Our Duty; For All Sri Lankans Living Outside Sri Lanka

By Chinthaka de Silva -

Chinthaka De Silva

Less than 24 hours to go to bring about the change that whole of Sri Lanka needs with a new political culture that can represent all communities in an equitable and just society be it; Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Malay and Burgers. 8^th of January 2015, two years before the due date of the presidential election, all Sri Lankans are presented with the opportunity to reverse the current political culture rampant with all misdeeds.

As you may be aware Sri Lanka is the oldest democracy in South Asia. Through the “donoughmore commission” in 1931, it enables the general elections. Sri Lanka was the first nonwhite country within empires of Western Europe, which was one man, one vote and power to control domestic affairs.

Today we have a duty to educate our friends and family who lives in Sri Lanka to use their voting power on the 8^th of January 2015 (Thursday) for a true change. Sri Lankans living abroad are better informed and should use this opportunity to inform your friends and family back home.

Today our parents, family members and friends have fallen to dire economic hardships, our brothers and sister’s education system has failed up to university education. This is the only opportunity to exercise their voting right intelligently and to bring about the change our mother Lanka needs. If we failed to do so Sri Lanka will fall under a dictator for the foreseeable future.

Just to remind you the lost opportunity of this current regime to address the grievances of the masses on their fundament societal needs; food, health, and education and to manage the cost of living. What they address was mega projects of white elephants to the society. Burdening with more borrowings and increase taxes on the basic household necessities, to recover and service the debts of current regime borrowings. Today the rule of law is broken down by nepotism and family rule rampant with corruption all over Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka has a long-standing history of international engagements with United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, G77, non-align movement and SAARC. Today as a country we are isolated from international community for contradictory actions by the current regime in UN and with Western states.

Very recently this regime failed to send a team of expert to contest and mitigate the lifting of LTTE ban by European courts. This regime was quick to put the blame on the opposition leader and within hours of the court ruling all mud posters island wide went up directing blame on the opposition leadership due to inaction from the regime.

We must ask the President, why he did not intervene in the European Union case as the Sri Lankan government did not come forward even though the Opposition leader was in possession of a copy of the case file? This issue was raised on 27^th October 2014 by Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe to-date this regime has failed to inform the public why they failed to take action.

In order to gain the respect of the international engagement and to restore democracy we need this change with a new political culture by moving out of party politics.

No democracy is perfect and there are honest and rouge politicians everywhere. If you ignore to vote or casting a protest vote only relinquishes control to current regime. On average, these protest votes have the potential to change, I especially urge all parties under the Democratic National Front not to waste this opportunity to make a vital change due to indifference or pessimism.

Once again for all Sri Lankans living elsewhere, it is our duty to inform all Sri Lankans friends and family to use their vote intelligently. The gift of democracy has the right to be chosen by the people, for the people, to the people. All citizens right to vote should respect the gift of democracy and this will be the last chance of your basic right and to unite Sri Lanka after the civil war in a true sense.