No leaders, no PC and general election in a day
If there is one sign that civil society is dead in this country it is probably this: Why didn't anybody suggest that parliamentary elections and provincial council elections be held on the same day? It is too late now for taking the necessary legislative decisions with parliament dissolved, but if the political- will was there, the necessary manoeuvres could have been made to have these two elections on one day.

That would have saved the financial input for what would be the fifth islandwide election in four years, the PC polls to be held later this year. There may be any number of theoretical arguments which say that the provincial council and parliamentary candidates cannot be on the same ballot. But, all of it would amount to hogwash...

The fact is that there were thousands of hoarse civil society town criers saying that this election is a massive drain on the exchequer. Which it is. But did anybody think about the fact that there are going to be not one -- but two islandwide elections this year? If that's the reality, why didn't any town-crier scream from his rooftop that money spent on elections could be halved if both elections, parliamentary and PC, were held on the same day, by putting the separate choices of the voters on the same ballot, however complicated that task?

They have senatorial and Presidential elections in the US for instance on the same ballot. They poll for various other posts such as Mayor on the main ballot as well - - and they tell me that the US is a rich country? Why doesn't Sri Lanka like the idea of having separate elections on the same ballot -- is it because we are filthy rich, or because our civil society loves having elections all the time?

The above is among the best examples of the lack of any innovative or motivated leadership from among civil society and the political elite of this country. In simpler terms, we have many leaders and civil society busybodies who shout themselves hoarse. But that's only sloganeering. They are all abstracted from the issues, and rarely if ever come up with innovative solutions -- even on a temporary or ad hoc basis - for the nation's predicament. Those who do come up with solutions even though they can be counted on the number of fingers on ones hand -- are often not considered useful, because the establishment's preference is for the theories of society's institutionalised hacks.

So, if there is one problem that can be identified as being at the root of all the instability and chaos in this country, it would undoubtedly be the dearth of leaders. Some lay this at the door of the J. R. Jayewardene administration. The year 1977 caused such corrosive tears in the political fabric that since then "good people'' have not wanted to touch politics for fear of being identified with goondaism corruption and general avarice. Or so they say.

But, reasons notwithstanding, hope wells eternally in the heart of the average Sri Lankan that the country's leadership crisis will find some solution, at least with the infusion of fresh blood into the political process.

But the new blood, the 'outsider'' element, has historically proved to be a force that gets neutralised by our otherwise ineffectual ruling class. The best example being the leftists led by British educated returnees to this country who swore by Marx and the pantheon of Red deities of the time. (Read NM Colvin, the poster boys of that era.) True, most of these new radicals were of the same ruling elite, as far as their family lineages were concerned. But they were ostensibly the "outsiders'' who posed a credible challenge to the ruling classes represented by feudal families.

It is history now how this outsider element was neutralised by the ruling class. Mrs Bandaranaike kicked out N. M. Perera and his troops and that's epochal legend. This time around, almost a good quarter of a century later, the people seem to hope for new leadership from the untested radicals of the JVP. Already, there is an excited sentiment but their "idealism'' and their fervour. All of that is to emphasise their "outsiderness'' compared to the clear ineffectuality of the current ruling elite.

As for the current ruling elite, it seems to be imploding. It is self-destructing as many political analysts have already pointed out. So the forthcoming election is being seen as a leadership test, even though the issues involved are more complex and go deep into the roots of what's ailing in this fractured society.

This is why there is all this hope that the way Vajpayee emerged with a Hinduthva agenda and converted India into a fast growing neo-liberal economic moksha, that there will be "emancipation'' for the nation in this new "Sinhalathva'' combine just around the corner.

But, the imploding ruling elite still seems to be certain that their hold on the leadership can remain, and that no upstart from the fringe (read JVP) can upset their almost divine right to lead, which is taken for granted.

Instead, the ruling elite are bracing for a threat from the other quarter. They feel that the real 'outsider' which will usurp leadership will be the LTTE. They feel that the numbers will provide for a hung parliament, and that the party with a majority will necessarily have to depend on the LTTE backed Grand Tamil Alliance now in the making, in order to survive.

Now, the Sinhala people may be on their knees praying for a good leader to emerge from among the national polity -- anybody - - to lead this land cleverly; and somebody with at least a minimum of real leadership qualities. But, they certainly do not wish that leader to be Prabhakaran!

That paranoia is especially poignant, because Prabhakaran has indeed emerged as the only real post independence leader this country has produced! His methods are atrocious, and of course his path to leadership has been via a river of blood. But having said all that the Sinhala polity is intensely aware that he is the only leader who has succeeded in delivering for his people. Prabhakaran has delivered for the Tamil people hook or by crook, and he continues to work for their deliverance. But the Sinhala polity is groping in the dark for a leader who can deliver by fair means or foul - - hence, the often re-printed sentiment in Editorials and op-ed pages saying "what we need in this country is maybe a benevolent dictator.'' (!)

So, this election, even if it affords more survival time for the ineffectual Southern elite leadership by neutralising the JVP, seems to portend more trouble for them from the other quarter: the 'outsider'' element in the Tamil leadership. Certainly, Prabhakaran does not come from Wickremesinghe's or Kumaratunga's class, even though Gajan Ponnnambalam may come from it. But hitherto, Prabhakaran's challenge was a crude armed challenge.

Now, it is a sophisticated democratic one. Makes me ponder the inherent hilarity in this reality. Which is that the ruling elite of the Southern Sinhala polity want to mess up their hold on this country's parliamentary democracy by insisting that the Tamil people continue under their hegemony, rather than devolve power so that Prabhakaran can have his own fiefdom -- hence ensuring that he won't mess with affairs this side of Kilinochchi. But surely, our "leaders'' cannot see the hilarity in that.

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