What can ordinary citizens do to make a difference?

The current crisis has impelled an appreciable number of normally passive citizens to display a measure of activism that they did not show in the past. This is a much-longed-for positive development – Pic by Ruwan Walpola

By Dr. A.C. Visvalingam

The Citizens’ Movement for Good Governance (CIMOGG) started out in 2002 with the idea that the anti-constitutional acts of elected representatives should be widely exposed through the media and in the courts.

It was hoped that, by supplementing the efforts of those who were already contributing in a similar manner, the people of Sri Lanka would soon begin to put things right. The basic objective was to help the public to identify the miscreants in our elected assemblies and make it difficult for them to be re-elected. But that hope has just remained a hope so far. 

Our lack of success was traceable principally to the fact that the majority of Sri Lankans are mentally lazy and are too laid back to make even a nominal effort to work in the public interest. Happily, the current crisis has impelled an appreciable number of normally passive citizens to display a measure of activism that they did not show in the past. This is a much-longed-for positive development.

The current imbroglio

Turning to the current imbroglio, we are forced to conclude that President Maithripala Sirisena (MS) lacks the leadership qualities required to deal in an acceptably authoritative manner with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe (RW). He has embarked upon a highly immature and vengeful journey that promises to wreck his name and reputation permanently. 

On 26 October, MS appointed a “Prime Minister” (“PM”) from a party that he claimed, from a public platform, had 113 MPs in Parliament. This has remained a “fake” fact from the time he said it. Another gaffe committed by him was that he did not remember for some hours after appointing the “PM” that he already had a PM, whom he then sought to remove. 

The man whom MS appointed “PM” was the very man who MS had declared earlier would have put him six feet underground in the event of MS failing to win the Presidential election in January 2015. Absurdly, MS now fears the prospect of being buried (alive?) to be less daunting than dealing with RW, quite “forgetting” that it was RW who was instrumental in getting MS elected President. 

Although the “PM” never had 113 MPs on his side for quite some time, he decided to appear recently in Parliament with his followers, believed to be fewer than 102 in number. These minions took over the Speaker’s chair and severely damaged the voice amplification equipment, the electronic voting installation and the expensive furniture paid for by the people. They also physically attacked the Police and other staff who tried to protect the Speaker. They threw heavily-bound books and chairs as missiles and also employed a suspension of chilli powder in water as a chemical weapon. 

During the entire time that this mayhem was being wreaked so as to frustrate the Speaker’s determination to carry on with the work of Parliament, the “PM” was seated with a few senior MPs of his party unmoved by the desecration of the sanctity that should be accorded to our national assembly and the wilful damage caused. He made no effort to restrain the ruffians who were rioting violently. 

That he remained overtly passive hardly disguised the fact that the vandalism was obviously pre-planned, almost certainly with his blessings. His behaviour in Parliament disqualifies him from ever claiming to be a guardian of the interests of law and order and the interests of Sri Lanka’s people. As for MS, he has made no adverse comment on the disgusting behaviour of the “PM’s” followers. It is not unreasonable to deduce that he, too, was a party to the vandalism.  

The unvarnished and unpalatable truth is that MS has, by his ill-considered and intemperate actions, been the principal agent that has caused acute damage to Sri Lanka’s reputation as a responsible democracy, not to mention the irrecoverable loss suffered by the country’s economy. 

Moreover, we have no hesitation in stating that it is an intolerable impertinence for the President to tell any political party as to whom it should have as its leader. It is outrageous that the President should interfere in a matter like this that is not within the powers conferred on him by the Constitution. 

A succession of actions in the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court regarding MS’s sacking of the PM and the appointment of the “PM” are in progress. There are heart-warming signs that the Judiciary will look objectively at the situation and deliver judgments that will put Sri Lanka back on track after the derailment effected on 26 October 2018. 

Promoting good governance

While our power-deprived citizens await the decisions of the Supreme Court, they wonder what it is that they themselves could do to promote good governance in this country. 

They long to find ways and means whereby they could use their votes more effectively in future. They would like to do something to improve the levels of responsibility, honesty and competence of elected representatives to counteract the current highly unsatisfactory manner in which party oligarchies choose their candidates for election (www.cimogg-srilanka.org). 

The most reliable way to improve Parliament would be for knowledgeable citizens to work out a much better Constitution from first principles; it would be foolish to expect that to become a reality any time soon because such a step will be resisted tooth and nail by most of those who are already in Parliament. 

The “panacea” solution offered by a large number of “thinking” and “unthinking” individuals to the effect that holding elections before the expiration of the stipulated four-and-a-half years would solve the conflict between the opposing groups in Parliament is a mirage. 

If Parliamentary elections are held without a superior Constitution in place, all that would happen is that the bulk of the less than admirable MPs that we have in Parliament at present will contrive to get back in again and there would be no perceptible improvement in governance. 

One has, therefore, to find ways of working within the limitations of the current Constitution and applicable laws to get ourselves a better set of MPs into Parliament. To do this, the most important weapon that citizens have in their hands is the right to decide whom to vote for and use their franchise more intelligently than they have done in the past. 

CIMOGG believes that conforming to the suggestions given below would lead to a marked improvement in raising the quality of MPs.

A useful approach would be to try to work against the criteria employed by party leaders and oligarchies to choose and nominate candidates for election. For a start, do not automatically vote for the party that you have always favoured. Discuss with your neighbours and friends whatever information is available about the candidates put forward by the various party hierarchies for your electorate and try to identify one that has a reasonable educational background, a reputation for honesty, multilingual proficiency and sound experience in one or more fields that would help her/him to make constructive contributions to Parliamentary debates. 

Always blacklist those who have crossed over from one party to another. Also, write off those who, to your knowledge, have not attended Parliament regularly and contributed constructively to its debates. Once you have picked out the best available candidate by the above process, cast your vote for her/him and only thereafter to her/his party. 

Do not vote for anyone who is currently charged with any offence that is likely to carry a sentence of more than a few months or has been lawfully punished for rape, fraud, cheating, violence, tax evasion, smuggling or close friendship with drug dealers. Do not vote for anyone who causes disruption to the movement and work of members of the public by organising annoying pedestrian and motor-vehicle processions, installing of unsightly huge hoardings, inconsiderate use of loudspeakers and so on.

Do not vote for those who try to create fears in your mind about members of minority races or religions taking over the Dharmadveepa. These low tactics have always been a fruitful method of attracting the votes of unthinking citizens by playing on their atavistic fears. Vote, instead, for those who propose to introduce measures to bring together children of different language groups who are at present forcibly directed into isolated streams that prevent us from building a united Sri Lankan nation. Vote for those candidates who plan to establish programs that will bring people together in music, sports, community service and so on.

It would be prudent to give increased priority to female candidates despite the despicable behaviour of two women MPs during the recent “riot” in Parliament because it is CIMOGG’s conviction that a greater representation of women in elected assemblies would help significantly to promote better behaviour and raise the quality of governance. So look out for good women candidates. 

(The writer is President, CIMOGG and can be reached via [email protected].)