strengthening democratic revolution | Daily News

strengthening democratic revolution

President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

Lacille De Silva said in the article ‘Anti-corruption: A winning slogan, a great betrayal’ on Monday, October 17, 2016, “The President and Prime Minister have issued the necessary instructions on the political stage to implement the law to the letter with regard to everyone alike and have openly canvassed that action be taken irrespective of individual position or party affiliation. Why don’t they do that in real life? Both the Prime Minister and President seem to be silent over Ministers in the Unity Government who have serious allegations against them. As citizens, we feel that corruption cases must proceed without discrimination. Corruption costs society money, which should be considered as a serious loss that should be eliminated without delay.

Unity Government

Why is it that those in the Unity Government have so far been out of danger? Shouldn’t the President and Prime Minister consider corruption an ethical problem and behavioural problem? They should be committed to solving this problem by means of the personal ‘reform’ of their party members as well. I cannot understand why they don’t consider corruption sinful and wrong.

After the President’s statement, my friends were also curious to know from me again whether I had my employment terminated by the Presidential Secretariat on the same grounds because we continued our work without fear or favour in the interest of the country. We conducted several high profile investigations involving key figures of the former regime. They wanted to know whether the Presidential Secretariat was unhappy about the way we had handled our investigations.”

President Maithripala Sirisena is a serious politician and he does not say anything without a well thought out purpose. He knows well that Chethana – intention is final; that is karma. Differently, Marx said praxis is the human essence. All serious politicians have political visions and will be guided by that. Ethical considerations are mitigated within this commitment. In his analysis ‘their morals and our morals’ Trotsky concludes that in real politics all are guided by the simple rule “the end justifies the means”.

Breakdown of SLFP

Hence we have to look into the motivation of the politician than struggling with meaning of words and what happened among families and friends. President Sirisena faces apolitical problem: the breakdown of the SLFP for which he is also responsible. SLFP the party of the rural plebeians was responsible for the resurrection in the agrarian society. It is the party of Subasinghe, Pasqual, Illangaratne, Kobbakaduwe etc; many other Sinhala leaders who made populist changes in the Sinhala rural village society. Maithripala Sirisena is also one such leader in the recent period.

Obviously he cannot leave the political arena without reinstating the party of the ‘common man’. There is pressure on him to plant the Sinhala image firmly and counter the attack of Mahinda group. Unfortunately this cannot be done without the collaboration of so-called war heroes; according to his ‘political’ advisers. But the whole formula is wrong; it is not possible to bring back the populist SLFP today, because modernizations have changed the society towards an urban capitalist system.

In the last period SLFP struggled between socialism and fascism. It was either the path of Vijaya or that of Mahinda. By selecting to collaborate with the UNP, President Sirisena chose to finish the democratic revolution started with Vijaya-JR understanding. He must continue or if he starts fondling Rajapaksa babies instead, door will open to slip into the pit of heroes of fascism. 


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