|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 15 February 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Butterflies in UNFers' stomachs by Lalith Edrisinha President Chandrika Kumaratunga moved late on Saturday February 07 to end all speculation about Dissolution of Parliament and smother wild rumours that a working arrangement with the UNF was imminent based on what came to be known as Mano-Malik talks. It was even bandied about that the proclamation had been signed by the President at an auspicious time on Tuesday February 3. It was also said that it is on Tuesdays that she executes important decisions, so the dissolution order was to be activated the following Tuesday! But it was at the bewitching hour on Saturday 7 that the eleventh parliament was dissolved opening the gates for the intense campaigning that will inevitably follow until April Fool's Day when victors and losers of the morrow will retire for a brief respite. As Head of State, Head of Government, Leader of the SLFP, PA and the new SLFP-JVP alliance Chandrika Kumaratunga is the most powerful politician in the country today. She has derived all this power from the mandates she received from the People who placed their immense trust in her. From the time she took over as Chief Minister of Western Provincial Council over a decade ago she has not looked back but carried everything before her. She claims that she is able to empathise with the aspirations of the people having worked at grass root level during her LRC (Land Reform Commission) days when she was able to declass herself mixing with and sharing frugal meals with those who form the bulk of the country. They are crying for a place under the Sun which prompted her to frame policies with a 'human face.' It was a formidable task working a system that was geared to integrate with a globalised economic order. The most challenging task for all politicians of different hues is to resolve the question of the reconfiguration of the State accommodating the demands of all social groups. In that quest she underwent many a peril and was fortunate to survive an attempt on her life which cost her the sight of one eye. At the end of her first year in office as President this writer had this to say in Sunday Observer of November 12. "When Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga entered the family business, the shares were above par but the combine needed a boost to record an upward curve on the political graph. A few months as Western Provincial Councillor and she was catapulted to the very epicentre of political power. The rise is phenomenal. When others spent their life time to reach the zenith at tottering ages, President Chandrika Kumaratunga advanced from the periphery to the centre, within months. Politics is in her blood. Daughter of two Prime Ministers, she has slipped into the roles of Provincial Chief Minister, Prime Minister and Executive President with consummate ease and in every role, she has left her own imprint with blooming flamboyance. Others claim scholarship for her from Sorbornne, but the cap and gown rest on her lightly. What she recalls is her impish participation in Varsity free-for-alls that are part and parcel of an undergrad's life. As Chief Minister she frowned on the practice of political transfers and shunned personal recrimination. As campaigner she gave able leadership to the seething masses who were clamouring for, above all else, to be unyoked from an era and a regime of suppression. The people yearn for space to be themselves. She gave them release from the bondage of fear. As Prime Minister Ms. Kumaratunga soon put together an assorted assemblage of people - a cross section of the political spectrum and set about her business, working overtime. When the pressure of work mounted she took time off to unwind herself, sometimes abroad and the country awoke to her human-ness. Back on the campaign trail again, for the Presidency, foisted on her by circumstances, she was outspoken and boisterous - for peace. When the count was taken she had notched a 62.4 per cent victory, an all time record. Then onwards she battled hard to retain her independence, her spirit and her agenda. Events unexpected events, have taken place. Her sincerity and genuiness persists. One wonders if she has the time for her carefreeness now.' That was November 1995. Today she puts to the test her sagacity as a politician as she goes before the people having forged new links with those forces that are seen as representing a segment of society that has perennially been marginalised in view of the caste and class they are born into. If bloody revolution was the path they chose over three decades ago they have now come a long way in accepting parliamentary democracy as the accepted form in our country to work the oracle. Wild accusations are levelled at her. The President has disrupted the peace process. Negotiations came to a standstill when the LTTE was (in their opinion) upstaged by the Government when talks were held in Washington in april to discuss the broad outlines of the aid package. While certainly the UNF Government was able to reduce the heat in the engine by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the LTTE leading up to removal of barricades and the opening of the A9 road a determined bid to keep the other main stakeholders away from the negotiation process despite pressure from all sides gradually exposed the Government to the charge of partisan behaviour. The President had no moral right to dissolve a parliament that had been voted in for six years specially when the Government commanded the confidence of the House. It was apparent that day-to-day governance was soon coming to a standstill - the railways came to a grinding halt. Health Workers, Farmers came out in a last ditch attempt to win their demands by resorting to death fasts. It was soon apparent that clouds of disaster were looming large and the nation heaved a sigh huge relief when they woke up to the news on Sunday that Parliament had been dissolved and a snap poll was to be held to decide the issue one way or the other. It would be very interesting to study the composition of the Tenth Parliament formed in 1994 and that of the Eleventh in December 2001. The PA, JVP combined vote in December 2001 was more than the 45.62% polled by the UNF. With recent polls indicating that the UNP vote bank has dropped to 35% and there being no chance of the UNF running away with the bonus seat districtwise the writing is on the wall for the party of the establishment. It is no wonder then, that those who were in a paralysed government until President Kumaratunga moved to dissolve it are now showing signs of having butterflies in their stomaches, as they prepare to go before the people. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
