A brief unbiased and factual analysis of the approach taken/expected by either side to help those who, like myself, are still undecided whom to vote in for the most powerful position of this country; Stability; Apart from winning a war that ruined the country for 3 decades, the government has managed to prevent a single bomb from going off from an era where it was as common as the present day Afghanistan. Resettlement has been done in what would be an expected approach to a volatile issue. However, the inaction towards Bodu Bala Sena has shown that the government is careless to say the least when it comes to the ethnic issue. Maithreepala has already made a fruit salad of agreements with diverse parties representing different ethnicities. It is hard to imagine how he expects to balance the interests of the Jathika Hela Urumaya, TNA and the Muslim Congress without blundering. The government wins in this sector. Corruption; This should not be the deciding factor for any South Asian voter. Corruption is inherent in the present political tradition of the country. A party who has not come to full power for over 30 years might as well be corrupt as is the present government. For those who say its better to take a risk and see if Maithree and his clan would be less corrupt, its important to note that a risk can be assessed before hand, and the statistics as well as the trends do not favor a corruption free future. Education; Albeit with an extremely bad mouthed Minister of Higher Education, the present government was strong enough to make some much needed reform. Introducing private higher education without privatizing education benefited many than actually causing a disadvantage to any. Maithree has promised to allocate 6% of the GDP to education. He is not against balancing private education with state education. Development; The entire country has undeniably seen development, from highways to ports to airports. Taken in a vacuum where the plundering is discounted, this is much needed development. Some may be cosmetic and some may be useless, but the fact remains that Sri Lankans once again have hopes of a better country. The credit goes entirely to the government. Opposition has, extremely disappointingly, stated that they will stop projects such as the Port City due to various reasons, most obvious of which is political payback. This will send the worst possible message to possible investors and set back development for many years. Even when Ranil was PM, there wasnt a lot of development in the country and he fell short of many promises. The government has a clear upperhand in this sector. Youth Sector: The present government wasted millions in what was called the World Youth Summit but was in reality a free trip to Sri Lanka for random kids who bothered to apply from all over the world and an opportunity for local shortcut-to-foreign-service-seeking kids to say they went to New York. Maithreepala promises to free the Youth Services Council and other Youth Organizations from the grip of family nepotism. He has not devoted much attention to this sector in his manifesto. However anything thats not the status quo is preferable. Maithree leads in this sector. Foreign Service; The government has date raped this sector by appointing those closest and dearest without even glancing at qualifications. However this trend was initiated by none other than JR Jayawadena from the UNP. The government has defeated (to an extent) many adverse resolutions brought about by Super Powers thanks to the close relationships with China and Russia at the expense of close political and economic ties with them. Maithreepala promises the obvious and much needed reform of the foreign service though he would be one of the weakest leaders (posture, oratorical and image -wise) in the world stage. Ranil would ofcourse take the lead in this sector though his mess-ups in the peace talks cant be easily forgotten despite his learning. This sector is a close win for the Government. Lets not forget that this country has no more room for mistakes. Vote wisely. (some observations and conclusions are my own and are- ofcourse- subjective.)
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 15:21:02 +0000
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