{"id":187236,"date":"2018-02-08T02:05:27","date_gmt":"2018-02-07T20:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=187236"},"modified":"2018-02-11T11:11:23","modified_gmt":"2018-02-11T05:41:23","slug":"there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/","title":{"rendered":"There Are No Lesser Evils & Backing ‘Known Devils’ Is Endorsement Of Devilry\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Malinda Seneviratne<\/a> –<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

The major political parties are poor.\u00a0<\/span>Their poverty is clearly indicated by the fact that all of them, without exception, are using the language of default option.\u00a0<\/span>We hear sentences beginning with \u2018at least,\u2019 as in \u2018at least now there are no white van abductions,\u2019 or \u2018at least then we had development\u2019.\u00a0<\/span>We hear tired pleas such as \u2018vote for the known devil,\u2019 \u2018support the party,\u2019 \u2018we may not be the best, but we are better than those other people,\u2019 and of course the ever-popular default, \u2018the lesser evil.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

The logic is simple and simplistic: since there are no saints, we might as well opt for the best of the bad lot.\u00a0 <\/span>That\u2019s one way of seeing it.\u00a0<\/span>Here\u2019s another: there are no competent parties or candidates so let\u2019s pick the less incompetent one.\u00a0<\/span>And this: all these fellows are rogues, so let\u2019s choose the pickpocket instead of the big time swindlers. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The parties are poor, then.\u00a0<\/span>Is the voter poverty-stricken too, though?\u00a0<\/span>What is the value that the voter places on his or her vote?\u00a0<\/span>Does it come with a lesser-evil tag or one that says \u2018known devil\u2019 where \u2018known\u2019 is taken to be proxy for loyalty?\u00a0<\/span>Is that what responsible citizenship has come down to?\u00a0 <\/span>What then of self-respect, dignity and honor? \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s survey the field.\u00a0 <\/span>Let\u2019s begin with the United National Party.\u00a0<\/span>Let\u2019s leave aside the jokes about google balloons, free wifi and Volkswagen factories.\u00a0<\/span>Let\u2019s forget the good-governance lie.\u00a0<\/span>All lesser-evil notions were effectively dismissed by the Central Bank Bond issue scam.\u00a0<\/span>That\u2019s what counts.\u00a0 <\/span>The crooks were aided and abetted.\u00a0<\/span>They were defended, protected and rewarded by the UNP leadership.\u00a0 <\/span>We don\u2019t have to even talk about \u2018lesser crimes\u2019 such as nepotism, abuse of state resources and patronage-politics, the choice is simple: do you want to endorse, taint your vote and compromise your self-respect?<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party went along with all this.\u00a0<\/span>Even with reduced powers courtesy the 19th Amendment, President Maithripala Sirisena could have acted.\u00a0<\/span>He twiddled his thumbs so to speak.\u00a0 <\/span>Nepotism, abuse of state resources, insulting the voter by taking into Parliament through the National List those rejected by the voters, ridiculous statements, rank incompetence on multiple counts outweigh last minute \u2018action,\u2019 clearly politically motivated, to bring to book wrongdoers.\u00a0 <\/span>Again, a simple question: do you want to endorse, taint your vote and compromise your self-respect?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Together, these two parties have not only betrayed the trust placed on them by the majority of the voters to put things right.\u00a0<\/span>Indeed they have by crimes of commission and omission turned \u2018good governance\u2019 into a cuss word. They are unabashedly corrupt, utterly incompetent and absolutely clueless about governance, forget the \u2018good\u2019 version of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna has used these developments to its advantage.\u00a0<\/span>They have been afforded the out of dismissing charges against them.\u2018Those who robbed the Central Bank don\u2019t have the right to talk about our wrongs!\u2019\u00a0<\/span>True, but the voter has the right to talk about wrongs done by all parties, now as well as then.\u00a0<\/span>That the yahapalanists took chapters out of the previous regime\u2019s book is not a cause for celebration by the SLPP nor a justification of all the wrongs they are guilty of.\u00a0<\/span>There was theft, padding the bank accounts of the near and dear, gross abuse of power, tinkering with the constitution for personal gain and other crimes which deny the leadership the right to cry foul over the misdeeds of the UNP and SLFP.\u00a0<\/span>There has been no remorse whatsoever about any of these things.\u00a0 <\/span>A simple question, then: do you want to endorse, taint your vote and compromise your self-respect?<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna.\u00a0<\/span>This party has shamelessly buttressed all the above political formations at one time or another.\u00a0<\/span>They too have blood on their hands.\u00a0<\/span>They still use strong-arm tactics on political foes in universities and other places where they enjoy power.\u00a0<\/span>They have endorsed and backed the corrupt and incompetent.\u00a0<\/span>That\u2019s it.\u00a0<\/span>Do you want to endorse, taint your vote and compromise your self-respect?<\/span><\/p>\n

What then? Who, then? There\u2019s a neat answer that all these parties use: vote for the individual, forget the party.\u00a0 <\/span>The individual, ladies and gentlemen, is in the pocket of the party.\u00a0<\/span>The local government body is in the pocket of the particular party leader.\u00a0<\/span>And we know how obnoxious party leaders and parties are. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

An independent?\u00a0<\/span>Well, you could try that, but my hunch is that independents who win will be purchased and fast immediately after the election.<\/span><\/p>\n

Where does that leave us?\u00a0 <\/span>Quite alone I\u2019m afraid come to think of it.\u00a0<\/span>Bottom line: we can\u2019t trust any of these parties. We don\u2019t have the luxury of playing relative merits. \u2018Lesser evil\u2019 is not an option, let\u2019s not fool ourselves.\u00a0 <\/span>If we vote for \u2018the known devil\u2019 then we are essentially saying \u2018I am fine with devilry!\u2019\u00a0 <\/span>Is that who we are or who we want to be?<\/span><\/p>\n

Ideally, the ballot paper should have a default option: \u2018None of the above!\u2019\u00a0<\/span>Unfortunately it does not. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t speak for others.\u00a0 <\/span>I value my self-respect. I will stay home.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

*Malinda Seneviratne is a freelance writer. <\/i>malindasenevi@gmail.com<\/i><\/span><\/a>. www.malindawords.blogspot.com<\/a><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":137374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-187236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nThere Are No Lesser Evils & Backing 'Known Devils' Is Endorsement Of Devilry\u00a0 - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"There Are No Lesser Evils & Backing 'Known Devils' Is Endorsement Of Devilry\u00a0 - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-02-07T20:35:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-02-11T05:41:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Malinda.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"279\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"356\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Malinda Seneviratne\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Malinda Seneviratne\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/\",\"name\":\"There Are No Lesser Evils & Backing 'Known Devils' Is Endorsement Of Devilry\u00a0 - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Malinda.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-07T20:35:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-11T05:41:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c6d24e0ae978470bd40e92d7d50f8ea3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Malinda.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Malinda.jpg\",\"width\":279,\"height\":356,\"caption\":\"Malinda Seneviratne\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"There Are No Lesser Evils & Backing ‘Known Devils’ Is Endorsement Of Devilry\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c6d24e0ae978470bd40e92d7d50f8ea3\",\"name\":\"Malinda Seneviratne\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0a7ffc2e0a0e760dc3fcfd1d7a3942cc98d989fccd85f0c214437b94f6d271d?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0a7ffc2e0a0e760dc3fcfd1d7a3942cc98d989fccd85f0c214437b94f6d271d?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Malinda Seneviratne\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/mals\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"There Are No Lesser Evils & Backing 'Known Devils' Is Endorsement Of Devilry\u00a0 - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"There Are No Lesser Evils & Backing 'Known Devils' Is Endorsement Of Devilry\u00a0 - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2018-02-07T20:35:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-02-11T05:41:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":279,"height":356,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Malinda.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Malinda Seneviratne","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Malinda Seneviratne","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/","name":"There Are No Lesser Evils & Backing 'Known Devils' Is Endorsement Of Devilry\u00a0 - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Malinda.jpg","datePublished":"2018-02-07T20:35:27+00:00","dateModified":"2018-02-11T05:41:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c6d24e0ae978470bd40e92d7d50f8ea3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Malinda.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Malinda.jpg","width":279,"height":356,"caption":"Malinda Seneviratne"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/there-are-no-lesser-evils-backing-known-devils-is-endorsement-of-devilry\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"There Are No Lesser Evils & Backing ‘Known Devils’ Is Endorsement Of Devilry\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c6d24e0ae978470bd40e92d7d50f8ea3","name":"Malinda Seneviratne","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0a7ffc2e0a0e760dc3fcfd1d7a3942cc98d989fccd85f0c214437b94f6d271d?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0a7ffc2e0a0e760dc3fcfd1d7a3942cc98d989fccd85f0c214437b94f6d271d?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Malinda Seneviratne"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/mals\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Malinda.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187236"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":187239,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187236\/revisions\/187239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}