MAKING SENSE OF NONSENSE AROUND US.

Like any other election in Sri Lanka, the presidential election is also getting uglier by the day.

However, I am getting confused trying to keep track of the trends and swings, not because it’s getting uglier but because of some of the outlandish claims made by the ruling party.

The first one is that if the main opponent comes to power, he will allow the defeated LTTE to rise up again, when everyone in Sri Lanka knows that the President barely made it to the winning line last time, only thanks to the LTTE’s refusal to allow Tamils to cast their votes freely.

Rumours flew that the LTTE had acted in that manner to ensure his victory, and to add to that suspicion, a photograph appeared in the media not long ago, showing the grooming scion meeting with a well-known LTTE Diaspora member in one of the western countries that he and his cronies publicly despise.

Another rumour now permeating is the way very large sums of money recovered from one of the notorious LTTE leaders now in captivity are being used during the election campaigns.

If western capitalist societies are as decadent as they have publicly claimed, why do many people, including his own clan, seek permanent residency or send their children to study in those countries?

The other claim is that the Sri Lankan economy is presently doing far better than any of the western capitalist economies. If our economy is far sounder than the western economies, then why did we go begging to the IMF for a massive loan? Has anyone compared the GDP per capita income of those countries with ours?

I personally know how many of my countrymen are being stopped daily trying to board a flight with forged travel documents from this part of the world to one of the so-called decadent countries, which are economically performing much lower than us presently, according to their claims.

If their comparisons are true and correct, then the trend should have been the other way around, where we should see many westerners clamouring to come to Sri Lanka to seek refuge, but unfortunately, we are yet to witness something of that nature.

As the saying goes, they may be able to fool some people all the time, but not all the time.

The Sri Lankan people are much wiser than they think and are yearning now for a change, and that too, not just a change for the sake of change but a complete overhauling of the existing political dynastic system where a few think that the key to public office is one of their birthrights.

I would see many westerners clamouring to come to Sri Lanka to seek refuge, but unfortunately, we are yet to witness something of that nature.

Sasanka De Silva Blogging from Oman

Time for Change in Sri Lanka.

The much awaited presidential election in Sri Lanka is just a few days away but unfortunately we the migrant workers who are one of the highest foreign currency earners for the country’s coffer are left without a voice.
All successive previous regimes have plundered most of the remittances, we earned by working in 50 plus Celsius degrees by spending them on many white elephant projects but never even considered giving us a voice, in return for our magnanimous contribution.
We do not ask for permits to import luxury cars duty free to the country.
Even if we ask it, I do not see there is anything wrong with it because many of the unproductive public sector employees, celebrities, sportsmen and many more (the list is too long to mention here) have already been granted this facility.
The universal suffrage is something we Sri Lankans have been enjoying from early 1930s.
All what we have been asking is to give the migrant work force also the voice but hitherto it has fallen in to deaf ears and I am confident that the situation would change after the 26th of January 2010.
Although we have been made voiceless by purpose, there are other ways that our pleas and aspirations can be conveyed to those who need them to be heard.
The upcoming presidential election is one of them and I am sure none of us want to miss this opportunity presented unexpectedly to us goes begging.
We still have our roots there in Sri Lanka and through them that the voiceless can be transformed in to a considerable real silent force.
Usually In Sri Lankan politics, the majority is always silent unlike the minority who are very vocal, boisterous and noisy, but do not be intimidated by their behaviour or the noise they make.
Keys to Public offices are not a birthright of any and it should never have to be so in future too.
Those who seek public offices must first prove beyond any reasonable doubts of their leadership qualities and most importantly the farsightedness.
Digging up a few dilapidated tanks, siphoning public money, professing others to grow Manioc & lentils in their own back gardens and embark on wasteful white elephant projects to glorify one’s image would not usher any prosperity.
This is the time for a complete overhauling of the system.
This is the time for change.
Please do not waste this opportunity but tell those who are back home to cast their votes wisely.
My guess is as good as yours that the choice should be impeccably clean as the colour of White.
Sasanka De Silva blogging from Oman.