| by Gamini Weerakoon
( October 28, 2012, Colombo, Sri
Lanka Guardian) Aesop, a slave in Grecian times, is attributed to be the
originator of many of the fables, which we still hear of and read, and more
importantly, the sayings that have come down the ages.
 |
The time is ripe for an opposition force to strike hard at the Rajapaksa political machine, which has begun to stumble. |
‘United we stand; divided we
fall’, is said to be the inspired utterance of Aesop who probably would have
been exhorting his fellow slaves on how to rid themselves of the yoke of
slavery of their imperious masters. This wisdom has trickled down the ages to
the present day where the downtrodden still reiterate the saying in times of
desperation.
In Sri Lanka you will still hear
this Aesopian wisdom of unity in times of adversity being quoted in various
places such as in parliament, business chambers, rural development societies,
high society clubs on the verge of self exposure and of course on public
platforms where day in and day out we are told of the importance of national
unity, if Sri Lanka is to ‘progress’.
National Unity?
National unity is a sacred cow
which none of us dare to lock horns with. But even though the call for national
unity has been uncontested since the days of Independence, we are as communally
divided as ever before.
Sri Lankan leaders are wily. Our
leaders shout from the rooftops those sagacious words, which if we follow,
would land us in a soup. Most of our
leaders cry out aloud for exhortation of these noble principles by suckers who
are likely to fall into a soup.
The recent call for a rally to by
a united opposition to meet the political juggernaut of the Rajapaksa clan is
our example of this call for unity.
If democracy is to survive
anywhere under any regime an effective opposition is a sine qua non. Today, Sri
Lanka’s democracy is in shambles. Because opposition parties are at each
other’s throats there is virtually no effective opposition and the Rajapaksa
juggernauts rolls through smashing anything and everything before them.
The call for national unity by a
bhikku organization and the poor response exposed this sham for national unity.
There was Sarath Fonseka on the platform standing like a mighty Jak tree
swaying in the monsoonal winds and rain with some bhikkus but opposition
political leaders were no where in sight Karu Jayasuriya, the undecided,
was supposed to be there as the master of ceremonies but he had excused himself
at the last moment. The UNP leader and leader of the Opposition Ranil
Wickremesinghe had declared war much earlier on his fellow party members and
threatened them with dire consequences if they were in attendance. Sajith
Premadasa and his NATO alliance – No Action Talk Only – too had given notice
that they would not be there .So were members of the JVP and anyone of
political note.
To an impartial observer it would
have appeared that the Aesopian principle was being observed in the converse:
Divided we stand, united we fall.
Apparently the impression has
been created that this was an attempt by Sarath Fonseka to usurp the position
of the leader of a common opposition front when others who consider themselves
to be leaders of their parties want to take over the mantle of the common
opposition leader.
Sarath Fonseka who was just a few
days in politics after he had shed his military uniform became the opposition
presidential candidate at the last presidential election when it appeared that
all others would not stand a snowball’s chance in hell after the victory over
the LTTE which Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed to be his. Fonseka did fairly well
considering the state the opposition was in at that time and paid the penalty
of being later imprisoned on various charges.
Ranil Wickremesinghe had polled
48.43 percent of the vote against Mahinda Rajapaksa’s 50.3 percent in 2005 and
could have even done better had the Tamil parties expected to back him not
pulled the rug from under his feet. But at the last presidential election he
was in horse-racing parlance, a non starter. Sajith Premadasa is still a
political filly trying to win the Derby. The JVP has lost its ‘Galkatas’ as
well as political power but remains an effective agitprop force particularly in
the trade union field.
Missed opportunity
What a glorious chance it would
have been if those like Ranil Wickremesinghe with prominent UNPers like Karu
Jayasuriya, Rukman Senanayake, Gamini Jayawickreme Perera, Sajith Premadasa,
Sarath Fonseka, the JVP leadership like Somawansa Amarasinghe and Tilvin Silva,
together with well known bhikkus appeared on a common platform not to elect an
opposition leader but as a joint opposition political force in the making. A
political opposition was the objective of the meeting Sarath Fonseka had said.
The time is ripe for an
opposition force to strike hard at the Rajapaksa political machine, which has
begun to stumble. The high cost of living, particularly the pangs of hunger are
wearing away the glories in the battlefield. The mighty edifices like cricket
stadiums, non-functional airports and barely functional harbours, rubberized
roads etc. are no answers to the increased cost of living. Strikes by
university dons, now the doctors and the demand of trade unions for salary
hikes as much as Rs. 13,000 a month are making severe dents in the once
invincible Rajapaksa armour. Galloping foreign debt and a drop in exports are
having an impact on the economy. Imported cars are being reshipped because of
increased taxes. People fear the usual post budget taxes. The Rajapaksa regime
is stumbling in other fields as well. Thuggery has gone out of control,
conflict with the judiciary and stock market scandals are all gathering a
destructive political potential. What a better time could an Opposition have?
Yet, the so-called opposition
leaders are squabbling and the Rajapaksa clan is getting away with it.
The least the fractured
opposition can do is to try to regroup again under the patronage of the bhikkus
and get an opposition going.
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