Consolidation of popular mandate

The impressive victory scored by the UPFA in the elections to 65 Local Government bodies last Saturday, for which polls were due, is further proof of the continuing popularity of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his administration. It was clinching evidence that the majority of the people are continuing to repose their trust in the President and in the government which he leads, despite the brickbats being hurled at them from some local and international quarters.

The poor performances by the UNP and the JVP, on the other hand, illustrate the degree to which they are continuing to fail in the task of making an impression on the public. They have been, of course, losing no opportunity to discredit the government but all to no purpose, it seems. Failing, thus, with monotonous regularity at the polls is a sure indication that they are perhaps irretrievably lost in the political wilderness.

As the statistics highlighted on our front page today indicate, the President’s popularity has been unceasingly on the rise. On the whole, the people are appreciative of the President’s efforts to put things right in this country and they see the unmistakable signs that the country’s prospects have improved over the years.

There was a time when normal life in this country was not possible on account of the terror campaign savagely carried out by the LTTE, but that ended in mid-May 2009, when the LTTE was conclusively crushed by the security forces under the leadership of President Rajapaksa. For that alone the majority of Sri Lankans are grateful to the President. Whereas at one time terror was stalking the length and breadth of this country and sparing no-one, this is not so today and more and more people are reaping the benefits of peace and stability.

We could continue on this theme but the ‘scoring points’ of the President are now too well known to justify reiteration. However, it needs to be pointed out and underscored that President Rajapaksa is a pragmatist and a leader for whom sound common sense is almost second nature. This is a quality that distinguishes him from most of his predecessors.

This was seen most in the way he handled the LTTE. He gave the latter ample opportunities and time to sit at the negotiating table and to talk in earnest with the state, but when he found that the Tigers were only engaging in one big deception game he did the next best thing of going all out to eliminate the terror outfit. It is a principal duty of a Head of State and government to ensure the security of the people and this was achieved with the elimination of the LTTE.

The same pragmatism and down-to-earth wisdom is seen in the manner in which the President is uniting the people and making them rally round the national interest. Considering that we live in a plural society, characterized by a multiplicity of interests, which are often at cross purposes with each other, what better way is there to unite the people and give them a common purpose than to appeal to the idea of the people being of common origin as Sri Lankans. This is the most common denominator which would help unite all the communities of the country and give them unity of purpose.

It is a simple but cogent idea. It is an idea that the majority of Lankans cannot shun. However, this idea is not evocative of narrow nationalism either. This is on account of the fact that the President fully acknowledges the presence of all our communities and is at pains to emphasize that they are equal citizens of the Lankan state. The President has shown very clearly by his actions and decisions that majoritarian chauvinism is not weighing on him in any way.

But structuring Sri Lanka fully around this idea, we guess, would take some time and all right-thinking Lankans should give the President some more time to rebuild Sri Lanka on the lines of a fully united state where, ethnicity, religion, language etc, would prove unimportant and of no consequence when it comes to acquiring the essentials of life.

However, the state would do well to realize that time cannot be lost in making Sri Lanka reemerge from the ashes, a fully integrated and united state where ethnicity and other divisive factors would prove to be of no importance. If the Lankan state had already gone some considerable distance in this endeavour, the UPFA would have put on a better performance in the Northern Province in Saturday’s poll. We hope in the days ahead nation-building will be given the highest priority by the government. And resolving the conflict politically, with the least delay, is an essential ingredient in nation-building.