Saturday Apr 20, 2024
Saturday Apr 20, 2024
Saturday, 25 April 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
President Maithripala Sirisena delivering his address to the nation on Thursday
I think the whole country, from casino kings to constitutional tinkers, watched, heard, or read the full text the next day of the President’s address to the nation. It was a simple, straightforward, and strong message to the people in general and potential troublemakers in particular.
The 2,800-word text in English made these salient points. That as an island-nation which was once under a cloud, we have in the short space of 100 days under a new administration been returned to our previous pleasant place in the sun. That the media is free to dissent (and some donkeys are trotting out and about like the proverbial wild ass) – but please don’t. That the people’s confidence in the Judiciary and the Judiciary’s independence from the executive and the Legislature has been rightly restored. That national security, law and order, and a democratic-republican spirit to the state of the nation have been re-established.
On the negative side, Mr. Sirisena was more than a little chuffed about the activities of several groups of people – although he maintained his stoic composure throughout his talk. Those who came in for censure included political resisters who are possibly plotting a counter-revolution; rabble-rousers who are rattling sabre in public and fomenting sedition in private; and elected representatives of the people who don’t seem to appreciate the historicity of the occasion – 100 days of good governance, and the attendant opportunity to truly transform the nation.
The visibly composed, in-control, and in-charge Chief Executive ended with a humble, sincere, and passionate appeal to legislators not to miss this opportunity. Pass the 19th Amendment now for a better tomorrow, was his plea… albeit laconic in its brevity and lack of showmanship. There was also a very nicely executed rap over the knuckles to the masses who once laboured under an oppressive regime, who appear to be still panting like the hart after cooling streams for the return of their despotic masters of a down-in-the-mouth but not entirely down-and-out regime. We hear you, sir. Well said, indeed.
That said, there are – as this column has tried to demonstrate in 100 shades of grey – at least four ways in which the developments under scrutiny could be analysed, appreciated, appropriated.
Naïve
The Chief Executive means what he says and says what he means. There is consensus among the upper echelons of Government. That we can trust the President and the Prime Minister and their Cabinet to take the 19th Amendment forward as it is under the guidance of the Supreme Court and in tandem with the will and goodwill of Parliament is a foregone conclusion. No need to get our constitutional amendments in a twist.
Necessary/pragmatic
The President had to speak up and speak out at this time because all was not going according to plan. Despite the incentives offered to potential Opposition, there wasn’t the sufficient groundswell to get 19A through the House. Making an appeal to those posing the problem, and thus being overheard by the general public, would twist the arm of those actors whose interests are contrary to the passing of this vital piece of legislation necessary for the survival and continuity of this Government.
Tactical/strategic
The timing of the appeal is interesting. It comes at the end of an acceleration in other tactical moves to bring pressure to bear on the key players agitating against 19A. After what seemed like 99 days of lethargy and a singular lack of interest in doing anything about what they had been saying, Government suddenly made good on many of its promises in the justice dimension of good governance.
This demonstration that the gentlemanly administration was not a toothless tiger would generate renewed interest in all the requisite segments of society – the three estates, the fourth: media, and the fifth: civil society. And that strategic calculation seems to have paid off in spades (if only to judge by the elevated levels of social media support for the passing of 19A, as is).
Cynical/subversive
The leadership of Government as it is today, all things considered, has no option but to play the game as it is being played. While the national interest may be the tip of the iceberg, what lies beneath is a suboceanic mass of hidden agendas, mixed motives, and vested interests.
The masses may naively assume that they are supporting a movement to rid our republic of a giant or ogre that has terrorised the land since it first slouched towards the sceptre in 1978. But what they – we – you – are actually furthering are the ambitions of a man or at most a few men who aspire to set up a monument to themselves in all but the name of the executive.
(If you know what – and/or whom – I mean, I hope and pray that I am wrong, and that we can – and must – all embrace the naïve view of 19A. I’m not holding my breath, after yesterday’s warning shot across the bows that those who oppose 19A will be swept out of politics. Now that’s not very democratic, is it? When someone is in such haste – after hastening slowly for so long – one must ask why. Even if one will be labelled a wild ass for one’s efforts.)
Now all the President’s men, Mr. Sirisena himself, and his many admirers and supporters, might not like all of the possible perspectives shared above. But they will have to be a bit more patient with donkeys like me.
After all, it was not long ago that some now seemingly chivalrous knights in shining armour were crawling sycophants who propped up the then despotic regime. Whether they were compelled to do so, had no choice but to survive, or sacrificed their conscience on the altar of expediency, we don’t know… and it is not for us to say; to carp and cavil unnecessarily – but many of them have undergone a sea-change into something rich and strange. We welcome what has transpired in terms of the transformation, restoration, and the rest of it; but will you please forgive us if we are critically engaged and cautiously optimistic, rather than enthusiastically congratulatory?
After all, we have been taken for a long hard ride before. And the mind grows suspicious about the state of unholy human nature – which rarely if ever changes – while the heart is delighted at the state of the holistically healing nation – which is a treat to watch as it is slowly and unsurely changing. As much as we are adjusting to the reality of an emerging democratic republic, you too, dear elected representatives, might want to try accommodating a brickbat or six, with the 100-plus bouquets!
After all, you did assure us that you would establish, endorse, and encourage a truly independent media culture, didn’t you? As much as facts are always sacred and comment is now free, or seeming to be, there will sometimes be the home truth or three about human nature that will hurt.
After all, we voted you in to do a job, which you seem to be doing. Trust us to do ours, unvoted.
So will you hasten slowly, please? Pass 19A by all means. But only after due process, hearing out the Opposition, consulting all stakeholders, and accommodating the misgivings of the genuine dissenters among the party-poopers and would-be slaves of the former despotic regime. The argument that such a time as this will never come again does not quite sit well with good governance. Rather, it smacks of an ad hominem case to keep the Beast at bay. We’re rather sure – judging from the statesmanlike approach of the President in his talk to the nation – that this Government doesn’t want to remembered for being pragmatic and strategic alone. There must be the naïve remembrance of history that he – and his fellow leaders – meant what they said. That will make the present frustration of Government worth it in the end.
