Grand Old Parties and North-East support

The gradual easing of support for what are considered this country’s Grand Old Parties, among the citizenry of the North-East and the almost exclusive association of these parties, at the popular level, with the majority community, are a measure of the degree to which the people of the North-East felt estranged, over the years, from Sri Lanka’s mainstream society. While political parties, such as, the UNP and the SLFP, portray themselves as national parties, it is unfortunate that they could not live-up to this image fully by maintaining a substantial support base in the North and East.

It is a matter for some satisfaction that the SLFP is attempting to catch-up on lost time and ground by establishing an SLFP headquarters in the Northern Province. We also do not consider it as essentially negative for President Mahinda Rajapaksa and for ministers from the centre to be seen in the province these days, campaigning strongly for a UPFA victory at the upcoming local government polls. Where parties, such as, the SLFP and the UNP failed, was to maintain a substantial support base in the North-East and to build on it over the decades. If they had done this diligently, the chances are that separatism would not have grown to the proportions to which it did.

However, the truth is that these parties failed to a degree, in measuring-up to the standards of national parties, with the result that ‘ethnic parties’ began to emerge among our ‘minority’ communities; some even parading separatist claims and paving the way for the conflict which almost tore this country apart.

The older parties in particular owe it to this country to be truly national parties by articulating and campaigning for the legitimate interests of the totality of Sri Lankans.

It is now no longer disputed that political opportunism and expediency sometimes got in the way of this happening and that sections among the Tamil community in particular, found refuge in separatist parties which made extravagant and unrealistic promises.

To make a long story short, it could be said that the mainly Southern-based moderate political parties failed to keep and expand on their support bases among moderate opinion in the North-East, as a consequence of some sections within these parties giving in to hard line sentiment on particularly the ethnic issue. With successive governments over the years failing to bring the LTTE to heel, and feelings hardening in Southern Sri Lanka, as a result of the Tigers’ terror campaign, it came to a point where the older parties of the country ceased to have any considerable influence in the North-East.

We could not but help reflecting that the older parties did not work hard enough to keep and expand on their bases of support in the North and East. As a result, the competition for influence among particularly moderate opinion in the subsequently conflict-hit provinces was lost to North-East ‘ethnic parties.’

With the LTTE being wiped out and normalcy being established in the North and East, the path has now been paved for our moderate and democratic political parties to establish a widespread presence and influence in these regions. For this to come to pass, they have to prove to be truly national parties. Their projects, programmes of action etc, should be of such as a nature that they could attract wide support in the country, consolidate it and constantly expand on it.

We know for a fact that the ‘Grand Old Parties’ are of a multi-ethnic nature and that they have within their fold persons from almost all our ethnic and cultural groups, but the numbers thus far attracted are not sufficient. These numbers have to be steadily built on and the parties should be in a position to identify with the legitimate interests of all our communities, without any reservations. In short, they should be in a position to attract all to their folds. Besides, more and more members from the so-called ethnic and cultural minorities should hold important positions within these parties.

Accordingly, we hope that the current polls campaign gathering pace in the North, in which President Rajapaksa would be figuring in a big way, would pave the way for a new political beginning for the province.

Ethnicity would cease to be a factor in our politics to the degree to which our political parties live up to the standards of truly national parties. If the articulate sections of the North-East people could be accommodated more and more within our main parties and they could work for the upliftment of these provinces, what need could there be for ‘ethnic parties’?