The South has spoken

By Prabath Sahabandu

(October 12, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The government, nay President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has scored a spectacular win once again. The UPFA has bagged the Southern Provincial Council (SPC) with a two-third majority in terms of both seats (38 of 55) and votes (68 per cent), though the overall result is below the government's expectation.

That the UPFA expected at least 40 seats as well as 72 per cent of the votes, being the percentage the government had polled in the Uva PC polls, was no secret. The fact that Uva PC polls were held immediately after the country's epic victory in its 30-year-long war on terror obviously contributed to the UPFA's exceptionally good performance but that raised the bar for the government.

At the 2004 SPC polls, the UPFA with the JVP as a coalition partner won 36 seats and 64.8 per cent of the votes. Of those 36 seats, 14 belonged to the JVP and the balance 22 to other partners of the UPFA, mainly the SLFP. This time around, the UPFA has, without the JVP, got 38 seats and 68 per cent of the votes. That is, the UPFA has secured 16 more seats without the JVP’s backing, as compared to its 22 seats in the previous Council. Its percentage vote, too, has increased by three.

The UNP polled 33.7 per cent of the total number of votes at the 2004 SPC election, and secured 19 seats. Today, it is left with only 14 seats (a loss of 5 seats) and 25 per cent of votes (a loss of 8.6 percentage points). The UNP's down hill journey is gathering momentum.

The JVP managed to obtain 14 seats by contesting on the UPFA ticket at the 2004 SPC polls, as was said earlier, but now it has only three members and six per cent of the votes. A loss of 11 seats is irreparable, though its vote has slightly increased. It is thus patently clear that the JVP with a minuscule support base was going places on the SLFP's strength, dictating as it did terms to the UPFA and the President!

The UNP seems to have demonstrated yet another time how resolute it is in its refusal to learn from mistakes and in its determination to be out of power! UNP spokespersons are sure to claim that their party is recovering on the grounds that the government could not repeat its previous performance. They may be able to fool themselves with such skewed logic but not the electorate. They must admit that they have suffered an ignominious defeat. It has failed to win at least a single electorate in the South and suffered a massive loss of seats and votes! The same goes for the JVP, which is flaunting its three seats. It must thank the late President JRJ for the PR system. The UNP, too, should pay a floral tribute to its late leader.

A cocky UPFA intoxicated with power sought to trifle with the Southern electorate by fielding, among others, celluloid heroines and henchmen much to the resentment of the voting public as well as the diehard SLFPers in the fray. The freeloaders so parachuted did not attract any new votes to the government. Instead, they benefited from the traditional SLFP vote bank because of their links with the powers that be. Anarkali is a case in point. Her 'Singlish' and 'bioscope' tactics sadly failed to impress the South and deliver anything worthwhile to the UPFA. And her bete noire or tormentor performed far better!

The South was also made witness to a despicable display of arrogance of power by many hoity-toity government worthies, as could be seen in a spate of dastardly attacks on JVP offices and UNP candidates' property. Had the UPFA behaved in the contest without resorting to strong arm tactics and abuse of power, perhaps it would have been able to poll more votes.

The southerners' message to the government, the UNP and the JVP is loud and clear. While being grateful to the President and his government for services rendered, the most outstanding being the defeat of the LTTE, they have given the President a blistering tokka (knock) on his executive pate by way of a warning. They have told the President that the time has come for his government to stop relying on the Opposition's weakness and people’s memories of military victories to win elections; it has to be mindful of people's problems and be responsive to criticisms of its failure to live up to their expectations in the post-war period.

The South has delivered a thundering knuckle sandwich to the UNP and a kick in its derriere to boot and told its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and his cabal of cronies mismanaging the affairs of the Grand Old Party, in no uncertain terms, that they cannot think of coming back to power until they redeem their souls mortgaged to anti-national forces.

The JVP is known to southerners for what it really is and they have wisely given the outfit three seats (or, let us say, an electoral dole) to encourage it to remain in the democratic mainstream without repeating the mistake of reverting to the much dreaded galkatas politics, the brunt of which the South had to bear on two occasions, in 1971 and in the late 1980s.

It behoves the Blues, the Greens and the Reds to read the southerners' verdict carefully and act accordingly for the benefit of the country as well as theirs.

(The writer, Chief Editor, the ‘The Island’, daily news paper based in Colombo, where this piece appears. He can be reached at prabhath@unl.upali.lk. )

-Sri Lanka Guardian