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| Saturday, 3 July 2004 |
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President talks the stuff of realpolitik Whether it was an eve of birthday spirit or the realization that the time had come to come to real grips with the shaky politics of the past weeks, President Chandrika Kumaratunga made a long awaited and necessary statement when she said she was ready, willing and able to take the country forward and did not care two hoots about any opposition bid to topple the government. It is not just the stuff that the supporters of the UPFA have been looking forward from its leaders, and especially the President, it is also what most people in the country would have found comfort in hearing. For far too long after the last General Election, when the UPFA, despite its huge vote failed to get a simple majority in parliament, there has been a well orchestrated campaign of national de-stabilization, through a variety of moves to give the people here and abroad the feeling that the government is teetering on the verge of defeat. Opposition alliance The opposition alliance, supposedly to safeguard the norms of democracy and decent behaviour in parliament, and with declarations that it was not formed to topple the Government, nevertheless helped add to this impression of instability of the Government and its apparent failure to understand what has to be done next. It is in this context that what the President said has its special significance. What is needed today is for the UPFA to unfold its policies, with the full knowledge that it is a minority government, and dare the opposition to defeat moves that are made in the larger interests of the people. What is necessary is for those in government itself to understand that a minority government is not something strange, and that with some deft political strategy many a minority government has even served its full elected term. Clear mandate Addressing a function to mark the introduction of Information Technology to the school curriculum, President Kumaratunga is reported to have said: "My government may be short of as couple of votes in parliament, and the Opposition is spending millions to topple my government. But I don't care two hoots since the people have given me a clear mandate." She also said she could not care less about petty fighting in parliament, and that as President elected twice by the people of this country, she was not in office to play the fool. She was obviously unmoved by the sudden and well organized outburst of a largely false concern for morality in politics and parliament, that has surfaced only after some Buddhist monks abandoned their traditional role of spreading the Dhamma to wallow in the mud of politics. She clearly recalls how mute all these moralists including today's Leader of the Opposition and the present Speaker were, when she was humiliated in parliament, and the dignity of parliament made a joke of, in August 2000. They and other civilian voices of today's concern for morality and decency in parliament were shameless towers of silence on that occasion, and also on other previous occasions of open violence against MPs in parliament. In a speech In a speech that covered a wide range of subjects from youth uprisings, the massacre of Sinhala Buddhist youth, and the LTTE's war and terrorism, she emphasized her belief that all communities, be they ethnic or religious, should live freely, with such freedom guaranteed by the Constitution. At a time when the role of the Buddhist monk in politics is drawing considerable attention, especially with the activities of the MPs of the JHU, the President said something had gone terribly wrong with the religious leadership today. She made it clear that she was not afraid to criticize when it was necessary, those of the robe who took to active politics, and raised the question as to how many of these monk politicians were really helping the poor of the country. These are very important questions that many people, especially Buddhists, have in their minds and even discuss in private after the recent exposure of the JHU's activities, but do not ask in public. It was necessary and useful that the President gave voice to these feelings of the people. Special significance It is also of special significance that she chose the event 'related to introducing Information Technology to the school curriculum' to say these things, because it marked an important change not just in the school curriculum, but was a stepping stone to modern thinking, moving away from time-worn attitudes, as against traditional values, that have no place in modern society. As stated in this column last week, it is now time for the UPFA to get down to the task of governance for which it was elected, instead of bothering too much about the lack of majority in parliament. Do what is best for the people at this time. Implement what you are able to of what was said in your manifesto, and also dare the opposition to vote against any society and people friendly legislation and regulations you present to parliament. What is worse at this stage is to bring in any legislation that will be of a divisive nature in society, only for the sake of pleasing sections of the opposition and showing that the UPFA can command a majority in parliament. Such ill-considered moves, done for fleeting popularity or political gain, can be the beginning of large scale crises in society with dangerous consequences for the future. Drawing the wrong number "JHU leader in double trouble" was the headline the Daily Mirror (June 30) gave for the story about the JHU's Parliamentary Group Leader, Hon. Athureliye Ratana Thera, being found in a vehicle with a false number plate, when he traveled to Matara for a political event of the JHU. The MP in robes had explained to the Police that he had come in a vehicle belonging to a friend, and knew nothing about its number. The vehicle with the correct number had also come to the same political event from Kaleliya in Matara, while the vehicle with the false number was from the Gampaha District. According to published reports the police tend to believe the JHU MP's shock at having traveled in a vehicle with a false number plate. However, as this column said earlier of monks and politics, that a person is judged by the company one keeps, and that those who lie with dogs rise with ticks on them, it is important for an MP, especially those who are trying to take us to a Dharma Rajya, to know better about the people who lend them vehicles and assist the JHU in many other ways to keep its political campaign ticking. Friends, who change number plates of vehicles to defraud finance companies, cannot be the best "dayakas" in the quest for a Dharma Rajya, whether or not the JHU is interested in that goal today. |
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