In the 1970s when most of our Parliamentarians were schoolboys or schoolgirls, there was a popular English song which dominated our airwaves. It was ‘O My Papa’ sung by tenor Mario Lanza [no relation of the Negombo Lanzas] and many other popular singers. 

Now the role of ‘papas’ in our politics has become a bone of contention. National People’s Power (NPP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) is campaigning on the theme of anti-corruption and anti-establishment. The unprecedented hardship borne by the people during the Gotabaya Rajapaksa (GR) regime has opened their eyes to the inequities of our prevailing sociopolitical system. Till such deprivation hit them, the public did not buy the bloodcurdling threats of the leftists. 

The Lanka Sama Samaja Party

The first political party in the country, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), which had some of the best brains in the field of politics, could never come to power on its own. After labouring for over 30 years, it was wiped out in 1977 and has never recovered since.

Recently its ‘leader for life’ Prof. Tissa Vitarana had to suffer the ignominy of not being invited for a function of the Dullas-led coalition (symbolised by the helicopter) of which his party was a member. The organisers of the meeting said it was a mistake but by then Tissa had gone public about his humiliation. 

Nobody seems to care for the LSSP now. It was Vijaya Kumaratunga who came nearest to being accepted as an anti-establishment leader. But the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) brutally killed him because he stood in their way. His death paved the way for the rise of the Rajapaksas.

AKD’s ‘prabhus’ vs. ‘nirprabhus’

Now AKD has called his battle a struggle between the ‘prabhus’ (elites) and ‘nirprabhus’ (non-elites). This distinction was earlier articulated by the Obeyesekere-Bandaranaike clan, who arrogantly called the emerging elite led by the Senanayakes, “nobodies who wanted to be somebodies”. This led to a cold war between the two groups and Bandaranaike’s exit from the United National Party (UNP) and the founding of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

Since the ‘nirprabhus’ are in the majority of our population, which first felt the harsh reality of living in Covid and post-Covid times, they seem to buying this dichotomy between the elite and the rest, as seen in the massive numbers of onlookers who flock to NPP meetings. 

AKD is a skilled orator who can marshal his facts like a lawyer and captivate his audience. Why, asks AKD, should only the Senanayakes, Bandaranaikes, Rajapaksas, and their numerous progeny be the sole head ‘honchos’ of the local political establishment? He makes a strong plea against political dynasties which have led the country into bankruptcy in 75 years since independence. 

The JVP, which succeeded in obtaining only three seats in Parliament, is now drawing large crowds and pollsters have given them a slim lead over the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), which seems to be paralysed after Sajith refused GR’s offer to make him prime minister but changed his mind too late.

Progeny in Parliament

The Sri Lankan Parliament is full of progeny of previous members.

The most notable and most objectionable are the Rajapaksas. A family which was in the periphery of politics after the death of the ‘founding father’ – Don Martin Rajapaksa, a Richmond- and Wesley College-educated local notable who was a protégé of Dr. S.A. Wickramasinghe, the Communist Party (CP) Leader from the south.

After his sudden death, the Rajapaksas were resurrected by Don Alwin Rajapaksa, his younger brother who became a follower of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike in the UNP and later in the SLFP. His son Mahinda was introduced to politics at an early age, which helped him to climb the ladder of the SLFP to be both Prime Minister and President.

With his ascent to power, his kinship group consisting of brothers, cousins, brothers-in-law, sons, and nephews dominated politics and established a Rajapaksa hegemony, which toppled only due to the mismanagement of the economy by brother Gotabaya who had been earlier presented to the public as the most promising of family successors to Mahinda.

COPE crisis

The public disenchantment with family-based politicians came to the fore recently over the appointment of Mayantha Dissanayake as the Chairman of the finance oversight committee of Parliament. 

This post was held with distinction by Dr. Harsha de Silva of the SJB, a well-regarded economist who made a good contribution in overseeing legislation in the financial sector. But when appointments were made recently, his position as Chairman was taken by Mayantha, who had been a member of the committee previously. He had been supported by the members of the committee representing the Government party. 

This election satisfied the practice that the chairman should be selected from the ranks of the Opposition. However, it raised the hackles of Harsha, who in a hurriedly-called press conference lambasted those “who depended on a father’s name and reputation” to be selected for public positions. 

Mayantha in his political career has emphasised his father Gamini Dissanayake’s contribution and popularity. Perhaps this is understandable because both Mayantha and his elder brother Navin are organisers in electorates in Kandy and Nuwara Eliya, where their father’s name can still evoke nostalgia. But both do not have Gamini’s popularity as shown in Navin’s defeat at the last elections and Mayantha coming on the National List of the SJB. 

Mayantha, Kiriella, and Sajith

Mayantha is a trained graduate of the London College of Printing. The Dissanayake family began a newspaper – The Leader – to use his talents to propel his father’s presidential ambitions. But his untimely death has put the family in disarray. 

Mayantha, who represented the Yatinuwara electorate in Kandy District, could not hold onto it or challenge the ageing Kiriella for leadership of Kandy District. On the contrary, Kiriella is busy promoting the political prospects of his daughter. Unintentionally, Harsha has also drawn attention to his Leader Sajith’s refrain, which is obviously not working, that he is “Premadasage Putha”. 

Make it on your own

What is clear is that, as the NPP has demonstrated, young people don’t give a hoot as to whether you are a Rajapaksa, Premadasa, or Dissanayake offspring. Now politicians have to make it on their own. There are no ‘big names’ in the NPP, as there were none in the Aragalaya. But they have forced themselves into the limelight.

There are a mind-boggling 8,000 candidates who have entered for the forthcoming Local Government Elections. Almost all of them are nirprabhus trying to be prabhus. But the voter will not be caught napping this time around.