‘new’, if not singularly disciplined in terms of the outlines of the new system, might take to streets the same way they did in order to oust the ‘old’.

Such an unexpected rebellion must be halted at all costs but if the forces of the ‘State’ are employed in the suppression of that kind of a revolt, the collapse of the much-vaunted Utopia would be inevitable before it was born. Such tragic occurrences, in fact, have taken place in recent history of the world and the consequent anarchic state will only feed on itself in the most ungovernable fashion. It was Colvin R de Silva, a yesteryear leftist ideologue, who said that ‘in  order to make an omelet, you have to break the egg’. Once the egg is broken you can’t put it back into the broken shell and remake the egg; it’s not in the realm of possibility.

Such breakdown of a new system would happen only if there was no prior planning; planning for any and all contingencies. The National People’s Power (NPP), they say, has made all plans for the smooth delivery of, if not all, at least the most immediate and urgent needs of an unwell economy and a suffering people. The pain of the people cannot be overstated; nor could it be ignored on grounds that they had got used to it. Such careless and callous neglect of what the people endure would not be without more drastic consequences.

Yet the people’s determination to toss out the system that has been not only been responsible for the  collapse of the economy but also for the gradual and sure erosion of a value system that has nurtured and shaped our collective sociopolitical culture seems to be gathering momentum on a day-to-day basis. The team for ‘change’ and its path is certainly on a upward trajectory and the spokes that are being thrown into the wheel of demand for change are being augmentative in number. Withstanding all these insults, challenges and vilification is in itself a daunting challenge for the NPP as it is a brand new phenomenon for them to be the front-runner in an election. It’s time for them to employ every tactic in their bag to turn those insults, challenges and vilification and hurl them back to the ones who have chosen in desperation to silence the NPP.                

As much as they seem to have planned for a future government, they need to have within their own ranks who could get into a tactical game and still prevail at the end. It may not be easy but given the talent and skills the NPP possesses, it is certainly within the realm of doable deeds.

Even at this eleventh hour, on the very eve of the election, pundits are engaged in a valiant effort to bring the Ranil-led coalition and Sajith-led SJB together and such a panic-stricken maneuver would enhance the emotions of the people who have already made up their minds to vote for Aura Kumara Dissanayake. The contempt and ridicule at which the people hold Ranil Wickremesinghe is being grossly understated. If Sajith joins Ranil, he would be doing that stupid deed at his own peril. The contemptuous level those Pohottuwa rascals are being viewed by the general public is not yet known and those at the top leadership level are being closely guarded and protected by those who are intimate with them. It is a vicious circle of lotus eaters who are waiting for the crumbs that may fall within their reach and their greed has never known its limits.

At the same time, in the event this unholy alliance between Ranil and Sajith comes true, the electorate might be faced with a binary choice instead of a multiple choice as is the case now. Things will definitely take totally a fresh turn; how successful AKD and the NPP would be to exploit such a situation and present it as a much more amenable pick before the people. Dividing the electorate right in the middle whereas those who are already identified with the existing power structures, those who are already enmeshed in a failed economic policy, those who have been tarred by the brush of corruption, dishonesty and nepotism will be on one side and those who challenge that past, those who are eager to shed that past and carve out a new path will be on the other side. The choice becomes increasingly understandable and easy, even for an adolescent non-voter.

Yet on the other hand, in the context of numbers, when the two parties, Ranil and Sajith get together their combination would secure a bloc of votes that has been hitherto divided; the combination of the two blocs might be a more daunting number for AKD and the NPP to overcome. The advantage AKD has is that his rival becomes one and only one- status quo. Given the context of change being the main thrust the voter is motivated to go to the polls on September 21^st, it becomes much more facile for the voter to identify as to who is opposed to ‘change’ and that concept of ‘change’ alone could drive the voter towards the Mālimāva.

There are pros and cons for all alternatives. But in a an ultra-charged atmosphere of an election, ‘change’ is a very motivating cause for the youth in particular and an extra ounce of effort could easily prompt his or her parents also to vote for the same premise: ‘change’. Change as a concept of ‘motivating a people’ has been unbelievably powerful through the ages. Whether the incumbent is a dictator or a democratically elected leader, the inherent property of ‘change’ has been an irresistible element for the people. Overthrow of a sitting leader has other romanticist character and its alluring quality has, more often than not, swayed many voters, especially the young whose flirtation with ‘change’ is innate and natural.

However, over the years we have been underestimating the power of the youth’s influence on their parent generation. If a voting-aged youth is gainfully employed, whether he or she is a contributor to the family’s income, their opinions and allegiances to various schools of thought is not callously discarded by the parents. If that is the case with a majority of voters, AKD’s inroads into the middleclass and lower middleclass cannot be overstated. Having been battered by the unkind forces of the marketplace, these two classes are the most affected segments of our society whose upward mobility has been seriously hampered. Instead of climbing up on the societal ladder they have been subjected to spiraling down with unbearable hardships and economic downturns.

Such a drastic behavior in society’s economic premise has had a telling effect on this generation and their options for upward move in society is being thwarted beyond all expectations. NPP’s tagline of ‘Pohosath Ratak, Lassana Jeewithayak’ (Rich Country, Beautiful Life) would appeal to the rural lads and damsels. They have been robbed of their dreams; dreams of creating and organizing a beautiful life for their children and themselves. Their lamentation and pain is being unheeded by the successive ruling Juntas. What was explicit in 1971 and 1987-1989 periods is fast becoming relevant today, especially in the context of the economic collapse and the country’s bankruptcy. However, the then JVP’s approach was one of doctrinaire and ideological-based on now-outdated Marxian/Leninist principles.

NPP’s attack on the total status quo is more pertinent now. Those who have been identified as defenders and protectors of the status quo, its natural stakeholders and future inheritors have been noted and their close allegiance to the Pohottuwa, SJB and Ranil Wickremesinghe can be put together in one single basket. The people’s incessant demand coupled with the NPP’s consistent DNA for the ouster of the status quo has galvanized a greater majority of the country’s youth. ‘Change’ that is the consequential outcome of the ouster of the status quo, albeit an absence of an acutely defined set of sociopolitical and economics representations, continues to place itself in the mindset of the younger generation in haunting shapes.

The status quo is facing extinction. It’s no exaggeration. Whether it would mean that what follows after its extinction more voter-friendly and long-lasting or not would be seen much later after the event. The event’s historic occurrence  would be groundbreaking, to say the least. Change, if it could embrace all and deliver the inner core of the  concept of ‘Rich Country and Beautiful Life’ (Pohosath Ratak, Lassana Jeewithayak) which has been elusive to millions of poverty-stricken Lankans for many decades, would be welcome at every corner in the land. A Utopian dream is being envisioned by many; parents and grandparents, children and adolescents, men and women of all walks of life while it is also being dreaded by more than a few. That is absolutely understandable.

*The writer can be contacted at vishwamithra1984@gmail.com