BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS

I read in the media a specific cry that focused on giving a chance to JVP for governing the country. It is a highly responsible statement and why responsible statement published in the media? What is the logic behind this cry? People do not know speciously about this cry, but the cry seems like a media manipulation than genuine feelings for people that they satisfied with the policies of JVP. For example, if it asks the investment community in Sri Lanka, would they agree to give power to JVP with concrete policies to manage investments in the country? It might be difficult to get an answer. Investors in Sri Lanka have not expressed views on this matter, but I heard in the UTUBE program that addressed by Mr Sunil Hadunneththi that he attempted to give answers to basic economic problems from the point of view of JVP in the way Alfred Marshall explained in the Principles of Economics and the speech further showed that JVP is desperate to gain parliamentary seats because they dropped to three seats in the last election.   

Many journalists who handle YouTube programs show that they need topics to attract users and to survive using social media. The truth about social media in Sri Lanka is, it focuses on being popularised, choosing the feeling of a few people or diminutive issues in society to maintain the market, but it is not a true archetype. Governing a country in the modern era is a highly responsible task that needs broader knowledge, skills, experience and values. The major question is that has JVP got much broader knowledge, skills, experience and values to govern a country. A channel run by UTUBE interviewed a JVP leader, who could not express concrete views like an excellent leader and ideas like a responsible person to express policy ideas to govern the country. He didn’t talk like a Good Shepard (Caring Person). He could not express I am the light of Sri Lanka and no beggar will die without food under my administration.

People who read print media and websites know about the cry because the idea has been published as a major item to attract readers. But many people do not know about it because 95% of voters in Sri Lanka don’t read print media. Neither a left political party in Sri Lanka has gained the political power of the country, nor it had become a major party after the election results. In this situation, could JVP become a major party looking at the current status? The result of the last election showed that JVP could gain only 3 seats in the country, and could they achieve over 100 seats in the next election? If it analyses in that line, the desire of JVP to gain power is a daydream rather than a reality.

JVP is a talking party than proving its work, even it worked as a partner of the government, JVP couldn’t show the capability of policy development and implementation and policy monitoring. If they want remedial past policies, honestly they should accept that they have done wrong in the past and have remedial the past policies.

What were the vital policies developed by JVP, which were supposed to implement since the beginning of the party? This is an adamantine job in a complex democratic society that comprises ethnic and religious groups. However, other left political parties contributed vital policies and ideas than JVP, people or news media did not manipulate opinion to give a chance for them to govern the country. 

When talking about JVP, past incidents immediately come to the minds of people in which most of them were negative because they were destructive, and to gain power, the experience should come with excellent records, and does JVP carry such episodes in the party history. JVP had opportunities to associate with ruling parties in the past, but they were not capable of proving that it would be a party to give responsibilities. The experience of people in the past outweighs the facts. People had disgusting experiences in two insurrections between 1971 and 1988–89. The major issue had been the death of young people, whose parents and relatives are still crying about their death and no one blames the government for deaths, and people’s direct responsibility to the JVP.

This issue invites broader views of the community, one important matter is no one has a right to kill a person except in a situation for self-defence. During these two insurrections, people sought security from the government, not from JVP. That mean JVP neither had armed power nor people’s power to secure the public and the strategy used by the government forces lost the confidence of the public on the behaviour of JVP. The most notable point was no international support JVP in 1971 had other than North Korea and in 1988-89 gained any support except few organizations. This bad name about JVP is still in the minds of people. In 1971, I could recollect that they were making lists to kill people, then clearly expressing policies that will not be supportive of economic and social progress. After the 1971 insurrection, Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike addressed the public over the radio and explained how JVP policy was harmful to the economy and how JVP misled poor rural youth, who do not know about economic and social policies.

In the second insurrection, JVP failed to convince people they were peaceful and respected democracy. During the second insurrection, key people of the country were killed and people understood JVP can do nothing to recover the economy and to provide employment opportunities. The noted event was the destruction of the computer education centre of the open university campus in the south, giving a signal that JVP was against modernization when the world goes forward with information technology. They set fire to many government transport buses, which were poor people’s transport devices. Pol pot style killing of educated people in the country led to earning a bad name for the JVP. Some people argue that awful work by the government forces to pointing fingures to JVP if was a true idea why JVP doesn’t interest to reveal the truth.  

JVP symbolically showed that they were loving for destruction than a party that love to build the nation. Further, when they become a partner of the government, they could not prove those good policies for nation-building and a party that people can trust in them. It doesn’t show that the ruling party in current Sri Lanka is concerned about the media cry. However, if JVP wants to gain power, they must develop policies and publish that people could trust that such policies will support to achieve the progress of the country. Essentially, policies need to concentrate on the following areas.

• Economic policy
• Social policy
• Cultural Policy
• Policies to solve ethnic related problems
• Policy on the international relations