Tuesday, April 26, 2016

The May Day mentality – It’s all about Leadership


In my previous blog entry, I have alluded to the farce that is May Day and extent to which the Political Parties have hijacked a day reserved for workers who primarily exert themselves with sweat and toil, to express their feelings in placards and comradeship. In truth these workers are NOT valued nor even recognized on May 1st.

In this entry I wish to use this example of one-upmanship for bragging rights, that in reality amount to a hill of beans, being used by politicians or shall I say the leaders of the respective parties to enslave their followers instead of free them, reminding the enslaved who their masters are rather than to remind the leaders that they are mere servants of the people, to whom they owe their living!

This enslavement takes the form of the need for electoral organizers to compete with each other, to show (all show no substance) who can bring the numbers (as in who can spend the most to fool the most to turn up!) So these electoral organizers some are Cabinet Ministers in the Govt. today, but are reminded of their mere lowly status in this pecking order to show their leader (as in pay homage to) that they indeed have a following and are hence worthy of their exalted position in the party, and deserve their position!

Then those who aspire to high office are further tested by their leader, using this threat of numbers, and the most showy parade of characters to make a play for the high stakes positions by being able to amass a crowd so large, that their stake in the party is justified! This again is paying homage of sorts to their leader.

Think about it! All of the above pressures on political hacks to show numbers bring buses, spend money they don’t have so making promises to Donors in lieu of favors, is all part of what is wrong in politics in Sri Lanka, as it perpetuates a culture of quid pro quo, where bribes in whatever name it is called is paid to enrich the donors who bankroll these politicians due to the desire of the leaders to fool the people.

While it is clearly a circuitous argument, in the AGE OF YAHAPALANAYA, it is a definite abandonment of the spirit of this theme of the Leaders of Government, both the President and the Prime Minister to arrange these BOGUS shows to further rattle an already embattled Public with smoke and mirrors to detract from the act of “Governing the Country in the Public Interest.” 

It is this theme that is paramount, and it is the May Day show that is treachery of that intention no matter what guise this is coated in. When a clear analysis of both my blog entries is done, any sane person would conclude that an act of treachery has been committed against the nation, which must be prosecuted!

Otherwise they would continue with this for years to come, not realizing the gravity of the offence and the cost to the Nation, due to their lust for power, and blinded by their own self preservation!

1 comment:

  1. Article in the Island of April 25th on this topic is worth comparing with the above for balance

    Workers worshiping false gods
    April 25, 2016, 7:32 pm

    Grand preparations are being made for the annual political circuses on May 01. The UNP is all out to steal the show. So is the JVP, which usually holds the most colourful May Day parade. The SLFP is in a dilemma; it is like a two-headed donkey trying to move in opposite directions at the same time.

    The Sirisena faction of the SLFP will hold its rally in Galle and the Rajapaksa loyalists are scheduled to have theirs at Kirulapone. They are playing a game of chicken, which might lead to a split in the party. The former whose stakes are extremely high in the battle for supremacy is desperate to make its rivals fall in line; it will baulk at nothing in trying to consolidate its power in the party. The dissidents are equally determined.

    Power politics has nothing to do with May Day as is common knowledge, but unfortunately political issues usually eclipse workers’ problems crying out for solutions in this country. Trade unions seem to have forgotten the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA), which they say is a threat to their interests. They are rallying behind political parties. A sharp increase in VAT is to take effect on May 02, aggravating workers’ economic woes further. But, trade unionists are insouciant and their silence is baffling.

    The lid has been blown off another Central Bank bond scam which has cost the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) dear. Even the JVP, which stands accused of playing political footsie with the government, has had to condemn the scam. When the maiden budget of the present administration proposed to amalgamate the EPF and the ETF to form a pension fund last year we warned of a government move to dip into worker’s savings. The Rajapaksa regime , too, sought to help itself to worker’s savings on the pretext of converting the EPF into a pension fund. Its efforts were thankfully foiled. However, it continued to misuse the EPF for pump-and-dump operations for the benefit of its cronies at the expense of workers. Today, the EPF monies are allegedly being made available to those involved in bond rackets. The Joint Opposition’s call for a parliamentary probe into the scam has gone unheeded.

    JVP big guns have asked workers not to attend May Day rallies held by the SLFP and its rivals. In fact, workers must boycott all political events including those organised by the JVP on the International Workers’ Day. The SLFP as well as some of its leftist allies has a history of terminating strikers. The sacking of bank employees who resorted to trade union action under the SLFP-led United Front government (1970-77) is a case in point. The UNP unflinchingly sacked about 100,000 state employees overnight for staging a strike to win their demand for a meagre pay hike (Rs. 10 a day!) in July 1980. The JVP shamelessly pulled out of that general strike at the eleventh hour leaving the workers poised to strike in the lurch. The SLFP has not cared to look after the July strikers’ interests the way it should even after returning to power. It defies comprehension why workers should pay obeisance to politicians, especially on May Day.

    It looks as if trade unionism in this country were prostitution to political leaders. Union bigwigs, save a few, are puppets on strings. They have no qualms about being rewarded in public for services rendered to political parties at elections. The need has long been felt for strong, responsible workers’ trade unions devoid of political agendas. There are already a few unions without political affiliations as such, but they are not equal to the task of standing up to powerful governments.

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