Political biohazards

“These thoughts bring us back to the theme of Political Biohazards. The greatest political hazard is the nightmare of a nut or a loose cannon (the human kind of course) reaching the top through electoral muck-work or the easy availability of hereditary lunching pads. Such characters can always ‘bend’ the constitution to suit needs and desires stemming from personal vainglory rather than the pressing needs of a nation in distress.”
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by Leo Panthera

(April 06, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The linking of the modern word ‘biohazard’ with the ancient and messy business of politics may strike most readers as being singularly inapposite - one thinks of environmental pollutants and endangered species in the one case while the other is certainly hazardous but biology seems to be a remote contender for importance. This is doubtless true if one thinks of Dinosaurs, DNA and such like as being the exclusive province of biology. But we humans are also biological systems of great complexity and it cannot be denied that much of the funny stuff that our bipedal species is renowned for is underwritten by unique features of its biological organization.

Take the complex game of politics: all will agree that the psychology of the player (which is an aspect of brain-function) is more important than the structure of the game itself - the rules of play. This feature contrasts starkly with what is observed in conventional games involving human players. In a game of cricket, does it really matter whether the fast bowler is a victim of the Oedipus Complex or that the wicket-keeper has occasional bouts of Paranoid Hallucinations? As long as the chap is deemed fit to remain outside an asylum for the insane, his prowess in the game has no discernible relationship to the anomalies of his psychic functioning. In Sri Lanka at least, it seems perilous to ignore this disparity between the two kinds of ‘game’.

There is no need to remind readers that the worthy citizens of our troubled country are all agog with news of a New Constitution that is bruited about by persons on high as the sure cure for the cankers and malignancies that currently erode the soul of our nation. This shiny new constitution (let us suppose the formidable obstacles to its legal enactment melt away) gives only the ‘rules of the game’. Does it say anything about the ‘players’ apart from the trite and obvious assumption that humans (and not donkeys) from Sri Lanka are the lawful participants in the game? Does it specify that the Head of State should be certified clear of Phobias and Delusions of Grandeur? Those inured to styles of thinking based on Western Legal Fiction may find this line of approach bizarre.

Constitutions round the world incorporate a hidden premises - that the human ‘operators’ of these gubernatorial devices belong to what mathematicians call an ‘equivalence class’ - they are all creatures of God with all the wisdom and foresight that this divine connection entails. This is arrant hogwash.

Apart from the fact that our species brutally manifests many of the ape-like qualities of its forebears, there is an incontestable biological factor of genetic variance - both individual and racial. A Constitution which works beautifully for the phlegmatic Pale-Faces in the colder parts of the world may turn out to be an awful flop when transferred to the hot and humid tropics where the political tribe is known for its volatile and impetuous behaviour. Unlike cricket (and other ball-games where near-universal physical skills are involved) the game of politics is strongly rooted in the cultural orientation and genetic heritage of the participants.

Let us digress briefly to reinforce this point that the ‘biology’ of the individual is the pivotal factor in what may be described as the ‘working life’ of a constitution. JRJ (the late President) was an able and dedicated human being with certain inbuilt dispositional flaws that many would regard as unsavoury - an endless craftiness that mocked the high office he held. The popular understanding is that the working of the ‘JR Constitution’ - its manifest defects - reflect weaknesses in the legal structure of this all-important framework of governance. This is not true. It is the inherent biology of the man that shaped thing in ways that most would regard as unfortunate. He was an elitist who cared little for the Sinhala-Buddhist masses of this country. Indeed, he regarded Sri Lanka as an appendage of mighty India and his obsequiousness to the haughty emissary of that land revealed the depths of his alienation from the mainstream culture of Sri Lanka. For this catastrophic misfortune, is it the so-called ‘bahubootha’ constitution that must be blamed? Is it not the catenation of genes, the elitist cultural milieu in which the man was nurtured and the neural networks of his peculiar brain that must be held responsible?

The point I wish to get across is that a constitution is as good as the mind-set of the key individuals that enjoy the panoply of power. When a ‘new’ constitution is in the throes of gestation, the first thought of those privileged to be its draftees must take the form of a question - What kind of man (or woman) will be the boss? Mr. D. B. Wijetunga was a compassionate and caring individual - an exemplary Sinhala-Buddhist. Did not that selfsame ‘bahubootha‘ constitution work wondrously well during his brief tenure of office? He was, of course the great exception. His predecessor - RP - was a study in psycho-biological confusion. His dedication and strong sense of discipline was intermixed with an entire gamut of baffling infirmities that nagged him incessantly - ranging from superstitious fear of blackmagic to an all-pervading feeling of class-inferiority. His brief period of stewardship reflected the inner tumult that consumed the man.

The horrendous disarray that we find ourselves in at the beginning of the new millennium is part of an ongoing saga in many ‘acts’ and it would be foolish (and premature) to speak of defining causes. Nevertheless, the ‘establishment belief’ that the bahubootha constitution is the prime cause of our misery must be dismissed out of hand. There is charisma and chemistry (more exactly, the lack of these precious ingredients) that contribute to the poor state of play in a land that excels in cricket but sinks to depths of buffoonery in politics. The issue of ‘lese majesty’ (injured sovereignty) makes it hazardous for any comment to be made about the psychology of the ‘superstars’ among the ball-players engaged in the confused political game that is currently in progress. Nevertheless, who can deny that the neural overrides the legal in the thrust and parry of the political jousting that the entire nation watches with bated breath?

One reflects with bemused wonder on the report that ‘foreign experts’ are to be called in to advise learned locals on the finer points of constitution-making. Is there any shortage of hairsplitting (and tongue-wagging) lawyers in this country? Some would say that there are already too many of this pestiferous species in high places and that migrants from exotic lands would make the already rotten ‘kandhaheliya’ of constitution-making an unredeemable and reeking mess.

The real need is for political psychologists - an uncommon breed, not only in Sri Lanka but also in the rest of the world. What we see both locally and globally is the incapacity of the flawed human spirit to cope with problems of a complexity unheard of in past ages. The mechanism for selecting the man must have the highest priority while the so-called ‘Letter of the Law‘ must be relegated to the lowly status of a subservient mechanism at the command of the sane and gifted ruler.

These thoughts bring us back to the theme of Political Biohazards. The greatest political hazard is the nightmare of a nut or a loose cannon (the human kind of course) reaching the top through electoral muck-work or the easy availability of hereditary lunching pads. Such characters can always ‘bend’ the constitution to suit needs and desires stemming from personal vainglory rather than the pressing needs of a nation in distress. If things are really hot they may call for major amendments or even a wholly new constitution. The problem is biological - not legal. For this kind of ‘biohazard’ there is no easy remedy except through a revolution in the structure of social relationships including a drastic weakening of the master-servant (or boss-underling) power structure that is so striking a feature of our society. That the latter has infected political organizations to the detriment of their free functioning as democratic entities is a fact obvious to all close observers of Sri Lankan affairs. Politics rotate round the Big Boss. This malaise of governance cannot be easily cured and we must (unhappily) prepare ourselves for further rounds of political chaos and military debacles. We need Periclean Wisdom - not legal expertise - to govern well.

- Sri Lanka Guardian