VIEWPOINTS

NEW NATIONHOOD OF A SORT IN THE WORKS?

Wijith DeChickera wishes that politics would take a backseat for a short while – while national reconciliation gets back on the fast track

A raft of issues in national life came under scrutiny of late as the National People’s Power (NPP) government of less than a year geared its loins for long postponed local government elections this month.

Among these were why alleviating poverty under a socialist regime does not appear a top priority, how the cost of living has not been ameliorated in favour of the lower socioeconomic orders, the irony for a relatively young presidential and parliamentary demographic that youth unemployment is disconcertingly high, and what effect lifting the ban on vehicle imports will have on our languishing forex reserves.

Amidst some consternation at austerity preaching NPP parliamentarians accepting the perks of being in power, such as spanking new freshly imported luxury vehicles for our newly minted MPs, the question on the minds of many social democrats is when the yawning chasm between the privileged and the poor would be spanned.

Also throwing long shadows over the economic aspects of governing our nation, only haltingly recalibrating itself after a painful bankruptcy, is the prospect of recommencing our debt repayments and returning to the groove (or rut) of servicing interest dues on borrowings in international markets – and sustainably at that…

And on the political front, the shadows – together with the faces of at least some segments of this tyro regime’s staunch supporters from outside its traditional ranks – are lengthening.

As a result of what appears to be puzzling inaction by the incumbents regarding emblematic promises made at a time when those then opposition legislators cut a swashbuckling path through parliamentary critiques of the former administration over some of the same issues!

These include abolishing the executive presidency that has hung over our heads like an albatross, prosecuting those alleged masterminds responsible for the putative conspiracy behind the Easter Sunday massacre of April 2019 and dismantling the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) that laid waste to a lost generation.

Be that as it may, there have been welcome silver linings as a result of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) led administration’s commitment to a panoply of salutary principles.

These run the thrilling gamut from a full frontal attack on the culture of entrenched corruption that was the bane of our country, which had the potential to be the Singapore of South Asia once upon a time; to a refreshing ethos of socioeconomic fundamentals that major on equity, equitability, a recognition of the need for inclusivity and pluralism in national life.

But even here, the best intentions of a fledgling government ostensibly on the right track to putting Sri Lanka on the path to justice oriented development have been frustrated by a baffling lack of progress on a plethora of issues.

Apart from the arrest of a brace of former state intelligence officers allegedly involved in the abduction and subsequent torture of a senior journalist who was critical of the militarised regime in the late 2000s, there has been little to restore a sense of credibility in the state’s policing powers and guarantee of law enforcement for all its citizens.

Au contraire, a spate of ostensibly underworld driven killings – including one in open court – has sparked concerns about the viability of law and order in a milieu where organised crime rules the roost outside the ambit of the authorities’ foreshortened arms.

Where the NPP government can make a change over and above addressing anticorruption matters in its time is in the arena of what may well be considered our much neglected national reconciliation project.

However lackadaisical its progress to date on issues of natural justice may be or seem, there is great potential in the minefield of transitional justice for the administration of the day to not only make its mark but transform the face of our nation.

From the recently concluded Salam Ramadan festival that potentially reached out to all Colombo communities to the islandwide traditional Aluth Avurudu fetes and fiestas that practically united Sinhalese and Tamil communities (in spirit, if not yet in a meaningfully shared time and space), the appeal the NPP demonstrated in winning hearts and minds over customarily communally oriented electorates holds much promise… real, this time!

And if we’re willing to forget hoary theories of class war, and forgive past crimes against the state and their fellow citizens for which their perpetrators have apologised profusely, Sri Lanka could take fresh new steps towards shaping a new classless, non-ethnic, secular, pluralistic and inclusive national identity.

As for barriers of background, already that ceiling has been shattered by the sundering of birth, education, gender and ethnicity profiles in elected representation and state sector appointments.

If only the likes of the president would play by the rules of his own principles as espoused on the campaign trail, and be more prudent in his executive decisions appointing private sector leaders to public office, that new ethos would be far more integral to a national identity redolent of true professionalism rather than faux patriotism.