By Lalith Dhammika Mendis –

Lalith Dhammika Mendis

Politics, a hellhole of vices and wheeler-dealing

The arena of Sri Lankan politics has for some time been largely influenced by the rule of the jungle. Also, it has been mostly characterized by the notion that the end justifies the means. Political actors are masters of duplicity. Grinning mugs imploring support in the run-up to elections, promising sun, moon, and heaven in return, turn into hubristic frowns once comfortably ensconced in office. Once the rain ceases, the umbrella is no longer needed has been the tragic reality. The masses have failed to fathom it for decades and have been falling into the same pit twice and more, as only fools would do. Political masters have been making hay while the sun was shining.

Politicians, once settled in office, reveal the true colours that they are not the faithful public servants that people desire. They become their masters overnight. They act with hubris, recalcitrance, excessive ego, and in callous disregard for others’ views and needs. For them, governance and system weaknesses are no longer issues once in office, having achieved power. Although highlighting and censuring loopholes best serve situational needs, lapses could become expedient instruments for manipulation to make selfish gain. Self-interests can be seen to override public interests. Paying copious lip service to public well-being and turning a willful blind eye to burning issues of the people becomes the order of the day. Action is predominantly driven by Machiavellianism, exploiting every conceivable opportunity to best serve selfish interests at the expense of the common good. Politicos become a class of their own, detached from the masses on whose shoulders they ascended to higher political offices. Mannerisms are increasingly dictated by heightening tones of recalcitrance in conduct, revealing psychopathic propensities. The arena of politics is characterised by internecine political warfare aimed at securing plum positions, ignoring the plight of the common man yearning for solutions to longstanding predicaments. The topmost priority is attached to the need to achieve power by hook or by crook. Power enables the amassing of wealth. Many in the political firmament have rags-to-riches stories to tell, revealing the vast scale of lucrative economic benefits offered by the enterprise of politics. The flip side of democratic politics is the creation of political entrepreneurship, where rent-seeking, unscrupulous elements mobilise unsuspecting citizenry and marginalized segments through creative strategies to make inroads into the arena of politics in the guise of serving the public to exploit public positions and authority to achieve selfish objectives.

Exploiting a mass tragedy for political one-upmanship

Sri Lankans, a few days ago, faced a mass tragedy, the worst of its kind in post-independence history. Massive ravages caused by Cyclone Ditwah made its landfall along the eastern coast of Sri  Lanka (SL) causing devastating landslides, displacing communities, burying scores alive, demolishing numerous houses, buildings, public infrastructure such as roads, railway tracks, bridges, vehicles, livestock, and everything caught in the massive water torrents gushing through hills, roads, towns, and villages mercilessly. Violent hurricanes that swept through the country uprooted trees, blowing away roofs, and toppled lamp posts, telephone poles and brought down overhead power lines and cables, extensively disrupting power supply and telecommunications services in many areas. As a result, many remote villages in hilly areas and valleys surrounded by hills become virtually isolated from the rest of the world, due to the extensive destruction caused to access roads and the devastation of communication facilities. This situation posed serious impediments to rescue operations, exacerbating the predicament of hapless ones trapped in isolated locations.

UNDP reported that Cyclone Ditwah triggered nearly 1,200 landslides, and massive floods that inundated 1.1 million hectares or 20% of the landmass in SL, affecting 2.3 million people or a little over 10% of the population, including 522,000 children, 263,000 elderly people and 1.2 million women.

A massive torrent of floodwaters reached 720,000 buildings, impacted 278 kilometres of railway tracks, 480 bridges, and over 16,000 kilometres of roads, a length that measures more than 12 times the entire coastline of SL.

According to the World Bank’s Global Rapid Post-Disaster Damage Estimation Report, the total damage caused by Cyclone Ditwah is estimated at US Dollars 4.1 billion or equivalent to about 4% of the GDP in Sri Lanka.

What became evident in the political firmament amidst the profound tragedy faced by a little over 10% of our hapless fellow citizens, having lost all earthly belongings, loved ones, and next of kin, was the reprehensible attempts made by rival political factions from the opposition to politicise and exploit the great misfortune to derive badly needed political mileage. Although it is important to ascertain that the government in power has taken the best possible precautionary and preparatory measures to minimize, curtail, and avoid destruction and save lives where feasible, what is of paramount importance is to help those suffering to pick up the pieces of their lives, cater to their immediate needs for food, shelter, clothing, medicines and other needs for survival and initiate integrated measures to offer compensation, provide all forms of assistance necessary by extending a hand of profound kindness to enable them to rebuild their lives and livelihoods.

Politicos do not appear to think that people who are suffering are our own brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, and children, who they go after pleading for support come elections. It appears that some of them disgracefully find the tragedy also a welcome opportunity of political expedience, which could be leveraged as a potent means to castigate the government and score some cheap brownie points.    

This shows nothing but the political bankruptcy of some elements and the utterly sordid state of affairs prevailing in Sri Lankan politics today.

Need for a genuine system change

The masses elected H.E. the President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) and the NPP to power in anticipation of genuine system change, as they were extremely fed up and frustrated with the corrupt politics prevailing for far too long, dragging the nation down the road to economic bankruptcy. While it is praiseworthy to witness that robust measures are underway to curtail corruption, it is promising that a strong narrative on this score has been emanating from the highest echelons of power as never before to ensure sustained action to eliminate all kinds of malpractices prevailing in the public sector. The NPP Government has received encomiums locally and globally for curtailing corruption and cracking down on some influential drug-peddling syndicates with vast financial resources and global tentacles, while taking measured action to bring the economy onto a recovery path to accomplish set milestones in economic progress and debt sustainability.

The much-hyped system change certainly entails the establishment of a robust system of the rule of law where everyone irrespective of wealth, status, caste, creed, political influence, social standing, or religion, stands equal in the eyes of the law. In contrast to the declared policy of the NPP government that everyone is equally subject to the dictates of law, the mishandling of the recent Ranwala debacle sadly reveals emerging signs of deviation from the professed path the NPP solemnly undertook to follow as an illustrious political outfit. This not only provides grist for the propaganda mills of some sections of the opposition, badly bruised by the massive drubbing received at the last poll, but also contributes to eroding the confidence of the masses in the NPP as an outfit that practices equality and stands beyond reproach. People didn’t vote for the NPP to see the repetition of the same old story of politicians being given preferential treatment and permitted to go off scot-free, even after committing offenses for which any ordinary citizen would be liable to be arrested forthwith by the helpless law enforcement apparatus. In this instance, taking belated action perfunctorily, mainly for public consumption, to demonstrate adherence to the rule of law only adds insult to injury. It made a mockery of the whole situation.  It became an utterly ridiculous and amusing farce. The Ranwala fiasco has put the NPP in a bad light. Some of the remarks made by the comrades to whitewash the wrongdoer make the situation even worse.

Installing good governance in statecraft as one of the topmost priorities has been a painstaking crusade spearheaded by President Dissanayake single-handedly, with resolute, steadfast commitment and unwavering dedication. Although NPP bigwigs have been subscribing to that viewpoint and enjoying a very high reputation as selfless politicians, their collective conduct today reveals a pathetic picture and shows the signs of human failings that often tend to repeat. Many have fumbled in communication on matters of public interest, showing a lack of finesse, cohesion, and even foolhardy ignorance. People have seen how a person can end up as a laughingstock due to sheer arrogance. A lack of proficiency in English is not the issue. What matters is the inflated ego that prevents one from coming to terms with stark reality. None of them seems to understand that popularity and power are transient phenomena, and they are not permanent in politics. What they are knowingly doing or otherwise harming is the AKD magic that created the spark of renewed hope in people battered and bruised and feeling exhausted for long years by political chicanery that elevated them to glory from a humble 3%. Gotabhaya Rajapaksha, despite achieving an unprecedented electoral triumph with a huge Sinhala Buddhist vote, and commanding the respect of the business community, social elites, and modern-day whiz kids and polymaths from SL and overseas, was summarily unseated quite unpredictably in a massive mass uprising at a scale never witnessed in SL. It is a perfect example that shows how one can fall from absolute glory through sheer bungling.

Honouring the Social Contract of Political Accountability

The President AKD and his NPP government entered an “Unwritten Social Contract of Political Accountability” with the people of SL when they assumed power. One of the main undertakings given was to usher in an era where everyone is treated alike in the eyes of the law. The recent accident involving one of its heavyweights exemplified the truly fragile nature of promises given by politicos; they are meant only to be broken when it serves their interests. The people of SL never expected the NPP to act in the same way as those who were unseated by them used to do. They brought NPP to power due to a compelling need to initiate genuine system change and to find lasting solutions to their pressing issues. People expect the NPP to establish robust systems of good governance and rule of law, enforce them to the letter, and live by example. If NPP fails to live up to what it had preached, even the AKD magic will lose viguor and not be able to resurrect it once trounced. However, attempts can be made to trivialize this incident on various pretexts to water down the implications and avoid blame. Sadly, the more attempts made to cover up, the worse the possible repercussions will be.

The recent Ranwala fiasco reveals a possible disturbing trend that may set in, unless measures are taken firmly at the highest echelons of power, to nip it in the bud, lock, stock, and barrel. Failure to do so will undoubtedly herald the beginning of the end for NPP. The NPP bigwigs should not lose sight of the crucial fact that any tiny breach could end up destroying a mighty reservoir, causing catastrophic consequences. Hence, there can be no room for complacency.

The NPP is duty-bound to honour the Social Contract of Political Accountability entered into with the people of SL. People in SL have discharged their part of the obligation by installing the NPP in power, and it is up to the NPP to fulfill its part of the obligation or prepare to face the wrath of the masses come next election.  It requires them to ensure that the Rule of Law is established and implemented in a manner where everyone is equal in the eyes of the law, and no one, irrespective of whatever the reason, receives preferential treatment.

The challenge of moulding a committed, cohesive, and compliant political force

The President AKD is facing a mammoth challenge today, as never before, posed by the internal deficiencies and shortcomings of the NPP politicians. They are becoming increasingly conspicuous by the day. Their political implications could prove more damaging than any lapses in disaster management or the handling of the economic challenges faced by SL today. The NPP top leadership should devise a strategy and an action plan to groom its politicians to act with political maturity and finesse in their public lives, play leadership roles, and discharge their responsibilities effectively. They must be upskilled in many areas of competency that seem to be lacking.

Often, it appears that the ability to communicate on matters of public interest with clarity, cohesion, and finesse is lacking in some NPP members. They should be guided and advised to speak coherently and to avoid articulating divergent views on the same subject at different forums. NPP should speak in one voice on a given subject or issue. All of them should be regularly updated on government policies and stances on important matters of public interest in the public domain and trained in the art of engaging in mature public dialogue, and articulate views in a manner that does not result in unwanted controversy with further ramifications that require serious damage control. English-speaking ability is an important skill, but a lack of it need not be an issue if people can speak in their mother tongue with great clarity.

The NPP politicos do not have the luxury of being carefree about their behaviour, especially if their conduct could prove to be in contravention of the law in the event of scrutiny. The NPP members should make it a point to behave in their best interests in public life. The overarching need to adhere to dignified conduct and proper mannerisms is an essential non-negotiable standard of ethical behaviour that should be followed with the strictest possible guidelines, with zero tolerance for matters concerning possible contravention of laws. This is sine qua non for building a strong foundation to enhance public trust in the NPP political cadres.

As part of the procedure to ensure zero tolerance on aberrations, the NPP  should obtain binding declarations from every member holding political office at various levels of governance, giving a solemn undertaking to adhere to and maintain highest possible tenets of good behaviour and integrity expected of those holding public offices, together with an undertaking to assume total responsibility for any shortcoming, lapse, violation or transgression that go against the accepted norms of conduct or contravene applicable laws, requiring punishment, They should declare absolute concurrence to face penal measures arising therefrom, including resigning from office. This way the thinking that an example is better than a precept could be inculcated in NPP politicos.

The NPP members should have the ability to stand on their own rights and offer themselves for impartial, objective scrutiny without taking cover behind political influence or resorting to dubious machinations to avoid blame.  Accepting responsibility for lapses is certainly more honorable than becoming objects of public ridicule through clumsy behaviour at covering up, leading to utter fiascos in the limelight.

NPP must walk the talk

Unless the NPP matches words with its deeds, it will certainly become a part of the history of politics faster than it could imagine. If the NPP has candidly embarked on a sacred mission to usher in an era of integrity, justice, fair play, and equality to usher in A Thriving Nation, A Beautiful Life, for the people of SL, as claimed by its manifesto, pussyfooting, temporizing and taking stop-gap and halfway measures on the fundamental pillars of achieving socio-economic justice will not take it there.