Are we as Gullible as our Politicians make us out to be? 

Reggie ponnampalam-June 2, 2018, 8:09

I am not the first to say that it is the politicians who have ruined this country – the President himself made this declaration recently. And the way politicians, their acolytes, henchmen and even family members continue to enrich themselves and impoverish the average citizen, I will not be the last.

While growing up, we had a wide variety of politicians of diverse hues and views visiting our home and imbibing in my Mums ‘Marie’ biscuits and tea, with the occasional "Pol Gaha Yata Kotiya" labeled stuff thrown in by my Dad. They included veterans, stalwarts, wannabe’s and, also-rans. Some went on to become MMC’s, MP’s, Mayors, Ministers and a more. My sister worked at Sri Kotha (it was down a lane in Colpetty then) and my first job happened to be in an office adjacent to the SLFP Headquarters at Darley Road. That too was only a single storey house then. Being physically close to politicians did not in any way bring me close to any of them in any other aspect; I just developed a natural aversion to them. As far as I am concerned, collectively, they ‘developed’ this country to aptly fit Donald Trump’s description of "Shithole Country". People are sometimes categorized as Anti-Semitic. Islam phobic, Anti-Christian, Racist, extremist and a whole lot more. I just detest politicians. Period.

Starting off with whom many describe as the "Father of the Nation", DS caused the rift by wanting Dudley as his political heir, overriding seniors of the caliber of SWRD and Sir John. Although I do agree Dudley was a good person, as a politician he was nowhere as good. Sir John vowed to apply tar on the heads of monks and only achieved being ‘tarred’ with almost obliterating the UNP at the elections. SWRD came up with his "Pancha Maha Balavegaya" and today we have monks who sell their Duty Free permits, ‘graduated’ monks demanding employment (among other things); Farmers who either have not enough water or fertilizer for their crops and, when they do have these, they have no buyers for their harvest; Teachers who are made to kneel before politicians; Workers who cry "Mayday" and take strike action at the slightest provocation, while Mayday has become a political rally; and we have the "Ratay Vedas" who have their own prescription on how a country should be run.

SWRD boldly brought on "Sinhala Only" and today we hear of international aid running into hundreds of millions of dollars to improve English education. Schools were ‘nationalized’ while today there are arguably more "International Schools" than Madhya Maha Vidyalayas. We had the original "Electric Vehicles" – Trolley Buses and Tramcars plying the roads of Colombo, but they just ceased to exist. Bus services were also ‘nationalized’ and we ended up with a "Colossal" Transport Board that, at one time, was reported to have around 20 employees for each bus in service. It’s back to private bus services and it would be interesting if some research is done on how many of these ‘private’ buses are owned by politicians.

The "Suddhas" exploited us over the centuries and we had to become an Independent Republic and we created a "Supreme Parliament". Well and good if it was limited to legislation alone. While we became politically independent, the Judicial Services Commission, Public Service Commission, Police Commission and other hitherto independent bodies just vanished. Parliament and by extension politicians decided on who gets which job and what that job entails. Notably, Policemen ended up taking orders from politicians and, to a great extent, this is one of the fundamental reasons for the prevailing law and order situation we have today. Another notable feature is that "Public Service" became Government Service and political appointees only have to serve their ‘masters’. Sometimes they become as powerful (and as wealthy) as their ‘masters’. On the international ‘catwalk’ we opted for Socialism and Non-Alignment. We even had a taste of what was ‘fashionable’ around Africa and Latin America at that time – an attempt at Bloody Revolution! By the way, Australia and Canada are still "Dominions" of Britain and they are not doing badly at all.

A quick jump to the ‘adharma yugaya’ of Dharmista. Twiddling his thumbs at the corridors of power for decades, JR finds himself thrust into a position of unprecedented power – he has to do the unprecedented – achieve unbridled power. He anointed himself Executive President and declared that the only thing he could not do was to make a man a woman and a woman a man. He did not need to, as he had undated resignations of all who mattered in his hand. There were some fine men and women who were ripped of their backbone. JR didn’t need wealth, he only lusted for power and all he had to do was accede to the virtual institutionalizing of corruption. Increased salaries, allowances and other perks tax free and vehicles duty free. The 30 year Mahaweli Project was telescoped down to five years with the promise that we would be able to export electricity to India. Is it because we are exporting too much electricity that I come across frequent articles warning of a power crisis in the foreseeable future?

Parallel with this was Premadasa’s "Dream on my mind, a house of my own; I’ll make some day my ‘Home Sweet Home’" Million Houses Project - by virtue, a noble concept. Roads were more a necessity than roundabouts and clock towers. Swamps and marshlands were filled, coconut plantations were partitioned out and converted into home plots with the single-minded drive to build houses, houses and more houses. Some of these very houses are now frequently inundated by floods or landslides, (‘Garbage-slides’ included) and the occupants pay a dear price for their coconuts. I happened to see a recent documentary portraying sand as a dwindling resource worldwide and the aqenvironmental effects of uncontrolled sand mining. Who cares? "Umbey katay pus, magey katay mus" –sand in your mouth, beef in mine!

Chandrika comes along breathing fire at "dhooshanaya, bheeshaniya" and ends up being ordered to pay a fine by a court of law – and it was not for ridding the country of the "Bahubootha Viyawasthawa". Her heart-rending tale of woe during her campaign was that she had to sell her family ‘jewels’ to survive. Those jewels sure must have fetched a fancy price as she can now afford to globe-trot on a regular basis.

Mahinda emerges unscathed from ‘helping’ Hambantota, although a Chief Justice has subsequently apologized for the ‘help’ meted out by him. Mahinda’s claim to fame is that he won the war, but did he win the peace? Prabakaran was killed, but was the enemy defeated? Was the LTTE the only enemy? Okay, he’s a hero but do generations have to pay back loans taken for a barely used airport, stadium and conference center to perpetuate his name? How much of an urgent need was the Magampura Rajapakse Port? I wouldn’t consult a dentist who specializes in gift horses, but do I need an optician to tell me I see a Trojan in the Port City Project? Lasantha Wickrematunge, Ekneligoda and Wasim Thajudeen are now dead men – they tell no tales. There’s no denying Mahinda stood by his supporters; he even went to the extent of going by helicopter to rescue one supporter from being arrested by the cops for the trivial offense of drug trafficking and he even had another appointed ‘Monitoring MP’ of the Defense Ministry.

We thought we ushered in a new era but now realize we repeated the same error when we ushered in "Maithree Palanaya" in January 2015. We elected a President and got saddled with a Prime Minister as well. The latest ‘revelation’ is that Maithree had nothing to do with Mahinda being allowed to pack bag and baggage, take with him his choice of vehicles and the helicopter ride back home. We did see processions of petitions, high profile arrests and even a sense of pride in displaying handcuffed hands. Of course we had a guy sentenced by a Court of Law for distributing Sil Redi. Then again, he has a right to appeal and, since the appeal process takes some seven years, he is allowed out on bail. A number of other cases are pending, depending mainly on political circumstances.

The ‘Bond Scam’ was a crime that never happened, (although it recurred) until a Presidential Commission of Inquiry was appointed. Then we came across a Finance Minister, who had just been voted Best Finance Minister in Asia, claiming he did not know who was paying his house rent. The intrigue and payoffs were unraveled and reported. Now, however, a new list of ‘beneficiaries’ is emerging and some are even volunteering information that they have been recipients. Dayasiri claims that it is normal for businessmen to ‘donate’ money to politicians. We all know that prudent businessmen only make investments. Of course, businessmen do make donations to schools, temples, churches and other religious/charitable institutions. This is philanthropy. However, when they dole out money to politicians, they work on the philosophy, "You scratch my back, I scratch yours". There is no such thing as a free lunch.

The tragedy of it all is that now we have no governance to speak of – it is a case of some trying to retain power, some others trying to undermine them, others trying to topple them – the battle is not about development, it is about power. In place of the traditional Parliamentary Debate, we now have accusations, barbs and the crudest form of ‘blame-game’ played at the highest levels. While people are suffering with increases in prices of gas, petrol, kerosene, milk powder and bus fares, some are waiting for power to fall into their laps.

It’s not the faces, it’s the system that should change. Otherwise, we will end up like a typical discussion as follows –

One guy tells the other guy, "Machang, the country has gone to the dogs". The other guy says, "That was long ago Machang. Now, even the dogs are not willing to take it".