Cockiness; What Price? 

By Sarath de Alwis –

Sudden, unexpected elevation to lofty heights is a dangerous predicament.  It can invest the cleverest of people with a large dose of hubris. Hubris is really a Greek idea. Hubris is not pride or arrogance. It is really what we call cockiness. Ancient Greeks believed that hubris invited the wrath of gods. When in power, leaders with hubris tend to rely on their instincts and abilities of one-upmanship instead of objective information and realistic analysis. 

Seduced by their success and constant praise of those who surround them, they come to believe that they alone know what is best. 

They stop seeking, listening, and learning. They start pushing their point of view down everybody’s throats.  

In a democratic context such conduct is described as autocratic. It hardens the arteries of the autocrat and from then on it is my way or the highway. 

When ‘power’ is deaf to public opinion, citizenry must ask ‘power’ five essential questions.  

What power have you got?

Where did you get it from?

In whose interests do you use it?

To whom are you accountable?

How do we get rid of you?” 

Following his recent statement in parliament on what next after the first tranche from the IMF, we must ask President Ranil Wickremesinghe these essential questions.  

When Richard Nixon’s unelected successor Gerald Ford assumed the presidency, he famously told the American people – our constitution works – our nation’s long nightmare is over. 

When Gotabaya Rajapakse resigned our constitution too worked with meticulous precession. But to my simple mind it seems it has marked the beginning of a long nightmare.  

Subjecting him to these questions would be a reasonable start to measure the true state of our democracy. Our current democratic deficit seems to far exceed the consequences of our debt default and insolvency. 

These five questions were framed by that colorful British parliamentarian Tony Benn the iconic democrat and socialist who captured the imagination of my generation in the sixties and seventies. 

Listening to our accidental President’s homily (‘Bana Talking’ is the apt Sinhala term) on how to recover from Sovereign default I couldn’t help but recall Tony Benn’s incisive questions on making political power accountable to the ‘people.’  

The way I see it, the President’s latest statement was not about economic recovery. It was about reinforcing his political base within the ‘Pohottuwa’ while offering an insight in to how he plans to contain the opposition that is growing increasingly restless by the hour.  

From the perspective of a politician who has no mass appeal his statement made eminent sense. 

 Once you are in power, never forget those who put you in power. Deal decisively with those upstarts who dare to suggest that they can do better.   

What are the key takeaways of the president’s statement?  

* The agreement with the IMF is the indisputable prerequisite to restore the economy. 

* Holding meetings and holding protests is not a problem. But if agitators disrupt this program, the government will act strongly on it.

* He is grateful to the armed forces and the police who acted to uphold peace in the country. As a result of their efforts, we have fuel and electricity today.

* Before long dollars will be available. Therefore, he will not allow sinister forces to destabilize this program.

* The opposition should join his government to stabilize the country’s economy.

* After accomplishing this, we can decide on holding the presidential election and general election.

His statement was an intimidatory ultimatum. That shouldn’t surprise anybody. 

He is totally dependent on the repressive state apparatus. His political survival is at the whim and fancy of a parliamentary majority that hasn’t a hope in hell of ever surviving another election.

They don’t like the idea of elections. Neither does the President who failed to get elected on the direct vote at the last general election. 

They don’t like protests. That’s their problem. Democracy is about dialogue. Pretest is how people initiate dialogue with elected power. Now, if you are not elected that is a different ball game all together.  

Though firmly entrenched in the seat of power, the President is terribly mistaken. He will fail disastrously and so will all of us trapped in this constitutional warp.    

If you make people fear you, or resent you, the last thing the people would offer will be their support. Throughout human history repression has only strengthened and solidified the oppressed and the repressed.  

Fear is the driving force relied upon by every tin pot autocrat who presumed that he and he alone was the repository of all wisdom in social engineering and institutional restructuring.   

As emeritus professor of political science Jayadeva Uyangoda has observed the ‘overall political context is defined by a new polarization of our society. There is the large majority who seek to defend human dignity and democratic order as opposed to an influential minority of political elites who want less or no democracy. 

The ‘Ranilist elite’ are convinced that the voiceless majority are not accustomed to have three meals a day. They condescendingly believe that the poor are so weary of existence , they will be content with two meals and that they will be even more grateful if assured of one meal per day. 

A good example is the Chief of Staff who thinks the poor man’s staple ‘Roti’ is boiled and not baked. 

This oligarchic class is totally impervious to the sufferings of nearly seven million of our people trapped in misery and hunger .  Rather than trusting the government international donor agencies now prefer to deal with these communities direct. 

The regime has convinced itself that the poor are somehow immune to deficiency and suffering unlike their own kind anxious and impatient for Ranil to bring about better days of borrowing again.

“Dollars will be available soon ‘was his promise to them.   

The political economists who call for strong leadership believe in top-down directives by the government. Citizen’s compliance is assumed as a given through coercion under the guise of law enforcement. 

The question is often asked if not Ranil who?  It is a sad commentary of the times we live in. What we need is a leadership that can create an environment where great ideas can happen. 

Trust is essential in managing this political and economic crisis. Citizens and the government must strive for a trusting relationship wherein the role of the individual is recognized. 

It is a bottom-up process that is anathema to the elite class that supports the Wickremesinghe presidency.  

This presidency is trapped in an Orwellian world where the ‘Big Brother’ tells you to shut up,  sit-down and comply.  

No body is searching for the truth. Not Sajith Premadasa. Not Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

They both hold that to concede that an opponent may be right, that the opponent may be honest, and the opponent may be  more intelligent is an unthinkable proposition. 

Their collective uncertainty as to what is really happening is a comfortable sanctuary for their reckless bickering.  

Privileged people don’t march and protest; their world is safe and clean and governed by laws designed to keep them happy.

We cannot blame President Ranil Wickremesinghe for not knowing the language of the poor. The poor man’s language is dictated by hunger. As the fiercely anti-fascist philosopher Theodore Adorno said, ‘the poor chew words to fill their bellies.’

We should also understand why the interim president doesn’t like protest. 

Protesting is never a disturbance of the peace. Corruption, injustice, and intimidation are the real and tangible disturbances of the peace.

Logic of street protest is beyond the capacity of the President.  

Postscript:

A very ordinary street drama.

He: I heard there was a riot.’

She: ‘There was a demonstration. It was peaceful until it was interrupted.’

‘What sort of demonstration?’

‘Hmm… A new kind. At first, it looked more poetical. Then some Black uniformed people appeared. It became very political ‘ 

Strumming her guitar she croons ” ආදරේ දියව් වීදියෙ විරුවන්ට..”

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