{"id":132248,"date":"2014-10-29T11:08:20","date_gmt":"2014-10-29T05:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=132248"},"modified":"2014-11-06T13:16:46","modified_gmt":"2014-11-06T07:46:46","slug":"how-would-jr-gamini-or-lalith-have-handled-the-current-regimechaos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/how-would-jr-gamini-or-lalith-have-handled-the-current-regimechaos\/","title":{"rendered":"How Would JR, Gamini Or Lalith Have Handled The Current Regime\/Chaos?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Vishwamithra1984<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cAny nation that thinks more of its ease and comfort than its freedom will soon lose its freedom; and the ironical thing about it is that it will lose its ease and comfort too.\u201d\u00a0<\/i>~W. Somerset Maugham<\/p>\n

\"JR<\/a>It is indeed a fascinating exercise to speculate. Not only is it fascinating but taken in the context of great uncertainty that shrouds today\u2019s issues, it is intriguing and educating to find out what the old Masters\u2019 strategic thinking and their tactical moves within that strategy, would have engineered to bring about a collapse of an ostensibly formidable power. The obvious counter to the basic premise of this argument is: If J R<\/span><\/a>, Gamini<\/span><\/a> or Lalith<\/span><\/a> were alive today, there would never have been a President Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/span><\/a>. Mahinda Rajapaksa\u2013 yes, but as President- no way. Therefore, Readers, please read this piece only in the context of the basic premise being treated as speculation or conjecture. But I have no doubt that in that speculative exercise we will find some fascinating facts, illuminating examples and some uncanny parallels. How would J R, Gamini or Lalith have, individually as well as collectively, managed the current dual-crisis- the United National Party and the Opposition on the one hand and on the other, a corrupt and nepotistic regime headed by one single family.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka as a country and its people as a nation, whether Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim or Burger, have always shown a tendency to cling on to a personality cult. It is so common for the entire East as a geographical region. Especially in the Indian Subcontinent, personality cult, as against following an astute leadership, has been the driving force of socio-political change. Shrewd politicians have made use of this idiosyncrasy of the Eastern mind and exploited it to the maximum possible degree. That is how celluloid heroes have become politicians of immense veneration; sporting giants have managed to mesmerize not only their spectators but when launched into the field of politics, become instant celebrities cum heroes. When these gung-ho heroes are devoid of any education and learning of any acceptable standard, the solutions that they try to seek for the complex issues that confront them on a daily basis, once installed in power, appear to be more simplistic than simple, more stark than nuanced and in fact, more knotty than the problems they strive to solve themselves.<\/p>\n

It is into this current quagmire which the collective parliamentary Opposition finds itself in that a magic potion needs to be introduced and it won\u2019t be too much to ask either. In order to ascertain what strategic measures and tactical maneuvers would have been employed by the past \u2018Greats\u2019 such as J R Jayewardene, Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake, one must invariably delve into present chaotic status of the Party. What is the present situation?<\/p>\n

United National Party (UNP)<\/p>\n