Politicians: the good, the bad, and the ugly

A scientist is someone who changes his beliefs when confronted by fresh evidence. But a politician is merely someone who believes in the art of the possible. And is prone to be pliant – a mere reed in the wind… so it is heartening to mind the conversion of a minister-MP banking on the power of the people to critically engage (and hopefully change, if not cure) our sick political system

I have been following Eran Wickramaratne for a long time. Not in the creepy way political animals hunt, track, or sniff each other out to play, mate, or slaughter. There is not much to be said for a mutual admiration society in which one servile creature worships an alpha male and then falls prey to the wily beast or vice versa. Just to be clear, I meant MS’s modus operandi vis-à-vis MR since war’s end in 2009 to date… But that is neither here nor there – And I’d rather check out Eran in the here and now, today.

But cards on the table first. Since those halcyon days when I edited an influential big-picture magazine and produced a weekly TV business programme, this banker turned MP/ministering angel has been on my radar. Eran to my mind has been one of the few who has been able to make the transition from the science of the real to the art of the possible and maintain his integrity. At least, by all accounts, an iota of respectability hovers over his escutcheon. In my book too, the patina of a gentleman politician has not been tarnished by the vagaries of realpolitik.

So it was with some degree of dismay that I watched him defend what I considered the indefensible when the bond scam broke way back when. But my tale of woe over that episode is a thing of the past. It is available at http://www.ft.lk/columns/the-al-capone-syndrome-and-odious-comparisons/4-420409 for anyone who is interested in the archives and how they impinge on present concerns. 

What interests me now is that – like a true scientist – the honourable erstwhile deputy and now state minister has ostensibly changed his world view when confronted with fresh evidence. He has come to grips with his conscience after a struggle, which I know is the waking nightmare of good guys trying to walk straight in an ugly political world and not succumb to the dark side. ‘My bad,’ I know.

However, rather than spout platitudes at worst or clichés at best, permit me to let that sea-green incorruptible (I think) speak for himself. Therefore, I repeat his words at a recent confab in the aftermath of that despicable coup from which our democracy at large is still reeling.

In a nutshell

“Who has gained in this crisis? It is only the politician who has gained in this crisis! It’s unimaginable what monies are being offered to actually buy people over. The evidence is coming out on social media. This is an indictment on our society and the values that we hold. We should be ashamed to say that this is the country that we belong (to),” says Eran.

“I have tried very hard, ever since I came into politics, to get this message across. ‘Politicians will never change the destiny of this country,’” he adds, in a video doing the rounds.

“As long as you sit there in your chair, and you look at politicians and you think that they are going to change it, it will never change.” Yes, we know. Thank you, Eran.

“I was an advisor to many politicians, and after I’d been advising them, one day a politician (a minister) turned to me and he said: ‘You’ve been working with me for two or three years; (but) you still haven’t understood something. Because I always come up and talk about idealism, ideals, rights, democracy, all these different things that need to be done. ‘Do you realise that this system works for ‘us’? And why should we change it?’”

“That day, I really sat back and thought to myself: ‘My heavens, what is he saying?’” Good for you. But none of us can afford the luxury of pure thought anymore.

Be that as it may

The first thing is that the UNP must grow a pair. Their testicular fortitude when it comes to naming and shaming financial miscreants leaves something to be desired. It beggars belief how a self-declared bastion of probity like the premier – Mr Clean once upon a time, remember? – could entertain the corrupt in his cabinet. Sadly it now seems that the image was but a bulwark against an even more corrupt previous regime’s return. If the UNF-UPFA combine had been sincere about its determination to root out graft and other forms of theft of national assets, they could and should have proven their mettle long ago. It might have saved us a coup?

With that said, everyone from Eran to Ranil seems to have short memories. Even a fallen ‘angel’ tasked who was once tasked with overseeing the fiscal and fiduciary process of state coffers seems to have weaned his way back into the prime minister’s good books. To judge by the former shadowing the latter’s every move during the ongoing political crisis. Why do other UNP seniors not protest out aloud? Is there a pseudo-tyranny in the ranks of Tuscany? A skeleton in the closet that’s tagged ‘tinpot technocrat’?

Be that as it may, if stalwarts like Eran truly believe that ‘politicians will never change the destiny of this country’, it begs the question why he continues to prop a failing party machine at his own expense? Is it because he is otherwise inclined to pursue a private agenda while publicly pounding the pulpit on the uselessness of the system? Or is it because he believes that as an insider, he can at least begin to effect the change he wants to see? Is he being naïve or mistaken, or simply cynical – because bad company corrupts good morals (1 Corinthians 15:33)?

As a former Anglican Bishop of Colombo suggested in similar if not the same circumstances, the good often deceive themselves that by staying on they can change the course of the ship… when in reality, it is they who have been shanghaied and have strayed away from the true north.

Well sir, there are some of us who are no longer content to sit here in your chair, and look at you politicians. Even if we once did, and believed naively and trustingly that you were going to change the status quo, we now know better. We too share your suspicion that our sick political culture will never change. As long as good people do nothing in a time of crisis. I know you’ve read your Burke and Butler and Bismarck, so I’ll spare my readers the obvious quotes!

By the way, that stunning citation is something we could have apprised you of sooner than later. Yes, we know that this system works for you. Or, as you now say, them. And, rather than really sat back and think to yourself what your cynical minister is saying, why not break ranks? Not with your party – they need you know. But, with your naïve idealism – we need altruistically pragmatic politicians now. Also, be (and model) the change you want to see?

By the way

I still think very highly of you. And am willing to invest my time and energy – at least in these columns – to champion and support the social transformation you would now thrust back on us. But here we were thinking that by electing you and others of your ilk, the task was in safe hands and the job would get done well? But we now see it is a thankless task… And you yourself have realized that it takes two to tango! I quote you:

“This system works for them. And unless we get involved, and we say – ‘this is our country, this is our society’ – we have to get together to actually change this…” Who is them? Who are they to you now? Why not you stay where you are and we the people will join hands with you?

You also said: “As long as we have the attitude of just meeting in our cocktail circles, in our groups, of just talking, blaming other people and walking away, this will not change.” Well right back at you, Hon. MP!

In conclusion, your remarks leave us with fresh hope – and also a sense of foreboding at what the future holds – but renewed faith in the democratic project:

“The incidents of last week have strengthened my resolve that ‘we’ must stand firm and we ‘must’ change this order. I think unless we unite and we fight this together, there is no hope. So let’s unite and fight this together. This is only the beginning. This is going to be a much longer journey than most people think!”

There are many ugly things surfacing from the pond of our present political crisis. And you would be forgiven for wanting us to wax eloquent on pond scum and other creatures such as leeches or butterflies or pariah dogs. But today it feels like all things are bright and beautiful when one lark is on the rise, the snail’s on the thorn, the bird’s on the wing, God’s in his heaven – and one Sri Lankan politician is suggesting that Judgment must begin in the House of the Lord.

Tomorrow, we can unearth the ugly. Today, for once, let us celebrate hope. With that said, I must end on a note of caution and exhortation. For the time of NATO is done. And idealists in our midst must walk the talk of their idealism. Do! Or go! But not just yet! There is a coup to defeat still.  

(Journalist | Editor-at-large of LMD | Writer #SpeakingTruthToPower)