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| Thursday, 18 March 2004 |
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Mod UNP prefers pink champagne to a green revolution! by Vasantha Parakrama Senanayake There are some choices in life that we make very gladly; others are taken when external pressures push us to make them, and there are still some that we opt for when compelled.
My own account of this transformation, I think would assist any assessor to view me as closely as possible from its real light. I am the great grand son of D.S. Senanayake, Sri Lanka's first Prime Minister and the great founder farther of the United National Party and the grandnephew of Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake.
I am also the great grand son of the great philanthropist F.R. Senanayake and the grandnephew of R.G. Senanayake, who was significantly a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, and successfully contested the two constituencies of Dambadeniya and Kelaniya simultaneously, where he resoundingly defeated the maverick J.R. Jayawardena, uncle of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe! Thus, democratic ideals and decent social values are my cherished inheritance, and these I cannot conscionably compromise on for whatever reward. I still adhere to and remain with the policies, the vision and the statesmanship that was synonymous with that UNP of my ancestors. I am aware that many traditional UNPers also share my feelings, but suffer in silence, helplessly. If the principle, vision, direction and the ultimate mission is abandoned, lost or simply swept under the rug, then any institution that would have allowed such neglect, but only kept alive the old name, cannot be said to be a continuation of the original entity, but merely a different brand retaining an alien label. It is no secret that 'johnnies come lately' have taken control of the UNP flagrantly prostituting its values, whilst the 'old guard' is significantly silent. To these persons values that I cherish are alien. It is not that I have chosen to move away from the UNP, which party has been strangled and suffocated to be devoid of the ethics, morality and gentlemanly politics that UNPers like myself had grown to love and respect, and based upon which values my ancestors, who led this country, built the UNP. The UNP I knew of and often dreamed about, was a responsible, civilized and decent organization. It was a party administered by disciplined and cultured people's representatives, all of whom democratically had a voice within the party structure, and all of whom could find justice within the Party Head Quarters. It was in September of 1946 that the UNP was formed, and even before its formation it was clear from the State Council days of D.S. Senanayake as Minister of Agriculture, that an agricultural based economy was what D.S and his team had in their mind as the primary intention, with industry to support this basic need. Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake also pursued the same policies and in fact feeling the pulses of the poor gave them rice. The fact that the colour chosen to represent the UNP is green was also no mere accident, but a conscious effort at boosting domestic pride in agriculture and in particular paddy cultivation. Hunger strikes and protests and starvation to death as means of protests reached their peak during the successive recent UNP governments. The deputy Minister of one such Government even claimed that farmers drank insecticides and poison for fun! It appeared that during all this turbulence, the indifferent UNP leadership was merely of the view that if paddy cultivation is not viable in the World Bank's mind, then paddy cultivation should be replaced by something more acceptable to the World Bank. Even Japan does not follow such policy and continues to subsidize their farmers, and in particular, paddy farmers. Have they not realized that paddy is not just a crop! Paddy cultivation, to most of Sri Lankan peasantry and certainly to almost everyone, who has land in the Dry Zone, is a way of life, woven intricately with their culture and customs, integrated into folk songs and kavi, interlinked with their religion and even to the extent that the Sinhala and Tamil New Years and Calendars have been greatly influenced by the harvesting seasons of Yala and Maha. Ric Shands states in his book 'Irrigation and Agriculture In Sri Lanka' "One school of thought argues it commenced in the 5th Century BC or even before. Harder evidence places it BC, but more recent developing from independent small tanks to more elaborate irrigation networks". Hence the point is very clear to any person with even a passing acquaintance of Sri Lanka, its culture or its people, that paddy cultivation cannot simply be swept aside merely because a certain person in a Christian Dior suit agreed over coffee and asparagus sandwiches with a foreign delegate, who does not know paddy from wheat, that the Sri Lankan villager should now change his lifestyle, and maybe grow sunflowers instead! The UNP's idea on agriculture and the peasantry was viewed by D.S. Senanayake, on how rich in grain, or agricultural produce the peasant communities were, and amply illustrated by his words "The well being of any nation can be gauged by the larder of its poorest home". Nobody could foresee a scenario where a group of friends, a fraternity or a 'boys club' with exclusive membership would hijack the UNP, and despite as many as thirteen election disasters, still remain smiling in a glaringly incompetent manner, knowing that the party constitution had been altered to keep democracy out and the present occupant seated as long as he chose to, however undemocratic and dictatorial this may be. My granduncle Dudley Senanayake's own defeat in 1970 was not only taken up graciously, but in his humility to bow to the will of the nation, he as a true democrat resigned as Leader of the Opposition, making room for a new face, which came in the form of J.R. Jayawardena. In order to defeat a galloping black stallion an equally ferocious steed must be fielded, an ass, a mule or a donkey will simply not suffice! The 2001 Victory was perhaps the last chance, and is somewhat reminiscent of a boundary line catch taken, but at the last minute the unfortunate fielder seems to be going over the ropes with ball in hand, thus conceding six to the opponents. How may I then inquire, does one get rid of a person judged to be unfavourable by the people, if like a stubborn stain, he chooses to stay, hiding behind an undemocratic, yet from his point of view, a favourable constitution? The latest decision to allow a tax amnesty to violators of exchange control laws and other laws of this nation constitute deliberate endorsement of the erosion of the rule of law and morality in society. So, a privileged few are not held accountable before the law of the country, and the Government pardons them with impunity for breaking the law, including those in relation narcotics, arms, illicit liquor and other social evils. This is done supposedly for the rejuvenation of the economy, but actually rejuvenates lawbreakers and fraudsters. While the big fish gets bonanzas of hundreds of millions of Rupees, farmer Appuhamy and farmer Girigoris are told they will never be able to re-enjoy the fertilizer subsidy readily offered to them by all previous Governments. The health sector plunges further into an abyss, the less affluent can ill-afford medicines, and the state hospitals have run dry of medicines. The middle level householder and the extremely poor continue to shoulder heavy burdens. Many have naturally raised the question whether such amnesty was conditional upon election and other funding? Have such ill-gotten funds already started pouring in? If so, the perpetrators of such acts would have done so at the expense of a nation and with a view to furthering their own personal motives, and so should go down in history, as the biggest swindlers the nation has yet encountered! Is it not a case of 'regaining Sri Lanka by some'? During the last months, and in the last couple of years, President Kumaratunga had repeatedly called for a Government of National Reconciliation. This idea received the fullest backing from Minister Karu Jayasuriya, the UNP's Deputy Leader. In fact, he publicly made pronouncement of his agreement to the media after meeting with the Malwatte Mahanayake in Kandy. Who then, was the stumbling block? And why was sharing power and building the nation together so repugnant? It is my strong belief that the UNP and SLFP must survive in this country as alternatives to each other, as has always been. Good governments are formed when confronted with a formidable opposition. I see a gradual erosion and emaciation of the UNP leaning towards an arrogant oligarchy devoid of sentiment for the plight of the poor who were given rice by Prime Minster Dudley Senanayake. It is for these reasons, and in the national interest, that I decided to work with the President, who has publicly committed her stance on the governance of the country, serving the interests of the broader community, and protecting the rights of the minorities. The decision I have taken will not be regarded as a surprise in the political arena, for several leading personalities have also opted to do so. Just to mention a few, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike with his Sinhala Maha Sabha supported D.S. Senanayake's UNP in the national interest. My grand uncle Minister R.G. Senanayake supported the Governments of Mr. and Mrs. Bandaranaike, when he believed it was in the national interest. J.R. Jayawardene, himself supported Mrs. Bandaranaike also in the national interest. I simply cannot understand as to why there is reluctance for national reconciliation at this crucial juncture in our country to overcome the national issues facing the country and its people? I wish to conclude in the words of my grand uncle Dudley Senanayake "I will not betray my country, even to become emperor of the world". I cannot be in a UNP that does not uphold such dicta. |
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These compulsions, when stirred by considerations such as morality,
decency and shame, may drive a person to a decision, which under normal
circumstances may have seemed impossible and unimaginable. My recent
decision to extend support to President Kumaratunga may be interpreted by
each man from his own angle of view, and tinted by the colour of the shade
from which he views me and by his own prejudices. I wish to state however,
that I have acted according to my conscience, upholding the values of
democracy, which I cherish.
