by Dr Upul Wijayawardhana
The NPP government is apparently sinking into a pit dug by one of its members, ‘Dr’ Asoka Ranwala; perhaps a golden pit (Ran Wala) staying true to his name! Some may accuse me of being unpatriotic by criticising a government facing the uphill task of rebuilding the country after an unprecedented catastrophe.
Whilst respecting their sentiment, I cannot help but point out that it is the totally unwarranted actions of the government that is earning much warranted criticism, as well stated in the editorial “Smell of Power” (The Island, 15 December). Cartoonist Jeffrey, in his brilliance, has gone a step further by depicting Asoka Ranwala as a giant tsunami wave rushing to engulf the tiny NPP house in the shore, AKD is trying to protect. (The Island, 18 December).
The fact that Asoka Ranwala is very important to the JVP, for whatever reason, became evident when he was elected the Speaker of Parliament despite his lack of any parliamentary experience. When questions were raised about his doctorate in Parliament, Ranwala fiercely defended his position, ably supported by fellow MPs. When the Opposition kept on piling pressure, producing evidence to the contrary, Ranwala stepped aside, claiming that he had misplaced the certificate but would stage a comeback, once found. A year has passed and he is yet to procure a copy of the certificate, or even a confirmatory letter from the Japanese university!
The fact that AKD did not ask Ranwala to give up his parliamentary seat, a decision he may well be regretting now following recent events, shows that either AKD is not a strong leader who can be trusted to translate his words to action or that Ranwala is too important to be got rid of. In fact, AKD should have put his foot down, as it was revealed that Ranwala was a hypocrite, even if not a liar. Ranwala led the campaign to dismantle the private medical school set up by Dr Neville Fernando, which was earning foreign exchange for the country by recruiting foreign students, in addition to saving the outflow of funds for educating Sri Lankan medical graduates abroad. He headed the organisation of parents of state medical students, claiming that they would be adversely affected, and some of the photographs of the protests he led refer to him as Professor Ranwala! Whilst leading the battle against private medical education, Ranwala claims to have obtained his PhD from a private university in Japan. Is this not the height of hypocrisy?
The recent road traffic accident he was involved in would have been inconsequential had Ranwala been decent enough to leave his parliamentary seat or, at least, being humble enough to offer an apology for his exaggerated academic qualifications. After all, he is not the only person to have been caught in the act of embellishing a CV. As far as the road traffic accident is concerned, too, it may not be his entire responsibility. Considering the chaotic traffic, in and around Colombo, coupled with awful driving standards dictated by lack of patience and consideration, it is a surprise that more accidents do not happen in Sri Lanka. Following the accident, may be to exonerate from the first count, a campaign was launched by NPP supporters stating that a man should be judged on his achievements, not qualifications, further implying that he does not have the certificate because he got it in a different name!
What went wrong was not the accident, but the way it was handled. Onlookers claim that Ranwala was smelling of alcohol but there is no proof yet. He could have admitted it even if he had taken any alcohol, which many do and continue to drive in Sri Lanka. After all, the Secretary to the Ministry overseeing the Police was able to get the charge dropped after causing multiple accidents while driving under the influence of liquor! He, with another former police officer, sensing the way the wind was blowing formed a retired police collective to support the NPP and were adequately rewarded by being given top jobs, despite a cloud hanging over them of neglect of duty during the Easter Sunday attacks. This naïve political act brought the integrity of the police into question. The way the police behaved after Ranwala’s accident confirmed the fears in the minds of right-thinking Sri Lankans.
In the euphoria of the success of a party promising a new dawn, unfortunately, many political commentators kept silent but it is becoming pretty obvious that most are waking to the reality of a false dawn. It could not have come at a worse time for the NPP: in spite of the initial failures to act on the warnings regarding the devastating effects of Ditwah, the government was making good progress in sorting problems out, when Ranwala met with an accident.
The excuses given by the police for not doing a breathalyser test, or blood alcohol levels, promptly, are simply pathetic. Half-life of alcohol is around 4-5 hours and unless Ranwala was dead drunk, it is extremely unlikely any significant amounts of alcohol would be detected in a blood sample taken after 24 hours. Maybe the knowledge of this made government Spokesmen to claim boldly that proper action would be taken irrespective of the position held. Now that the Government Analyst has not found any alcohol in the blood, no action is needed! Instead, the government seems to have got the IGP to investigate the police. Would any police officers suffer for doing a favour to the government? That is the million-dollar question!
Unfortunately, all this woke up a sleeping giant; a problem that the government hoped would be solved by the passage of time. If the government is hoping that the dishonesty of one of its prominent members would be forgotten with the passage of time, it will be in for a rude shock. When questioned by journalists repeatedly, the Cabinet spokesman had to say action would be taken if the claim of the doctorate was false. However, he added that the party has not decided what that action would be! What about the promise to rid Parliament of crooks?
It is now clear that the NPP government is not any different from the predecessors and that Sri Lankan voters are forced to contend with yet another false dawn!
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