Will government live up to expectations?

The first budget of the UNF was to be presented at the time of writing. There can be felt a sense of relief in the air under the new political dispensation stemming perhaps from the promises given by the new leaders not to place more burdens on the public and the hope that the UNF will manage the economy better.

The results of the recently concluded LG polls inter alia show that people have expressed their willingness to bear with the teething problems under the UNF for the time being. The high prices and the extended power cuts have not been reflected in the outcome of the polls perhaps due to the belief of the people that the UNF is making a genuine effort to solve these problems.

People however do not live by hope alone. There has to be food on their tables at affordable prices. They cannot be expected to go on tightening their belts forever.

Although people may not expect miracles, no doubt, they look forward to some relief from the budget or they at least want no more burdens placed on them.

Will the government live up to their expectations?

We have seen newly elected governments try to find solutions to their economic problems through peace efforts. The PA, it will be remembered, tried to do so in 1994 in vain.

The incumbent government too appears to have pinned hopes on the peace process. If a lasting peace is achieved, it will in deed help revive the economy and dividends will accrue to the people.

But as at present, there is only an MoU in force with a ceasefire on. The ceasefire has hardly brought about any economic benefits. Apart from savings from offensive operations, other military expenses that constitute the bulk of the defence budget still weigh heavily on the economy.

There are no signs of a peaceful solution in the foreseeable future.

The LTTE is working overtime in the North and East, according to government communiquŽs themselves, recruiting children and raising funds. Yesterday we quoted the Information Department saying that the LTTE has ordered that all government servants in the north and east pay it a monthly tax amounting to 8 per cent of their monthly earnings. Extortion by the terrorists of money from the public is rampant. Children are being abducted by the LTTE to make use of them as cannon fodder. Its propaganda blitz Pongu Tamil is nothing but a public platform to further its Eelam cause. At one of these rallies, according to a report in the Hindustan Times reproduced in The Island on Thursday, the LTTE has declared Trincomalee as the capital of their imaginary homeland.

The picture that emerges from all this is far from rosy.

Under these circumstances the government cannot be expected to slash defence expenses.

On the other hand the prevailing power cuts, the empty coffers left by the PA, political hostilities and the like are sure to stand in the way of the government in trying to develop the economy.

The enhanced mandate of the UNF at Wednesday’s polls will no doubt go a long way where political stability needed for economic recovery is concerned. The UNF can now act with confidence and make bold decisions as regards economic management. But what if the peace plans go awry?

Peace or no peace, with the passage of time, the government will have the desperate public asking for relief. This is the uphill task before the government.

Mandate for longer power cuts?

Popular mandates, as we have pointed out in these columns, mean different things to different people. Our history of parliamentary democracy is replete with these mandates being misinterpreted and abused. They have rarely been read and used properly for their intended purposes. The losers have always been the people, the givers of such mandates.

The mandate that the people gave the UNF on Wednesday too is being given different interpretations. The government claims that it is a mandate for peace and its developmental activities.

This mandate for peace became a buzzword only after the PA came on the political scene. The PA claimed that its Package had been endorsed by the people at nearly ten elections by giving mandates for its implementation. Luckily there were no takers for that claim and the UNP shot down the Package.

Having done so how can the UNF now flaunt its mandate as an endorsement by the people of the MoU and claim that all other parties and the people must support what it has in mind by way of a solution to the NE problem?

At the rate mandates are being misconstrued, one shouldn’t be surprised even if the outcome of Wednesday’s polls is called a mandate for longer power cuts. For as much as the MoU, extension of the power cuts by two and half hours was also done by the UNF and therefore by voting for the UNF, it may be argued, the people have also voted for extended power cuts. Similarly, those UNFers who unleashed violence against the Opposition may claim that they too have got a mandate for launching more such attacks.

It cannot be claimed that people endorse all what a political party does by voting for it at an election.

As we said yesterday what the UNF received on Wednesday was a mandate for good governance. The people did a mopping up operation of sorts by removing the PA politicians from power at the grass roots level.

If the newly elected don’t attend to the problems of the public such as garbage disposal and maintenance of roads they too will be relegated to the political dustbin like their predecessors.

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