Self-righteousness ire of Sirisena

Monday 21st November, 2022

Former President Maithripala Sirisena, MP, like all other Sri Lankan politicians, never misses an opportunity to make himself out to be a knight in shining armour on a mission to slay the dragon of corruption. Pontificating about the virtues of honesty, he has claimed that some years ago his fight against corruption even brought him on a collision course with the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa when he was a minister in the latter’s government. He says he has written a book on his experiences as a politician, and it will be released early next year. Whether it is a truthful memoir or a work of fiction remains to be seen.

Speaking about land grabs, Sirisena has told Parliament that all state institutions handling land matters are corrupt, and he can vouch for that fact. One cannot but agree with him although he has made no revelation. That nobody can get anything done in those places unless some palms are sufficiently oiled is only public knowledge. But the question is whether the present-day politicians, especially those who have become uberwealthy despite their humble origins, have any moral right to condemn others for bribery and corruption.

It is doubtful whether the people will take Sirisena’s statements on corruption seriously because of his duplicitous behaviour during the Yahapalana government. He has amply demonstrated, all these years, that he acts out of expediency rather than principle. What enabled him to realise his presidential dream was his solemn pledge to bring the corrupt elements in the Rajapaksa government to justice and seize all their ill-gotten wealth. In the run-up to the 2015 presidential election, he said the Rajapaksa family was so rich that its younger members had bought a ‘golden horse’ from Buckingham Palace, of all places, and frequently flew in choppers to Nuwara Eliya to ride it! After securing the presidency, he and the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe embarked on a much-advertised mission to trace and confiscate the funds their political opponents had stolen from the state coffers. Three years later, Sirisena threw in his lot with the Rajapaksas! Wickremesinghe has done likewise and is now riding on the satakas of the Medamulana clan. It is only natural that the people have lost faith in all self-righteous politicians.

Sirisena has also called for the appointment of a Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry to ascertain the root causes of Aragalaya. The place where he made that call—Parliament—is one of the main causes of the recent popular uprisings. Aragalaya is multifactorial. It has stemmed from a host of factors, the dominant ones among them being economic, political, social and moral.

The educated, intelligent youth, who are netizens exposed to the world, are no respecters of corrupt systems and political dregs in positions of power. In one of the Aesopian fables, a camel sees its own dung racing past it while it is walking in a shallow stream, and wonders how come what should be behind it is going ahead of it. On seeing the lowest of the low in politics living the high life, the youth must be asking the same question as the proverbial camel.

What basically drives the people, especially the youth, to rise against the political establishment is anti-politics, which is on the rise, as Wickremesinghe rightly pointed out in Parliament last year when he was only an ordinary MP. People have lost faith in the established political system and are resorting to extra-parliamentary methods to have their interests served. Hence their demand that all 225 MPs go home although there are some good men and women in the current Parliament, and the country needs elected representatives like them. Wickremesinghe used to come up with some brilliant ideas while he was out of power, watching Netflix and reading books. He even took up the cudgels on behalf of anti-government protesters. Many a politician has an epiphany during his or her wilderness years. But, sadly, this intuitive grasp of reality dissipates the moment he or she begins to savour power.

Sirisena cannot be unaware that the appointment of a Special Presidential Commissions of Inquiry becomes an exercise in futility when its recommendations go unimplemented. Some Presidents have even made vital commission reports or sections thereof to disappear!

Before urging the government to appoint another Presidential Commission, shouldn’t Sirisena stop complaining about the recommendations made by the presidential commission he himself appointed to probe the Easter Sunday carnage?