6 October, 2024

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Salvaging A Nation Unhinged From A Narcissist Leadership!

By Mohamed Harees –

Lukman Harees

“At the trial of God, we will ask: why did you allow all this? And the answer will be an echo: why did you allow all this?” — Ilya Kaminsky, Deaf Republic

InNight of Camp David’, a political thriller from 1965, written by the late journalist Fletcher Knebel – “the grandfather of the modern political thriller”, the prospect of a President as the commander-in-chief who has lost command of reality was terrifyingly portrayed. The story wrestles with a long-standing debate, never fully resolved, over how the nation’s political system can and should respond if there are suspicions that a commander in chief has become mentally incapacitated. People had all but forgotten this book until Bob Woodward namechecked it in the New York Times in the pre-pub press for his book Fear: Trump in the White House. The Trump Presidency was a good enough reason to give it another day in the sun.

Sri Lanka too is at a similar tipping point. Today, the powers that be in Sri Lanka also, appear to have lost command of reality, with the whole establishment being incapacitated. Economy and the Rupee have tumbled down while Covid casualty figures are shooting up without control. Like a well-oiled family business, Basil was brought in to ‘save’ the nation’s finances but to no avail – a move that further tightened the Rajapakse family’s grip over the island nation. In today’s Sri Lanka, the Rule of Law and fundamental preconditions of a democratic order, viz, an independent judiciary, enforceable rights and freedoms of media have been marred and shattered by an unprecedented centralization of power in the Executive Presidency, the continuation of anti-terrorism laws and the militarization of civil life including corona management strategy as well. Gotabaya ‘Sir’ has gone too far off the track even for his most stalwart loyalists. The strongman who was made more stronger  via 20A, and a 2/3rd majority in Parliament and whom the people wanted, to guarantee their safety and bring back economic growth, has today turned into a clown and puppet, in the public eyes. 

Gotabaya stated at the start of his tenure that ‘public opinion will measure my success or failure’. ‘Sir fail’ ,which has become a very popular meme in the social media, sadly but neatly sums up the public mood! Sri Lanka began 2020 with a newly elected president whose oft quoted 69 lakhs, consisting mostly of Sinhalese Buddhist supporters claimed would transform the country, based on his election manifesto Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour, which appeared to capture his acolytes’ nationalist aspirations. The country however ended the year, questioning his self-proclaimed technocratic and military credentials as his government failed to prevent a second wave of COVID-19 infections. As expected, as the economic conditions worsened and the regime’s popularity tanked, Gotabaya and his hyper-nationalist entourage appears to have been tempted to whip up ethnoreligious mayhem to mask the political blowback from COVID-19. His hollow reign has thus led the nation, down a path of executive abuses, human tragedies, abandonment of the Constitution, and the erosion of due process and liberty.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa is ‘not a traditional politician’

Gotabaya emerged as the man for the top job, exploiting the national security fears the electorate were entertaining, immediately after the disastrous Easter attacks in April 2019. Upon his assumption of office after a historic win, one newspaper reported of him, quoting thus the views of  the cross section of the people, under the above sub heading, ‘Known for his no-nonsense approach, Sri Lanka’s new President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 70, is a “man of action” with little tolerance for inefficiency. He is always in a hurry to work and deliver. He does not like to waste time unnecessarily at meetings. His workstyle is like that of a school teacher. “He is like a school teacher, if the math is correct, he will give you 100 marks, but, if you resort to nonsense then he will land you in trouble. He is a workaholic who is always punctual, and is committed to any task given to him, which is very different when compared with many other politicians. He believes in taking advice from professionals, who have a clear understanding depending on the matter. He definitely is not a traditional politician“. To Sri Lanka’s misfortune, the nation once again got fooled by a ‘Cardboard Sando’ sans no character. After close to two years in office, Gotabaya has been at the butt end of funny memes and talks, a NATO (No action; talk only) character; not even coming close to any of the above expectations of the public, who so eagerly vested him with unbridled power. Based on his leadership style and performance,  some analysts described him as narcissist.

American psychologist and author John Gartner, formerly of Johns Hopkins University, sounded the alarm about Trump, calling on him narcissist, who needed to be removed from office because he was “psychologically incapable of competently discharging the duties of president.” The petition garnered thousands of signatures. Narcissism can be described as a grandiose sense of self-importance. Their confidence and larger-than-life attitude, after all, have propelled them to the top. Narcissistic leaders often emerge during times of crisis where followers seek the leadership of a charismatic, confident and creative chief. To the outside world, narcissists appear self-assured, charming and likeable upon first glance. For this reason, they often emerge as leaders.

However, important research has shown the thin veneer of these qualities becomes apparent over time, and there’s often a stark contrast between a narcissist’s perceived leadership abilities and their actual abilities. The narcissistic leader’s weaknesses come to the surface. While their hunger for power and admiration may yield positive results in the beginning, in the long run, narcissistic leaders are bound to leave damaged systems and relationships in their wake. Identifiable negative traits of narcissists include sensitivity to criticism, poor listening skills, lack of empathy, intense desire to compete, arrogance, feelings of inferiority, need for recognition and superiority, hypersensitivity, anger, amorality, irrationality, inflexibility and paranoia.

These traits generally seem to fit Gotabaya. Also, while narcissistic leaders are great at impressing others by radiating confidence, the critical question is whether they are actually capable of navigating a crisis. In fact, research paints a rather pessimistic picture. Managing the Corona crisis in Sri Lanka was a case in point. Narcissistic leaders often prioritize their own egos over the well-being of others. They are known to disregard social norms, ignore expert advice, and distort the truth to justify their actions. When they are confronted with their mistakes, narcissistic leaders may lash out and place the blame on others. Their lack of empathy enables them to continue down this path.

Many of the countries that delivered some of the worst responses to the pandemic—the United States, the United Kingdom, and Brazil—were all characterized by exceptionalism: a view of themselves as outliers, often fuelled by a narcissistic leader. Exceptionalism can lead to lack of preparedness and complacent attitudes, prevent collaboration with global health agencies, and limit opportunities to learn from the experience of other countries. In Sri Lanka, the disastrous militarization of the Covid strategy and the forced cremation policy were other cases in point in this regard.

Racism and narcissism appear to stand at the core of Gotabaya’s government policies. Where racism and narcissism come together is in the constant urge to maximise advantage over others and satiate the desire for greatness and wealth. The Rajapaksas chose ‘Sinhala-Buddhist maximalism’ as their strategic base to launch their political campaign. So long as a majority of the Sinhala-Buddhist majority believe that Rajapaksas are the champions of their race and religion, Rajapaksa rule will stay on. But if economic woes continue to exacerbate (as they are at present), they may gradually detach themselves. However, slavish mentality still reigns in the Sri Lankan voters’ psyche; thus, the detachment may not be a reality in the short to medium term. Still, the Rajapaksa clan will need or even manufacture new enemies and threats for survival, even at the cost of fragmenting the social fabric of the nation along racial and religious lines. Precise the reason why the prospect of real peace or genuine reconciliation in Sri Lanka, will be a distant dream under a Rajapaksa reign, who will use their twisted versions of patriotism and national sovereignty to make the people believe that they will stand or fall with Rajapaksa Rule. Though difficult, this false thinking need to be debunked.

Sri Lanka appears to be inching towards a more authoritarian security politics — governance controlled centrally , leaving very little room for democratic dissident voices and in addressing the enduring grievances of minority communities in the country. Signs are also clear that this Island nation is on the way to become a pariah state, with the likelihood of facing international isolation, sanctions or even an invasion by nations who find its policies, actions, or its very existence unacceptable. History shows that no totalitarian regime lasts for ever – the Rajapaksa regime and Gotabaya Rajapaksa are unlikely to be the exceptions The question is what damage will be done to democracy and the country, by the time they go.

In such a scenario Sri Lanka is facing today, with a narcissist Rajapakse at the helm of affairs, colluders like the moral cowards are the most dangerous for constitutional democracy. They recognise all the signs of tyranny, the trampling of all that is good and fragile in the polity, but they fall silent and/or have no courage to exit. They stay on and slavishly keep the regime running. They stay on because they are too afraid to protest or leave, not necessarily because of the leader’s vindictiveness, but because, through years of not taking principled stands, complicity or slavish mentality has become a habit. These are the ones who when asked to bend, crawl. They are the little men and women of the political system that keep it working, that get inured to the growing danger of tyranny and choose to do nothing. This class of colluders, the moral cowards, see the hazard but prefer to wait for others to protest and storm the Bastille. They are the people watching the protests taking place in the street below from the window on the third floor. This habit must be broken. That is why the progressive workers’ movements and vibrant human rights watchdogs are so important in Sri Lanka today.

As Gandhi said, ‘be the change you wish to see in the world’. It is therefore important that the civil Society take the lead and intellectuals including the lawyers need to act to stop the rot. The public will have to act and say “enough is enough”. Sri Lanka thus has been made to float like a rudderless boat rather than a well navigated ship with no specific destination in mind. In this context , it behoves on the people of Sri Lanka to say ‘enough is enough’ at least belatedly and come out of their apathy to stand up to political dictators and narcissists, hold the undisciplined government to account and cleaning up the stables. Public activism is paramount to change Sri Lanka to become a “a rainbow nation” and never again be seen as “the skunk of the world”(as Mandela once referred to South Africa).  

Latest comments

  • 8
    3

    This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.

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    • 6
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      “Salvaging A Nation Unhinged From A Narcissist Leadership!”

      Why salvage? …….. Wouldn’t it have been better to have not got in to the situation in the first place?

      What are our priorities?

      Salvaging ….. or …….. preventing?

      • 3
        1

        Invasion of Iraq was nothing but a ruse for Bush’s Texan oil buddies to grab the Iraqi oil …… they actually had a well detailed plan how the Iraqi oil was going to pay for the war and it wasn’t going to cost America a cent! :))

        I am more interested in the next step countries should take ……… each country creating a buffer-fund/ethics-in-government-defence-fund (any names/terms, Native?)

        It would have been much better for the US to have given, from the tax revenue, Bush’s oil buddies the 100 billion they made from Iraqi oil ……. than go through a full blown invasion of Iraq and spending trillions and countless human suffering – just visit a VA hospital – j ust to let them make the 100 billion.

        • 5
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          continued

          It would have been better for the country to have handed over the $200 million to the Rajapakses as a ransom …….. than let them spend one billion to build the unproductive Hambathota port and hock the country to kingdom come …….. just to get the $200 million in commissions.

          It would’ve been better for the country to have handed over $18 billion to the Rajapakses to just go away ……. than let them use the ruse of “doing great things for the country” to get elected ……. to get their hands on the public wealth ……. and corrupting every institution and facet of governance and society in the process …….


          A buffer/ransom-fund to protect themselves from their own “leaders” is the next step countries should take in the forward-march of societies ……… what say you brother SJ? :))

          What would’ve Mao done? Think think think think ………….

        • 0
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          They didn’t grab any oil though.

      • 7
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        nimal fernando

        “What are our priorities? – Salvaging ….. or …….. preventing?”

        Its gone past the stage where we could not prevent destruction however we may still have chance to salvage whatever is still remaining.

        We continue to complain only about the quality of politicians/leaders, not ourselves the voters.

        • 2
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          “salvage whatever is still remaining”

          Isn’t that what we’ve done since 1948?

          The inevitability of it …………. I joined the forum just before the election of 2015 ……… look where we are now ……..have things got any better?

          It’s a slow spiralling descend to the bottom …….

          What’s killing me is the boredom ……. the sheer predictability of it all …….. I know what SJ is going to say even before he knows it himself ………

  • 3
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    All the people in this country irrespective of race, religion, majority or minority are going through severe hardships due to COVID-19 pandemic that has engulfed the whole world. Under such circumstances can you please give few examples of enduring grievances confined only to minority communities in the country that the Government should address?

    “…and in addressing the enduring grievances of minority communities in the country.”

    • 14
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      Enduring grievances are those that have been going on for more than 50 years. Covid-19 pandemic has been going on for not even two years to date.

      • 5
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        An excellent definition, Morgan.
        .
        Some minorities, like Protestant Christians, I think are at an over-all advantage, although they may seem to suffer discrimination in certain respects.
        .
        And in Lanka, the school that one attended is given undue consideration.

      • 0
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        CM
        True, but try to understand.
        For those who have gone through it with the face masks, lock-downs etc, it feels like a century.

    • 19
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      This Gotabhaya image of efficiency is a totally fake one built by the Family, like that of Basil the economic wizard. Did Gota win a war, really? The sad truth is that you don’t have to be a great genius to fight and win if you have ten times the manpower of the enemy, who in any case has no air support or armour . The man is a
      narcissist with no imagination or ability to recognize real talent . That explains why he listens to idiots like the ones in Viyathmaga. He doesn’t know any better. It is now fashionable to condemn the likes of Ranil for being elitist. But it is better that the country be run by an elitist who knows what’s going on rather than an ignorant strongman bent on reducing us to starvation. But of course we will have plenty of walkways to walk on while starving.

      • 7
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        old codger

        Please listen to SJ’s leader, Mrs Bandaranayake and her children:
        https://www.facebook.com/aldert.eveleens.12/videos/2177127765927690

        She mentions as a Buddhists she believed in good Karma and Bad Karma, as an example she pointed out Premadasa for his accumulated bad Karma, meaning his demise by assassination. She didn’t remember conveniently forgotten her husbands assassination, her son in laws as well.

        If this is the kind of leader SJ is proud about ……………………..

        • 2
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          For all the speculation about how Gotabhaya R got there, would it have happened if Mahinda R and his son Namal R were denied the opportunity to contest.
          *
          The 19th Amendment shut out dual citizens & Under-35 presidential aspirants. Namal R could not escape as he could not forge a suitable certificate of birth. But Gotabhaya managed to wriggle out of dual citizenship.
          *
          Seriously, who is to blame?

          • 2
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            So, you say Old King & Son Prince was denied standing in the election so the innocents could not do anything, but the King forged “Lankawe only” citizenship certificate from America? Do you know in 19A it says that the candidate must be only a Lankaweyan? There is no dual citizenship in America. Can you give me your speculation of how King became a Lankaweyan? I wonder what you have been teaching in the school. I always wonder why the god created only for the brain in the back side pit.

          • 2
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            In 2014, the whole country panicked and elected a common candidate to oust out the Old King, who appointed himself as the permanent Royalty by the 18A. Anyway, 20A is less than 18A in its draconian provisions. I know when you struggle to think from the back side, it is hard to understand. The only part the whole world admired in the 19 A was it limiting the two terms presidency to ensure that no more white vans of the Chitanta regime. If that known devil is a real angel, as you argue, why is he not controlling his little brother or as a democratic politician, not leaving the government and openly criticizing them like Mangala did? Even Valaiththodam Jr did against to Ranil and all Muslim ministers did it to Ranil because after he took partake in bombing, he naively agreed only to investigate Muslim ministers. You pretend like King is not but Old is an Angel. Maybe, if he is better than Siri Ma O. Accept something, at some point. Is Old King the best or Siri Ma O better? You don’t have to give us your opinion about Ranil, we know that. Don’t be an unwanted narcist but write something that you can contain within your ability.

        • 0
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          Correction:
          …would it have happened if Mahinda R and his son Namal R were denied the opportunity to contest

        • 5
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          Native Vedda
          “If this is the kind of leader SJ is proud about ……………………..”, with reference to Mrs Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike.
          ~
          Actually the worse culprit for much of the woes of Ceylon (and subsequently Sri Lanka ) was Mr Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike.
          ~
          At independence 75% of the Singaporeans spoke Chinese.
          At independence 70% of the Ceylonese spoke Sinhala.
          One country prospered and the other stagnated/declined, why? Watch these two clips where the former prime ministers of the two countries speak on this important subject of choosing the right national language.
          Who chose right?

          https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NP13RWkd4vM

          https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WpIrg9l4lew

          • 1
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            KP,
            Are you suggesting that we should all learn Chinese? On second thoughts, you may have a point there.

        • 3
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          Native,

          Since you treat women well …….you’ll understand ……. read the lyrics …… they didn’t have things easy ……

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DoAlothonQ

          • 2
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            nimal fernando

            Thanks for the link.
            Brilliant.
            I have listened to the song ones and going to listen it again.

            Are you an anti Christian?
            Are you an anti (any/all) establishment?

            • 0
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              “Are you an anti (any/all) establishment?”

              No. I’m not anti anything …….. there’s no need ……… cause ……

              I believe man is an ape that belongs to the ape family …….. who displays nothing but the behaviour inherent to apes.

              My observations of them are strictly based on that ……….. I don’t look at them through any other lens.

              Higher level observations of their behaviour I leave to intellectuals/professors ……….. and enjoy their comedic talent …….. cant discount the need for humour and entertainment in us apes

              Goes back to Nietzsche’s unearthing of the Dionysian characteristics of ancient Greece ………. Greek comedies ………..

      • 8
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        OC,

        You’re not going to be very popular!

        In a country full of old men with boundless limitations and bloated egos ……. how dare you expose them!

        Anyway ……. someone’s gotta do the dirty work! :))

        • 3
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          nimal fernando

          Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Thera wanted a Hitler to run this country. Does he still believe Gota is the best Hitler this island ever had?
          Whats wrong with the so called religious leaders, saffron clad ……. ?
          Where is he now?

          Did Mussolini really get the trains running on time?
          Will Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Thera answer honestly?
          Or is he going to wait for Karakka advice?

          Ranil (and his UNP party) was accused of robbing the Central Bank.
          Where is the evidence, not that they are saints?

          The Mahinda’s b***s carriers within the bank continued to snipe at Ranil and his mates with selective leaks and fake news. Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Thera didn’t have anything to say about the whole episode.

          Its time we did some thing (peacefully of course) to wake Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Thera from his sleep.

      • 1
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        old codger,
        “Did Gota win a war, really?”

        You are right. Gota did not win the war. The war that was declared by Tamil politicians after passing Vadukkodei Resolution was won by Sri Lanka Armed Forces under the leadership of Rajapakshes.

        • 1
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          Eagle Blind Eye

          “The war that was declared by Tamil politicians after passing Vadukkodei Resolution was won by Sri Lanka Armed Forces under the leadership of Rajapakshes.”

          Don’t be stupid man/woman/it.
          The war and two elections were won by VP for Rajapaksas.
          Do you know how many Sinhala speaking youth killed while fighting the LTTE between 1980 and 2009?

          Anyone from the immediate clan?

      • 3
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        Dear OC,
        Colombo beautification project carried out by force but the support of his brother as the president painted as “Gota can deliver”. All these were self glorifications, with highly corrupted media from that on.
        Poor families were marginalised and lost their own properties. War was succeeded not by him but by SF and tri forces ar the time rebels claimed various defeats internationally. Late Kadirgmar got LTTE banned on any rich soils , was a mammoth task but well achieved by external affairs.
        Just imagine if as the press painted, if MR led politics would have been favourable, would any patriotic leader easily get caught by chinese investments that brought nothing but discounts made Rajapakshes untouchably wealthy? 5.5 billions of loans to be settled by January with major part of them is for the huge loans taken by MR administration so called projects in Hambantota. All these we have to face while country s reserves falling to 3 billions of us dollars. All these due to lack of their foresight. The cant mislead the the very same people further. Their wiyadthmaga would have been good for stupid medamulana but failed to save the nation from Covid. Not just one failure but failure of domino effect nature since Gota-Mara returned to power. They cant handle Sugar/Rice issue as had been before, let alone, bring prosper ? Pigs might fly🐃🐃🐃🐃🐃🐃🐃🐃🐃🐃

    • 0
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      Hi! Eagle Eye,
      Can’t you see enduring grievances are not addressed at all?
      If u think it is addressed, where is the EEEElllam? Where the Kanthankudhistan?

  • 8
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  • 13
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    GOTHA saranam katchami
    IDIAMIN saranam katchami
    GOTHA saranam katchami
    SEENI saranam katchami
    PARIPU saranam katchami
    ANCHOR saranam katchami
    GAS CYLINDER saranam katchami
    GOTHA SARANAM KATCHAMI
    MAHINDA SARANAM KATCHAMI
    BASIL SARANAM KATCHAMI
    NAMAL SARANAM KATCHAMI
    API SINGALLAYO -JAYAWEEWA.

    • 1
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      P
      Are you a Sinhalaya even by chance?

  • 19
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    Sir failure has become Sir Total Failure. He has run out of options. No more veeraya, no more kotiya, no more Islamic terror, no more sinhala Buddhism and only left with 6.9 million starving and dying idiots. Let Sir Failure to bring in food restriction to 6.9 million fools who voted for this gang of looters.

    • 9
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      The results of nepotism, cronyism, corruption, and using racism to divide and conquer. Hope those who voted for these criminals think it was worth it.

  • 19
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    Thank you, Lukman Harees, for the careful cataloguing of all the problems that Gota is creating for Lankans. As you say, only a few of our people will openly oppose them.
    .
    However, we have to get rid of this Rajapaksa family.
    .
    I’m not promising the sort of heroism reflected in these words:
    .
    If we are marked to die, we are enough
    To do our country loss; and if to live,
    The fewer men, the greater share of honor.
    .
    It may inspire some but that reasoning is full if contradictions. It may even resemble Gota’s thinking; we are fortunate that he doesn’t use language as inspiringly as Harry.
    .
    Rest assured, though, Lukman, that some of us will continue to speak out resolutely. However, we can succeed only by persuading his supporters to desert him. There’s no getting away from it; the family is bound to appeal to the basest Sinhalese instincts to hold on. It is my fellow Sinhalese who have the major responsibility, but other communities must not help the Rajapaksa cause by creating what may be termed “unnecessary issues.”
    .
    Panini Edirisinhe

  • 16
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    “At the trial of God, we will ask: why did you allow all this? And the answer will be an echo: why did YOU allow all this?”…………….
    So is this an admission that God is not All Mighty? Means it is acceptance of the Philosophy that WE have to accept Nature and cannot control it, but WE fashion our own lives with virtues stated in that Philosophy.
    While it is agreed that your analysis is acceptable, …”Public activism is paramount to change Sri Lanka”… is not the only solution. It is imperative to educate the rural voters of their duty to discern the different options that can change their future, and “activism” should include that.

  • 17
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    The author has given a wonderful character sketch of the Leader. He has also lashed out at certain political pundits who hum and haw and refuse to call a spade a spade. Their mild criticisms of the leader, interspersed with praise for some of his dubious actions, amount to nothing more than mere slaps on the wrist.

  • 10
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    With the Covid-19 in full swing would it be possible for the Civil Society to take the lead to salvage the Nation from the Narcissist? Easier said than done!

    It is the fallout from the Covid-19 that has exposed the inherent attributes of a Narcissist to full bloom.
    It is the same Covid-19 that is keeping HIM on the Narcissist chair!

    We need to await for the arrival of a Messiah. SJ is there, but he would never let down China…………

  • 20
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    The only way Sri Lanka to survive is to Former President Rajapaksa, current President Rajapaksa, Former President and Prime Minister Sirisena and Ranil to accept their mistakes to the people and voluntarily accept their guilty to the people of Sri Lanka which includes Sinhalese, Tamils, and Muslims and surrender and face the justice for their crimes including murders, abduction, robbery, corruption and misuse of power. At the same time Mahasangha and other Buddhist monks also accept their mistakes and give assurance that they will not involve in politics or any other violent propaganda and they are only help to those who are in need of love and peace.

    • 7
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      They are too arrogant, and self centered to admit their mistakes.
      As long as the commissions keep coming, they don’t give a damn for the people. Not even their buddies in China seem to want to help, and if they do, they will want more chunks of this country.

    • 0
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      International community should put the pressure on GOSL convincing the need of the hour, not sinhala buddhidt racism but inclusivity based discussions/ for the improvement of awareness among all citizens for a healthy future.😉😉😉😉😉

  • 4
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    Ajith,

    You are right we cannot single out Mr G as the one and only Narcissist leader.

    This is a cancer that has affected SL leaders mainly during the last two decades.

    The leadership as well as the whole population is becoming more and more narcissistic.

    Where are our values? as Sri Lankans are we really good people? Are we thinking of the common good above self intrest?

    What happened to Mr Bathurdeen? He started off as a bright talented young man with leadership qualities to help his comunity to resolve some burning issues.

    What happened ? power and money corrupted him.

    Self intrest over took his resolve to serve his comunity and the nation as a miniser with high authority.

    This corruption is spread through out Sri Lankan society.

    Corruption and lack of moral intergrity cannot be pinned on a single person , community or political; party.

    If this pathatic situation is not reversed Sri Lanka will be the next Afganistan.

    • 1
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      Mr Bathurdeen?
      *
      What is wrong with Afghanistan?
      They just got rid of the murderous invaders.

    • 0
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  • 7
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    Mr. Lakman Harees: You have clearly described the identifiable negative traits of a “Narcissist” to include: “Sensitivity to criticism”, “Feeling of inferiority”, “Need for recognition and “Superiority Hypersensitivity”, “Anger Amorality”, “Irrationality”, “Inflexibility” and “Paranoic”. But you continue in the beginning of next para: “Tese traits generally seems to fit Gotabaya”. This statement I disagree with

    All those negative identifiable traits make the “METABILITE” of Nandasena Getabahaya Rajapakse – the “Narcissist” and those are not “GENERALLY FIT” to Gotabahaya but, REALLY FIT him. We have seen all those “Traits” in him even before becoming the President, but clearly in the display after ascending the “Throne”. Just assess his behavioral patterns after being elected the “President” and how he manages the Governing functions of the country. I have no doubt that you will agree with me.

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  • 8
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    Harees, there are several fundamental questions to which we need to answer rationally.

    For many thousand years there was hardly any difference between man and other animals. Our life span was about 20 years , we hunted and led a very tough life in caves and under trees. Our evolution was slow and painful.

    Is there a thing called god ?

    Are these people who claim to represent god also narcissist who preached to a very uneducated and economically backward crowd more than 1000 years ago ?

    By believing in something that does not exist, do we confirm we are irrational and essentially foolish ?

    Do humans need a blind faith to exist? If they do , can we claim to be rational in discussions such as this ?

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    Sri Lanka has been fortunate to inherit a democratic government system from the British.
    I am not denying that the British had their own agenda of expanding their empire and they have done many injustices and human rights violations in the past.

    However the democratic system and the freedoms that come with it is something Sri Lanka should uphold.

    A Chinese communist party style government is not acceptable and I am not sure how many muslims prefer Sharia Law similar to what is promoted by Thaleiban in Afganistan.

    The Rajapaksha government’s affiliation with China is distancing the West which is not benificial to Sri Lanka on the long run.

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