Is The 21st Amendment Dead On Arrival?

By Vishwamithra –MAY 29, 2022

“Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.” ~ Bertrand Russell, Why Men Fight

Sunrise on the Galleface Green is not as spectacular as sunset. It is the essential distinction between the West and the East. Man rises to another day in his life with sunrise. When he is deprived of the delight and splendor of the intrinsic enchantment of a ballet, which sunrise usually is in the East, his morning’s enthusiasm and energy has every misfortune to turn into uncertainty and anxiety.

However, sunset on the Green is totally different poetry in celestial movement. The kaleidoscopic display in the distant horizon could mesmerize even the most poised and becalmed mind in a Vedic trance, driving it to the ends of physical pleasure and joy. This natural flow of the universe may well be playing its repetitive choreography day after day, yet man’s pursuit towards a dynamic equilibrium in his chosen life has not been consummated. Nor will it ever be the quintessential achievement of man for he is never contended with what he is and what he has. As Pearl S Buck, the Noble laureate, said: ‘when man demands no more the earth too shall die’.

Today’s Galleface Green, Aragalapitiya, is poised in between these two natural phenomena of the universe. In the wee hours of the morning it is silent, calm and forlorn, but not deserted. Yet the crowds that gathered at the beginning of the Aragalaya movement, almost one and half months ago, to demand change and total transformation from a rotting status quo, look utterly tired and fatigued. The initial passion and gusto of a movement led by the youth of the day seem to be fading away. The numbers are declining although the need and necessity for such change and transformation remain just the same or even more so now.

The usual letdowns, betrayals and retreats have had their nasty fallouts. Encounters with the law and physical conflicts with the law keepers have had their consequential effects. Absence of political leadership, which appeared at the outset as a sign of things to dawn, is now having its reverse effects. No political movement in human history has succeeded without sound and decisive leadership; Napoleon, Lenin, Mao, Ho Chi Min and Castro all succeeded in their respective ventures because they lent their selfless leadership to their respective movements. Events that cascaded in the wake of success of each of those revolutions is another matter altogether. Leave that to historians, super-grade storytellers who are experts in hindsight-analysis.

Nonetheless, reviewing the stories and events that followed the encirclement of Gota’s residence on April 3rd is not a very challenging task. But what’s consuming all matters in the end is not fatigue and exhaustion; it is that intrinsic quality of all humanity, ravenousness and avarice which seem to be unquenchable and insatiable. It is indeed tragic that all our mainstream political leaders have succumbed to this dreaded trait.

On the other hand, what commenced as a selfless struggle for law and order, for justice, social integrity, negation of nepotism and political reform cannot be allowed to fade into history without achieving its desired results. If that were to occur, it will be a great misfortune.

Nevertheless, after the Rajapaksas were subjected to crippling inactivity during the first three to four weeks of the struggle, a flurry of activities drew more than cursory attention of all following the infamous attack by the Mahinda Rajapaksa-hooligans who suddenly decided to unleash their own venom and hatred on the Aragalapitiya. What followed had the effects of semi-insurrection dimensions covering almost the entire country. The spontaneous reaction to the Galleface attack had its two-faced consequences. It frightened the government politicians and also triggered a fuse that was kept so concealed in the psyche of the protesters.

The social media and its thrust into the mindset of the average Sri Lankan voter continued its incessant inroads to reveal a tale that is more than a mere display of the wild side of anarchism. Yet the decline of passion and its spellbinding elements amongst those who still were engaged in the ‘Aragalaya’ assumed more than palpable proportions. This is the space the governing men were waiting for- amongst whom was Ranil Wickremesinghe whose appointment as Prime Minister, as successor to Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Godfather of the current socioeconomic and political debacle.

Overnight the subject of conversation shifted from sloganeering at the Aragalapitiya to whispers inside the Cabinet Room. While the conventional media resorted to its characteristic hobnobbing with nuanced aspects of governance and its operational subtleties, the shrewd and cunning politicos indulged willy-nilly in bartering their falsely-assumed respect for a ticket to the halls of power. Passion, enthusiasm, steadfast belief in a fresh approach and a fresh school of thought of politics flew out the window. Instead of ruthlessly pursuing the original ideals of the Aragalaya, even those who were most ardently participating in a looming revolution-like uprising, began their futile discussions on matters of Cabinet appointments and lubricating of the cogs in a stagnant and un-turning government wheels.

All eyes and ears were riveted to the proceedings in Parliament. Television medium spent so much of its time on interviewing those so-called hopefuls for Cabinet posts and the same old patterns assumed their uneven fox-trotting.

In the midst of this wildness and loss of acute attention to details and macro-portrait of the need of the hour, the 21st Amendment to our Constitution lost its glimmer and significance. Gota-go-Gama and Mina-go-Gama were founded on the premise of the 21st Amendment. Abolition of Executive Presidency and removal of Mahinda Rajapaksa from the post of Prime Minister were the most appealing demands of the Aragalapitiya. With the other crook, Basil Rajapaksa having resigned from his post of Finance Minister, the exit of Gotabaya and Mahinda was of paramount importance in the minds of the Youth.

Read More