Focus on Rights

Resigning ourselves to what lies ahead!
On every occasion that we have had elections, (far too many as they have been in recent years), Sri Lankans, regardless of whom they voted for, have settled, (grudgingly albeit), for an interim period of 'waiting and seeing' as to how the new rulers will perform.

This upsurge of incurable optimism has, of course, been short lived. A Brave New World in the sense of peace and restoration of the rule of law, promised in the pre-election period, has invariably been the immediate victim of post election processes of political expediency.

In 2006, the scenario is grimmer than normal, due to the real threat of the resumption of hostilities in the North/East. This time around, there is no interim period wherein a new government is allowed time to settle itself into the seats of governance. The incumbent in the office of the Presidency is currently being subjected to a crucially demanding test of statesmanship. And, if, as speculated earlier on, a general election is to be held as well during the coming year, this country is in for a rough ride.

From both sides of the political spectrum, the odds form an uneasy calculation. With the electoral future of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party weighing heavily in the political balance, we have also the rejuvenation or the further deterioration of the country's main Opposition, the United National Party. Add to this the uncomfortable legislative presence of radical minority parties like the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and the Jathika Hela Urumaya and it is evident that a far from complacent law making process lies ahead.

In last week's column, the importance of reactivating the 17th Amendment (comprising inherently therein, the constituting of the Constitutional Council and setting up the independent commissions relating to the police, the supervising of elections and the public service) was referred to.

These are constitutional imperatives, the fulfillment of which is outstanding However, it is obvious that if we are to set ourselves to right as a functioning democracy, much more needs to be done apart from ensuring that legal and constitutional structures are functioning according to their mandate.

For this, we need a process of genuine national resurgence. It is of historical record that peoples movements throughout history have claimed to themselves very definite powers in changing the tide of events. It is their strength that has succeeded where everything else has failed. Thus, through non political non partisan pressure, they have reformed corrupt governments and rejuvenated institutions such as the judiciary that hold the balance of power in curbing the excesses of politicians.

For the reasoning is simple but nevertheless powerful. Politicians, by virtue of their very being, cannot be expected to look out for the people. Though the basis of their political mandate is precisely to serve the people whom they govern, that ethic has long since been disproved. Given this reality, the crucial edge lies in the ability of strong and effective democratic forces to counter problematic political actions. Traditionally, this power lay not only in the hallowed hands of the judiciary but also those in "watchdog" roles such as the media and civil society leaders. Where these forces renege, become political or are co-opted into the system, the underlying structures of democracy itself break down.

We exhibit the most pitiable manifestation of this breakdown in recent times. Sri Lanka has now a name that ranks equally along with the worst trouble spots in the world. And the deterioration has come not only in terms of the actual war itself. On the contrary, the insidious displacing of our moral legitimacy as a people has been far more troubling. Witness thus the wholesale politicisation of our public administration, our police and finally our very ethos of living. And what hurts most of all is that all this has happened with the minimum of resistance, barring academic analyses that are limited to fine words on paper.

We have miserably failed to create forces of accountability that consistently counter this buffeting process irrespective of whichever party is in power. This is how we accept insidious political attacks on our institutions, an increased brutalisation of our society and the deifying of our politicians.

As a people, we have succumbed collectively to a lamentably fig leaf state of democracy, a mindset exploited to a fine art by all our politicians. 2006 should see a change in this mindset. In the alternative, we should resign ourselves to the loss of what was once a beautiful country.

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