JVP Shows The Way

Honesty has not been the forte of kings, dictators and common or garden politicians of all civilisations down the ages. 'Rob but make sure it is legal' has been the maxim of all down the ages.' In this age of the open economy where the real god is the almighty dollar the generally accepted principle is:  Honesty is not always the best policy. Honesty or dishonesty in these times is not always confined to money matters. There is political dishonesty and outrageous moral hypocrisy that are convertible currencies to the mighty dollar.

In Sri Lanka under the Rajapakse regime, honesty canbe measured in financial transactions or political deals that have become essentially relative matters. Honesty or dishonesty need not be measured in terms of getting caught with the hand inside the till or picking pockets. Billions can, to cite one instance, be lost or squandered but not being accountable for such as in the case of Mihin Lanka. Or for example, there can be cases of criminal wastage of public funds by ministers of state living the life of maharajahs while on foreign jaunts. The maharajahs, at least, spent the money of the state which they inherited. The ministers squander funds of the state of the poor man who voted them to power to be their servants - funds which are meant to provide them food, clothing and shelter. But who is concerned with this kind of highway robbery?

It is in this context that the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna calling for the resignation of one of their MPs, Anuruddha Polgampola has to be considered. The MP is alleged to have attempted to smuggle a Sri Lankan into Japan, but on being detected by the Japanese immigration authorities he was sent back to Sri Lanka. Polgampola had also not complied with the JVP requirement of a MP informing the party before going on a foreign visit. The party had held a disciplinary inquiry and found the MP guilty, JVP group parliamentary secretary, Vijitha Herath has told the media.

This is indeed a rare - if not only instance in recent times - of a political party of this country taking disciplinary action against one of its own members of parliament for misconduct. The JVP action is all the more commendable because it has now broken away from the ruling UPFA and would lose one seat since the vacancy will be filled by a SLFP nominee. That is because the JVP contested the parliamentary election on the UPFA ticket and the next man on the list is a SLFP member. This rare example has to be emulated by other parties as Vijitha Herath has said.

Today, in this era, financial and political corruption have come to be accepted as a fact of life and compliance with earlier accepted norms of political morality and even law and order have become mere fig leaves that can be blown away exposing the nudity like that of a harlot prancing on stage at a striptease club. However political leaders do not give a damn.

This not only applies to the ruling UPFA but the UNP and even minority parties such as the CWC and the SLMC as well.

Take the UPFA first. This party appears to be mainly concerned with swelling the ranks of its party in parliament because it does not command an absolute majority on its own and also wants councillors from other parties to give commanding majorities in the provincial councils.

It virtually bought over 18 UNP MPs with the offer of ministerial portfolios. Some of these MPs when in opposition were accused by the UPFA of massive corruption and others of disgraceful political chicanery. It could be argued that offer of cabinet portfolios does not constitute bribery or corruption but it could be counter argued that such posts considered in terms of allowances and other perks could amount to over a hundred thousand rupees a month. That is in addition to other areas of influence a minister wields when it comes to dealing with public contracts. And this could go on for another six years.

This move is also a downright betrayal of the voters who elected them as well as the democratic process. The MPs have not resigned from the UNP but are continuing to remain as UNP MPs opposing and criticising the party and leadership of the party that had them elected.

Had these MPs that crossed over not accepted ministerial portfolios and the perks that go along with the appointments there could have been some justification that the move was made in opposition to the leadership of the UNP but not under these circumstances. President Mahinda Rajapakse and his party surrendered all claims to political honesty by this move.

An even more grievous error has been the accommodation and toleration of the party of Karuna and Pillayan by the UPFA. These are former LTTE cadres that perpetrated the most horrendous crimes against innocent civilians for almost a quarter century. The blood of the 600 policemen who surrendered to them on the orders of the Premadasa government and were massacred in cold blood are on their hands. They are all now in unmarked graves unwept, unhonoured and unsung except by their near and dear. What a way for a government to treat those who defended the state of Sri Lanka with their lives!

Then take the case of Mervyn Silva. Despite all his antics, thuggery and rowdy behaviour the President continues to mollycoddle this man who is a disgrace to society, without so much as a disciplinary inquiry launched against him. Another glaring example is the case of Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera who continues to rule the roost  in the teeth of a Supreme Court ruling that he had acted illegally to enrich a party to a privatisation deal.

The battered and bruised UNP too has exhibited the same traits. Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe may have suffered a moment of insanity when he appointed S.B. Dissanayake as the national organiser of the party. UNPers had earlier accused Dissanayake of plotting to kill Wickremesinghe and point out that he has attacked Wickremesinghe and other UNPers at his scurrilous best. He was even accused of sending human body parts to the houses of leading UNP members as Christmas hampers.

The acceptance of Dissanayake into the ruling ranks of the party shows the desperation of the party. Some claim that Dissanayake is only helping his friend Mahinda Rajapakse from the ranks of the UNP! There were many more cases when the UNP was in office from 2001 December to April 2004 where Wickremesinghe chose to turn a Nelsonian eye on conduct unbecoming of several of his ministers for fear of losing the parliamentary majority.

The minority parties, the CWC and the SLMC have for long years been unabashedly supporting any political party which they say can help the interests of their communities. This is political skulduggery devoid of any political principles, at its worst. Some ironies of this kind of politics was borne out at the recent instance of CWC  Leader Arumugam Thondaman being found guilty of contempt of court by a magistrate and President Rajapakse  publicly offering him a pardon which Thondaman refused! This kind of politics is bizarre and not seen in any part of the world. To the credit of Muslim Congress Leader Rauf Hakeem however, despite his party being divided by the government with offers of portfolios, he has chosen to tread an independent path putting the interests of his people before personal glory and enrichment. 

While honesty has been a relative concept of rulers down the ages there are instances of the commitment of ancient rulers of the Orient to 'Moral Law' and discipline. Sun Tzu the Chinese military strategist who wrote the Art Of War 2500 years ago writes about Ts'ao Ts'Ao ( AD 155-220) a strict disciplinarian, who in accordance with his own regulations against injury to standing crops condemned himself to death for having allowed his horse to stray into a field of corn. However, in lieu of losing his head, he was persuaded to satisfy his sense of justice by cutting off his hair!

Not so fortunate was the son of Elara, the legendary Tamil who ruled the Raja Rata for 44 years. Elara a stickler for justice had a son and a daughter. When the son unintentionally killed a calf lying on the road by driving over the neck of the calf the wheel of his chariot, Elara caused his son's head to be severed from the body with that same wheel! (The incident is related in the Mahavamsa, the great chronicle of Ceylon as translated by the German scholar Wilhelm Geiger.)

We are not suggesting that President Mahinda Rajapakse, a well known admirer of Dutu- Gemunu enforces discipline in the manner Elara did to his son with miscreants like Mervyn Silva, but drastic action is called for and the restoration of law and order, discipline and political honesty as shown by the JVP should be followed. The JVP has exposed the political nudity of the Rajapakse government and that of most political parties by blowing away the fig leaves and we say three cheers to the red brethren.