Political stability the prime need

Prime Minister Mr Ratnasiri Wickremanayake appears to be the only person in the fray blessed with some degree of political foresight and concern about the country’s future. During the current election campaign he has been consistent in calling upon voters to give his party, the People’s Alliance, a clear majority or failing that another party such a majority. The country cannot afford the political instability created after elections in 1994 and 2000 and stability is a clear prerequisite, he has stressed.

Mr Wickremanayake must be still smarting under the embarrassments suffered during the period of ‘probation’ under the juvenile JVP when the PA with over a hundred seats in parliament were held hostage to the ten-member JVP. Even though the JVP did help to prop up the PA for a few weeks, the dynamics of the relationship, though it helped ward off opposition forces, resulted in the PA crumbling from within and its stalwarts defecting.

The voters since they are the beneficiaries — more often the victims — of the outcome of elections must realise that they cannot afford to squander their votes on maverick parties that do not have the foggiest chance of forming a government but can only be a coalition partner or as the JVP did, hold a government on ‘probation’. The JVP is aiming to do that precisely with their latest slogan: ‘Unuth ekai, Munuth ekai’ (There is no difference between both of them - (UNP and PA) implying that the JVP is the only choice left. True, the records of the PA and UNP are smeared with mud and blood but what of the JVP?

Their accommodation as a democratic political party today could be attributed to monumental political amnesia of the Sri Lankan people and the political expediency of unscrupulous political parties. However, can the barbarism and depravity exhibited by these 'comrades' ten to twelve years ago and the horrendous crimes committed against innocents and their opponents be forgotten and forgiven? Remember it was only a few weeks before the celebrated memorandum of understanding between the PA and the JVP was signed that the PA held an islandwide travelling exhibition depicting torture, and mutilation of humans by this ‘ liberation’ organisation?

Refusing to see the stark realities ahead could be as fatal as forgetting the bloody and horrible past. If the PA fails to win an outright majority, and the UNP gets a majority in parliament the administration could grind to a halt with an uncompromising executive president in Chandrika Kumaratunga and a UNP led by Ranil Wickremasinghe vehemently opposed to her.

An alternative will be an agreement to be reached between the PA and the UNP in the form of a memorandum of understanding as suggested in an article published on this page today. But this, as all Sri Lankans know, is more easily said than done. If such an understanding is to be reached it has to be done now because after the bitter and acrimonious campaign is over, it will not be time to kiss and make up. That is not the Sri Lankan style.

If the UNP or PA does not win a clear parliamentary majority then we will be back at square one with the racist based minority parties calling the shots.

Half a century of post- Independent politics indicates degeneration of standards rather than maturation. The accusation of a secret pact between the UNP and Tamil parties is history being repeated.

Usually the accusation is made by the opposition but now it is being made by the government party. This state of affairs cannot go on for long and a critical point has to be reached soon when anarchy will set in. Politicians have to stop petty politicking and be compelled to act in the national interest.

If not we will soon acquire the status of the warring West African states.

Saying it with flowers

A young Latvian girl, who hit Prince Charles with a bunch of red carnations while on a state visit to Latvia, is to be prosecuted for attacking a state visitor, it was reported.

The girl apparently was not having a grudge against the heir to the British throne but was protesting against British bombing of Afghanistan.

Many will say Charlie deserved it, like some of our own women, who think that he did not play fair by Princess Diana. But whether he deserved it or not, the Latvian girl has raised a point of law that has to be resolved.

Is throwing or hitting a person with flowers - a bunch of carnations at that - a violation of the law? Throwing tomatoes and rotten eggs at politicians has been considered fair game. Why not throwing flowers at a prince?

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