Being self-effacing is a good quality. Sometimes, it can save people their skins. Today, the country is beset with problems both of a political and existential nature. Gods are proven to have clay feet, so to say. It’s why the Cabinet had to be ‘dissolved’ virtually, and we have an interim arrangement sprung upon us.
Now, it is time that politicians from all sides of the divide have to come together, to save the nation. But are there any signs that they are about to do so? There had better be because, if politicians of all stripes do not think of the people, they are doomed.
That goes equally for those on both sides of the Parliamentary aisle. The commentators and the political potentates may pretend to scoff at the idea, but it is obvious that the people have a very low opinion these days of all conventional political entities.
The conditions in the country in the past two months or so have seen to that.
Battle cry
The battle cry on the streets is that all political parties represented in Parliament should be bypassed, so that systemic change could be engineered.
Naïve though it may seem, the people have an uncanny way of bringing their vision to fruition, because they are supreme, and are the conscience of the nation.
They are sovereign as per our Constitution, and they are the final arbiters both Constitutionally and by moral imperative in this democracy.
People have signalled that they do not want business as usual. They were driven to taking up this position. However, if both the governing party and the Opposition parties think that they could offer more of the same, they are in for a very rude shock.
On the one hand, parliamentarians seem to be saying that any solution should be within the democratic framework. But, how do they guarantee that? The events of last week — with mass protests — should make any Parliamentarian ask himself or herself, whether in fact the writ of the State runs?
If it does not run today — what is the guarantee that it would run tomorrow? There is none. Therefore, if parliamentarians think that they can offer more of the usual from either side of the aisle, they may be grossly misreading the situation. The people do not seem to be in a mood to offer them any more chances.
In other words, as much as we all wish that anarchy would not be the result of this winter of our discontent, last week’s events tell us that we may have no control over that decision.
Opposition and regime alike — whichever regime is incumbent at the time this article appears in print — are in the last chance saloon. Society is in the last chance saloon.
At the time of writing, however, from the general direction of Parliament, the signs that emanated were of swagger and denial. On either side of the Parliamentary divide, the camps seemed to be hell bent on ensuring their own petty political turfs would be left intact the best way it’s possible. This seems to be so myopic, this turf mentality, when Rome burns.
The risk to the political entities that enact any such charade would be that if they do not learn the lessons of the past two weeks, they may not have a chance to salvage anything, perhaps, even their lives. This is stated in all earnestness because nobody wants to see bloodshed directed at anybody, member of Parliament or average citizen Perera.
Dissent
But, it’s possible that the events of last week would lead to a pitched battle between the part of the population that want systemic change — read ‘The People’ — and those who are creatures of the system i.e. the members of the Legislature. Members of Parliament seem shell shocked by recent developments. They did not expect that several houses of Ministers would be attacked.
The Opposition is probably even more surprised. They saw themselves as the default successors, but have begun to question this assumption after the events of last week. They have been forced to.
Wherever Opposition types have joined the people’s protests, they have been ridiculed, or asked to leave.
They are desperate to claim ownership of the current wave of dissent. But they cannot. Those protesting on the streets would have none of it. Anura Kumara Dissanayake the JVP Leader was virtually booed and told to scoot off when he attempted to moonlight in on a grassroots protest rally in Kotte. Sajith has been asked to stay home. This follows the call for the President to quit.
Politicians of the conventional variety seem gob smacked by these protests. The social compact seems to have been torn asunder.
Human condition
It could lead to several outcomes, but some MPs have been hinting that they would not keep quiet if they are attacked. They wouldn’t of course — nobody would. Self-defence is elemental in the human condition, and self preservation is to be expected.
But what if the Members of Parliament are outnumbered? What if the pillars of the system are weak and tottering due to the sheer force of what they are up against? It could lead to usurpation of power, and perhaps not by democratic means.
This reality stared everyone in their face last week — politician and citizen alike. In such a breakdown of the social compact, the resultant anarchy could impact anyone with the forces of chaos unleashed. So far the Security Forces have been the bulwark against such a descent into anarchy.
But this one last strut that keeps the system aloft could be under threat too, if the military decides to stand with the people. The protestors have been goading those in uniform to cross over and join the ‘struggle.’ The men and women of the Security Forces have been non-responsive by and large. But if things did not change on the ground, this reality of forces personnel standing their ground may well change. If that happens, those who insist now that there could be business as usual may be in for a very rude shock.
It’s why those in Parliament in particular have to be cognisant of the fact that they are in the last chance saloon. A majority of them seem in denial. There were a few voices as that of S.M. Chandrasena former Minister who let it be known loud and clear that ‘nobody is safe,’ meaning that he nor his colleagues in Parliament on either side of the aisle are safe now because they are all targets.
The incumbent regime, however, is charged with the maintenance of law and order. But that is as long as the writ of the Government runs.
If people continue to suffer intolerable conditions such as power cuts, non-availability of fuel, and face food insecurity of some sort, either due to a shortage of domestic cooking gas or due to astronomical prices of goods and dwindling employment opportunities, the social contract would be threatened to point to which the Government writ does not run. The last time there was a threat of this happening was during the JVP uprising in 89.
The people, however, were lukewarm on that occasion and desisted from throwing in their lot with the rebels. This time it appears the rebels and the people are one and the same, and when there is no real distinction between the leaders of the putsch and the people, the social compact is under serious threat.
The Members of Parliament should be cognisant of this reality, party hue notwithstanding. If the answer is more partisan gamesmanship within Parliament — while the country suffers power cuts and more — there could be several outcomes, but none of them would likely bode well for the nation, or those who wield power at the moment in both the Executive and the Legislature.
It is doubtful that anyone wants things to deteriorate to this point, but if Parliamentarians are sleepwalking they may be somnambulist to the point they are walking towards self-destruction.
It is why regime and Opposition both are advised to tread with caution. It is indeed their last chance saloon.