UNF's wacky political stunt

The UNF leadership professing to complement the Rajapaksa presidency is a wacky political stunt. That posturing is not validated by genuine proposals for converting that rhetoric into action. The UNF's ruse in propelling a political greenhorn from the military striving to de-stabilize political progress is still vividly felt. The talk of joint governance by the UNF seemed hallucinatory: tunnel vision arising out of the rigours of campaigning.

The motives seem highly suspect as the UNF vehemently avows to thwart the Government of getting a two-thirds majority which is needed to amend the Constitution. This looks like unadulterated pre-election hysteria.

It is germane to pose the question. Is the advocacy of a joint stewardship of governance a mere pretext to wheel and deal with the nascent Eelam Diaspora once again? Is that an attempt to re-enact the failed conspiracy that was an integral part of the storied record of UNF's woes of 2001-04.

There is no doubt that the electorate is fully cognizant of the happenings under the only UNF administration in history. The ill-advised dealings with the LTTE led to an explosion of Tiger militancy, the smuggling in of weapons of mass destruction and the founding of an international network of intrigue disseminated to precision from 2002 to the end of the terror war.

A UNF protest campaign. File photo

The contrasting constituents of UNF politics seemed to diverge in generating the trump card of being ready to cooperate. That has only reduced the election's policy debate to a secondary role. What remains are jargon prone platitudes that literally butcher any robust discourse.

UNF free-market overhaul

The UNF at one time stood for near evangelical revival of the free-market creed as the flagship insignia for economic growth. But this time around, an attempt to mix things is offered calling for a combination of price control and tax eradication among other things.

Wading through the minutiae of that overhaul in the UNF manifesto it is easy see evidence of hasty policy mishmash and shuffling of priorities as it goes on to present a litany of prices to be reduced like "milk powder, sugar, dhal, potatoes, onions and canned fish for a period of one year."

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan economy has elevated to a high technical level during the past decade and the service sector has taken a good foothold. The UNF manifesto has defaulted in not delving into the salient features of the economic base in any substantive manner. It has non-cohesive short-sightedness written all over it.

Philosophy of growth

We are left with a hodge-podge of projects and solutions lined up as aspirational talking points. The inclination to prefer regulatory mechanisms over their avowed laissez-faire mind-set is starkly obvious in the UNF manifesto without any rationale to support it. The manifesto substitutes tactics for overall policy objectives.

Strangely, the Manifesto stated: "we will set up a coconut price stabilization fund to stabilize the price of coconut with benefits to both planter and consumer." Similar language is found under rubber and tea holdings sections. But there is no well-thought-out mechanism for effective management of economic indicators like prices and seasonal changes in supply spelled out in the manifesto. In fact the coconut price stabilization fund was abolished during the last UNF administration of 2001-04.

In comparison, the detailed foray into all aspects of economic vitality enumerated in the Mahinda Chintanaya far outscore anything on long-term planning published in a while offering a comprehensive philosophy for growth backed by working targets.

Largesse with a twist

The uncontrolled spread of public largesse to entice the voter has a twist to it. The UNF manifesto states that an increase in salaries of public servants will start with "a hike of Rs 3,500 and the remainder of Rs 6,500 will be given after an assessment of the bankrupt Treasury." Such practices are known in advertising jargon as "bait and switch." Entice first and then put conditions.

The UNF also seemed totally unconcerned about the immediate fiscal conundrum of aggravating the "alleged bankruptcy" by adding on more freebees to their list such as tax reduction, amortization of unserviceable loans of business enterprises and many more. The lavish Santa Clause mind-set brings memories of the tax concessions bestowed in 2001-04 by the UNF that were repealed by the Supreme Court later.

Economic feasibility assessment mentioned sparsely in the Manifesto should have been well-thoughtout with earmarks and reasoned fiscal proprieties factored into the equaltion. The seething cauldron of largesse enticement does not necessarily spur voter approval, you can bet on it.

Preferences sorted out

Fortunately, the silver lining to all these thoughts is that winning majorities are tied to deeper insights on matters of national interest. As we write, the electoral preferences are getting sorted out and mammoth rallies whipping up the last modicum of political participation. Those who are cognizant of voters' aspirations and give the respect they deserve would succeed. Only creative re-mixing of ideas and avowed resilience to their achievement would ensure a new genre in ideals.

Those enjoying the giddy pleasure of blurting out political slogans are missing the point. That can never replace the substantive discussion of the issues going on. There's the threat of remnant Tiger vitriolic venom spewing its viciousness internationally. Ignoring or understating the menace would be disastrous.