Magnificent Seven

By Helasingha Bandara

(April 18, Washington, Sri Lanka Guardian) Intelligent people in Sri Lanka are thankful to the voters of Colombo, Gampaha Kaluthara and Galle districts for voting in five people of the DNA. They are hopeful that seven intelligent, brave, straight talking, honest and committed members of the DNA will sit in the parliament. They will be Sarath Fonseka, Arjuna Ranathunga, Vijitha Herath, Sunil Handunnetti, Ajith Kumara, Anura Kumara Dissanayaka and Tiran Allas, the magnificent seven. Together they make a formidable force in the parliament that is capable of frightening the Rajapaksha regime much more than the entire UNP clan put together.

Mahinda Rajapaksha deserves to win the Presidential and the parliamentary elections for the reason that he and his party provided the leadership for the victory over the LTTE. The LTTE was vicious and it plagued the country for nearly three decades. People can now move freely on their daily routines. For the first time in decades they could celebrate Sinhala/Tamil New Year without intimidation. Nevertheless MR and his party also deserve condemnation for their appalling governance and the cruel vengeance upon the democratic and peaceful opponents. At the recently concluded parliamentary elections the people of Sri Lanka sent this message to the government by abstaining from voting.

It is acknowledged that the 55% voter turnout for the general elections was the lowest in history. Normally it gets close to 80%. So we can assume that about 25% did not vote? Who are they and why have they abstained? Let us take 10% out of the 25% as disgruntled Tamils and Muslims of the North and the East who are presumably disillusioned with the electoral system and the corrupt version of democracy that we have in Sri Lanka. The remaining 15% who did not vote are certainly the UPFA supporters. By abstaining, the message they sent was crystal clear. “We are the party loyalists but we cannot approve your misdeeds, especially in relation to our war hero!”

They did not vote because they could not make up their mind to vote for any other party, especially the UNP. At the same time they could not vote for the UPFA for its ill treatment of General Fonseka. Despite their loyalty to the UPFA they wanted to manifest their disapproval of the Government’s action in relation to SF by abstaining. If the President and the leading personnel of the government are not blinkered they should take this as a warning that the people of this country are against its witch hunt of SF, his family and the supporters, the discriminatory treatment of the democratic opposition and the abuse of power.

People know that the charges against General Fonseka are fabricated. Metaphorically speaking, kenda kanda karala. It is public knowledge that within the government ranks there are many people who should be investigated for frauds of gigantic scale and the abuse of power on despicable magnitude. They are aware that rogues are involved in million Dollar rackets with the government blessing and Mervin Silva publicly threatens, insults, humiliates, assaults and intimidates those who oppose him with dictatorial liberty. The same rules do not apply to them and there is no justice or equality in law enforcement in the country. The opponents are served with a different spoon. Unfortunately for the government Sarath Fonseka still is a hero to the country and its people and they do not want him harmed. Harming SF deliberately means that MR and his clan are stepping onto a minefield.

Irrespective of party affiliations and temporary political activities people can bet on the ability, integrity, efficiency, honesty and commitment of the seven people of the DNA who would hopefully represent the law abiding, peaceful and justice loving people of Sri Lanka in the parliament. In the presence of many barriers at the general elections people have voted for the DNA because they have faith in them. The public do not want the government to think that it is only the Rajpakshas that matter. There are others who are worth voting in and saving.

Those seven people are capable of mobilising the masses towards a meaningful change. Sarath Fonseka and Arjuna Ranathunga are prime examples of efficient leadership. They are capable of initiating a political movement that good people of all parties would want to be part of. The people of the country now have to wait for another six years until they get another chance. There will be plenty of time for the seven to groom and grow the alliance to be a formidable force for the people to support without the fear of losing. The magnificent seven never lost any battle, albeit on screen. Long live the magnificent seven in real life!