By Jagath Asoka –
Dr Jagath Asoka
I am certain that most Sri Lankans are not happy with the current political situation. The crooks and frogs who were defeated and rejected are back as cabinet ministers, and the ostensible excuses given were: To make a stable government; to unite Sri Lanka against any imminent international pressure. I am certain that the world is not mourning the decline of dictators, and Sri Lankans just got rid of a “potential dictator.” However, now, it seems like Sri Lanka is on a path to dictatorship without a dictator.
The promises that were made just before January 2015 have disappeared without a trace; the numbers—promise to appoint only 30 cabinet ministers—that were flaunted were multiplied without any shame; intrepid, honest politicians who worked hard were pushed aside and defeated asinine, belligerent crooks and frogs were appointed as cabinet ministers. Who are the morons who appointed this cabinet? Our rotten politicians have created a system to maintain the status quo, a system that ensures their own survival and well-being; it seems like this “good governance,” “national government,” is just a façade for their own survival. The hoi polloi would kill, burn, and stab each other to make their politicians victorious, while sleazy, unctuous politicians clink whisky glasses, pat each other, and take bribes. Sri Lankans, when are you going to believe what you see with your own eyes?
What would have been the outcome if people had known what these politicians had concocted to maintain the status quo? It seems like people cannot win even when they have chosen wisely.
Do you expect these old crooks to resurrect themselves as Gandhis, Mandelas, and Lincolns? Well, it seems like you have to wait for another five years to kick the crooks and frogs out; but it does not matter, because cronies of these crooks and frogs will make them parliament members, and they do not need your consent. In Sri Lanka, democracy has a new definition: People elect representatives so that the elected representatives can appoint the defeated cronies to bludgeon the people. It seems like that we have chosen a dictatorship instead of a dictator, after listening to what we wanted to hear from them, thinking that they would keep their promises. They have put all of you in a monkey-cage and will run the circus for another five years until you feel dizzy—like fish caught in a tsunami—by their political prestidigitations.
Are there any Sri Lanka politicians who have demonstrated the ability to make bold, difficult choices; righted disaster of ethnic disharmony; fended off bigots who seek to derail the progress in economic, social, and ethnic issues? One thing is very clear: the morons who appointed this cabinet are political-eunuchs.
Soon Sirisena will meet with Obama, a pivotal meeting; how is Sirisena going to explain his new cabinet? Mahinda bribed his rivals. How do you explain what Sirisena-Ranil duo has done? An eleemosynary cabinet?
Soon, there will be manifold committees to investigate corruption, financial skullduggery, murder, rape, abduction, torture, etc. You do not have to be Nostradamus to predict the outcome of these committees: Real culprits will never be punished. Sri Lanka is the land of impunity, where politicians flout laws with gusto.
Sri Lankans today enjoy far greater personal freedom than when Rajapaksas were in power. But, it seems like a dictator was replaced by a dictatorship. Sri Lanka has made progress in ending the age of a potential dictator; but, is Sri Lanka, with Sirisena and Ranil, equipped to make difficult decisions, consult with other political parties and ethnic groups, and compromise, in order to come to a consensus: where are we heading? What are we trying to achieve as a nation? Don’t bloviate! First, pick up the garbage! Bloviation without substance won’t do much.
Now that we have seen what politicians can do to maintain the status quo, what are you going to do? You can reject a politician, but he can still come back as a cabinet minister to bludgeon you. What are you going to do about it? It is a historical fact that the leading personalities, not the inert mass, bring forth the liberating and revolutionary deeds of the world. The inner mass can only be prodded into activity by the demagogue. It is the individual who is the carrier of culture, highest virtues, or blackest villainies. We have seen this drama in Sri Lanka, too. Now, the question is who is going to counterbalance these incendiary personalities: the critical reason of somewhat intelligent, sober stratum of the population? Where are they? Watching sleazy tele dramas?
I am certain that most of you are familiar with the concepts of “the dictatorship of the proletariat” or “the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.” Unlike the minority rule in the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, the dictatorship of the proletariat was meant to expand democracy, not to reduce it. What is the meaning of this national government made up of 48 cabinet ministers—the dictatorship of morons—who were rejected by the people? Is this democracy? Is this the best cabinet that Sirisena-Ranil duo can offer? Do you honestly believe that these defeated politicians who were selected as cabinet ministers can sincerely serve Sri Lankans? What about those honest, intrepid politicians who worked hard to defeat these morons; what is their reward? Shut up! Do not disturb Yahapalanaya!
I have never seen a democracy where defeated morons get selected as cabinet ministers while the elected members of the winning side get pushed aside. Now, this is a new phenomenon: it is worse than two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. If you had your druthers, what would you do with these morons, frogs, and the clowns?
Our parliament is adorned by downright morons, frogs, and political-eunuchs. Two cheers for our national government: one because it allows morons, and two because frogs get rewarded! This national government—bludgeoning of the people by the morons and frogs rejected by the people—concretizes one of my long-held beliefs: We shall be governed no better than we deserve.
