Manifestoes are much more than sound bites

Candidates are gearing to be at their fittest resourcefully slicing, dicing and maximizing the preference voter pool. Manifestoes help them reach wider interest groups and have to be put to good use. They are not mere sound bites. They generate policy debates enhanced by vote-clinching oratory. Mammoth rallies begin to highlight clash of the Titans in many districts.

The manifestoes devoid of dynamic policy contents may become pestilent platitudes instead of being flesh and blood of any campaign strategy. They could derail even the best planned political strategy if found to exhibit a rampant disregard for public interest. Political resilience is often the outcome of well-stated policy goals embodied in a party manifesto with a view to seek a mandate. Leadership should be known for its thinking prowess as presented in a manifesto.

It is the challenger who has to bear the brunt of demarcating issues through a manifesto to be able to oust an incumbent with the presidency carrying an enhanced approval rating behind him or her.

For starters, one would expect the Opposition leaders to state their policy on national security unequivocally and thus nail the myth of the latent Eelam provisional government apparatus trying to negate the newly won victory over terror.

A failure in that regard would present an insurmountable climb in establishing their credentials in the vital national security arena. There is no escape from making that denouncement whatsoever. The very bona fides of the Opposition hinge on how they treat any threats to the country.

Vivid reminder of 2002

The danger of leaving national security to be defined in a blurred manner is still vividly etched in our memories when the President and the Prime Minister came from two different parties in 2002. How the LTTE enticed a pact to be sealed and delivered covertly bypassing presidential perusal was abhorrent and still caused tremors in many of us.

Ominous attempts to bypass or usurp presidential authority are a threat that needs to be eliminated. The Opposition has a rare opportunity to exhibit its philosophical, ethical, and political will to endorse a common national security policy against Tiger resurgence.

That paradigm shift the Opposition never ventured to take dillydallying for some inexplicable reason. They should come clean and wipe out any residuary tags of the past links to CFAs and the like.

The Tiger Diaspora’s links to international forces trying to destabilize Sri Lanka are real and should raise alarms all-round. Even within the confines of the United Nations there seemed to be conspiratorial intrigue with sinister moves to tarnish the heroic victory won against terror.

The core economic issues also need proper flushing out as the manifestoes are within the reach of everyone. Mahinda Chintanaya has been the flagship policy document and is the obvious focal point of the debate.

Generalized platitudes

The UNP’s avowed assertion of its core free market philosophy as an alternative has so far not been asserted in fuller detail. Manifestoes must reveal and openly disclose what parties stand for. Generalized platitudes do not cut muster or win votes. It is the nuanced debate that would attract the maximum attention of the electorate. The Opposition went lock, stock and barrel against Executive Presidency during the January election. That debate has lost its relevance and the Opposition does not seem gun ho about it now.

The electorate should not be cheated to less than a full debate of what governance should be. There should not be any glossing over of that issue so crucially important to the voters.

There cannot be any complacency with regard to the electoral process in Sri Lanka. The Government has announced its intentions to bring about changes to the system. It is time that this matter got the fullest attention it deserves.

The Opposition has been riding its hobby horse of waste and corruption almost non-stop for months.

Corruption and waste

They seem to think that the country would be a veritable paradise once the twin evils were eliminated almost with a magic wand. Constructive proposals to elucidate what is behind such jazzified rhetoric must be brought to the surface. The instances of unmitigated tax concessions to party adherents that surfaced during the 2002 era and were declared to be illegal by the Supreme Court are not forgotten yet by the electorate.

The debate on waste and corruption should be taken seriously by delineating the areas in which legal and moral constraints on those allegedly trying to amass wealth illegally should be systematically tightened so that a culture of corrupt-free culture emerges in society.

This is a non-partisan issue.

The institutions charged with overseeing corruption must be strengthened.

Fine-tuning the system

There is also indignation gone rampant as speakers harp on wrong-doings relative to elections citing known instances like the Wayamba Provincial Council election of the late nineties and the appalling example of the Referendum of 1982. The intra-party rivalry that had caused baneful impacts on the electoral system due to the preferential voting system is often ignored in that debate. Those must be given the maximum attention they deserve as proposals come up to change the system.

The laws relating to election practices are at times vague and many of the ills of the system are often laid at the feet of the incumbent party.

The present electoral system also causes immense pressure on those in charge of making elections work better. These must be looked into seriously. The Commissioner and his staff deserve all the help they need.