Political Opinion, the Factors Contribute to it and How It Affects Us.

There are a handful of days to the Presidential Election 2015. Election heat was in the air never before. Even politically inactive people are fuelling the public opinion and actively participating in discussions about the election. Although Sri Lankans have some notion about the politics, most of them have not viewing politics in a balanced mind. Many factors have influenced their political inclination. The above mentioned situation is common in any country. Even the so-called developed democracies cannot escape from it but in Sri Lanka, party politics have gone to the extent that people have been blindly following what the media and politicians at political rallies have said. Even their family’s political inclination has affected to shape their opinion. The need for a politically sound population is needed to for a working democracy. After all democracy is all about people’s participation in their governance. Their independent and unbiased opinion should decide the fate of the government. Unfortunately, in Sri Lanka the question remains as to whether the elections represent the honest opinion of the people.

In this article, I have intended to analyze each of the factors which shape political inclination and the adverse effects of irrational political opinion.

Media

This is the most effective method shaping the political opinion. It is considered as the fourth organ of the government recognizing its impact on people. Nevertheless it is media is like a double edged sword. The principle task that the media is supposed to do is the deliver information for the public but not anyone’s opinion. The opinion has to be formed by media receivers. As expressed in the theme of one of the main news providers in Sri Lanka; ‘We report, you decide’. When looking at the behavior of Sri Lankan media today, serious doubts remain to their impartiality. There are mainly three kinds of media in Sri Lanka; government controlled state media, private media and social media. These three methods evolved with time.

From the independence, the government media has played the role of the government propaganda machine. Before the arrival of private media, the media monopoly lied with the government. It is not a secret that the even the governments which were relatively democratic to the present government has manipulated the media machinery to quash the opposition and sabotage trade union actions by spreading false information. Although, with the arrival of the private media companies, the state monopoly has lessened, but then the information flow vested in the hands of media tycoons who either has close links with the politicians or they themselves involve in politics. Manipulative work on the media previously done only by the government only has now taken over jointly by the private media tycoons and the government. The situation has worsen in the resent years polarizing the media field by rival factions of pro-government and anti-government media but now with almost all the private media are either owned by the people connected with the governing party or are supportive of the government, independent media has become virtually non-existent.

The pinnacle of the conduct of bias media can be seen in the days leading in to the presidential election 2015. Government media news items have become campaign advertisements for the incumbent president. The head of one of the government radio stations is in the vanguard of bashing the opposition candidate. His vocabulary cannot be justified under any civilized standard. In some rural parts of Sri Lanka, only the state media channels have the reach. Alternative media cannot contribute to the political opinion in those areas giving the government a free reign to bombard the rural community with anything regardless of the media ethics and standards of independent media. It is apparent in the so called government owned Independent Television Network which is all but ‘Independent’

Social media have been immensely popular among young and urban population and spreading like a wildfire to the other communities as well. Its relative independence and ease of access has led it to be the safe haven of many critics of the government. The digital divide (the polarization of the community by the access to information and communication technology) is limiting factor of this third front but it is not be underestimated as this is the main collaborator for many popular uprisings such as the Arab Spring. IT literacy among young people is growing fast. Mobile phone connections rose exponentially with the technology getting cheaper and cheaper social media is becoming a common factor in shaping the public opinion.

Family background

A child usually gets the perspective of his parents. Family and peers have profound effect on shaping how the child thinks. Even he is older enough to vote, the deep rooted political opinion of his family fuels his judgment. Sometimes it overpowers the rational thinking of a young voter. Children of ‘Die Hard’ party members have a higher tendency to follow their parent’s political opinion and become supporters of the same political party of their parents. Nowadays with the free access to social media and education, young people forming contradictory opinions from the age-old politics of their fathers and grandfathers are not an exception. This situation is a positive remark on the awareness and active involvement on rational politics by the young.

Education

Education, especially knowledge about politics and governance is important for a sound political opinion. Sadly, Sri Lankan education curriculum hasn’t offered a prominent place for political science and history. Only a part of the student population who choose Political Science for tertiary education will gain and insight to politics. Only a handful of youth know what is good governance, rule of law or separation of power. The majority of young minds may not get a sound political knowledge leading in to politically uneducated young population ready be exploited by politicians thus raising suspicions of a master plan by the politicians to create a politically unsound population by withholding the treasure trove of political knowledge from the youth.

 Rural and Urban

The aspirations of Sri Lanka’s rural and urban population are fundamentally different. Most of the rural community is either farmers or small industrialists. The farming community has its distinct needs such as better irrigation system, better prices for their crops etc. The lack of reach of alternative media leads to solid political opinion favorable for one party. It is not wrong to say that serious political issues and government corruption are not considered as factors in choosing candidates. A strong personality with an appealing looks and exaggerated ‘village roots’ will surely appeal to the rural community. When the youth in the villages go to cities for education and for work they might be changed but their peers and family members back in villages are always reluctant to be politically enlightened but there are positive changes with the lessening gap between urban and rural communities.

Urban community is politically active. They are the first to experience the economic policies of a government. Considerable amount of them have higher education standards than their rural counterparts. They tend to choose more liberal and capitalistic economic policies. That’s why the comparatively liberal United National Party has a sound political backing in urban centers while the nationalistic Sri Lanka Freedom Party has their strongholds in rural areas.

Religion, race and caste

Religion, race and caste have shaped politics unlike in any other country and it always will play a prominent part in the future. Minority communities such as Tamils, Muslims and Tamils living in up-country have their own political parties from which they’ve gain bargaining power with the governing party. Coalition governments with minority parties are a common occurrence. The questions remains whether these minority parties have done any progressive work for their community and whether the successive governments have done any favor for the minority communities although they have given ministerial posts for the leaders of those minority parties.

Caste is another issue which is becoming taboo but it plays a vital role in politics. It is an accepted reality that a low caste person cannot be the leader of Sri Lanka. Caste seems to be one of the issues that reduced votes for the common opposition candidate in the election in 2010. Sometimes caste has become the lottery for winning at elections for many provincial politicians because they can secure votes in villages of law caste people as they are always inclined to vote for the law caste candidate.

Most of the above discussed factors which shape the political opinion hinder the chance of taking a rational decision at elections. Some of the people who are blinded by their long established opinions are reluctant to make a change in the society. It is understandable that people become frustrated with the entire political system of Sri Lanka which circled around two political parties who are notorious for not keeping their election promises and not sticking in to their election manifestoes but this vicious system has to change now. Accountability has to be brought in to politics by somehow or other. It can only be done by the public choosing the candidates who are relatively honest, intelligent and capable candidates at elections.

Before we change the political system or politicians, our political opinion needs to be changed. We need to think differently about politics and set aside our pre-conceived notions fueled by media, our family or our race and religion. There are many promising young politicians emerging who really need to make a change. All of us need to rally before them and push them to implement a progressive change in Sri Lankan politics.  

Read More

Election Special : Sri Lankan Politics and the Guide to Choose Candidates

Sri Lanka is a country with a democratic political system, “Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka” as the name implies. We can drop the socialist part because socialist elements are diminished if not completely gone from the political system. According to Abraham Lincoln “Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people”. Most important characteristic of democracy is citizens' participation of the governance of their country so as citizens of a democratic country, it is vital to have an idea of what our part in democracy.

Since Sri Lanka has representative democracy, citizens are eligible to vote and choose their representatives by elections. There are elections for both Executive and Legislative parts of a state. Judiciary is also in control of the executive branch. As citizens we may be complemented with the feeling of having total control of the state in our hands like democracy wanted us to; but in reality this is not happening.

Sri Lanka is the oldest democracy in South East Asia having being introduced to the universal suffrage in 1930. Even before 1930 part of the people have experienced to some form of limited democracy. It is heart-breaking for a democracy-loving Sri Lankan citizen to witness his country ranking low in Democracy index. Although it ranked as 3^rd in South Asia, that is no complement when most of the South Asian countries are in political turmoil or in the midst of political crises and unstable military-influenced governments.

We are having elections; a lot of them but when the representatives we choose to rule the government institutions are not doing their job properly, our country can’t be call as a good democracy. This situation is far worse in provincial and local government politics. We should understand that correct functioning of democracy does not only lie on the holding elections but also on the conduct of people who are being elected. 

Although people of Sri Lanka have more than 70 years experience of active political engagement, most of the early politicians were aristocrats. They were gradually getting hold of the plantation and commercial industries. Educated in Britain, they embraced western culture and ideology. Those, who we call the “Elite”, choose politics just to enhance their social status. Most of them welcomed British presence and displeased with giving universal suffrage and greater autonomy to the Ceylonese.

After getting independence from British, the elite had to rule the country but contrary to their conduct before independence, they were somewhat progressive. When British left in 1948, Ceylon had a functioning democracy, fast developing economy, and political stability. Leaders back then had plans for future development thus giving agriculture and plantation the utmost importance. Education was also placed in high priority. Above all past leaders respected democracy. Majority of politicians were not corrupt, politics was not the way to get rich but to serve people. Although educated middle class was present in political arena, they've contributed to the betterment of the state and upholding the democracy in Ceylon. With that new wave of different political ideologies were introduced.

As we all know, the turning point in Sri Lankan politics came with the 1978 constitution. President Junius Richard Jayawardene's intention of the new constitution was having a stronger state through strong central executive thus making president both the chief of state and the head of the government. Two main changes happened to the political system. First is creating the Executive presidency which has executive powers and can directly influence the legislative and judicial sections in the state. Second is the district basis election system in which several representatives are selected according to preferential voting system. There are several flows in the system. One is the tendency of the executive to turn in to more like authoritarian leader. Although Sri Lankan executive presidency is somewhat similar to United States of America, the checks and balances theory which was vital to the survival of democracy was not correctly administered here. Next major flow is the need of power and money to run for the election and secure a seat in ever fierce election battleground.  A candidate needs to secure vote in a large area. With preferential votes, internal conflicts within a political party may occur. Gradually politics become not a service to the public but a quick way to earn money. This newly found gold-rush attracted corrupt politicians whose intend is only to make money and expand their da-facto mafia. An uncorrupted, honest person cannot survive in this political underworld, only a thug or a fat cat can afford. This gradually alienates politics from educated politicians who are willing to serve people.

After three and half decades, political desertification is eminent in Sri Lankan political landscape. Sri Lankan politics is controlled by a bunch of thugs, goons, drug lords and fraudsters. Even the higher leadership doesn’t do anything to stop those contaminating politics even if they wanted to because senior politicians and party leaders need goons to be in power. Sad thing is educated and sensible people are in politics also succumbing to this evil political system.

As concerned citizens, there is nothing to be gain by blaming politicians or senior leaders; instead we should change the political system. At least, send sensible people who are willing to change the system. As voters, our options are limited. Although prevailing system limits alternative political ideologies or people willing to challenge the system, there may be still handful of determined individuals worth voting for. They may lack political experience, but have guts not to follow the present political bandwagon. Citizens should help to bring new breed of politicians who are young, vibrant and uncorrupted.

Criteria to select candidates in elections.

.  1. Education; 

    Unlike the other developed democracies, Sri Lankan politics is plagued with uneducated politicians. There should be minimum education qualifications to enter politics. Since knowledge without wisdom is useless, a politician should be sensible, competent and above all practical.  This is clearly visible in Sri Lankan politics. We have many university graduates in parliament but they are not doing anything to change this infected political system. Most of the candidates of the upcoming western and southern provincial elections have realized that the people are now urging for more and more educated people to come to politics. That is why you can see many election posters displaying candidates’ educational qualifications (most apparently their university degrees). It is good a political trend but we should not forget that in Sri Lanka if you are wealthy, you can get honorary degree; even a PhD. Who can assure the authenticity of their educational qualifications? Moreover getting formal education doesn’t guarantee a positive change of a person’s attitudes.

2. Family background; 

Society and especially family plays a vital road in person's character. Early Ceylonese politicians were sensible because they come from respectable families. Now anyone can climb the social ladder when he possesses lot of money. Money can't buy everything, certainly not humility.

3. Political ideology;

Political ideology is looked down upon most of the times. As a matter of fact although individual political parties or governments had their political plans ranging from leftist to far right, those didn’t comply with the national development goals. Even our country hasn’t got a clear national development plan. It is vital to give your vote to people who have a clear vision and a practical one. It is natural for politicians to come up with political manifestoes at election times but educated public should have knowledge to evaluate all the promises in it and come to a conclusion whether that politician’s promises are real and he/she has the ability to deliver them. As long as the public keeps ignoring the validity of political promises, cunning politicians will always fool us.

4. Criminal history.

There is a law in Sri Lanka preventing a person from holding a public office for some time, if that person is convicted by a court for certain offences. Political parties are discouraged from giving nominations to people with criminal history but enforcing law on politicians are very rare and most of them escapes conviction. It is a well known fact that majority of members of our parliament have some sort of criminal past and some even continues to rely on thuggery.

We can’t find Mr. Cleans in the politics. It has always been a dirty game but within the black and white, we may find certain gray area. That should be the place we look for. Sri Lankans had enough of it. We suffered in the hands of corrupt, incompetent and greedy politicians. Now it is time for us to think wisely and decide who our leaders will be.  

Read More

Discovering the Leader in Me

Leadership can have a broad meaning. The ability to take charge of a group of people, the skill of handling people or the will-power to take the responsibility when things go wrong can be considered as leadership. Do we have the leadership skills ? Most of the Sri Lankans may not have the leadership gene in their pool. Situation among school children and university students is even worse. We are a backward nation lacking necessary courage to take risks, admit our mistakes and develop our personalities. Something had to be done. We had to treat the root-course; our youth. "Leadership and Positive Attitudes Development Program for University Students" aka "Leadership Program" was introduced as a cure for the above problem.

I was privileged to have selected for the Leadership Program because I was one of the lucky few who got admission for government universities based on the advanced level examination 2012. When the Leadership Program was first introduced for the students of A/L batch 2010, most of the people looked it with suspicion. I myself shared the same attitude towards it. The main reason for the lack of warm welcome was that the program was to be conducted in military camps with the help of military instructors and in military style disciplined environment. Although Sri Lankan military was venerated for their service in defeating the Tamil Tiger Terrorists, civil society preferred to keep a safe distance from them. No parent was willing to send their children to attend to this so called military training. The first batch was entered before starting universities in 2011. Attendance was made virtually compulsory and the only way out is to give a medical report saying he/she is unfit for training. First batch had to undergo 21 days of training for which the feedback of students was mixed. Students didn't like to have stressful physical training and drill practices but they liked other activities and lectures.

Now two programs completed in two years. The content of the program was gradually improved. Ministry of Higher Education and the military learned their lessons so I was hoping for a better program than the first two. I was selected to the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Gannoruwa, Peradeniya. I've never been inside an army camp before for an extended period of time so I was really nervous. Being away from home was not an issue for me but with all the reassurances, the feeling of loneliness burned me from inside out.

Gannoruwa army camp was neat and tidy. The registration process went smoothly. We were assigned billets for accommodation. There were 259 students, two third of them were girls. Students were divided in to two companies; Alpha and Bravo. Each company was subdivided again in to four platoons and each platoon was divided into three sections for ease of control.

We had to adapt to rigorous time table. We woke up at about 4.00 AM in the morning. Activities such as physical training, drill practice, lectures, sport activities and aesthetic session were scheduled from dawn to midnight. We had less than four hours of sleep per day for the entire three week period.

It is true to say that I've learned almost all the things on how to be a more organized and structured person. Our physical, mental and social skills were gradually improved. We were taught the best practice in even doing the basic day to day chores ranging from arranging beds to cleaning the lavatory. Dining room etiquette, how to dress properly and even how to greet a person were taught.

The best thing I got from this training program is the way how to be a good leader as well as how to be a good follower. We may not be a leader always. Sometimes we have to obey someone and do the duties. I befriended with many people coming from all over the country from different economic or social backgrounds and from different races and religions. Since we wore the same type of dress and we were given the same training, accommodation and food, a sense of harmony and equalism were prevailed among us. All of the students regardless of the gender were bonded like a band of brothers.

We have extended our bond even to the officers and other staff of the Gannoruwa army camp. They were like our brothers and sisters. Although they addressed us "Mister" and "Miss", I'm sure in their hearts they have felt us like their own kith and kin. Their level of tolerance was admirable. To tell the truth, we were always not in our best behavior but the staff tolerated it even they got scolded by their superiors.

Our safety was the priority of the officers and other staff. All the physical activities were bearable and our safety was assured. We we not forced to undergo even a single day of physical training or drill practices. Anyone can fallout from the above activities if they are not fit. Medical facilities were readily available at the camp. Kandy and Peradeniya hospitals were on full alert for any serious medical conditions and we would be receiving treatments there.

The most heartbreaking thing happened to us at the camp was the sudden demise of our friend, Lahiru Sandaruwan. He had undiscovered medical condition which lead to his death. We we really shocked and tormented but faced that grave situation with courage. We were crying at our hearts but putting a brave face in the midst of this situation. I can assure you that this training was not responsible of causing Lahiru's death. We did religious activities for him and even went to his house to pay him our last respect. 

Last but not least, it is my duty to appreciate the leadership given by the commandant of the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering - Gannoruwa, Lieutenant Colonel S.A.Pathirana. He was like a father to us. We were always safe in his hands. He steered the leadership course in the midst of grate obstacles and hardships. His leadership qualities were highlighted when Lahiru passed away in the middle of the training program. The way he handled that crisis alone can be a guidebook for a future leader.

Everything was a challenge to me. Waking up in the early morning, ice-cold showers, sleeping in a dormitory, speaking in front of a large crowd, drill practice,  and the hardest of all; handling more than thirty unruly students when I got the chance to be the leader of the platoon for a day. When I look back, I can't even believe I've done all those things.

In conclusion, I may say that this leadership program has changed me for good. It revealed a hidden part of myself. Now I can endure the hardships of life, face challenges, confront my fears and be more structured person. This is one of the best things ever happened to me. I recommend this training course to every prospective university student. If you get the chance to participate in the leadership program, take it because it may be the turning point in your whole life.

Read More