Enlightened voter shows the way

Dr. MATHU H. LIYANAGE

The Rajapaksa thunderbolt, which struck the beautiful island of Sri Lanka on January 26, dispelled the thick darkness of conspiracies, intrigues, jealousies, travesties of truth and unholy marriages of convenience that developed since the announcement of the Presidential election. The dawn of a brighter day on January 27 saw radiant faces of the people, especially those in unsophisticated rural areas, glow with the assurance that man-made divisions of society were over and that they were in for a solid period of glory and plenty dipped in peace, unity, freedom and co-operation.

Historic win

President Mahinda Rajapaksa captured 17 of the 22 electoral districts polling 6,015,934 votes as against 4,173,185 votes polled by his main challenger, retired General Sarath Fonseka. The historic and heroic win by a majority of 1,842,749 shook the roots of most of the stalwarts in democracies all over the world, and good wishes, congratulations and continued assurances of support for the Government started to pour in.

The cause for the alarmingly surprise majority was not because that 75 percent of the registered voters cast their votes in this unprecedented and memorable Presidential election but because of the force with which the trustworthiness and influence of President Rajapaksa, akin to the 2004 tsunami, carried away every tangible obstacle be fore him.

Where Mahinda Rajapaksa’s five predecessors in office for over three decades could not crush the terrorists, he was able to totally wipe away terrorism from the shores of the island in a matter of two and half years with the able assistance of the three Armed Forces, especially the military headed by the Army Commander who unfortunately thought it fit to contest the President.

Success in life

In the past, the tradition was for sons to follow in the footsteps of their fathers in their occupations and it was seldom that this routine was broken. With the expansion of education and its penetration into rural areas through the system of Central Schools, the traditional system of employment was abandoned and they followed their own paths at which they excelled to achieve success in life.

It was so in politics. In the past, members of a family would follow the head of the family in casting their votes invariably in favour of the candidate of the family head’s choice. This trend was so deep rooted that for decades a family would vote for the same party and perhaps the same person over and over again irrespective of other considerations. The ordinary voter today knows what politics actually means because he/she is very much conscious of politics.

The enlightened voter can weigh the policies and programs of work put forward by various political parties and the strengths and weaknesses of the person who stands for election representing that party and take a considered decision to put the cross in the correct place on the ballot paper. The ordinary voter these days is not unintelligent or uneducated and cannot be easily brainwashed or spoon-fed.

It can decide on its own and can vote for the candidate who, in its opinion, can make a tangible contribution to make the country worth living in as was amply demonstrated by the Presidential election.

Voters at this election pinned their faith in the contestant whom they considered to be trustworthy, genuine and, above all, had the capacity, ability and experience in politics to govern the country impartially besides having programs geared towards development and to serve the people equally with the same spoon.

It is a tragedy that minority racial groups in Sri Lanka often gamble in politics and unfortunately back the wrong party that would fail to win and form a Government.

In the previous Presidential election held in November 2005, dictated by Prabakaran, the leader of the LTTE, the majority of Tamils boycotted the election, and the UNP, the political party they favoured, lost the election by a slender margin mainly as a result, and they were left in the lurch.

Backed the wrong horse

In the current Presidential election, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) grouped together and backed the wrong horse the United National Front (UNF) once again whereas the other horse UPFA romped home and won by lengths, and more appropriately by a street.

No one should or could find fault with the ordinary Tamil and Muslim voters who are equally intelligent and educated as other voters but they believe steadfastly in their leaders and accept them as their saviours without questioning.

It is up to minority racial groups now to hold formal discussions with the President and seek his support and assistance to find an amicable solution to their grievances, and make this wonderful country a paradise to live harmoniously in an atmosphere of peace, freedom and co-operation.