groundviews » The up-coming Presidential election and the aspirations of the people

The up-coming Presidential election and the aspirations of the people

December 4, 2009 at 7:00 am · Categories: Elections, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance | by Surendra Ajit Rupasinghe

It would be fair to say that the vast majority of the people aspire for a life with peace, dignity, security, democratic freedom and prosperity. They aspire for an open, honest, efficient system of governance which is accountable to them. They wish for a political culture which nurtures unity and solidarity among the various nations, nationalities and communities. They dream of a world free of all forms of domination, exploitation, oppression and WAR! Finally, we could say that the people aspire to stand proud and tall, second to none, in the community of nations. Would this presidential contest fulfill these democratic aspirations of the people?

Historically, every successive government has failed to fulfill these aspirations of the people. Each successive government has intensified division and violent conflict through supremacist politics. . They have multiplied corruption and abuse. They have made the country ever more pitifully dependent on international finance capital and world imperialism. They have intensified poverty, indebtedness, misery and degradation of the vast majority of toiling people. This process has occurred alongside an increasing tendency towards concentrating state power in the hands of a ruling oligarchy. This has been the historical trajectory of the governments led by the UNP and the SLFP, and their various coalitions. The end result has been a society at war with itself, decomposing through rapid moral decay; a political order ruled by terror and deception, raining horror and suffering on the masses of people. So, what can we expect at the end of this presidential election?

The Sinhala people have been thrown into a pit of confusion and despair. They were told that the end of the war would bring peace, stability, security, democratic freedom and prosperity. Yet, these aspirations have not been fulfilled. They were told to bear any sacrifice to defend the motherland; to defend the Land of the Buddha; to defend the unassailable unity, integrity and supremacy of the Sinhala Buddhist nation. The bitter truth is that the vast majority of the Sinhala people have been thrown into a desperate crisis of economic survival. The Sinhala-Buddhist nation has been polarized and splintered as never before. The Land of the Buddha has been militarily contracted to the United States through the “Acquisition and Cross-Serving Agreement” which gives it free access to all our military facilities on land, sea and air. India has gained a powerful political, economic and strategic foothold in the country. Vast billions are being robbed through various contracts and commissions by the ‘saviors of the motherland’, while the people are being ground to the dust. Robed monks fan the flames of racial-religious division and war just to carve out their share of hegemonic-fundamentalist space in the power structure. This is the true essence of the politics of the ‘patriotic holy war’ to liquidate the Tamil nation and its struggle for national liberation, in order to defend the Race, Land, Language and Religion. Now, the guns, batons, tear gas and riot squads of the Sinhala-Buddhist state have been turned against predominantly Sinhala workers, students and graduates, who have taken the streets to demand their rights. It should be remembered that it is this very same Capitalist State that massacred over hundred thousand Sinhala youth in the South to drown two insurrections in rivers of blood.

The Tamil people have also been plunged into a pit of division, confusion and despair. They have yet to be honored with a political solution that recognizes their political status as nation. Hundreds of thousand Tamil people remain in concentration camps and thousands in prison and detention camps. Their claim to a historical homeland and nationhood is being physically dismantled by Sinhala colonization, military encirclement and by lucrative mega agro-industrial, energy and infrastructure projects. This policy shall inevitably and irrevocably refuel the aspiration for separation.

The JVP has decided to share common ground with the UNP and endorse retired General Sarath Fonseka to bring down the Mahinda Chintanaya regime. This must be the bottom pit of opportunism. It is the JVP that was the main force in formulating the Mahinda Chintanaya and for bringing Mahinda Rajapakse to power. It was the UNP that ruthlessly decimated the JVP in the second aborted insurrection. Now the JVP has joined the camp of the ‘traitors and conspirators’ to save their mangy skin, and so has the UNP wriggled itself into common ground with its arch enemy. General Sarath Fonseka is a confirmed, born again racist, an unbridled chauvinist and a hard-line militarist, equal to his one-time boss, Mahinda Rajapakse. General Fonseka is bound to teach Ranil Wickremasinghe and Somawansa Amarasinghe a classic lesson in deception and how to execute ‘ open-market/ liberal pluralist democracy’ in good old open military fashion- ala Myanmar.

Whatever the outcome of the presidential election, the aspirations of the people will be betrayed by a corrupt and defunct neo-colonial Capitalist state and system, and its bloody ruling class. Whoever wins, the system will be plunged into even more instability and crisis. The prevailing imperialist global political order, of which the Sri Lankan state functions as a dependent Comprador agent, can only rain destruction and devastation on the people in the insatiable search for domination, plunder and profit. This truth is proven by the fountain of blood, sweat and tears, the endless poverty, misery and degradation, of the vast billions of people of the world, perpetually defiled and enslaved under this Capitalist –Imperialist system. The global system of Imperialism and neo-colonialism can only compound and intensify the contradictions that propel the world towards ever more devastating crisis, perpetual state of war and catastrophic human suffering. Neither this comical presidential election, nor any other such bourgeois election can fulfill the democratic aspirations of the people. The only way out for the people is to rely on their own conscious strength in organizing and mobilizing their independent political power to resist and overcome the deadly game of deception, and the system, once and for all, and so charter their future and conquer their freedom.

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citizen said,

December 4, 2009 @ 10:22 am

aspire: \ə-ˈspī(-ə)r\: (intransitive verb): to seek to attain or accomplish a particular goal

I propose to contend that “it would NOT be fair to say that the vast majority of the people aspire for a life with peace, dignity, security, democratic freedom and prosperity” on the basis that if the aspirations of the vast majority of the people were such, the country would have indeed moved towards achieving those aspirations as opposed to having moved away from them.
I would surmise that the aspirations of a vast majority of people are much simpler and far more ambiguous. Most of our aspirations are also selfish and therefore often infringe upon the just aspirations of others.
In any successful –if not ideal- society, equal application and protection of the law safeguards people’s just aspirations against the unfair actions of fellow citizens. Law provides the framework for citizens to take individual and collective action to fulfil their aspirations while regulating those actions so that they do not compromise or threaten the right of others to do the same. The assignment of a competent legislature is – not to create state jobs for the electorate or carry out favours for their friends and financial sponsors (let alone abuse the media and anyone else who questions their actions) but to make just and impartial laws. The need for an honest and efficient executive is to execute those laws with equality and integrity. An impartial judiciary is needed to keep the legislature and executive in check, to ensure that the protections and privileges offered by the law is no abused but justly and equally provided to all citizens.
The fact that we are ever further away from realising our aspirations is a failure of these three branches of government that have failed over and over again in their exercise of OUR sovereignty. Sovereignty cannot be ‘transferred’ let alone ‘stolen’ in any practical sense from the ‘.people’ without the complicity of the ‘people’ in that process. A hundred or even thousand politicians derive their ‘power’ from the compliance of those they govern. They carry out most of their unjust and unfair actions with the full cooperation of citizens who comply – either for petty personal gain, lack of knowledge or the capacity to understand the greater consequences of their actions, for the lack of a moral conscience, or all of the above.
Anyone who’s watched the movie “A beautiful mind” would be familiar with Nash’s equilibrium which states that the best outcome comes not when individuals act only in their self interests, but when they act both in their self interest and the interests of the collective. So, as long as we are wilfully blind, corrupted by selfishness and unaware of our civic duty to others in our community – our families at one end of the scale, the world and environment on the other – we will drift ever further from these ideals… the aspirations that a majority of us do not seam to have.

Sam Thambipillai said,

December 4, 2009 @ 2:41 pm

Democratic process in any country, to elect a president, is primarily to view the major policies of the political parties and elect a president, who could serve the people with absolute honesty, integrity and servitude.

The populace expect a future president to pronounce clearly, boldly and specifically as to what he would do about the major problems facing the country and its people.

But in Sri Lanka(SL), during the past 50 years, we had junk leadership that was unwilling to boldly pronounce specific solution to address the legitimate rights of the people of North East(NE), for self governance, and geuinely lead the Sinhalese people to solve the problem.

This undemocratic and racist approach caused violence, armed resistance and a brutal war. Peace was absent since 1972. Now, the time has come for the people to throw away this approach into the backyard of their lives.

In any true democracy, the future has no room for the mistakes of the past. The voters desire an innovative leadership, openness and specifics. General statements such as “the parliament will decide on matters of NE” or “I will speak to the LTTE” indicates that the candidate himself is undecided, shaky and dubious lacking character, will and leadership to resolve the matter.

Likewise, a political party that says it will form a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution for SL, is not pragmatic enough in its approach for peace. It is unwilling to correct the past mistake of a “Unilateral constitution” that has created Sinhala Buddhist totalitarianism in SL.

All the voters, whether Muslims, Tamils or Sinhalese, must agree therefore, to vote in unision, for an open candidate with character, who will ask the UN to use its expertise to draft a new constitution, that would embody human rights and comply with the UN conventions.

The voters must not fret away or quit. They must stand and stand firmly to bring this true democratic change. The leadership of the past 50 years who made this country get stuck in the rot should be thrown away into the waste bins of history.

If we are committed to love and peace, and decide to text to a friend “work for peace with love for all” we will surely take an extra step of determination.

Then, we will be firmly committed to principles and not politicians. We will surely win peace for our island.

Gamini W said,

December 4, 2009 @ 4:57 pm

Current plight of Sri Lanka is well documented in this article. Very unbiased and a genuine article. I agree, unless the masses carefully analyze the situation and vote for the correct candidate, the country’s future is in jeopardy.

yapa said,

December 4, 2009 @ 6:04 pm

Dear Sam Thambipillai;

In your post of December 4, 2009 @ 2:41 pm you were suggesting about to get the expertise of the UN to draft a new constitution.

But why do we need another constitution? According to my knowledge your post itself is a constitution. Isn’t it?

The main problem facing this country has been such undue demands/orders by various parties.You think Sinhalese people should change but not you and whom you represent?

Do you think being a minority is a privileged to make undue demands?

Do you think the suggestions posed by you above are tolerable to any country, leave aside SL?
You are suggesting things that are against the interest of reconciliation of this country. You are praying for harm to this country. Do you want same calamity to be repeated? Don’t you think we should put a full stop to this unwanted quarrel between ourselves?

Don’t ask for the found of flesh. Please be sensible.

You must have heard Aristotle has said, ” Justice is the bond of that keeps society together. If justice is denied, revolt is the result.” Injustice either by majority or minority should not be tolerated.

Pearl Thevanayagam said,

December 5, 2009 @ 2:31 am

Let us be honest about one thing. Starting from the blanket media censorship on July 24, 1983, the executive Presidents have succeeded in muzzling the media.

This was a dangerous precedent in that underground media was able to speculate rather than tell the truth as it is. So, In a sense the government spawned conspiracy theories much to the detriment of its own eforts at bringing a semblance of peace to the country.

This also spawned a cottage industry in the form of NGOs.

I will not go so far to say the that successive powers wanted to eliminate Tamils.

But the fact they were paranoid about the international media getting to know the truth which was that the govts in power willfully allowed mobs to intimidate, threaten and annihilate Tamils due to a three member cabinet ministers’ frenzied nationalism in JR regime, namely the late Gamini Dissanayake, Cyril Matthew and of course the Tamil IGP Rudra Rajasingam who wanted to hold onto his position come what may.

The IGP had powers vested in him to declare curfew as soon as the govt orchestrated mobs targeted Tamils in the South.

But he was only interested in his entrenched position with the govt. Not unlike many of our Tamil politicians and judges including Palakidnar who would sell their souls for a piece of land and house in Dehiwela as Chandrika gave him post 1994 elections.

Tamils were not let down by the Sinhalese. Their enemies are within their own community. Should I elucidate and count Anandasangaree, Siddharthan, Douglas, Karuna and Pillayan.

Now it is a field day for conflict resolutinists, peacemakers and many tother NGOs who would shamelessly forage the Tamil predicament in the IDP camps and the international NGOs woud buy them line, hook and sinker.

[Edited out - racism and mindless slander are not tolerated on Groundviews.]

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