Tribal politics

“There were times we lost elections and lost our positions, however, we survived and we were able to protect the party. Each and every single member has a shared responsibility to safeguard the SLFP. Even though there are some misgivings we should work towards the betterment of the party.” 

Those were the words of Civil Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva, as he addressed an SLFP electorate on Sunday. As can be seen clearly, his emphasis is first and foremost on protecting the ‘party’. Even when elections were lost, at least the party was protected. Even though there were misgivings among party members, the party should still come first. Conspicuous by its absence though, is what should be the primary goal for any political party – its obligation to the public.

This tunnel vision is not endemic to just the SLFP but to all Sri Lankan political parties, where party politics has become something akin to tribalism; winning at any cost, or winning in general, has become more important than the reason for winning in the first place: the people.

Political parties were initially formed as a means of representing the differing views and interests of the populace, however now – and this is not just in Sri Lanka – it has morphed into a means by which, every couple of years, rival groups of voters vote for a change in the way the country is run, and then celebrate/despair the victory/defeat of their preferred party. Soon after though, the process begins again where the entire populace is unhappy with the way things are being run and wait eagerly to exercise their franchise in the next election. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

In the meantime, politicians line their pockets in both subtle and overt ways, be it the sale of duty-free vehicle permits or the sanctioning of lucrative construction projects. All the while the public are left to wonder what change it is that their vote brought them. It is this juxtaposition between politicians and their actual functions that make talk of protecting parties all the more infuriating, as it is clear that the public at large have been hoodwinked into partaking in an electoral system that does little for them.

This is true of larger democracies as well, such as the United States, where political partisanship stretches back generations and both liberals and conservatives are unhappy with various aspects of how the country is run. Nevertheless, at least there, it is clear that liberals gain some modicum of satisfaction from the progressive values espoused by the democratic party. In Sri Lanka, regardless of which party comes in to power, not much seems to change. Indeed, media freedom is probably the most noteworthy improvement under this new regime, highlighted by the introduction of the Right to Information Act.

It is therefore clear that the only means by which this cycle can be ended is for the public to take it upon themselves to not get caught up in this political tribalism, but to instead put an end to the constant and corrosive flitting between similar but differently labelled regimes. The people hold all the power, and with new tools such as the RTI Act at their disposal, the public no longer has to pick between two flawed regimes, they can instead, through accountability, improve the one they already have.