Swan song of political parties in Sri Lanka?

By JAYASRI PRIYALAL-December 3, 2018, 9:31 pm 

Representative democratic systems were driven by the political parties symbolized under different icons. Symbols were chosen by various political parties to signifying the strength, social concerns and purpose of their existence to link up with the electorate as a brand. Lions, Tigers and Elephants have been political icons in Sri Lanka for quite some time, but buffaloes, cows, donkeys and horses were not chosen as symbols to represent political parties in Sri Lanka although these animals have contributed heavily improving the quality of life in our societies.

The symbol of "SWAN" appeared in the last two presidential elections held in Sri Lanka in 2009 and 2015. Have the political parties in Sri Lanka started to sing the swan songs? The recent political turmoil unraveled in the country since 26th October 2018 events, and subsequent dramas in the parliament displayed by the unruly legislators, affirms that political parties have lost their prominence, relevance and proven ineffectuality in leading a government. First of all, none of the parties has the vision to mobilize people’s soverign rights to take the country to a new development path. Many of the political party leaders lack leadership. Instead, they prefer to operate in cults, surrounded with corrupt henchmen. By hook or by crook they want to hang on to power to benefit from the vast political economy.

In Sri Lanka the wasteful, parallel administration structures including the parliament have turned into an industry to provide employment opportunities for kith and kin of the polticians, with excessive perks and benefits at the expense of the poor tax payers. These structures are extractive; as such socio-economy centered inclusive growth cannot be realized with the current systemic deficiencies. In the current digital disruptions in the era of a new technoculture democratic disruptions are also becoming quite common.

All political parties across the representative democracies are operating beyond their expiary dates, and it is not unique to Sri Lanka. An alternative structure with innovative strategies compatible with the accelerating digital era is necessary to shape the cherished democratic values for the greater good of the people. Direct or participatory democractic systems as an alternative to the representative model are now being contemplated. It appears that with the mobile, easy to use information technology attach greater value on connectivity than sovereignty of the nations.

As such people express hope on principles of participatory democracy and rallying around popular PLATFORMS instead of political parties. The recent electoral tsunamis resulting from mega power shifts away from the traditional political parties in Pakistan and Malaysia is a good indicator of the new trend.

From the USA to Japan in many democracies, popular-will, of the people is not the sovereign mandate of the governments in power. It is clearly visible that all these great democracies are fast becoming oligarchs. Nobel laurete Prof. Joseph Stiglitz defines the neo-democracy as governance of the 1% by the 1% for the 1%. The one percentage is the superrich privileged class who are fighting to seek the political power to fight to secure space for immortality. The remaining rest, the 99%, are the sandwiched class with the ballot in hand, often sidelined as there are clear representative deficiencies in the electoral systems to influence policy formulations to narrow economy wide inequality, not limited to income and wealth but on other essentials in society, health and education services as well.

There is no exception in Sri Lanka too, when one carefully analysed the congregation of the privileged class as people’s representatives trying to deceive the electorate to get elected through skewed electoral system use all their power and influence at will, to extract all the benefits for their businesses; hence, people are expressing less faith in the current representative democratic systems. The system works well for the majority of the politicians whichever the party they belong. Unfortunately, the majority of citizens feels the systemic failure which is ineffective in uplifting their quality of life, and not working for them.

The Perpetual loot of the Employees Provident Fund, the worker's compulsory savings chanelling towards unviable, non-commercial mega projects, and abusing the same fund through the Central Bank Bond scam is one classic example from Sri Lanka, to prove the oligarchic shift that is taking place in the flawed representative democratic system. Political leaders clad in brilliant white national costumes and the others those who are clad in European suits in different shades have connived handsomely, from both major political parties to the black and white loot. It is also from the ongoing Presidential Commisions of Inquiry, how the ministers abused authority to appoint henchmen to financial institutions where there are regular cash flaws, to set the process, robbing banks from inside, including the Central Bank.

Do Swans remain mute throughout their lifetime and start to sing only when they reach the last stages of life? Scientifically it is not the case, but literally from the times of Shakespeare our perceptions are such. All perceptions are not realities, from markets to ideologies. I wonder whether constitutions and the institutions are caught up in the perceptual myths of the politicians in power in Sri Lanka causing the current turmoil? Sri Lankans are confused between crooks and criminals, piety and wisdom, similar to ill-conceived concepts and visions. Swans have disappeared soon after the two presidential elections, paving the way for greedy canines.