{"id":237352,"date":"2024-06-19T21:26:40","date_gmt":"2024-06-19T15:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=237352"},"modified":"2024-07-03T22:49:43","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T17:19:43","slug":"an-election-like-no-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-election-like-no-other\/","title":{"rendered":"An Election Like No Other"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Fr Chryso Pieris SJ<\/a>\u00a0\u2013<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Fr Chryso Pieris SJ<\/p><\/div>\n

Our discontent<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

For the last 46 years, we have been watching the Sri Lankan society slowly and steadily going from bad to worse. We saw with tears in our eyes the dream of NM Perera<\/a><\/span>; the dream of making this country advance in local manufacturing and industrializing and becoming a global player (maybe small) producing for the world market; going up in smoke.<\/p>\n

Our people did not understand that every country which is now developed and rich began with small workshops and initiatives with hard work and sacrifice. Our people were not motivated as a nation to face, strive and gain economic independence necessary to make political independence meaningful. We got our independence cheap. We did not shed a single drop of blood or sweat. We had no idea what to do with independence, we did not value it, we had no vision, no plans. The socialists tried to do what they could to bring the country onto the world stage, but failed.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Anura Kumara Dissanayake | Photo Anuruddha Lokuhapuarachchi<\/p><\/div>\n

JR, the terminator, dismantled, sold or gave away all the factories making everything from pencils to tires. He imported from Japan and Germany sleek and glistening goods like TVs and cloths mesmerizing the people with them and deceiving them. And we began to take loans and went on taking bigger and bigger loans even up to the current government. After even bankruptcy Ranil the bank robber, the default president, still takes loans. Our unborn third and fourth generation will be paying back these loans. How unfair we are to our own children!<\/p>\n

Corruption is so chronic and so widely spread, one does not know where it begins and where it ends. It is a whole culture, a whole nation that is affected and the system itself is sick unto death.<\/p>\n

Our response<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

When people began to fall dead in queues and scarcities increased, our patience reached the breaking point. By April of 2022 the frustration and anger reached its nadir but also, thank God, an awareness of the roots of the problem was becoming clear. The youth and some not so young began streaming towards the Galle Face Green. The great and unique Aragalaya<\/a><\/em><\/span> was born and peaked by July in a human Tsunami.<\/p>\n

Many said the Aragalaya was a failure and it misfired. Very sorry; it wasn\u2019t a failure. However tragic and sad we needed the Gota mess to wake us up and realize the mistakes we have made and the frightening situation we are in. As a result of the Gota mess Aragalaya came into being and consolidated as the Grand Alliance of Good People (GAGP). The presidency of Ranil Wickremesinghe<\/a><\/span> was also a necessity. The bank robber and the born loser only made the Aragalaya become a political force. We needed some time for that. We need this hiatus to make the GAGP become a people\u2019s movement for total overhaul of the country and the system. That is what the NPP and AKD are doing. The values that emerged in the Aragalaya continue to inspire and motivate the decent citizens\u2019 movement. The Aragalaya is alive and racing the last lap to victory.<\/p>\n

The current political situation<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The politics of the old rotten system seems to be completely disoriented and lost its way. Nobody knows who belongs to which party anymore. They are mixing and remixing the alliances and party affiliations so often nothing is predictable any longer. And that is how it should be. In fact, and seriously speaking politics in this country is becoming polarized in a new moral and ethical mode that never happened before. Polarization is no more between parties or ideologies. Forget socialism and capitalism or any other ism; forget so called national leaders like maina, samanalaya or kaputa; forget their traditional political parties too. It is simply between good and bad, right and wrong, beautiful and ugly, honesty and dishonesty, justice and injustice. On one side of the fence is the GAGP (NPP<\/a><\/span>) and on the other side is all who belong to the old rotten evil system. All the other political entities except the JVP are on that side of the fence. The choice people have to make is distilled into a clear, powerful, life or death, Yes or No.<\/p>\n

An election like no other<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

We cannot afford to miss the bus this time. This is the last chance we have to put this country, democratically and non-violently, on the right track to become a developed country. As we have hit rock bottom not only economically but in every sense; we have nowhere to go except up. We have to let go of all the past irrelevant ideologies, inhuman attitudes and ugly practices we are accustomed to and tread the new, clean and straight path of freedom (nirpakshika paramadipatya) fraternity (brotherhood, sisterhood and samanatmatawaya) and love (respect, affection and service) leading to the joy of life of all the people.<\/p>\n

Therefore, this election will be like no other. This election is going to be a historical turning point of a nation. Truly only with this election are we going to form a proper nation. A nation with a proud identity, a clear vision and the motivation to make this country take its rightful place in the world.<\/p>\n

All those who belong to the GAGP or sympathize with it have a grave duty to perform at this crucial moment. There is approximately a 30% floating vote base. These votes must be canvassed for the NPP in the next election. It is the responsibility of the decent good people of this country. This election is going to be a fight for the soul of Sri Lanka, our motherland, our nation. This is going to be a gladiatorlike fight unto death. The other side, however divided or chaotic they may seem to be, will flock together as they are birds of a feather and strive their hardest, by hook or by crook, to defeat the GAGP. But our determination to win will become stronger as days pass; yes, we shall overcome.<\/p>\n

That is why this election is going to be like no other.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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