Who are you, NPP?

by Fr J.C. Pieris

We, the decent, ordinary citizens of this country, are seriously in search of a reliable and honest group who could give us good governance, give justice to the nation, ruined by the present and past crooked people, who held, and hold power, and somehow, by hook or by crook, take back our stolen assets, and punish the criminals.

Local polls may, or may not, be held, but we must get ready to snatch this country back from the greedy grasp of rogues and criminals. I have often said that our Parliament is the den of Ali Baba and the 225 thieves. Many say that it is not quite right to say such a thing for that may lead the country to anarchy and chaos. They say the JVP cannot be included in the Ali Baba group. I do not agree.

The JVP, for the last two decades, had got acclimatized to the utterly corrupt and evil extant system. They criticized and brought up many, not all, rackets and thefts in the Parliament, but that is just the work of any good Opposition. They happily did their job, enjoying all the unjust and wasteful perks and privileges of the so called “Honourable” members of Parliament. It seemed to us they were quite at home in the dirty den. Here are the reasons why I include them in the Ali Baba gang.

The JVP never rejected the shameless pension scheme for warming the plush parliamentary swivel chairs with their fat posteriors for a mere five years.

They never questioned the injustice of getting a tax-free vehicle permit, when the government gives them a vehicle and a driver for their travel. Didn’t they know they were illicitly depriving the national treasury of the vehicle tax it ought to get?

And finally, they even took part in the rotten method of creeping back into the Parliament, through the national list, after losing at the polls. It is a downright undemocratic slap in the face of the people. How can a man with a decent conscience and self-esteem do such a thing? Is this people’s liberation?

There is no point in talking about the SJB. They pretend to be the reformed UNP. What guarantee is there that their “born again” conversion is genuine? We cannot risk voting for them and continuing the same old rotten system where they will protect the Ali Baba and the gang as they, too, belonged to them. Ranjan Ramanayake rightly said: ”They are friends malli. They will never catch thieves; they are all thieves.”

Though the JVP is holding impressive district conferences and rallies with AKD brilliantly exposing the situation of the country; I’m sorry to say we are not much convinced by him or the others in the JVP. For we know who they are.

So, we turn to the NPP hoping for some way out of this seemingly hopeless hell the crooks have thrown us into. The man who ruined agriculture, the backbone of the country, emptied the national treasury giving enormous tax cuts to big business, bankrupted the country and ran away, returned, rejected by all other countries, stayed safely here at our expense and returned to the US, without any problem. Why he was not taken to task for the national tragedy is the trillion-dollar question. Crooks do not catch crooks. Can the NPP do it?

We ask the NPP following few questions to find out who they really are:

Do you have a political manifesto different from that of the JVP? If so, please give it publicity. We desire to study it. If not, what is your identity? Are you only the JVP in another name?

What is your administrative structure? Who are the office holders of your organization? Are your office holders same as those in the JVP with AKD at the top, Tilvin as Sec. etc.? If so, what say have you in the operations of the NPP?

Is there a separate and independent committee of the NPP that takes decisions regarding the activities of the NPP?

Will the NPP members, who are not JVP cadre and do not want to belong to that party, take responsibility for our future? To what extent can we rely on them?Please NPP, give us some clear assurance that you will not get acclimatized to the rotten system as the JVP did. That you have self-esteem, independence and the genuine desire to serve our people especially the downtrodden and the most vulnerable poor.

What gives us some hope is that we see many honourable, respected and decent citizens in the NPP. We are ready to support you fully and canvas for you if you can show us that you have carved out a definite path of your own and are capable of de-acclimatizing the JVP and dragging it out of their mistaken track and attitudes. In short, show us that you are capable of true and authentic system change.