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April
2 and thereafter The JVP's propaganada secretary told us, instinctively, this was a UNF hoax, but it has now been confirmed that in fact there were two manifestos, but after some embarrassment, the UNPFA has come to abandon the second revised version. Now a cacophony of voices are being heard on the issue. What was purely a matter of at least two reasonably well-known printing companies handling a commercial printing job, is now threatened to be drowned in a bedlam of voices. For good measure, a UNFA candidate from the Gampaha district, a one-time Censor, has thrown a mother and an uncle into the fray. No PA offensive is in any way complete sans those essential ingredients. Apart from textual discrepancies, the more basic issue is one of trust between the Alliance partners, and the danger of blaming all others for a text-book faux pas of their own making. We do hope that these are not events casting their shadow over the future of this country. With less than a week to go for the third election to Parliament in four years, from all accounts, the country is in for more political instability than what we had. Scientific Opinion polls in this country are now gradually taking precedence over astrological predictions mainly due to the fact that many astrologers have - like most of their countrymen - been unable to remain non-partisan, and have had their coloured predictions proved wrong so many times. According to these polls, a hung Parliament is what we will get by April 3 with the best-case scenario being a minority government, and every likelihood of yet another election sooner than later. There is no doubt some last ditch battles are yet to be waged, and all seasoned campaigners know that it's not over till it's over. That many a campaign has swung in the last 24-hours. It has happened in Sri Lanka and it happened in Spain only a fortnight ago. And that the crucial floating, un-decided vote can eventually be the deciding factor in an election such as this. April 3, the day after the election will be as crucial for this country, when political stalwarts plunge into backstage manoeuvres, using every trick in the book and outside it, to form even a semblance of a government. The stakes are that much higher for the President and her Alliance, because it is they who called for this election despite the fact that the UNF had a working majority (134 of the 225 seats) in the last Parliament, and had four long years of their mandate left. The indications now are that the UNF will have a reduced number of seats, but that the Alliance will not breast the tape either, leaving the Nation split down the middle. What is then to happen? No doubt one will need to await the outcome of the election results, but if we know that the trend is towards a hung Parliament and further instability, is anyone out there working out options other than to get the money bags ready to buy newly-elected MPs or to seduce them with high office and other perks? |
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