Daily News Editorial

A tall order, but...........

Friday 06th November 2015

 

Deputy Minister for Local Government and Provincial Councils Faiszer Musthapha has said that the UPFA will win the Colombo Municipal Council Elections at the forthcoming Local Government poll under President Maithripala Sirisena. Speaking at a function in Grandpass the Deputy Minister noted that most of the minorities distanced itself from the Alliance in the recent past. Musthapha whose electoral base is Colombo Central is only too aware that the region coming under the Colombo Municipality is a melting pot, with a heady mix of Sinhalese, Muslims, Tamils, Malays, Borahs and what not, forming its multitudes.

He also cannot be unaware that the UNP is well entrenched in Colombo, not just due to its pro minority stand, but also other factors that has to do with the way of city life and a sub culture peculiar to the Colombo city. Colombo had long dumped the SLFP, not just because of its nationalist mindset, but also due to its economic policies in general - particularly in the past -, that failed to cater to the unique mileau of Colombo, its business community and even the ordinary labourer. Hence Colombo had been a no go zone for the SLFP or SLFP led coalitions from the very outset.

There is a popular saying among the Colomboites that even if a dog was tethered to a lamp post with a green flag draped over it and a ballot box placed before it, the voters in Colombo would vote for it. This aphorism was proved to the hilt when the UNP nomination list for the CMC election, for some reason, was rejected and the party, post haste, cobbled together an Independent Group led by a tri-shaw driver to contest on its behalf, under the spectacle symbol, with Vasudeva Nanayakkara leading the UPFA team. The spectacle group needless to say romped home and the three wheeler driver became His Worship the Mayor of Colombo. That he was later made to cross over to the UPFA through the shenanigans of the Government is beside the point.

Such has been the dominance of the UNP in Colombo that the voters were even prepared to vote for a stranger at the behest of the party. That the Colombo Municipality was always won by the UNP even when the party was in the Parliamentary opposition was not a recent phenomenon. The party may have been swept away by the 1956 avalanche, in Parliament. But it soon bounced back by winning the Colombo Municipal Council election with V. A. Sugathadasa elected Mayor.

Hence it will be a tall order for Musthapha, even with President Sirisena's backing, to wrest Colombo from the iron grip of the UNP. But it can make a good showing. The fresh approach by the President towards the minorities would help. It was only the other day that the President spoke of re-branding the SLFP as a truly minority friendly party. Addressing the Kaduwela SLFP bala mandalaya the President said that the SLFP cannot remain the same SLFP it was in 1956,1970, 1994, 2005 or 2010. Needless to say, these were the years that were marked by the party's strong Sinhala nationalist outlook. Of this the 2005 - 2015 period was marked by a rabid form of nationalism that crossed line to descend into pure racism, what with the war victory and all that. This drove away even those minorities that were in the fold of the SLFP, from the party.

It is unreservedly accepted that the Common Candidate won was purely due to the minority friendly UNP backing he received. Hence the comment by Musthapha on the need to win back the minorities, since there will be no UNP backing next time. This however could not be done by bringing the likes of Wimal Weerawansa, who is persona non grata with the minorities, onto the UPFA platform. Nay, the entire Rajapaksa cabal should not be touched even with a barge poll. They are bad news, if the party aspires to make any headway in the Colombo Municipality where the minority is in the majority.

The re-branding of the SLFP could well commence in Colombo by displaying the President's bonafides expressed at Kaduwela. Already the President has shown his genuine desire of getting closer to the minorities. His visits to the North soon after his Presidential election victory, his meeting with the family members of the gang rape victim, scaling down of the army presence in the North and the resettlement of civilians in the lands occupied by the security forces are some of the measures that has won for him the confidence of the minorities. However the SLFP's culture too should undergo a change if it is to cater to the needs of the Colombo city and win the confidence of its inhabitants. The strategies adopted to win over the rural masses will not work in Colombo. Its residents are not interested in the problems faced by the farmers, fishermen, or tea small holders. The party, like the President had already opined, should look inwards and come out with a viable strategy that would cater to the needs and aspirations of all communities, all sections of society including inhabitants of cities, particularly the Colombo city.