The challenge of the 'Messiahs'

The time when workers of the world took to the streets on May Day, vowing to bury capitalism, is over. In Sri Lanka this annual vow of the burial of capitalism was made not by workers, but by Marxist and SLFP politicians and their party supporters, although the supporters included a substantial proportion of workers. The UNP, which took to the May Day in the 1960s, promised to eradicate feudalism and drive the SLFP and its pseudo-Marxists out of power or keep them out of power.

All this indicate that May Day, the International Workers Day, in Sri Lanka, has been a day where politicians and political parties attempted to demonstrate their political prowess, as they did yesterday. Down the years, political leaders have asked workers not to be tools of scheming politicians—that is politicians of rival parties and not their colleagues. Whether these May Day clarion calls had any impact on ordinary workers—even those who were shouting themselves hoarse on the streets—is indeed doubtful.

The significance of May Day, however, has changed in recent times since it was not the burial of capitalism that took place, but that of socialism. Young May Day demonstrators of two to three decades ago, now balding and grey haired, will be finding it hard to come to terms with this reality. The old political shibboleths and slogans are outdated and out. Are the demonstrators left with only slogans and abuse to be hurled at their political rivals?

President Chandrika Kumaratunga in her May Day message strikes the correct note. She says that in 1978, with the change-over from a closed economy to an open economy, the private sector of the country became the main engine of the economy. She points out that with globalisation of the economy now underway, the world over, countries like Sri Lanka can survive only if there is no rift in the relations of the employee-employer- state tripartite to enhance overall productivity of the economy.

President Kumaratunga has been fortunate in this aspect because most of the powerful trade unions are affiliated to political parties of the PA. The UNP trade unions have been rather docile. Most of the serious strikes that have taken place during her period in office have been by those affiliated to PA political parties. The recent plantations strike that crippled the plantations and did much damage to the economy was led by the CWC, which is a constituent party of the PA government, whose leader is the head of the CWC.

The only non-party to have caused her serious concern was the apolitical union of the doctors.

More important has been her warning about 'various political forces that have come on stage to assume power by using the working class as a tool'. She hoped that the 'working class would be intelligent enough to remain without getting into the grip of the invisible hand of political messiahs'.

President Kumaratunga, in the earlier part of her message, has admitted that the Labour Movement has been politicised. Thus, in seeking the co-operation of the working class, political considerations, too, need to be reckoned, quite apart from trade union demands. She is no doubt facing severe problems—economic, political as well as in dealing with the terrorists. But there are measures she can take to win the confidence of the working class. It is not only the politics of the stomach that matters. Those who live by the sweat of their brow also want to see fair play, justice and law and order being enforced, particularly during crucial times as elections.

President Kumaratunga has spoken of 'the invisible hand of the political messiahs'. We are not certain whom she is referring to, but we presume it is the JVP that is becoming an increasingly dominant force in the trade union field. It will be recalled that during the 1988-'90 peeriod, the country was teetering on the brink consequent to JVP's control of trade unions. The JVP, too, won 10 parliamentary seats at the last general elections indicating its growing popularity among workers and farmers. Political scientists attribute this drift of the youth towards the JVP as a result of the disenchantment with both the UNP and the PA. Youth tend to find their 'messiahs' when the established political order cannot lead them out of the mess they are in, in the foreseeable future. President Kumaratunga does find herself in a difficult situation in many fields of governance, but she is able to act in ways such as ensuring fair play and justice to all and by eliminating political goons and removing their political bosses. That will go a long way in dissuading disgruntled youth seeking political messiahs.

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