The ease with which the people are duped – yet another example

What could be more clear and definite as a statement by the General Secretary of the SLFP, namely Health Minister, Maithripala Sirisena. He stated that they WILL NOT nominate immediate relatives of existing Ministers of either the Central Govt. or of the Provincial Governments for the forthcoming elections. I was surprised that people believed the statements, especially as they were in all the national newspapers, mainly the Sinhala ones or should I say despite!!

Now the nominations are in and we know the depth and spread of family bandiism in politics. We are heading for a period of going back to the past where feudal lords ruled their own areas, and for being loyal to the king received certain benefits, like the ability to tax their charges or run taverns or have a monopoly of certain trades. Is there a difference to that now? NO. Again I think it is the desire of the administration to obtain the same sort of deference from the people, by promoting certain families to positions of power and to use them, as they will also have access using their political patronage to making money out of their appointments.

There is a quid pro quo and that will continue as long as the loyalty and fealty is not compromised. This is a method of ensuring the longevity of the administration using the power of the local lords, a classic return to ancient times.

What is the spoke in the wheel? It is Education. Until our people are truly educated the government can keep this trance and this feudal system going. The moment our population is truly educated, then the people will see the truth. The JVP used some of these tactics but as their whole plank was on sharing equally, with little ability to compete and rise by effort and greed, it was a political philosophy that was not practical in the Sri Lankan context.

In Sri Lanka we all want to be millionaires. We want to do as little as possible to get there. We will chose devious and illegal means to do so. We will try to belittle our neighbor, and rat on them as well and we will sell our mothers for a few rupees. (I am making a gross generalization as there are always exceptions to the rule)

Getting back to the main theme in order to reduce the incidence of family bandiism in Sri Lanka, the voter of Sri Lanka must decide who they would rather have in power over them. The bandit king or the benevolent king – take your pick!