Tippexing away ‘democracy’

The forthcoming General election is so far proving to be the most boring in remembered history. Even Mervyn Silva has gone quiet. There are no ‘issues’ being debated. All we see are posters where equally despicable politicians with faces that are equally ugly to behold claiming the same things. Each of them would have us believe that if we don’t mark an X in front of the relevant name we would be shooting ourselves and condemning our children to slavery and our country to eternal damnation.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, with his ‘Mahinda has the hardware and I have the software’ comment appears to be getting into his stride, but we must keep in mind that the election is just four weeks away. By this time he should be tripping away merrily and providing round-the-clock laughter.

The JVP has lost much of its thunder after Wimal Weerawansa left that party. The LTTE is not around to make a noise and/or indulge in machinations that may have worried some people. Last time we had the Jathika Hela Urumaya as wildcard. This year there’s none. A couple of months ago, a man called Sarath Fonseka made some ripples and although people like Mangala Samaraweera tried to make out that Fonseka was a tsunami, ripple he remained. Indeed, post-election he’s become even more insignificant.

This is why I raise a cheer for the UNP stalwarts in Moneragala. They are keeping us entertained. It is what elections are about in our beloved Proportionally Representing Sri Lanka. It all boils down to the manaapa poraya or the dogfights over preferential votes. Everyone, I repeat, everyone, big names and new comers, the tough guys and the wimps, men and women, the educated and uneducated, the clean and the dirty, those in the Government and those in the Opposition, the favourites and the no-hopers, Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim, are in the manaapa business.

It’s an unforgiving world out there and everyone will use whatever means necessary to get ahead of the next person. This is what the ha-ho in Moneragala is about: someone wanting to put one over someone else.

Former Moneragala UNP Provincial Council member, Tissa Kuttiarachchi claims that his name has been ‘tippexed’ by fellow UNPer, Ranjith Madduma Bandara at the last moment and that the signature of the party’s General Secretary, Tissa Attanayake had been forged in the process. Wickremesinghe, naturally, hadn’t been overjoyed by these developments. Kuttiarachchi has petitioned the courts for the Moneragala poll to be postponed. If there’s been forgery, common sense suggests that the response should not be postponement and thereby infringement of voter rights but a rejection of the UNP list. Tippex is essentially an eraser. In Sinhala the act would be called kapanawa (cutting) and not makanawa (erasing). That’s what these elections are about, it’s nothing but a matter of candidate cutting candidate, cutting cut-outs, under-cutting, upper-cutting, cutting up, getting cut up, cutting in, cutting out etc., none of which would be anything close to the most unkindest cut of all, delivered by Brutus to fell Caesar. We are not talking about men and women who in stature, track record and eloquence come anywhere close to those two Romans, after all.

This Tissa-Kutti cut is a bit different from the usual cuts we get to see during elections. It is not just Madduma Bandara drawing sword and cutting Tissa-Kutti’s ear (if we believe that latter’s story). Madduma Bandara is simultaneously chopping the UNP’s face. Ranil Wickremesinghe too got cut in the process.

What I find most interesting is this: did Madduma Bandara sign an undated letter of resignation and hand it over to Ranil? Did Tissa-Kutti similarly signed off his all to the party leader? If elected, will Ranil tell Ranjith, ‘sorry, no can do, you’ve resigned’. Would that be consolation enough for Tissa-Kutti?

Alternatively, will someone make the following kind of observation?

Yes, this is a high-handed act and should not go unpunished. On the other hand, demanding and securing undated letters of resignation from candidates and potential candidates is as high handed and undemocratic to boot. What kind of moral authority can the party and the party leader reference in correcting this ‘tippexing’ this vexed tippex-issue?’

That brings us to another problem. A candidate (say someone like Madduma Bandara) can ask Ranil something like this.

Sir, you got all UNPers contenting under the elephant symbol to submit undated letters of resignation and we all complied. Now, following the principle of ‘equality’, did you demand that candidates of other parties contesting under the elephant also submit undated letters of resignation?

Not just Madduma Bandara, but all those to whom Ranil Wickremesinghe is promising a more democratic Sri Lanka in the event his party is brought to power, need to know the answer.

Did or did not Mangala Samaraweera, Rauff Hakeem and Mano Ganeshan sign undated letters of resignation and handed the same over to Ranil Wickremesinghe? If not, why not? Is the rank and file of the UNP men and women of lesser worth? Is that what Ranil is trying to say? Is he telling Vajira Abeywardena, ‘Sorry putha, Mano is more valuable, never mind that he was an ardent supporter of and ballboy to the LTTE’? Is he telling Karu Jayasuriya, Rukman Senanayake, Gamini Jayawickrama Perera, Lakshman Kiriella, Sajith Premadasa and other party stalwarts, ‘you know, Rauff Hakeem is far more valuable than all of you, sorry’?

Tissa-Kutti is justifiably peeved. What surprises me is the fact that others in the UNP do not seem to have the brains and/or the guts to tell Ranil that he’s basically the father of political tippexing and that Tissa-Kutti is a victim of a time-honoured party tradition perfected by Wickremesinghe.

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