Piyal Samarakone

The political twist which is being taken place perhaps never contemplated by anyone even in their wildest dreams, yet all set to unfold the biggest political drama of our time and itƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s not about color of the factions but mere characters.

Which one? And why? The questions will be answered by the mass-jury in a little more than a monthƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s time. The verdict will depend on the bona fide of the characters who are vying for the throne thus convincing has become the biggest challenge for both camps.

Why it is so hard to convince people especially for the experienced camp? If the proven track record is good and sound which favors the general masses, it would not be so difficult. Invariably, most of the good news comes at the eleventh hour to please the masses this is the undisputed conventional political theory of Sri Lanka.

Never in the history most of our leaders thought about ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-do what is rightƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ unfortunately they see as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-it is right what they doƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ this policy is nothing new for the public they wonder each time how their one time deity becomes a nemesis as time goes.

Therefore seeking public mandate has become a daunting task each time and to convince general public saying that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-yes I can transform once again and can become a messiah to all of youƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.

If our leaders can abide by the simple theory of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-say what you can doƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ in plain language and believe in ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-itƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s easier said than doneƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ can be very healthy for the leader as well as for the country. Perhaps Sri Lanka is one of those rare countries where famous remark made by Mr. P.T Barnum a friend of President Lincoln has no validity, for our leaders do not need extra efforts to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-fool people all the timeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ although Barnum said you can do that only once. From politicians perspective itƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s a fair game as color-loved masses ready to be out of the fool proof net. Hence our leaders win but masses fail, yet it takes too long to realize that they are really failed.

Present scenario has a new dimension as the debutant in politics come into the forefront of the arena. One can call him ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-cleanƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ at least for the moment, the dilemma is whether he has the will to maintain carte blanche or he is too simply one of them. Perhaps majority of the citizens are not clearly divided but showing they are politically stranded and confused, or they woo to adopt wait and see policy at least for the present.

Nevertheless, for the country good governance sans corruption is paramount and need of the hour immaterial of which quarter or which color it represents. The time is more than appropriate to recall what Premier Deng Xiaoping said long before ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-it doesnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t matter if itƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s a black cat or a white cat so long as it catches miceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.

It is very obvious most of us believe cleaning must be done to a greater extent, we need to clear our doubt sooner rather than later whether we trust the slogan of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-letƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s start nowƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ or ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- yes we canƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ . ItƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s yet another gamble which we are forced to take again, we know through experience there is only one thing certain, possibility of hope becoming hopelessness is greater.

If not it will be the second illusion to become a reality in our lifetime, If so, understandably it might consume more precious time than the first yet the value of itƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s out come simply nondescript.