2019 presidential stakes

Who will be the prospective contenders for the 2019 presidential stakes?

This seem to be the prevailing Talk of the Town these days and we could see various supporters and henchmen, with the hope of gaining a wide array of benefits, indulging in some kind of horse-trading and other ungainly activities to promote their aspirants.

In the first place we must ask ourselves whether we really  need a President to rule the country?

When we peruse the performances of the past personalities who occupied this powerful seat we could find many plus and also minus points to ponder.

But the sum of it all is the fact that the success of this politically important post depends on the personality of each individual as well as their love for the mother country. Another important characteristic shown by the past personalities is the way they made vital decisions at the correct moment without dilly dallying and not being influenced or  blackmailed by interested parties.

One of the decisive moments the country had to face was the decision to wage war against the most dangerous terrorist outfit. At this moment we are reminded of the situation when we had to give in to the whims of a powerful nation and give up the decisive victory we could have achieved in the battle at Vadamarachchi. But this time it was different.The strength of the person occupying the Presidency ignited the flames not only in the hearts of the armed forces but also the whole nation to defeat the blood thirsty terrorists. Although there were so much of opposition from both local and foreign, he stuck to his guns and finished off the murderous terror group.

This was a decisive moment for Sri Lanka and can be considered as the most important plus point and the reason to continue with the Presidency. The same can be stressed regarding the economy of this Third World country which had been at the mercy of the loan agencies formed by the Western bloc who had exploited our vital resource from time immemorial and also who will do any dirty thing to suppress our bid to achieve  self sufficiency. It was shown when they made deliberate attempts to destabilize Sri Lanka.

As we did not adhere to their advice, every Western giant  and especially Asian giants who have manipulated democracy for their own benefit, seem to be interested in knocking down our ability to stand up to them and show them how to run countries for the benefit of the people living there.

President Duarte of the Philippines  has shown how these dark elements should be handled by telling them to go and fly a kite.

Despite several lapses due mostly to the lack of experience as well as weak personalities we have been maintaining a strong presidency for almost three decades and it has come to stay with us and we have cultivated a certain kind of trust towards it as a last resort to resolve our problems.

Now the fourth largest political party with a total of six seats in the Parliament have brought forward a proposal  to turn it into a lame duck presidency, similar to what  had been there during the colonial days. Their  move may be due to  their belief that they will never ever gain the confidence of the general voter  to rule this island. 

Anyhow the so-called 20th amendment to the Sri Lanka Constitution is now floating in the sea of Sri Lankan politics and every party seem to in a mind set akin to Prince Hamlet—“to be or not to be”. They seem to be in two minds. If you lose it will  not only be the end for the particular individual it will also be the end of the road to the  party itself. Hence the best thing that can happen is the scrapping of the presidency and they may be silently wishing it. But they are not willing to refrain from contesting either.

Anyway the oldest political establishment in the country has decided to put forward  its “never give up”  leader as their prospective candidate, although some quarters figure him as an “expired product”.This may be  due to the result of the frustration that is prevalent in the party after the drubbing they received recently. As they are not much confident of victory they seem to be flirting with the idea of scrapping the presidency.

 On the other hand the common candidate of the yesteryear is showing signs of life by announcing his unwillingness to retire from politics as he has a lot of unfinished projects  that were started, as he says, for the welfare of the common man.

What are these so called projects he is talking about, one may ask. Other than the confusion he had created the only project he has activated is “No Action Talk Only (NATO). And when one observes the defeat his party gained in the past mini polls can anyone imagin him to be back in the saddle?

In this context the voters are in a perplexed state of mind as both the prospective candidates had proved their inability to tackle the challenges the country is facing at present such as the bid by the remaining leftovers of the crushed terror outfit  to regain their old self and the dwindling economy.

According to a prominent member of the Joint Opposition the person who is to occupy the all important presidency should have the qualities and capabilities of Vladimir Putin of Russia, Lee Kwan Yew of Singapore and Mahathir Mohommed of Malaysia.He has to be a combination of  all three world leaders!

Who is he?

Has he already come to the fore?

                                                                                                                                            

By Vijaya Ariyarathne