Gajalakshmi Paramasivam – 01 April  2015

 http://austms.blogspot.com.au/

Sculpture depicting the churning of the ocean at 

Suvarnabhumi (Golden Land) airport in Bangkok, Thailand

Common Opposition & Common Government

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka has raised the issue of legitimacy of One Government in Sri Lanka. As per the report by the Nation at http://www.nation.lk/edition/politics/item/39588-a-dangerous-deviation.html Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka stated:

‘ A National Government is an all-parties government or at least a government which brings together the two major rival parties’

Agree that that is the way of democracy. Politics is one sided and hence we need the ‘other’ side to reflect the true state of affairs – as in a Balance Sheet. But was there such a Balance under the Rajapaksa Government? If there was – could the Government have eliminated the Tamil Tigers? – To my mind the answer is NO. The Tamil Tigers themselves happened due to there being no ‘other side’ in government when Sinhala was made the only official language. Parliamentary system of management was abused to promote One side which was unhealthy for the whole country. Whether one believes in it or not – one who is in Opposition must  bring out the ‘other side’ of a government proposal. A sovereign government would. That process of bringing out the other side of the picture – is the basis of Administration. One may still vote effectively as per one’s belief. But when discussing the proposal an opposition  has the duty to take the other side.

To the extent those to whom Tamil was first language were contributing to healthy governance were hurt by the above one language policy – there was automatic karma created against those who failed to sincerely go through the Parliamentary Process. This ‘other side’ of the real members in parliament – eventually became the Tamil Tigers. When there is an Equal and Opposite side at that point in time – and we include that in our decision making – the other side is a naturally expected outcome – as night follows day. We just use our brains to project what would happen when it is the ‘other side’s’ turn to show itself.

A good example through which I was recently reminded about this certainty of karma is in the block of our residential units. This development was owned by Prima Singapore which has a branch in Sri Lanka also. I worked in this branch. During the auctions in Sydney I went up to the elderly Chairman of Prima who was present and sought his blessings – even though he did not seem to remember me. (Back then this chairman said to me that they preferred Tamils to Sinhalese because Tamils worked harder) When we were able to meet the price – I felt that the blessings did happen. I felt that the gap in financial affordability was filled by common ownership in Prima. This I believe is how the system of Natural Justice works. It’s a form of heritage value.

With that feeling of ownership I supported a couple of elderly residents who were upset that holiday makers were being accommodated on residential floors. Some owners who remained silent back then - now face a problem in that there is a proposal for a roof garden which would affect their privacy. As our son pointed out – they are now getting their karma back. Likewise Sinhalese who remained silent when they ought to have spoken – got their own back through the Rajapaksa government’s monopoly.  Dr. Dayan Jayatillaka who was very much part of the Rajapaksa regime contributed to this – no-party system which is another form of the Rajapaksa government.

In his interview, Dr. Jayatilleka states:

‘It cannot really be called a National Government because there is no agreed-upon common program for National Salvation or any need for such.’

That brings to mind the Clemency issue in Indonesia – as to whether the Decision by the President is after  completion of  the legal process  or whether it was part of the legal process. Is this One formation which is the parallel of Clemency – needed to diffuse negative karma? If yes its make-up needs to be  through deepest belief expressed through the  highest position in the country. Where that position holder her/himself is not one of deep belief – s/he has the duty to be the medium of manifestation of those with deeper belief.   Failure to recognize this opportunity eventually becomes disastrous to the person responsible and to the group that considers her/him their leader. It often becomes a mortal sin for the nation.  In Hindu culture which includes the horoscope system – such cardinal sins of the past are shown through planetary positions. These cannot be corrected the way we correct wrongs – including through external punishments. In some ways the person is untouchable by the human system. Repentance is one way to become independent of such sins. The other is total surrender to the Lord.  Such Salvation cannot be agreed upon. It can however be resorted to in the case of a position and the group that the position is part of – by some with strong opposite karma – in this instance positive karma of inclusive governance.  

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka states about the hundred day program of the government:

‘The 58 lakhs who voted for the SLFP candidate didn’t vote for the 100 day program, so why on earth should the SLFP help in its implementation? On balance, I think that program was a bad one because its centerpiece was and is the abolition or drastic cut backs in the executive powers of the presidency. As for elections, they will have to be held before the Constitutional deadline of April 2016 or  there will be a crisis of legitimacy of governance and the accumulating contradictions will make governance impossible.’

The way we receive what happens is as per the structure in our minds. These structures to qualify the mind as being that of a leader, could be on the basis of Laws and Theories common to many and/or as per one’s Truth/Belief.   If one receives through policy – the above response by Dr. Jayatilleka would seem valid. In other words, in a system of Governance with Equal Opposition – the same party cannot be validly functional on both sides at the same time. Where there is only one side – Time is the basis of separation and not Personal Votes – as in ‘Time will tell’. One who suppresses this other side automatically invokes the one sided ‘Time will tell’ system. One who stills time – as depicted by Kaalan under the right foot of Dancing Shiva (Election Promises and Clemency at  http://austms.blogspot.com.au/) manifests both sides through current work. Given that the Sri Lankan Government under Mr. Rajapaksa was running on Time basis – there was no room for democratic balance. The 100 day program is to weaken the damage from that One Party Government under the Presidential system. This is good for the Nation – for it prevents wrongs becoming mortal sins.

Dr. Jayatilleka was not against  Mr. Sirisena declaring  himself as the Common Opposition Candidate. If this was genuine on the part of Mr. Sirisena – then the Common Government Position was born then itself. As per my recollection – Dr Jayatilleka stated back then -  ‘Mr. Sirisena is a brave and decent man; possibly our last hope. He deserves better than to be overshadowed or drowned out by his current companions and patrons who represent and recall the failures of a past from which Mahinda Rajapaksa, to his lasting credit, rescued the country’

One needs to facilitate time for the new leadership to work out its own pathway – first to redeem as much of the nation’s investment in good governance as possible and then to structure an appropriate system that is custom made for Sri Lanka – without losing the common values shared with other good governments. The way of the asuras (those driven by brawn power) is to use the system, grab the benefits and then exclude themselves through claims of cultural nationalism.