A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Reflections On Governance, Politics Of The Bourgeoisie & The Role Of Progressives In 2007
By Siri Gamage –March 21, 2017
Kumar David’s article (Colombo Telegraph, 01.01.2017)
reflecting on events in 2016 points to some of the global challenges
facing us in 2017 and the need for the left to unite if we are to avoid
returning to the ghosts of the past. This is a message – though not
unfamiliar in the annals of Sri Lanka’s political history – which we
need to take seriously in 2017. Constitutional discussions and any moves
made by the government to devolve further powers to the provinces
(justifying the claims of nationalist political forces) have the
potential to derail the whole process and even the very existence of the
SLFP-UNP national government unless handled very carefully. The lack of
a vibrant popular discourse and a popularly understood vision and
justification about the need for constitutional reform can haunt those
leading the process if it hits a snag without being able to muster the
necessary votes in the nation’s parliament.
Given the manner that the joint opposition has evolved to be a
significant political force within and outside the parliament, reducing
public confidence in the government due to factors including the manner
it has handled corruption cases, big government and expensive lifestyles
of the ruling class in a context of severe foreign debt, cost of living
pressures, planned alienation of large tracts of land to a Chinese
company in Hambantota – it is highly likely that there can be defections
from the governing coalition to the joint opposition in 2017. This may
happen before, during, or after the local government elections.
Nonetheless, it will take another year or so for such defections to make
a real impact on the ability for Sirisena- Wickremesinghe government to
govern effectively. It is also possible for defections to occur the
other way at a smaller scale. i.e. from joint opposition to the
government.
What is important to notice is that the joint opposition is building its
political platform again as the protectors of the nation, its
territorial boundaries, Buddhism, and Sinhala people’s rights. This is a
platform that resonates with rural masses and middle to lower class
urban Sinhalese in the South Western belt, Central and North-Central
provinces, Sabaragamuwa etc. Irrespective of corruption charges against
his family, as they have not been proven via a credible legal process
thus far, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is actively rebuilding his
profile and popular persona travelling around the country and abroad.
His constituency in the Sinhalese heartland is likely to accept
symbolism couched in nationalist language plus raw emotions and pardon
him for any past mistakes when the time comes.
In the meantime, ruling politicians from both major parties seem to have
settled into their ministerial and other roles comfortably oblivious to
this evolving trend in the mistaken belief that the public at large is
still with them, and they can hold legitimate power until the next
elections. Until then their main focus seems to be to govern the
country’s affairs with the help of local and foreign technocrats and
bureaucrats. This is visible largely in the economic arena.
It appears that no leader in the present government seems to be able to
generate a national following in the majority Sinhala constituency or
the minority Tamil- Muslim constituencies either in terms of a single
issue of national significance or a set of such issues. They seem to
govern almost by default. If they wanted to organise a national
discourse that has resonance among Sinhala Buddhists and others, they
would have used the language, critique, issues, and constructive
suggestions, espoused by the late Maduluwave Sobhita Thera. But those
associated with the organisation Rev. Sobhita led are leveling charges
against the government for abandoning the principles that he espoused.
How do we understand this conundrum? How do we understand the need for
the left and/or progressives to unite? Whatever the claims and
justifications pronounced by the nation’s leaders, the current alliance
between the SLFP and the UNP is to be understood as ‘a marriage of
convenience’ of the bourgeoisie elements of the ruling class. Beyond
that there is no overarching vision, discourse, language, symbols, or
images that bind those with loyalty to the present government or even
unify them. Some from the educated literati seem to understand the
importance of maintaining loyalty to the present government due to the
manner it came to power two years ago and by comparison to the threats
people faced in their civic life at the time including in human rights
arena. But they seem to be a minority. A government formed by a
bourgeoisie consensus engineered by Chandrika-Sirisena-Wickremesinghe
troika with the technocratic layers and other petty bourgeoisie elements
from the capital city and provinces devoid of a powerful and easily
understood discourse and vision for the future of the country with a
potential to generate a mass following – is destined to unscramble by
its own actions or inactions giving the political and moral advantage to
the joint opposition in coming years. When or if it happens, it will be
too late to address the consequences or indeed the causes of such an
event.
The main political, economic, and social forces behind the government
that I describe as bourgeoisie (capitalist) can be understood by the
terminology of a ruling class. Political leaders are joined by mega
capitalists to achieve economic returns from their activities that
require government sanctioning. In the absence of a true Yahapalanaya,
curtailment of privileges afforded to the ruling class, prosecution and
punishment to those who embezzled public money in the previous
government, what the average citizen sees is only the replacement of one
set of politicians in place of another. In the eyes of the average
citizen, the government and the ruling class seem to have lost their
legitimacy already – though they may enjoy ‘formal power’ for another
few years. It is no surprise that the bourgeoisie come together to
achieve economic and other benefits under any government. What is
surprising is the inability of the left or progressives to come together
for a common cause, vision, and a political platform as Kumar David has alluded to. David has followed up with further articles on this subject in Colombo Telegraph (e.g. CT March 19, 2017).
Common Platform for the left and progressives
What should be the defining features of their political platform? Around
which issues should they come together? Here I identify several of
these issues that can form the basis for a common political platform.