Janaki Chandraratna

It is that time of the year that many people make resolutions to overcome the adversities of the previous year. I would like to limit this summation to two basic areas that have taken the country down a slippery path from been one of the fastest growing economies in Asia, with a growth of 8% of GDP, to the current growth of 2-3% GDP, a near bankruptcy, within a span of two years.

Whilst there are many reasons for the above scenario I would like to focus firstly, on the President’s courageous decision to force a union between the SLFP (defectors from the SLFP party election manifesto) and the UNP to form a ‘National Government’. In fact the President was recommending the formation of a national government to other countries in the region.

National governments are generally formed to counter a single or a few national emergencies. British National Government led by Sir Winston Churchill to win the 2^nd World War is an example. The union was defeated at the end of war as the need to continue the national government was no more. In fact, history is full of instances where coalitions of disparate political parties had coalesced to form national governments and frizzled out with the completion of the tasks in hand for the coalition. The President’s yearning for a national government can be due to the non-understanding of the demands of a national union. The continuous union of disparate parities like the SLFP and the UNP, with policies at the extreme ends of the political ideology, cannot be envisaged to be a success. When these parties could not join to front up to the terrorist war, it would have to be a miracle to have a successful union in times of peace. The only plausible factor is the President’s ascension was due to UNP support.

We have already seen the ill effects of this National Union in the economic degradation and political instability of the past year. The president was confronted with conflicts of interest when resolving matters of national interest by hanging on to the leadership of the SLFP and simultaneously beleaguered to implement UNP policies that are seen detrimental to the country according to SLFP policies. Even the President would have come to the conclusion by now that one cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hound! The first resolution in the new-year therefore needs to be a solution to this issue of forced national government, in order to move forward.

The second misfortune that was highlighted in many forums is the educational qualifications of politicians in the current parliament. It is said that many parliamentarians did not have GCE Advanced Level qualification and several are without year 10 qualifications. The reason for this predicament in part can be due to the reluctance of educated middle class taking to politics during the 30-year terrorist war period. It is no wonder that the Prime Minister had to mention that he was not referring to James Bond’, when explaining the issues relating to Treasury bond securities. The lack of an educated parliament is a challenge to any country, more so to a country like Sri Lanka that boasts of a high literacy rate.

The lack of a basic education has a cumulative effect on any individual in government executive positions as it leads to a non-understanding of important issues such as the economic forces at play for financial and commercial development of the country, the principles of democracy, governance, and compliance requirements for law and order. This indeed can be a reason for government parliamentarians are blindly supportive of measures that are inimical to the country.

We have seen many instances where astute parliamentarians have taken advantage of the naivety of others in getting through bills without much debate or discussion. The bill for the Office of Missing Persons is an example.  Many parliamentarians and for that matter parts of the media too are not fully aware of its contents to this day. The Central Bank fraud is another example where alleged perpetrators are still in the government business despite report after report confirming the need for a judicial intervention.

It is time this fundamental issue is resolved in 2017 by setting up a minimum practical education standard for politicians for future elections. Measures need to be taken to assist those politicians who are currently in parliament to comprehend the gamut of good governance. Attendance at a crash course in basic economics, principles of good governance, democracy, law and order needs to be made compulsory to all politicians who lack tertiary educational qualifications. A course on AR and FR would be a good start in the New Year. Steps should also be taken to ensure that politicians are penalized for non-compliance with the law, as it is critical to stop the rot at the top.

Since most of our politicians are blessed with oratory skills to promote their political agendas, in particular, to Csay things that are untrue, an improvement on the knowledge base certainly would improve their conscience to promote the welfare of the country, the job they were voted for, and implement the true meaning of good governance.

Janaki Chandraratna