Financial Times

Gazing at 2004 through the crystal ball
It was 1977 and with a new vision and a new dawn in politics and governance, a renewed hope for a better living standards at a level comparable with our East Asian neighbors became a possibility for the citizens of this nation.

The two decades that followed saw a series of events, led by self seeking political leaders, who were playing games for immortality and personal gain, subordinating the interests of the nation and its people. The tragedy of the nation was that the civil society just watched helplessly and waited seeing these games go on with the hopes been dashed time and again.

The new millennium saw yet another dream, with a ray of hope with an attempt once again to put the house of Sri Lanka back on a strong track with a foundation of peace and stability and pillars of good governance, law and order, infrastructure, education/labour /legal and administrative reforms, all within an overall framework of financial reforms and fiscal responsibility.

A new wind has been blowing in the last two years, with the air now appearing to be cleaner and less polluted, with the people of the North, East, South and West of Sri Lanka enjoying the dividends of a lack hostility and the rays of hope in a new era of peace and stability.

The international community gods with trays laden with gifts, for development of the infrastructure and facilitating sustainable economic growth and improved living standards, appear in the horizon and locks these goodies in a safe and entrusts the keys to the President, Government and the LTTE with a call to open the safe simultaneously in unison for release of the locked up booty.

The great neighbour India, plans to integrate with its small neighbour to the south, in a network of genuine support for mutual economic value addition through trade and investments. Tourism re-discovers the paradise once lost as a destination and foreign and local investors start looking seriously at opportunities to invest and employ people.

In the meantime, many of the business leaders and society leaders, hangs around like a pack of wolfs, scratching the surface and looking on and venerating the political masters of the day and wait with saliva pouring from the edges of their mouths for the fruits of the development to pass through their pockets.

Of course, at the same time a set of the new political masters are back at the same old game of personal gain polluting the air with corruption, lawlessness and network support with the underworld and business partners. Some others in the game of politics are simultaneously planning their chess moves for power positions and sabotaging the hopes of a new era.

In the wake of the new house lacking a roof of a charismatic and committed leader who is effectively communicating, networking and leading the people in civil society on the path of peace and economic prosperity for all, comes the great betrayal, by the leaders showing their true colours and clenched teeth of the uncompromising and non conciliatory wolf pack of so called leaders, ready to maul the nation to satisfy their unending hunger for power personal gain and immortality.

Well the gazing at the crystal ball now shifts to 2004, where one first sees the passing dreams of hope now darkened by the horrible black cloud and sees the crystal ball split in two with two separate pictures of 2004.

The first half shows, a repeat of the same film that ran for two decades since 1977, with only new actors playing even more sinister games and dashing coconuts cursing each other, whilst drowning the citizens in a pool of blood coming from the jugular vein of the nation slit by the leaders, jointly attempting to destroy each other.

The other half shows the civil society awakening from a slumber and rising in loud protest saying "enough is enough of these games and we now need to stand together for our own salvation and not allow the last hope to be dashed again by so called leaders playing their own games of gain, power and immortality".

They are marching in anger to the city from all parts of the island forgetting race, religion and status in life. At the entrance to the city they are greeted by the pleasant sounds of soothing music and they sit down for a moment of peace and tranquility in quiet and silence.

Ahead of them they see a small man in white hair and dressed in white, who then leads them then on in meditation for an hour at the end of which comes the realization to all and on a reflection of the past and a new way forward that the real power is at the base of the village and this has been handed to a few leaders for their benefit all these years and a new change wave with a new hope is a possibility, if civil society stand together and say quietly but fairly to the leaders that :

- We yet have hope for a new dawn of peace and prosperity to all in this nation
- You have the responsibility and accountability to deliver that hope to all in civil society

- Therefore from now on it has to be a game of good governance of nation building played by you all in unity with one purpose of a new vision and on a path to assure the potential benefits for all citizens, AND- You will play this game with us as the knowledgeable and watchful umpires with the right to remove the bails at any time if you fail to deliver good governance, transparently and in effective communication with the people.

(The writer is a top corporate leader who shares his thoughts and wishes for a brighter 2004. He declined to be named.)

Back to Business