{"id":216888,"date":"2021-02-27T13:36:41","date_gmt":"2021-02-27T08:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=216888"},"modified":"2021-03-03T15:44:33","modified_gmt":"2021-03-03T10:14:33","slug":"changing-landscape-of-local-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"Changing Landscape Of Local Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Suren Sumithrarachchi<\/a> \u2013<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Dr. Suren Sumithrarachchi<\/p><\/div>\n

Calling themselves Ceylon National Congress<\/em><\/p>\n

Local elite during British rule<\/em><\/p>\n

Later to become the UNP<\/em><\/p>\n

To fight for freedom from imperial rule.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

First to govern independent Ceylon<\/em><\/p>\n

No differently from the British times<\/em><\/p>\n

Though initiated some positive changes<\/em><\/p>\n

Also earned the ire of masses.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Came 1956 and the Bandaranayaike rule<\/em><\/p>\n

Politicians were from many a school<\/em><\/p>\n

Used office to change culture anew<\/em><\/p>\n

Elitism to the backdrop flew.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Peons in offices, even street vendors<\/em><\/p>\n

Into the hallowed hall allowed<\/em><\/p>\n

Not realising its sacred status<\/em><\/p>\n

The speaker\u2019s chair they desecrated.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Changes made all across the board<\/em><\/p>\n

Language policy, Sinhala alone<\/em><\/p>\n

Nationalised the port and busses<\/em><\/p>\n

No fear or concern for causing losses. \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gradually to grow culture of impunity<\/em><\/p>\n

Politicians to have all supremacy\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

In every matters of public domain<\/em><\/p>\n

Over administrator, public to claim.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Public administrator not to give up<\/em><\/p>\n

Followed strictly the rules up tight<\/em><\/p>\n

Soon to earn the politicians\u2019 wrath<\/em><\/p>\n

To be stifled by regulations tight.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Initially broad-basing the CCS<\/em><\/p>\n

Later abolition of the PSC<\/em><\/p>\n

Gradually brought the administrator public\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Under the political arm to grip.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To make decisions not based on merit<\/em><\/p>\n

But instead, on the political will<\/em><\/p>\n

To satisfy the needs of party<\/em><\/p>\n

Supporters so they will.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ensure the vote at next election<\/em><\/p>\n

Supportive to those in power<\/em><\/p>\n

To sustain themselves in power further<\/em><\/p>\n

To aggrandise themselves for ever.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Comes 1977, PM Jayawardena J<\/em><\/p>\n

The 5\/6th<\/sup> majority in his hey day<\/em><\/p>\n

To turn parliament topsy-turvy<\/em><\/p>\n

Usurping its power all the way.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Making himself country\u2019s President<\/em><\/p>\n

The only all powerful man found yet<\/em><\/p>\n

Claimed he had the powers needed\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

To do anything with what God provided.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Other than to make a woman a man\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Or conversely a man to woman<\/em><\/p>\n

Above the law in matter all local<\/em><\/p>\n

No court can question however legal.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Drove fear in minds of parliamentarians<\/em><\/p>\n

Taking in hand their resignations\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Ruled the country with an iron hand<\/em><\/p>\n

Opening economy in his mother land.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To import everything, pins and clips included<\/em><\/p>\n

Progressively ending everything manufactured<\/em><\/p>\n

Encouraging people to abandon thinking<\/em><\/p>\n

To adopt open economy biased towards trading.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Textile mills making quality materials<\/em><\/p>\n

Gave way to cloth imported<\/em><\/p>\n

People began to dance their way<\/em><\/p>\n

In everything imported having to pay.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

From the sparse foreign currency resources<\/em><\/p>\n

Eating into nation\u2019s wealth<\/em><\/p>\n

Making country poorer by the day<\/em><\/p>\n

No concern for the coming bad day.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At the doorstep, deceit and corruption<\/em><\/p>\n

All bi-products of profit orientation<\/em><\/p>\n

Of an economy moving towards trading<\/em><\/p>\n

Not realising the disaster growing.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Contribution from agriculture drops<\/em><\/p>\n

Industry contribution also drops<\/em><\/p>\n

Next casualty becomes employment<\/em><\/p>\n

Those unemployed then take to corruption.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Other social evils also rise<\/em><\/p>\n

Family values at a price<\/em><\/p>\n

The serenity of culture that prevailed<\/em><\/p>\n

Soon appear to have derailed.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As time goes by, might became right<\/em><\/p>\n

Taking hostage those unable to fight<\/em><\/p>\n

Rights become the preserve of the powerful<\/em><\/p>\n

For all others right only slight.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The country has now come the distance<\/em><\/p>\n

To peak in practices corruption, deceit,\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Ruling the roost with thuggery and impunity<\/em><\/p>\n

Politicians enjoy the power of inequity.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":381,"featured_media":206293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8,62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-216888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial","category-poems"],"yoast_head":"\nChanging Landscape Of Local Politics - 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\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Changing Landscape Of Local Politics - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-27T08:06:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-03T10:14:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/People-1-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1281\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Suren Sumithrarachchi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Suren Sumithrarachchi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 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\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/\",\"name\":\"Changing Landscape Of Local Politics - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/People-1-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-27T08:06:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-03T10:14:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a700e4e05d93794eefb030f505475358\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/People-1-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/People-1-1.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1281},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Changing Landscape Of Local Politics\"}]},{\"@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\/a700e4e05d93794eefb030f505475358\",\"name\":\"Suren Sumithrarachchi\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f99b669902a0c2ea6392d4b2f98cdadac4a665f76664e506b9a5de885070fb58?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f99b669902a0c2ea6392d4b2f98cdadac4a665f76664e506b9a5de885070fb58?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Suren Sumithrarachchi\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/surensumithrarach\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Changing Landscape Of Local Politics - 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\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Changing Landscape Of Local Politics - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2021-02-27T08:06:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-03-03T10:14:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1281,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/People-1-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Suren Sumithrarachchi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Suren Sumithrarachchi","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/","name":"Changing Landscape Of Local Politics - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/People-1-1.jpg","datePublished":"2021-02-27T08:06:41+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-03T10:14:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a700e4e05d93794eefb030f505475358"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/People-1-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/People-1-1.jpg","width":2048,"height":1281},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/changing-landscape-of-local-politics\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Changing Landscape Of Local Politics"}]},{"@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\/a700e4e05d93794eefb030f505475358","name":"Suren Sumithrarachchi","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f99b669902a0c2ea6392d4b2f98cdadac4a665f76664e506b9a5de885070fb58?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f99b669902a0c2ea6392d4b2f98cdadac4a665f76664e506b9a5de885070fb58?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Suren Sumithrarachchi"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/surensumithrarach\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/People-1-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216888","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\/381"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216888"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216978,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216888\/revisions\/216978"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}