{"id":117306,"date":"2021-08-20T15:27:27","date_gmt":"2021-08-20T22:27:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=117306"},"modified":"2021-08-20T15:27:27","modified_gmt":"2021-08-20T22:27:27","slug":"mr-president-lead-from-the-front","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/08\/20\/mr-president-lead-from-the-front\/","title":{"rendered":"Mr President – Lead from the front!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ratanapala<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

20 Aug\n2021<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nPresident was elected by the people – 69 lakhs of them! It is true that his\ncandidature was spearheaded by  Pohottuwa\nbut  he is not the leader of this\npolitical party. He is  the leader chosen\nby a majority of Sri Lanka voters to be their President. At the inaugural ceremony,\nhe promised to be the President of all Sri Lankans. It is time President took\nthe people into his confidence and come out of virtual ‘hiding’ in the Presidential\nSecretariat! President should lead from the front and inspire the people and\ngive them confidence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is time\nthe President explained to the people directly and at regular intervals the\nmain goals of his presidency, what has been achieved, what he aims to achieve and\nwhat are the difficulties he is facing and so on in simple terms. He should\noutline the successes so far from the time Covid-19 appeared in Sri Lanka.\nThere are many successes. These must be highlighted lest they forget. At the moment,\nthere is a severe gap in communications from the office of the President in\nthat it is not entirely clear the way the government machinery is progressing. The\nOpposition accusations and taunting are left with no response which carries the\ngovernment position or stand on them. It is the President\u2019s sole job to\nmobilize all his supporters to support his initiatives and not let his support\nbase wither away at the hands of the likes of political failures such as the\nJVP and the Kuhaka Jana Balawegaya. The JVP who could only obtain 3 seats at\nthe last parliamentary elections should not be allowed to destabilize the\nnation with their sloganeering and protests.  At the moment they  are sounding as if they are the main\nopposition threatening to overthrow the government by bringing people on to the\nstreets!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the\npeople see is that the President and his government are firefighting with no\nclear strategy. This is the time to show leadership from the front. In New\nZealand the Prime Minister address the people almost on a daily basis. This is\nhow she has won the confidence not only of the people, but also of the\nOpposition in manner of speaking. The President and the Pohottuwa has nearly\n2\/3 majority in parliament and the 20th Amendment to boot. Most of the time\nwhat is required is only a simple majority in the parliament. All this power\nmust be used to pass legislature necessary to control the pandemic and all\nother manifestations that use the excuse of the pandemic to scuttle the\ngovernment machinery. These should include laws to control street\ndemonstrations and wrongful use of the media.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

People\nwanted discipline and a stern President. That is why Gotabhaya was elected as\ntheir President. The need of the hour too is the same \u2013 a sterner President and\nnot one failing to do the right thing fearing the next election! Even at this\nlate stage he should understand that micro managing is not a successful\nstrategy. He should lay out broad policies and then hold subject Ministers\nresponsible for the successful implementation of policy. Trying to decide how\nto have more hospital beds should be the job of the subject Minister or\nMinisters! They should be held responsible for the successful implementation of\ntheir portfolios. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

President\npassed the first wave and second wave of the pandemic with flying colors. The\nthird \u2013 the New Year wave was a grave mistake if looked at the situation in\nisolation. All over the world, governments have come to the conclusion that\ncountries have to be opened up and live with the virus as the situations permit\nand demand. The only long-term solution is to achieve herd immunity through\nsuccessful vaccinations AND newer and newer vaccines to curtain the ever\ngrowing list of the new variants. The economies must be revived while the virus\nis still around in order to keep the people fed and nourished. For this the\nmachinery of the government and private sectors should be kept turning! So far President\u2019s\nisland wide vaccination drive is a huge success thanks to the indefatigable\nhealth services and the armed forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is far\nbetter to face Geneva than to get a Nobel Price after saving the nation and her\neconomy. This is the stuff that history remembers! The war against Corvid-19\nshould not be carried out with the next election in mind. People wanted\ndiscipline and a stern President. That is why Gotabhaya was elected as their\nPresident. The need of the hour too is the same \u2013 a sterner President and not\none failing to do the right thing fearing the next election!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE\nOPPOSITION LAUNDROMAT – KUHAKA JANA BALAWEGAYA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sole\nintention of the Opposition Laundromat led by Kuhaka ( Samagi) Jana Bala Wegaya\nand murderous JVPers is to disrupt all government measures to successfully sail\nthrough the troubled waters of Covid-19 and the resultant Economic Crisis. They\nhave no answers to what ails the economy but are intent on not allowing the\ngovernment to make a success of it either. The contribution so far by the\nopposition is all negative, reprehensible and clearly not praiseworthy. Washing\ndirty linen in front of world diplomats is the depth of their depravity. The\ncurrent Covid-19 situation is similar or worse in other countries. One just\nneed to visit the following web site to see how the pandemic has affected the\nworld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.worldometers.info\/coronavirus\/\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

WHERE THE\nPROMISES OF \u2018THE VISTAS OF PROSPERITY \u2018 STAND TODAY AND IF THEY HAVE TO BE\nMODIFIED TO SUIT THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC \nSITUATION SHOULD BE TOLD TO THE PUBLIC TRUTHFULLY. THERE ARE MANY\nACHIEVEMENTS INSPITE OF THE ADVERSE PANDEMIC SITUATION. CORRECT INFORMATION OF\nSUCCESSES AND FAILURES MUST BE TOLD UNDILUTED WITH REASONS FOR ANY FAILURES BY\nTHE PRESIDENT HIMSELF.  THE NATION MUST\nBE TOLD THAT WHAT THEY RECEIVE FROM ONE END HAS TO BE PAID FROM THE OTHER END! THIS\nTRUTH MUST BE FLAGGED IN FRONT OF THE PEOPLE LEST THEY FORGET. HE HAS ONLY A\nFEW YEARS OF HIS FIRST TERM LEFT TO LAY A GOOD FOUNDATION FOR A SECOND TERM, A\nMUST IN THE CURRENT WORLD SITUATION. THIS IS NOT A TIME TO CHANGE THE\nLEADERSHIP. THE PRESIDENT NEEDS A WELL THOUGHTOUT,  UNAMBIGOUS  STRATEGY. FOR THIS HE MUST LEAD FROM THE\nFRONT, BE SEEN AND ADDRESS THE NATION MUCH MORE OFTEN THAN NOW  WITH A SMILE. SMILES BRING CONFIDENCE! HIS\nJOB SHOULD BE TO TAKE THE PEOPLE INTO HIS CONFIDENCE AND NOT LET THAT\nCONFIDENCE FALTER. THE ORIGINAL ENTHUSIASM OF THE NATION MUST BE REINSTATED. IF\nNECESSARY HE MUST BE ABLE TO MUSTER HIS FORCES TO COUNTER THE AGENT\nPROVOCATEURS ON THE STREETS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

IF THE\nNATION IS A SHIP, THEN THE PRESIDENT IS THE CAPTAIN OF THE SHIP AND THE PILOT\nRESPONSIBLE FOR SUCCESSFUL NAVIGATION THROUGH TROUBLED WATERS. IF THERE IS\nMUTINY ON THE SHIP, IT IS ALSO UPTO THE CAPTAIN OF THE SHIP TO QUELL THE MUTINY\nAND IF NECESSARY ‘KEEL HAUL’ A FEW TO BRING SANITY AMONG THE REST.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IT IS UP TO\nHIM TO INSTILL CONFIDENCE IN THE NATION AND TO STEER THROUGH WITH A FIRM HAND.\nAS LONG AS THIS IS NOT DONE, EVEN LITTLE AJITH ROHANA THE LEADER OF THE PHI\nASSOCIATION LOOKS LIONIC, SOUNDS LIONIC AND MORE PRESIDENTIAL!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ratanapala 20 Aug 2021 The President was elected by the people – 69 lakhs of them! It is true that his candidature was spearheaded by  Pohottuwa but  he is not the leader of this political party. He is  the leader chosen by a majority of Sri Lanka voters to be their President. At the inaugural […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ratanapala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117306\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}