Gajalakshmi Paramasivam – 20 Aug  2015

Political Leadership

A highly educated Sri Lankan Diaspora Leader and higher thinker wrote yesterday in relation to the Parliamentary Election outcome:

‘Match over! Viva Sri Lanka. Her people suffered a lot. I urge all Tamils to support Ranil unreservedly to rebuild our country. TNA must lead the way.’

The writer signed off as grandson and great-grandson of Tamil Leaders of the past. I liked that very much because today’s Sri Lanka is made up of all those contributions – positive as well as negative. This is why we Australians attribute credit as a policy in terms of Land - to Indigenous Australians. This is a positive way of saying sorry without diminishing the current contribution of migrants. It’s all about  attributing credit for belief based ‘structures’. Land is the most permanent structure and those who work / use the land need to attribute credit to the extent of their knowledge of first  ownership. This is the basis of the principles of ‘Terra Nullius’ in relation to Nations such as Australia and ‘Prescriptive Rights’ in relation to Sri Lankan Land Ownership. Like in matters of Land, elections are high in belief and are strongly influenced by Believers. At all angles – one who believes and limits her/his ownership claim to such belief – is supported by Natural Justice. One who uses belief through a lower/smaller part - to take credit at the higher level – loses such support and is limited by the vagaries of the human mind. The mind strongly influenced by the seen and the heard keeps changing more quickly than the mind that is intellectually driven. The mind driven by Truth is the most steady mind.

During media analysis of  Election outcomes in Jaffna – the poor numbers by Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam – leader of  All Ceylon Tamil Congress – a member of the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPA) was discussed – relative to the high number of votes earned by him when his party was part of TNA (Tamil National Alliance). Like Tradition in the case of the above mentioned Educated  Diaspora Leader – one’s belief connects to the belief of others in terms of structures also. LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) members are part of both broader structures – TNA as well as TNPA.  The message delivered through these outcomes is that LTTE on its own does not have validity in an environment where people are voting of their own free will.  LTTE knew this and hence during their lifetime as armed leaders - they blocked the voting process itself. This karma against free voting structure is carried by every LTTE member and their Associates – including within TNA. But within TNA the contributions to Law and Order and more importantly the adherence to the Political pathway are far greater due to traditional pathway – which like the land, takes on its power due to heritage. If Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam had inherited his grandfather’s contribution to the legal system he would have been at least equal level competitor to the leader of  ITAK (Illangai Tamil Arasu Kachchi)  . The flow of Tradition was broken when alliance with LTTE was made.  Mr. GG Ponnambalam – the founding leader of All Ceylon Tamil Congress gained his political clout through his wins in the legal world. He would have lost his political leadership without these victories in the legal arena.  Likewise LTTE lost its leadership clout when it ceased to show armed victories.

Those who suffered due to official excesses – finally confirmed in 2009 through global eyes – had the strongest vote through a Natural Voting system. This is NOT the Diaspora calling for the downfall of the Government – especially LTTE members and supporters of the Diaspora who were part of the cause of that suffering. All those who went overseas as refugees have compensated themselves. It is the ones who continue to live with that threat who had/have  most entitlement – absolute entitlement in the case of innocent civilians – in  a natural voting system. The 2015 election outcomes have confirmed that LTTE is a negative force for Tamils. Civilians may attribute blame only on the Government but the system that works Naturally – would allocate the karma on true basis. Only one who is true to her/himself would identify with the true causes and natural outcomes. All belief based outcomes are natural. Each time a war related outcome is expressed, the debits and credits would be allocated to the true owners who caused the war. If a Tamil civilian had been  asked at the beginning in a True and Natural environment -  ‘Do you want war in which the risks of defeat and death of your own children are high or do you want to continue living the way you are – as a minority’ the response would have been ‘I want status quo with all its weaknesses.’ That is how Tamils now live. To the extent they are not influenced by either side – they – especially those who have paid the price of war -  would lead natural outcomes. As per the recent election outcomes – LTTE has been demoted by Tamil People taken as a whole.

Ms Shenali Waduge has highlighted her ignorance of the Natural system as follows:

[Fundamental Rights violation: JVP with 543,944 has only 6 seats while ITAK with 515,963 has 16 seats

This is to raise a very important issue. In looking at results of the 2015 Parliamentary election results there is a very clear discrepancy at play. How is it that an ITAK has secured 16 seats (14 + 2 bonus seats) while the JVP contesting all island has secured just 6 seats (4 + 2 bonus)?

ITAK is an ethnic party vying for a separate state as envisaged repeatedly through its manifestos since 2001, 2004, 2010 and once again in 2015. ITAK links with LTTE have never been investigated. ITAK’s constitution itself is currently being questioned as not been federal but confederal though it poses as the Federal Party in the English translation of its party.

Nevertheless, it is a mockery on the election system where allocation of seats discriminate the votes received and this is best seen in the current election results highlighted below.

It is suggested that this be taken up at the highest levels as it is a violation of the equality in franchise where disproportionate number of seats is being allocated to a party which has less votes as can be seen in the below All Island results.

Why should ITAK which has 27981 votes less than the JVP get 16 seats while JVP has only 6 seats. This does not make logical sense at all to the voters and makes a mockery of the electoral system. It is wrong by the political party contesting as well as by the voters casting their vote.]

The voting system works to deliver to a believer - as per Natural laws. Natural laws work as per true belief.  In terms of separation JVP which also fought through arms and therefore Separation from Politics -  is the parallel of LTTE. It did not by its belief represent the whole of  Sinhalese, leave alone whole of Sri Lankans. Just because JVP contested all Island does not mean that it truly represented all Island. Belief renders that to any person/group. UNP with Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe  representing Common Colombo culture - is the party that comes closest to representing the whole. Without strong Administration – a multicultural group does not have true leadership of the whole. It need not be Administration by law – which actually becomes negative when used without belief in the law.  Beyond belief in the law – one needs to act as per one’s Truth to earn the support of Natural Justice and  be a good Administrator.

Ms Waduge’s expressions could be taken as fear that Tamil leader may be the Opposition leader. This was a reality in 1977 – through numbers.  This time if it did happen it would be a reality through Natural Justice – due to the Constitutional provisions – as crafted by Politicians who did not represent the whole in real values. That is how the good among the victims return the karma to the perpetrators.

At the primary level – leadership is measured through money. At the secondary level – it is measured through Status within a common group. At the tertiary level – it is by Policy. The above observation confirms that the policy by makers of law failed to serve their own group. Counting the votes-only without reference to policy is also like leadership through money. Such measures would certainly separate and one who uses such measures is driven by separatism – including at family level.

If on the other hand, Tamil leader becomes Leader of the Opposition – that would compensate quite a bit of the negative karma earned by the former government which has proven to be a separatist government – promising more war victories and therefore wars. It would be a shame if a Tamil leader like Mr. Sampanthan with his commitment to law and order and preserving what he believes to be his traditional homeland does not become the Leader of the Opposition for the whole of Sri Lanka.

Our commitment to law and order is relative to another’s. Our belief in our homeland – however small it may be – is of absolute value. If there is no such believer amongst politicians – the combination of the two must be applied. Commitment to Leadership by policy would be confirmed by such higher status through such combination.

This has been confirmed for the Sinhalese side by Mr. Wickremesinghe and for Tamils by Mr. Sampathan. Taking leadership credit -  merely on votes - there are many others leading Mr. Sampathan in Tamil Community taken as a whole. Elections are to identify with belief based leadership.  Political divisions are therefore made as per land, culture and policy. Even one policy level owner earns absolute value leadership for that area s/he  believes in. Natural Justice will always deliver to that person sooner or later. During my adult life – this is the best possible outcome that the  believer in me identifies with.   Sri Lankans would influence the outcomes at total level through voters who are connected to them through common belief – not only through politics but every common activity – most of all through law and order at national level. Mr. Rajapaksa lost due to abuse of the status which required highest commitment to law and order by the leader. Obviously if he had become the leader – one would have needed to conclude that there were not enough believers in the Whole of Sri Lanka. Defeating the LTTE was not a national issue. Defeating all groups that used arms as their weapons is the National issue. The People have shown their belief through this 2015 elections. Politicians must give recognition to those believers above those who call for / work for separation of any kind. TNA lost the confidence of the people – especially such believers in the whole – by failing to respect the workings of the whole and continuing to call for separation. One way to prevent such loss and therefore the resurgence of ethnic war – is for TNA also to think of the whole through law and order or through Opposition Leadership for the Whole. One who believes in Truth will facilitate this on one side and accept it, on the other. Like TNA being the wider structure – Sri Lanka would become the wider land and culture for the side that appreciates this value.  Every politician who participated in elections has the responsibility to commit to the whole structure and not part only.

For the Sinhalese – this commitment to facilitate the leadership of the other side would negate the need for  global actions through war-related policy breaches. That would be confirmation of Sri Lanka’s Sovereignty.