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National Peoples’ Power (NPP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake won the Presidential Election last month on the basis of, among other things, promises, to eliminate corruption and change the political culture that has taken root in the country in the last few decades. Both these factors continue to undermine good governance in the country and thereby ultimately affect the wellbeing of the people.

The cry among the people to blame the ills of the country on politicians is a reflection of the recognition that the political culture plays a big part in the failure of governance although many lose sight of the fact that the public too play a big part in such distortion of the polity by making poor judgements in their choice of representatives at elections. 

However whatever may be the degree of responsibility that the public has to bear it goes without saying that the political leadership has to give the lead in bringing about the much needed change in the political culture.

One of the significant features of the deterioration of the political culture in the country has been the discarding of principles and policies by political parties in their electoral campaigns.

The emphasis has been the pursuit of power at all costs and the top most priority being given to the advancement of individual politicians. Towards this end miscommunication of all forms to confuse and mislead voters to the ultimate detriment of the country is resorted to.

While the President and his team grapple with the challenges of a run down economy and an IMF Programme the success of which is being judged on macro economic statistics rather than how much it improves the lot of the poor and marginalised citizenry, one can detect signs of changes in the political culture in the working of government.

A few instances may be reflective of such early signs. It is well exemplified in the examples of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna(JVP) General Secretary Tilvin Silva and newly appointed NPP Parliamentarian Lakshman Nipunaarachi. The JVP General Secretary when questioned as to what position he would take in a full fledged NPP Government stated that he would not assume any position. This comes after over 40 years of holding the position of General Secretary and working towards the goals of his party.

The new Parliamentarian Lakshman Nipunaarachi who was gazetted as a Member of Parliament to fill the vacancy caused by the elevation of Anura Kumara Dissanayake to the Presidency was quizzed as to why he did not assume ministerial office. His explanation was revealing.

Mr. Nipunarachi stated that there was one strand of legal opinion including that of the Secretary General of Parliament that even though he had not taken his oaths as a Parliamentarian (since Parliament was not sitting and had now been dissolved ) he could still be sworn in as a Cabinet Minister. The argument in support of this position was that the taking of oaths was required primarily to participate in Parliamentary debates and to vote in Parliament.

A precedent in the form of Basil Rajapaksa assuming a ministerial portfolio before taking oaths was cited in support of this argument.

The advice of the Attorney General too was sought on the matter but he advised that Mr. Nipunaarachi could not take ministerial office without first taking oaths in Parliament.

Mr. Nipunaarachi said that they had decided to take the advice of the Attorney General. Questioned further he said that the decision was of no consequence to him as the party preferred to follow the legally safer option.

One can of course only speculate whether any Member of Parliament from whatever party would so easily give up a ministerial portfolio on offer on the grounds that it was the correct thing to do. It was not so long ago that droves of parlimentarians changed allegiances in order to obtain ministerial portfolios (supposedly for the love of the country and not for the love of themselves). One recalls the lament of a Muslim parliamentarian who switched sides and cast his vote in support of the retrograde 20th Amendment to the Constitution that he did not get the ministerial portfolio that he expected.

Parliamentarian Lakshman Nipunaarachi’s conduct is typical of the leftist tradition where one’s political party and its policies take precedence over that of the individual. In 1964 when the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) was exploring the possibility of a coalition government with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP ), a vigorous debate arose within the LSSP as to whether the Party which was part of a larger alliance with the Communist Party should coalesce as part of the larger alliance or alone as the LSSP. One group led by the Party Leader Dr. N.M. Perera was of the view that the LSSP alone could form a coalition government with the SLFP while the group led by the LSSPs Deputy Leader Colvin R. de Silva and its General Secretary were of the view that it was the alliance that should enter into such an arrangement.

Finally a compromise was reached and the coalition was formed between the LSSP alone and the SLFP. However Dr. Colvin R.de Silva and Leslie Gunawardene declined to accept portfolios in view of their reservations and two other lower ranking members, Anil Moonesinghe and Cholomondoley Gunawerdene were appointed as Ministers.

The political culture of the country has long seen a deterioration since the early days of the country’s independence. That this has to be reversed is popularly accepted among all shades of opinion in the country.

Even former President Ranil Wickremesinghe echoed these sentiments during his election campaign and emphasised the importance of a political culture that prioritised the nation over traditional politics for the country’s advancement.

However although he constantly referred to the need to do politics differently to meet the needs of the situation, his reliance on the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) politicians to sustain his government saw him continuing with the politics of the past. Consequently he had to soften the SLPP politicians with various perks and privileges in order to ensure their continued support.

So much so that he had to allow questionable deals like the VFS Visa fiasco, the Mannar wind power project as well as refraining from taking corrective action with regard to the continued corruption allegations against Sri Lanka Cricket to name a few. Additionally he allowed virtual free reign to his ministers in their globe trotting, provide selective allocation of funds for supposed development and, if media reports are accurate, even giving them an opportunity to acquire bar licences for themselves and their nominees.

But now that Mr. Wickremesinghe does not need their support to run government, he could refrain from giving nomination to those politicians who were complicit in running the economy to the ground under Gotabaya Rajapaksa and thereby help influence changes in the political culture.

Equally it will be the responsibility of all political parties and their leaders to offer the public the choice of good candidates who would be able to raise the quality of the Legislature and take the country out of the disastrous experience of its recent past.

In the event some bad eggs do creep through the crevices and manage to get nomination, it will be the responsibility of the voting public to make sure they are rejected at the elections.

(javidyusuf@gmail.com)