Protests will grow until government caves in says Vijitha Herath

People have no way but to fight harder for longer

by Saman Indrajith

The JVP, after the LSSP and CP, has the longest Marxist history in this country. It subscribes to a Hegelian dialectic where contradiction between a proposition (thesis) and its antithesis is resolved at a higher level of truth (synthesis).

This is illustrated by a stone mason or sculptor chipping away at a block of stone. Perhaps a hundred hammer blows would not create a crack in the stone but it would split into two at the 101st blow. The stone mason knows that it was not the last blow that did but all that had preceded it.

The JVP led NPP has commenced throwing its fullest weight against the government in support of the ongoing protest on Galle Face green. The party is scheduled to commence a march from Beruwala today (17) and to proceed along the Galle Road to reach the Town Hall in Colombo on Tuesday (19), NPP MP Vijtha Herath said in an interview with the Sunday Island.

“The protest at Galle Face is growing with increasing pressure applied on the government. Artistes, lawyers and almost all prominent and leading professionals have either joined the protest or extended their support. It has the blessings of leaders of all religions except a few monks in the pay of the Rajapaksa family who show no sign of stepping down. Yet, if we continue to apply further pressure it is only a matter of time before the beleaguered government gives up. We believe in this struggle. There is no turning back now. It should end in nothing but victory,” Herath said.

Excerpts:

Q: The protesters have rejected the call by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa for talks. Do you approve of that rejection?

A: What is there to discuss with him? He first tried to ignore this struggle. Thereafter he and his cronies tried to intimidate the protesters and also to denigrate them. Thereafter, they tried to arouse communal disharmony. After all these tactics failed, he has now invited the youth for talks. We emphasize that none in the struggle has anything to talk about with this government or the president.

The first and foremost demand of the struggle is that Gota goes home. The second is for the government to resign. Third is to put an end to the 74-year long political culture that has become the bane of this nation. There is nothing to discuss in these demands. The President and government should step down. The youth want nothing less than that.

The proposal for talks is with the intention of weakening this struggle, by creating divisions. Such tactics would not work because those in the struggle are not like those in the SLPP parliamentary group willing to change their stance for money or privileges. The president and the prime minister are not even genuine and honest to their own parliament group. How could others trust them and go for talks with them?

Q: There is no indication that the government would give up that easily. It is after all a democratically elected government. How could a government make up its mind to give up power just because there are protests?

A: If you look back at the world’s political history in recent decades you will find ample instances where governments had to step down owing to pressure from the people. The ongoing public protests have already achieved victories. They got the cabinet and the Central Bank Governor to resign. There are more heads to fall and the struggle is not yet over.

Either this government does not understand this struggle or it so pretends. This is not a simple demonstration and it is not limited to Galle Face. People all over the country stage protests demanding that Gota goes home. They did not have that slogan at the beginning. First the protests started demanding that government delivers what they promised the people to get their votes.

They hit the streets demanding their rights. The government could not even provide the basic rights and needs of people. First the farmers came out demanding fertilizer. The mothers followed demanding milk powder for their children. There were protests demanding gas and fuel.

The government did not listen to any of them. Its ministers promised there would be no power cuts and there was enough diesel and petrol in the country. Those were sick jokes. Now the situation has changed for the worse. Doctors say that there are no medicines at hospitals. Soon people in hospitals will die without medicine. Already six people have died in petrol and gas queues.

The situation is changing for the worse by the hour. Meanwhile the government is waiting to for the protesters to become fed-up and tired of the struggle. In the meantime it has started the process of buying over MPs to replenish the numbers of those who dissented and decided to be independent. None of these tactics will work. Power of the people is greater than the power of money. The government should step down.

Q: The President has invited the Opposition parties including the SJB and its leader Sajith Premadasa to join the government. What is your response?

A: We cannot think of forming a government with other corrupt parties while Gotabaya Rajapaksa is still the President. That is not the change expected by the people. We reject invitations for such governance.

Q: The supporters of the government are staging ‘We want Gota’ protests countering yours. Where would this lead?

A: That is a flop. The government has got some of its ministers to conduct such protests. That did not work. People are more intelligent than the government thinks. People know that pro-government protests are meant to create a conflict and are used as a diversionary tactic. They know that such plans would not solve their problems of fuel and gas shortages and many more.

Q: The President has said he will not resign. People demand his resignation. How long will this impasse continue? Prime Minister Rajapaksa in his recent address to the nation said that every second the people protest, the country loses dollars.

A: The country lost dollars not because of the peoples’ protests. What we see is an economy ruined by a single family and its cronies. That was done by frauds and theft by manipulating government machinery. The economy suffered Rs 150,000 million loss because of the sugar tax fraud.

They came to power promising to recover the Rs 120,000 million loss by the Treasury Bond scam. But they did better. The economy suffered blow after blow because of the coconut oil fraud and garlic scam. The meagre amount of dollars available had to be spent on the nano-nitrogen fertilizer scam. Compensation was paid for a Chinese fertilizer ship. This is only the tip of the iceberg.

The answer to the first part of your question is that not only the President but also the Prime Minister have said they would not resign. That means they do not have an answer to the crisis. The MPs who announced they would be independent in the House demand that a cabinet should be appointed without the Rajapaksas. The President has not agreed to that demand either.

The crisis will grow further. People have no other way but to fight harder for some more time because the fall of this government is inevitable. It is only a matter of time. So, we have to stay in the same line a little longer and fight harder.