J. R.

Chandrika

by Rajiva Wijesinha
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born (Yeats)

Looking for a quotation that would be suitable at Christmas, I suddenly remembered Yeats. Reading through the poem again I wasn’t absolutely sure that it was suitable. But then again, it is surely worth reflecting upon, when one is in search of high standards.

For it is regrettably true that, in Sri Lanka, second comings have generally proved disastrous. Mrs. Bandaranaike’s first government was generally deemed a success, and she only narrowly lost the 1965 election. Her triumphant return to power in 1970 however proved disastrous, and she lost overwhelmingly in 1977. JR in turn proved popular in his first term. Even though the seeds of authoritarianism were apparent, there is little doubt that he would have won again even if he had not stopped Mrs. Bandaranaike from standing against him. After 1982 however he thought only of asserting himself, with the referendum and the attacks on Supreme Court judges’s houses (led by Kalu Lucky with transport provided courtesy of the CTB, then under Mr. Mohammed) and the government sponsored riots of July 1983. By 1989 even his own party had to push him, to save themselves from electoral disaster.

Then, in 1994, Chandrika was a popular choice and, albeit with some help from some of her later enemies, she won the Presidency overwhelmingly. Again in 1999, though again her enemies as well as her more unscrupulous friends helped, she was popular enough and her victory was one the country was willing to accept. But then began the delusions of grandeur, that led to nothing constructive being done for a year. The parliamentary election followed, with increasing violence. And then, even though even that result was accepted and the country was prepared to live with a PA government for 6 years more, Chandrika herself was no longer capable of settling down to work or coherent thought.

In such a context one wondered whether Ranil’s second coming would also lead to problems. However, apart from the fact that this is in fact his first electoral victory, there are differences. Chandrika and JR (gosh, they are so alike) manoeuvred themselves into second terms when they probably would have won without such tricks. Then they thought of themselves as Messiahs, and allowed their thugs to run riot. Mrs. Bandaranaike however, had lost an election, and so came back much less arrogant, even though her massive majority contributed to an authoritarian outlook. Ranil’s position is more like hers, and without the massive majority, so we can expect humility, and the understanding that he is there as the people’s choice, not through some divine right he has helped to create. And, more importantly perhaps, there is another example of a second coming that is much more like Ranil’s, and that was much less traumatic for the country than the three I have described. Dudley Senanayake became Prime Minister because of a sudden death, and he did not last very long. When he finally came back to office, he was decent and democratic, and has remained the only universally loved Sri Lankan leader with the possible exception of his father.

Ranil I hope is going to be much more like Dudley than the other three who twice got the opportunity to run - and ruin - the country. But, at the same time, much though one admires Dudley, one has to remember that his 1965 government was voted out of office in 1970. I am the more worried about this because, though I would be less blunt than her, I should quote the comment of one of my correspondents last week, after 60 ministers were appointed - ‘Let me share one of my greatest fears with you - that this lot is going to make CBK look good and consequently we will never be rid of that family.’

Now the Bandaranaikes are really not that bad (and if Sunethra were given a chance would probably be quite good), but a government run by them is not something the country can cope with for some time. It is imperative then that this government succeed. But unfortunately, they seem to be following in the footsteps, not of authoritarian know-alls, but rather of Dudley in his more vacillating moods.

The Cabinet thus, albeit on a much larger scale, rather resembles Dudley’s. Those who crossed over were given prominence then, and places they wanted, with stalwarts put into strange places they were assured were important (JR to something called State is the most prominent example) while Finance for instance went to U. B. Wanninayake.

This may have been due to some farsighted plan, but the result was a moribund government that failed to move forward. And this incoherence contributed to the greatest disaster of all, when the District Councils Bill of 1968 was stymied by a strange composition of the opposition (led by the SLFP, but including the LSSP and the CP in an aberrant display of communalism) and dissidents in the UNP. These last were led by Cyril Mathew, who was removed from his party post, but was rumoured to have support within, including from JR. The sad, and I think shameful, result was that Dudley was unwilling to risk defeat in parliament and therefore withdrew the bill.

Ranil cannot afford similar chaos when he puts forward a solution to the ethnic problem. Also, he cannot wait for ages. Dudley would have succeeded in 1966 had he been firm, JR in 1981 had he seriously tried to implement District Development Councils without using the Jaffna election as a dress rehearsal for electoral intimidation. Chandrika would almost certainly have got a package through in 1995 or 1996, when Ranil had extended to her much more support and indeed sympathy than is usual in Sri Lankan politics.

So I am sorry that he has not set up a solid, hard-working inner cabinet of professionals. The crying needs of the country at present, investor confidence, a slimming down of the government sector, administrative reform that stresses competence and productivity rather than tradition and procedure, and above all a solution to the ethnic problem based on equity and security for all, will not be served by incoherence, uncertainties and delay. The long drawn out trawl for permanent secretaries, which an efficient opposition would have completed before the election, now seems to be over, not entirely satisfactorily. Let us try now to forget such shortcomings. But there must be quick decisions as to policy and efficient and swift implementation if we are not to start the new year on as hopeless a note as Chandrika gave us for the new millennium.