The fight for nominations to the WPC and SPC elections – An ego trip!

Lets face it, whatever one says, this Country is still vested in the two party system, the UNP and the UPFA as the latter now seem intent to be permanently in the Coalition where partners within make noises, but no one leaves, as those parties only want permanent butter on their bread and the UPFA is supplying that for the foreseeable future.

So to get the nomination from either of them, there is a lot of intrigue and even promises and money changing hands in order to secure it. In both parties about half the nominations for the Districts are up for grabs as the other half are already secured. Is it the word Manthri that people spend millions for?

There are about 2 people contending for each candidate vacancy, and there are a lot of calls coming to politicians to try to help these seekers, and many are in the process of avoiding taking them, as some don’t like to lie to them.

There are some sure losers, who due to some mental and ego problem of theirs cannot seem to grasp that they have NO chance and still demand the ticket, though they (everyone other than the candidate) know they don’t have a cat in hells chance of getting in. The problem becomes, when a one who feels he has a large enough war chest to win, is denied due to the former getting the ticket.

I believe that any idiot with money can win, if he knows how to campaign, or at least hires the right people to run his campaign. These elections are only about name recognition, and not about a platform, character or manifesto. Therein lies the idiocy of the whole Provincial Council system. It is used by most of the successful candidates, as a platform to parliament. This adds to its wastefulness. Sure winners don’t want moneyed people in the fray, lest they lose their chance.

The nomination boards really have a tough time, as they have to weed out more than half the candidates, and they don’t know how to balance the game in the long term interests of the party. Often there are threats and this time is NO exception. They go as follows, if you give so and so the nomination, I am leaving the party and will contest under the other party and so on.

Imagine if you honestly felt you could win, and you were denied candidacy, what would you do? Your reaction determines how you have played the game so far, and how you expect to play it in the future. In a business where there are large sums involved in getting elected, People do not wish to enter for the short term, but which to be lifers, that itself is what is wrong with the system. I believe it should be for a short period, where you can work honestly for your constituents, and if you are honest, you cannot make money in that job, as you area a servant of the people.

You should gracefully leave after a spell, and parlay that into another job, where you may be successful from the contacts and procedures you learned while you were in politics. In this way the system will gain respect, many more will get a chance at elected office, and sons and daughters of elected officials will not necessarily enter the fray, though many will be tempted, as they will feel they don't have to spend as much to get elected due to the established brand!

Those not receiving nominations have nothing to lose, so they will play hard done by and let down their own party, reflecting their true loyalties, not to the party but to themselves only. Latter day politics is only of the individual and NOT the party. Time to put party first, and single out those whose permanently loyalty is assured, a challenging task, but worth a long term gamble.