Anil Perera

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-A great king named Diyasena will be born in Sri Lanka after a lapse of 2500 years from the birth of Lord Buddha to preserve the culture, country and religion of the countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ says a myth believed to have originated in Kotte era.

We Sri Lankans have been hoping to have a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Prince DiyasenaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ to guide the country to peace and prosperity. We thought a great leader like Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, Mahathir Mohamed of Malaysia or Park Chung Hee of South Korea would someday come forward to lead our nation out of the abysmal mess we were in.

Some people thought J.R.Jayawardene was that leader. With the crafty brain JRJ was supposed to have, some of his admirers thought that he would be ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”the leaderƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ they had been waiting for. JRJ did not live up to the expectations. Despite having unchallenged power and 2/3 majority in Parliament, he put the interests of his party above those of the country. His constitutional changes, particularly the proportional representation system designed to keep UNP in power, continue to haunt us and are largely responsible for the election violence and increased corruption in Sri Lanka. Short-sighted foreign policies led to Indian interference in Sri Lanka, which the subsequent governments have not been able to shake off. JRJ failed the country and the people who trusted him.

Then came a princess – Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. With her charisma and seemingly honest talk, people thought she would be at least honest. Little did they realise that CBK was a habitual liar who could lie without batting an eye lid. She would go down the history as the worst leader we had since independence. She did not do anything for the country and has absolutely no achievements to claim.

Ranil Wickramasinghe was the next hope. Again some people thought that he was the man. He was said to be honest, dedicated and capable. But he too failed to live up to the expectations. His achievements while in power were negligible and despite his ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Mr CleanƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ image, he failed to prevent his ministers from robbing the country. He proved to be a weak leader.

People did not expect Mahinda Rajapaksa to be a saviour. But he brought peace to the country. He displayed tremendous leadership qualities during the final battle against the LTTE. We thought he would be the man to save Sri Lanka and take it to prosperity. However, even he did not put the country before self. Rather than doing what was best for the country, he did whatever was necessary to keep him in power till death. He did not feel the need to change the proportional representation system, he did not have the will or courage to get rid of politicians like Mervyn Silva and Duminda Silva and he miserably failed to stop rampant corruption and lawlessness in the country. He is no Prince Diyasena.

Sri Lanka will never get a good leader. No leading politician on either side of the political divide has the will, intelligence and the love for the country required of such a leader. Even if there is such a good politician, he would lack the necessary ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”skillsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”connectionsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ to win a presidential election. People deserve their politicians. We cannot expect the people who elect the likes of Mervyn Silva and Duminda Silva with large majorities to vote considering the merits of politicians and their policies.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  These cretins would just vote for the parties they have been voting for generations, and the politicians of those parties who have the best financial clout would always win.

We can no longer wait for a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Prince DiyasenaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. It is up to the intelligentsia of the country to help guide it in the correct path. Problems in each area need to be identified and possible solutions have to be found. After all, this is not rocket science; other countries have had similar problems and managed to overcome them. We can learn from their experience.

I have always believed that there are significant cultural barriers to the progress of the country. Very few seem to understand them and accept that they are problems. Some others would just brush them aside harping on our glorious past. However, the point to remember is that we are still a poor country and that these problems are not there in developed countries.

These are some areas that need to be addressed:

Leadership

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Perhaps as a result of our family structure and education system which encourage obedience ahead of independence and creativity, Sri Lankans tend to defer to authority in almost every decision. This has led to a very small minority with leadership skills and a large majority of people who are unable to take even a simple decision. This is obvious in government departments where all matters requiring decisions are pushed up. Leadership training for school children is a must and the school teachers should be re-trained to encourage students to engage in a discussion and actively participate in learning activities. There will be a lot of resistance, but this is a must.

Work ethics

A European living in Sri Lanka once told me that Sri Lankans do not take pride in their work. That statement sums up our attitude to work. Sri Lankans consider work and pay as a right they have. They do not think that they have a responsibility to deliver what is required of them and earn their pay. Most people try to get away with some shoddy work. People who have built houses in Sri Lanka know how difficult it is to get a tiler to do a proper job, a plumber to do a piping system that does not leak or a mason to build a wall that is straight. They simply want to get away with the minimum input and the maximum pay. It is not the lack of skills, but they do not want to put in the effort required or want to improve their skills. They do not take pride in what they do.

Accountability

Lack of accountability is a major issue in Sri Lanka. People do not want to take responsibility for their actions. Look at the blunders some politicians and senior government servants make. In another country they would have resigned immediately, but not in Sri Lanka. They would carry on as if they were not aware of what happened. Recent cases involving Ceylon Petroleum Corporation are examples of this. No one took responsibility and no one was punished although a massive amount of money was wasted.

In every area of government there is a lot of room for improvement. The tragedy is that no one, including politicians and senior government servants, wants to do anything to change the status quo. They just want to carry on with ancient and inefficient way of doing things.

It is high time for the intelligent, educated people of Sri Lanka to come forward to help guide the country in the right direction. The politicians are not going to do that. It is up to the people with some intelligence to do whatever possible to help the country. Otherwise we will end up as a failed country not too far in the future.