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| Friday, 23 April 2004 |
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'Heroes of Defeat' by I. P. C. Mendis
The UNP's own 'Magna Carta' - the constitution-staring in their face, was of no consequence. Blackmail, threats of bringing people onto the streets, extra-constitutional means, intimidation and the rule of the thug became their armoury. That the constitution specifically separates the powers of the Executive President and Parliament (legislative) was of no consequence to them. They relentlessly pursued a policy of discrediting the individual, failing to appreciate the harm they do internationally to the office of President of a sovereign country. If these self opinionated intellectuals' were not able to understand the difference, none of them qualified to question the academic credentials of the President. Yet they did, particularly Ravi Karunanayake going to petty limits of displaying his own certificates through the press. More educated and cultured personnel like SWRDB, NM, Colvin, Pieter, did not stoop to such low levels to discredit D. S. Senanayake. They respected the office. To the hot-heads, the scenario was not complete without allegations of fraud regarding vehicles and terrorist connotations via hand bags with cameras and threats of impeachment. The UNF victory was the Defence Ministry being wrested from the President, however unconstitutional it was, A Gazette notification by the President taking over the Development Lotteries Board was prevented from being published by politicians and thugs surrounding and intimidating the officials of the Government Press. That was a prelude to future notifications under Presidential powers, such as for prorogation and dissolution and even declaring a State of Emergency on an eventuality, being easily thwarted by such extra-constitutional means. S. B. Dissanayake's role in many issues and his tirades against his pet 'hobby-horse'. President CBK, knew no decent bounds and the less said about him the better. Suffice it to say that it was most distasteful, yet the government which had no ear to the ground, persisted in using him. Paragons of virtue Ravi Karunanayake projected himself white as snow in what he thought was a 'scoop' on the AirLanka Agreement and went to town while in the Opposition, leading (or misleading) even the then Leader of the Opposition, Ranil Wickremesinghe to affirm on the floor of the House that the Agreement will be abrogated if he were to form a government. IMF and World Bank were forewarned. Far from abrogating, the UNF government entered into a second agreement with SriLankan Airways which was considered far worse than the other even by UNF cabinet ministers of the likes of Rajitha Senaratne who even threatened to quit. Yet, he did not while Ravi K maintained a stoic silence. The UNF government in all its servility displayed to the LTTE, took a humiliation from the Emir of UAE who, according to news reports, offered the Emirates shareholding to the GOSL for a dollar! Ironically, Ravi K was busy defending himself on allegations of impropriety on a number of matters relating to the CWE, not the least of which was the UB 40 fiesta imported through a broker and allegedly financed by an overdraft from the CWE which was reported by he himself to be heavily in debt. The peace process That the MoU with the LTTE secretly drafted in association with the Norwegians, is a loose document, completely one-sided, need not be laboured upon. The tragic part of it is that while the country was completely on top after the WTC carnage of 11th September, 2001 the UNF government embraced the enemy completely deceived by its unilateral declaration of ceasefire - a strategic move. G. L. Peiris was practically ensnared within the jaws of the LTTE befriended by Anton Balasingham, so much so he was not only the chief government spokesman but also functioned voluntarily as the spokesman for the LTTE, displaying cheeks of satisfaction more rosy than the Rose Garden of Thailand. With what glee he announced that the LTTE had accepted a federal system of government, subsequently not found anywhere in the ISGA proposals. With what confidence he 'pooh-poohed' everything the President, the Opposition, the UNHCR and even the press said. He was intoxicated with the charm displayed by Anton Balasingham who was given extra VIP treatment getting him by seaplane to Iranamadu tank rhumilating relevant government officials. Rajitha Senaratne, on his part, consistently brought out the 'chilling' argument that there was nothing wrong with the LTTE strengthening itself with arms and equipment when the government itself was doing so. What a spacious, yet treacherous argument! to him smuggling of arms was hypothetical, he did not admit it directly. If Karuna Amman's admission about arms smuggling through 11 ships, Prabhakaran's plan to drag on the peace process for five years strengthening himself meanwhile and his antipathy towards a federal system is anything to go by, the President stands vindicated in her anxiety that the security of the country was at stake. Economic issues That the UNF government had its feet firmly planted in the air would be an understatement. While a mere 'ceasefire' was mis-used to condition the minds of the people that it was real peace. (No corpses, no bombs) thereby taking them to be suckers, despite the initial lament that every citizen was indebted to the tune of Rs. 77,500/- and notwithstanding a negative growth, it first thought of giving concessions to those other than the masses. They lost no time in introducing the VAT and other import duties which saw the COL rising while concentrating on the infamous amnesty. Camouflaging the intent through an amendment to the Inland Revenue Act, the bonanza encompassed the Customs and Execise too releasing cronies, racketeers, smugglers and other anti-national elements. Dissolution of Parliament A contradiction in terms where there was no money in the Treasury to increase the salaries and wages of public servants, there was no money to provide employment (there was a freeze in recruitment to the public sector), no money to provide relief to the masses. Yet they could afford to forget a near Rs. 200 billion on an amnesty! Like the proverbial man who climbed the kitul tree to cut grass, Choksy had his little unconvincing stories to relate in defence backed by the celebrated economics tuition master, Bandula Goonewardene, who was elated by an insignificant 51,000 new tax files being opened by the Inland Revenue Department after the amnesty. He did not, however, elaborate as to how many of these would have brought additional revenue and to what extent. The verdict given by the electorate is strong and convincing, only distorted by the proportional representation system. The President has read the minds of the people dead right. If the people had rejected the UNF government most convincingly after two years, it would have certainly been a travesty of justice for the President not to have read their minds and permitted the UNF government to continue the full term, thereby frustrating the will of the people for a change. The elected representatives never ever project the will of the people in Parliament. It is only in theory. The general election, therefore rightly served as a referendum. A famous cliche refers to defeat being snatched from the jaws of victory. The "Heroes" who had been responsible for snatching defeat for the UNP and contributed immensely to the fiasco now being faced by it can be easily identified (if not this article may help) and it would certainly be fool-hardy to hunt for scape-goats in Malik Samarawickreme or Kapukotuwa as per a Sinhala newspaper report. However, the UNP does not appear to have learnt its lesson nor has it shed its arrogance of 'ivory-tower' rule judging from its National List which has unceremoniously ditched old faithfuls who had stuck through thick and thin, and brought in people for political expediency. |
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Produced by Lake House |
The UNF government did have a comfortable majority when Parliament was
dissolved. However, some political hot-heads drunk with power charged
ahead with blinkers, missing the wood for the trees. They saw nothing but
a Parliamentary majority which was argued to supersede the mandate the
President received.
