Pancha Maha Balavegaya on the Streets - Editorial
20 August 2012 08:58 pm
The Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera, who leads the National Movement for Social Justice, has again called for the immediate abolition of the executive presidency saying it is the only way to save Sri Lanka from a calamity. The prelate told a news conference the Rule of Law had broken down, corruption was rampant, accountability and transparency were not on any account books, while party politics was criminalised. He expressed shock that ruling party politicians accused of indulging in corrupt deals or even in the rape of underage girls were getting away by making the outrageous claim that they could not remember whether they did so.
He said while the executive presidency had been vested with virtually absolute power, parliament was irrelevant with a two-thirds majority, making it act like a lap dog. For a vibrant and accountable democracy, parliament needs to act like a watch dog and exercise strict control over public funds, but that is not happening.
The Mahanayake of the Malwatte Chapter the Ven. Thibbotuwawe Sri Sumangala Thera also spoke out recently in a sign that Buddhist prelates are getting involved courageously in the campaign to restore democracy and the people’s sovereignty. He said the Pancha Maha Balawegaya, which played a leading role in the 1956 social revolution of the then Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, was now on the streets. The balawegaya comprised the sangha, veda, guru, govi and kamkaru. We see today that the goviya is in a mud hole of bankruptcy with his paddy and other crops destroyed by the drought. The kamkaru or the workers are also struggling because the cost of living is soaring far beyond what they are earning and salary increases are only promises. The wedas, mainly the doctors, are also campaigning for reasonable pay increases, while the country’s health sector is being controlled to a large degree by powerful transnational drug companies. As for the guru or the teachers, university professionals have been on strike for the past six weeks, with teacher unions alleging that moves are being made to sabotage the free education system.
Corruption and other vices have led to a widening of the gap between the rich and the poor, with the economy known to be on the brink of collapse though the Central Bank and the Treasury are boasting about high growth rates.
The latest scandal was in the Securities and Exchange Commission, where its chairman Thilak Karunaratne – a highly–qualified management professional resigned because a powerful political mafia was not allowing him to probe alleged insider trading. With two SEC chairpersons having resigned within a year, confidence in the stock exchange has hit its lowest levels amid allegations that unscrupulous officials were gambling with billions of rupees from the Employee’s Provident Fund.
All these and other factors go to underline the Nayaka Thera’s demand that the executive presidency be abolished, and be abolished now.