Rigged Democracy & Fiascos

By W. Vishnu Gupta –JUNE 21, 2021

W. Vishnu Gupta

The court jesters

Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler’s minister of propaganda, is often quoted as saying that “if you tell a lie often enough, it becomes the truth.” Apparently, Nazis were masters at propaganda. Sri Lankan politicians most likely unwittingly have adopted the same tactic to deceive the people for a long time. Fortunately, thanks to the advent of social media, the people have come to realize our politicians have been twofaced all these years. There is no society run by Pancha Maha Balavegaya, there is no Dharmista society, there is no government without executive presidency, there is no Chinthana society, Neither Yahapalanaya society nor the sign of Saubagyamath society. All these were lies backed first by state run media and then by media barons sometimes carrying the Buddhist flag. The bottom line is, despite the denials orchestrated by various cabinet ministers, today we are a bankrupt beggar nation among the community of nations. Hence the government is showing the signs of desperation and policy decisions are made in haste.

Shooting from the hip is not expected from a stable government elected by the people for the people. However, this government since coming to power in November 2019 appears to be shooting from the hip when responding to national issues and policy matters hoping to score a success. The classic example is the tabling of the port city bill. Unfortunately, none of the policy implementations have worked satisfactorily, and the government cannot hide behind the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic forever because, the government’s response and the way it dealt with the pandemic has been disastrous and it has exposed all the naked experts, dorks alleged to have joined the party to make a quick buck out of misery, and the docile and flakey intelligence of the policy advisors. Some advisors remind us of the court jesters mentioned in our proud history. According to the reports, it is alleged that these court jesters have made the populous incredibly angry and some leading clerics, civil liberty campaigners and professional bodies have started to challenge the authority and viability of the government and her institutions. The court jesters should have remained in their cocoons made of books and the theoretical world filled with academic debates far removed from reality. The life of how majority of people live below poverty line, cries of mothers struggling to feed their children, and the daily struggles of those farmers responsible for feeding the nation are unfamiliar to these purported intellectuals. It was sickening to watch one of the leading minister’s justification of the decision to import 227 luxury vehicles from Japan for the use of the most detested and depraved lot in the parliament publicly. According to him there are MPs using public transport system mainly busses to attend the work in parliament. He was correct as there have been few alleged criminals, accused of murders, embezzlement and defaming the justice system transported from the prisons to the legislative building in prison busses in recent years. What a surprise, even these alleged criminals were included in the list for luxury cars. Furthermore, while the government ministers are begging donations from wealthy families to buy vaccines, a state-owned newspaper reported that the government sports authorities have taken the following actions to feed a selected few in Tokyo.

“The country is to dole out Rs. 2 million to each of the eight athletes taking part in the Olympic Games in Tokyo. In addition, they will also be paid Rs 8000 for each of the 14 days the Olympics takes place.

The coaches who accompany the players or athletes will receive Rs. 1 million plus the Rs. 8000 a day allowance. It will be the first time that Sri Lanka’s participants at the Olympic Games will be paid just for entering the event irrespective of winning a medal.”

Shooting the messenger is somewhat unwise now. If the above is true and considering the current precarious situation faced by the people, the person responsible for this decision does not understand national priorities, he/she must be suffering from an acute psychiatric disorder and should have been confined in a mental hospital.

Nevertheless, above actions are nothing but insults hurled at the 6,853,698 voters who believed the promise of a flourishing future (Saubagyamath) and brought this government into power because luxury cars for the MPs or doling out public money to the rugby players will not take us to the promised land of prosperity.

The clergies responsible for berating the previous “Yahapalanaya” have begun to search for an alternative solution. So far, not a single formidable foe has appeared to challenge the present regime filled with misfits claiming to be economic and financial connoisseurs. Noticeably, those who campaigned for a “Hitler-like” figure to rule Sri Lanka has gone into hiding, hiatus, or status of oblivion assuming that the voters will be gullible enough to forget and forgive their disingenuous campaign of 2019 when 2024 November arrives. Unfortunately, the opposition in parliament is inept mainly due to lack of cohesiveness in the upper ranks. Also, it is strange that they did not voice any opposition to import of 227 luxury vehicles. SJB has not been able to take the advantage of the weaknesses of the government policies due to lackluster performance of its leader. He has failed to nominate a shadow cabinet to deal with the governing party as seen in other democratically ruled countries in the world. Perhaps he does not understand the role of opposition in the parliament. Moreover, the word “delegation” seems to be missing from his vocabulary and it adds credence to media reports about an internal revolt in the party. The impending return of another depraved figure in Sri Lankan polity to the parliament as a national list MP seem to signal worst is yet to come. For some bizarre reasons, the Sri Lankans especially Sinhalese Buddhists appear to love misery more than any other ethnic group on earth.

Read More