Shenali D Waduge

Does Anura Kumara Disanayake have a vision for the Nation. Did those who voted, vote because they thought he had a vision for the Nation? Is JVP really the Marxist” party it labels itself to be? These questions, can be answered in the actions and people are beginning to have their apprehensions. Anyone with a vision first needs to self-appraise the political playing field both at home & abroad in order to devise tactical & strategic actions, solutions to the challenges & threats to enforce that vision. It is well & fine to criticize actions of a government in power while in opposition which was a core reason for people to think AKD possessed the magic to solve Sri Lanka’s problems, but how well can one steer the ship after coming to power, is a totally different ballgame? AKD is finding this out too late. No leader should think that ideas will flow to mind like magic to govern the nation after sitting on the executive chair!

Thus, a question now on the minds of both voters & non-voters is where is AKD going to take the nation having got Executive & Parliamentary majority. Those who voted considered that AKD held the magic wand. Of those who did not, they had little choice, no alternative party to vote for, which is one reason why an unprecedented number of voters chose not to vote. By default, a somewhat artificial victory has prevailed. While the JVP bloc vote remains, the additional votes have come from the disgruntled voters of 2019-2020 who had no alternative while majority of them fell prey to deceptive fake campaigns. One noteworthy and positive feature of the election was that all the old guard who had been jumping sides over the years all lost their seats. While the old guard disappointed the nation by their selfish governance, how far a new & inexperienced Parliament can handle the hawks & eagles both locally & internationally has to be a cause for concern. The reason lies in a psychological assessment of the personalities now holding governance.

Firstly, we must understand that the JVP envisaged by its founder Rohana Wijeweera is not the JVP that is merged with the neo-liberal NPP of today. Rohana Wijeweera inspite of heading 2 insurrections, warned us of the dangers of Indian expansionist agenda including the likelihood of Indian boots well before Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987. How far his party was infiltrated by the West & Catholic movement since inception should be a separate case study, given most of his living stalwarts are today anti-Sinhala Buddhists & living in Western nations & have done nothing for Wijeweera’s family.

How far the JVP was really a rebellion against the State or how far the infiltrators objective was to sacrifice Sinhala Buddhist youth also needs to be investigated. The situation is no different to how the elite Tamil politicians sacrificed poor low caste Tamil youth to armed militancy to achieve their political objectives.

Just as LTTE changed hands from India to become pawns of the West’s geopolitical goals, the JVP since 1990s propped virtually every government in power or provided the ground support/campaigning to bring governments to power. When JVP was the richest political party, that they were funded not take power but to either bring parties to power & thereafter stir trouble for parties in power is a known secret. JVP had control over trade unions, university students’ unions, key academics, and JVP even had their own men dressed in Buddhist robes used to embarrass the Maha Sangha locally & internationally. JVP were masters at using these pawns.

One of the mistakes that political parties & politicians make is to undermine the international friends that support them before an election & their ulterior motives & expectations after the election. The same formula applies to those who come forward to sponsor election campaigns & post-election demand their return in excess of what they gave. Many of the critics of political parties are those unsatisfied with what they got in return for what they gave pre-election. This coterie of people often fund the opposition to bring down the govt. The international friends expect much more & they are difficult to shrug off as easily as the locals. Going against them may often lead to being upstaged from power. This ground reality is what prompts leaders to be happy to give in to all that the foreign friends seek even at the cost of the nation’s sovereignty.

The body language & statements are a dead give away as to the friendships forged & actions are enough to conclude that political survival wins over doing right by the nation & the People & remaining steadfast to one’s promises & assurances given prior to elections. This body language is now, very clear in the gestures to the US & Indian envoys.

As for the JVP old guard watching the political environment unfold under the leadership of their leaders, none of them expect their leader to become a closet chaser & within months vocalize the exact opposite of what won him their support. Top on the list of these reversals is the original JVP stand on India. The decision to continue the Provincial Councils, inspite of it being an unnecessary expense to the State, while being a looming threat & a stepping stone for secessionism, has to be taken together with the new links to LTTE Diaspora groups whose ban was only lifted as part of yahapalana reconciliation” bogey pursuant to co-sponsoring the treacherous UNHRC  Resolution which UVP did not denounce. These elements have now teamed up with some hired Theros to promote a bogus Himalayan Declaration” that wishes to make Sri Lanka plural”, make black money white” channeling to the Northern PC, demanding further devolution,  mentioning united” instead of unitary” and the eyes are watching the President’s actions though he should not endorse it.

We need to take a step back to 2015 when regime change took place with US, Indian support & JVP ground support. Noteworthy, is that alongside the regime change the architects split the 3 main political parties creating SLPP from SLFP & SJB from UNP & NPP merged to JVP.

SLPP won in 2019/2020 & JVP-NPP won in 2024, the SJB has been the lone failure.

NPP comprise breakaways from SLFP, UNP & other parties as these were neo-liberal pro-US/India. They comprised anti-Sinhala Buddhists & anti-national elements. This can be seen throughout the campaign & the manner the Jayamangala gatha was unceremoniously deleted from the Parliamentary Opening Ceremony while carols were sung at the Presidents Secretariat.

Despite the JVP cadre being from majority Sinhala Buddhist homes a key element was the party stand against Buddhism. The emphasis on secular” pluralism” advocated by the team headed to draft a new constitution in 2015 is a present NPP member & AKD manifesto claims to implement this draft. Turning a nation ‘secular’ ‘plural’ hides a hidden objective to erase the cultural-religious history & identity of nations after which the globalist rule decides what faith, what culture a nation is to follow. As we can see the competition is now between the Church-the Mosque & the Hindutva rule. Why they all feel challenged or threatened by Buddhism is a puzzle.

Understandably, JVP won the election not on its own. Many believe JVP would not have won the election on its own. Nevertheless, this very merger with NPP is seeing cracks. While the ideology of the old guard of the JVP which forms the backbone of the party remains true to its ideological past, the NPP is neo-liberal West-thinking players. The golden question now is – where does AKD the President, his Cabinet & Ministers of the JVP now stand. Are they tilting towards the NPP ideology, are they going to function as true Marxists” or are they happy to simply use the Marxist” label? The last option will sooner than later expose them amongst their own, while the second option may lead to clashes with NPP, & if the President & key heads tilt to West/India, they may well be upstaged by their own but if they do not, they well be upstaged by their friends turned foes”. Grabbing power by deceit & governing by deceit has limitations & repercussions – the general public with experience in people’s revolts are today ruthless and unforgiving.

Politics has no permanent friends but permanent interests. Nevertheless, Sri Lanka has always had a set of traditional friends who have backed us on international forums. The President must forge better ties with them. This is the only way to build the defenses needed. The President must not depend on one mode to take Sri Lanka from debt. Look for options. Forge trade agreements that are more powerful & offer win-win solutions. More importantly, keep the corrupt Public Sector of Sri Lanka in check & scrutinized in particular the Secretaries. Let us not forget that the Public Sector is more corrupt than the politicians. There are over 1.5million of them to a Parliament of 225 + 1. The officials are the one’s negotiating agreements. They are the one’s inserting clauses. They are the ones that draft the terms & conditions. They are the ones who forget” to include protective exit clauses or agree to detrimental & dangerous insertions that impact the sovereignty of the Nation including the State having to pay massive compensations. The damage they have done & can do has never been assessed or investigated. It should. It is often their actions, inactions or intentionally delayed actions that bring a government into disrepute & make the State vulnerable.

So far, the expectations on the President & Parliament are high. They promised a clean government. These promises have been in for some shocks with the qualification fiasco, the removal of a VC whose fault was that he stopped student ragging on his campus, extra-marital affairs & vehicle snatching, sudden disappearance of salt, coconuts, rice & the monkey drama have set the stage for people to watch the government with criticism than the euphoria that existed when they came to power.

Instead of taking the ugly path of resorting to victimization of political rivals, it is better to clean the Public Sector of corruption from the 3 main branches of governance, enter more powerful trade agreements that offer win-win solutions than trade agreements that JVP was originally against which would even change the demography of Sri Lanka & lose Sri Lankans their jobs, their land & even resources, refrain from any of the proposed connectivity” which would seriously threaten Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.

We are all watching the President & his Team – will they go left or right. If they go left, will the right upstage them. If they go left, what advantage will they bring. If they stay in the middle, what would be their fate?

Shenali D Waduge