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Government: a new life-style?

Last December the people voted in national elections for the second time in just over a year to throw out the People’s Alliance and put back into power the party that they threw out of power some years back for numerous faults. Perhaps, in their disgust at the dismal failure of the PA to meet their high expectations, the people felt that the United National Party, despite having in its leadership some who were in power in the previous, much-faulted UNP regime, should be afforded a chance once again to prove its worth. 

Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe and his Government seem to be doing just that. While, there have been accusations of some political victimisation in the State sector, this was nowhere near the scale of the UNP’s return to power in 1977. Far more significant has been the progress in the peace-making process. 

Not content with the current cease-fire, the Government is moving swiftly and quite unilaterally to take every step possible to ease social and economic conditions in the war zone.

Likewise, the new Government is remaining true to its commitment to a strict discipline in governmental life style. Sobriety seems to be the tone as the Cabinet of Ministers forsook their ministerial salary scale and then, most recently, much of the perquisites enjoyed by previous cabinets - fleets of luxury cars, retinues of underlings, special housing, flexible official budgets and suchlike. 

The general mass of people, who bear the terrible burden of war and all its socio-economic ramifications, must surely appreciate these early actions by a Government barely a month old. The political culture of a country, however, does not change overnight. The challenge to the Premier and his colleagues is to resist the pressures of cronyism and political greed. Success will redeem the party; more importantly, will revive the nation.

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