Its the system stupid - "The Need for Change"

One only has to look at yesterday's election results to realize how broken our society is into factions of distrust. An abominable arrow of blame on the incumbency.

SOUTH

Excluding the Tamil areas of the North and East,there was absolutely overwhelming support for the Government. One has to assume they were happy with the state of the Nation. Despite Hedging losses, cost of living increases, faulty petrol and pipeline leakages, wholesale thefts, and thuggery coupled with poisoning of the nation and the unconscionable looting of the state funds by all levels of the State, people seem to accept that as normal, as now they have begun partaking in the looting in their own way. In short we have created a monster of a nation, whose values have sunk to a new low. Corruption has leached into all aspects of society, and everyone seems to want a part of it and as this Govt. is willing and able to comply why not join them. The South is impressed with those with the deepest pockets and the cleverest liars. We are impressed with monuments (no matter how white these elephants are) The populace, by which I mean the majority of the people seem to believe that all the ills are not the fault of the government and as cleverly portrayed part of a Western Plot to harm the country. It is a nation which does not believe for a moment that any war crimes were committed by the Forces.(No one denies the atrocities of the LTTE not even those in the North who actually suffered most of it) I dare say the Darusman and Channel 4 gave the ruling party an added bonus of votes.

In the above analysis I believe that the basest instincts of the voters,(FEAR) who feel the Government is defending this country from an unfair world out to get it and the opposition is complicit in this attack from outside is at the heart of the plebiscite in favor of incumbency. The Government intransigence against giving any basic language rights to the North and East is obviously supported by them. (I am firmly opposed to granting Police or Land powers to the Provinces)

NORTH

In contrast the North despite much voter intimidation and breaking of election procedures, expressed disgust with the Government. It had nothing to do with Channel 4, or Darusman as a columnist today in the Island and as others claim, just plain and simple perception that whatever the ruling party says, they just don't believe the rhetoric, as it must be followed up with words. The promises of riches in the form of business, roads, rail lines all amount to a hill of beans until the deeper issues are immediately addressed and tackled.

No amount of unaffordable Stadia in Kilinochchi will take away the memories of what happened and the word closure is something the rulers don't realize. It only happens when there is a mea culpa for wrongs, and justice prevails after. At present there is no acceptance that there was anything amiss in the Govt. actions, and they believe there is no justice either. Put simply, they want dignity to live in one's own chosen location, without intimidation and harassment.

Most of the people have come out of a terrible ordeal, whilst their basic food needs have been met their mental trauma has not. Everyone has lost a near and dear one. There are no procedures to obtain closure, so hope and titillation are carrots the Govt. dangles thinking they will fall in line like a line cows waiting to be milked. They have no one in authority they trust, few who speak the language, the gravestones of their relatives bulldozed over for conqueror commemorations. To add insult to injury the hoards of the local tourists going up North, has further inconvenienced their lives, as they have come to see a zoo or conquered territory, not one freed for them. It is they who have suffered through the LTTE more, they want to be free not replaced by another set of prison guards who speak a different language to the earlier set of prison guards.

Consider this; what if your child was forcefully conscripted by the LTTE, and then later died and all you got was a grave stone to mark where his or her remains lie. The conquerors flatten that over and put something of their over it. How would you feel? That in essence is what I am attempting to get the reader to understand. Until we have magnanimous leaders who have a real understanding of humanity, we cannot see an improvement. Remember the LTTE has been crushed, destroyed, why are we so worried? All we are doing now is creating the same circumstances for another uprising by this behavior. The current administration, after two years, still playing the war victory trump card cannot lead us out of this and have now shown that plainly. They cannot fool those in the North in the way they have fooled the South by fear.

NATIONAL RECONCILIATION

We cannot allow either the UPFA or the TNA to act as proxies for each side to build a nation. They are unquestionably Nation breakers, the UPFA with their current intransigence, racist hyperbole and patronising attitudes and the TNA with its LTTE ties that will always stick to them, together with their separatist agenda. We need a leader, hitherto not part of the visible horizon, who preferably can speak all three languages, and have a respected presence all around the island representing all communities for the common good of the Nation. Only that person can be called a Sri Lankan patriot, and not the bogus pretenders at present preying on FEAR.

I on the other hand have to retire to months of convalescence directly owing to the "Arrogance of the Incumbency" and thus I have been muzzled!