By Vishwamithra –

“Celebrate the idea that you don’t fit in. Find your own fit. Stay unique.” ~ Betsey Johnson

Never in the annals of Ceylon’s election history has there been a verdict so ruthless and final. What the voter showed just one and a half months ago was reaffirmed on November 14, 2024. The cliched egg was not broken; it was smashed to smithereens. In one of the most peaceful elections, the voter expressed his anger and disgust in the most decisive manner.  Has traditional politics come to an end? How could the voters in the North, East, South and the West  decide like one person voting? How could they come to a collective verdict and separately at the same time so without condition, so unequivocally? It was no big surprise that the NPP was going to be victorious at the end of the day; but no pundit or political guru could have foretold this sweep.

We will run out of all cliches. The rout of the opposition by the National People’s Power is total and absolute. There is no comparison in our 77 year-old history that can show any political clobbering the NPP just executed. All records have been ruthlessly broken. Once again, politics as an ever moving social force displayed that there is nothing one could rule in or out. Anything that occurs in politics is not going to be strange; nor could it be unexpected. Predictability has no dwellings in politics and those who practice politics as a profession, livelihood or a hobby cannot sit on his laurels and hallucinate about what deal he could make before the sun sets for the day.

Such cruel fate to await men and women of the variety of the Rajapaksas and Premadasas and Wickremesinghes did not falter this time. The cruel fist of fate was unleashed by the voters on all those who were considered ‘not suitable’ as a political party. Those who are elected to Parliament in terms of the strength shown at the count of the ‘manaapas’ would, especially from the NPP, be brand new faces. They were baptized at a very era-defining election. After seventy six years, the people have voted for more that one hundred and thirty newcomers. They were hardly ready to tread water in a chaotic pool; but they have been challenged to swim to the deep end. A hard challenge has been thrown at them by an unsuspecting voter and it is entirely up to the elected to show his or her craftiness and acumen.

Apparently, except the NPP and its leadership, chose to underestimate the voter. Such stupidity deserves ultimate punishment. That punishment is coming. And it’s coming in full force. In the same vane, the voter seems to have handed the NPP a blank check. But it is dated. The danger in such an overwhelming choice on the part of the voter has some dangerous implications. From Dondra Point to Point Pedro and from the Colombo Port to the Batticaloa Lagoon, the voters exercised a unique function: They made the same decision as if they had conspired earlier to arrive at the station that they reached on November 14, 2024. The danger dwells in the fact that as much as they were so much together in their decision to vote in a total newcomer to office, that same amazing decision-making process could be made to manifest itself come next elections.

Therefore, delivery of goods and services as expected by the voters is not only a must, it is the very core of the life of the ‘NPP-in office’. There cannot be any excuses, valid or not; there cannot be any delay, caused by external factors or by their own ineptitude. A nation that was deceived and taken for granted by her political leaders cannot wait any longer. As a matter of fact, the NPP is confronting  an enormous challenge; its substance and the veneer are unique and unequaled by any of its preceding challenges that forced the nation to respond. Yet the people have not shown any unusual rush; but the very quietude could be extremely disquieting. Massive victories, especially in the field of politics and electioneering, is simply not good. Millions of voters expressing their likes for one party and dislikes for another in the polling booth in secret can reverse their decisions in the same manner.

The real test for President Dissanayake and his future Cabinet of Ministers and the bureaucracy is now and immediate. AKD has shown remarkable ability and skill in reaching fast decisions. His single-minded determination and the immense poise has served him well as at now; he needs that now more than any other time. Not only AKD himself, even his team has surpassed the expected limits of patience and composure. That kind of calm and steadiness was never in display in Sri Lanka’s recent politics.

Transformation of transactional politics into policy-based politics is approaching its realization. Decades of deal-making, decades of quid pro quo-politics has reached its concluding chapter. National People’s Power is no accident. It’s not Rohana Wijeweera’s vision either. Some JVP die-hards may vigorously disagree but that is the truth. NPP is not the old JVP but its roots, its very source is the unprivileged, unrecognized and unsung heroes of our own society. Their disagreements, their  unpleasant lives, their battered childhoods and constant exploitation by successive politicians reached their Nadir; it took a long time but it’s here, now. Either we come to terms with it or get buried by its weight of anger and desire for change.

The country heard them and the message was clear and as sharp and defined as crystal. November 24^th , 2024 in our history is as significant as April 5^th, 1971. When the youth in our land took to arms on April 5^th in 1971, and on November 14^th they convinced their parent generation and armed themselves with new ideas and ideals and ably assisted by the social media delivered the country to the brink of a new vision, a new land and a new life. To say that a apathetic nation was rejuvenated is no exaggeration.  

However, the performance of the NPP in Jaffna district takes the cake. In the absence of Tamil unity Jaffna men and women led by their youth decided to go with a Sinhalese-dominated party from the South. Chelvanayakam, Amirthalingam  and Ponnambalam must be turning in their graves. The leaders of yesteryear are dead and gone. We need to deal with the now and present. A nation’s collective determination and resourcefulness must be be strengthened by the unstinted backing of the mass majority of the voters. And it is certainly coming.

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