The leader of the Opposition, Ranil Wickremesinghe is proposing a much needed public discussion on what should be the ‘podu yahapatha’ or the common good of Sri Lanka. The proposals yet to be published in detail at the time this article is written, in essence suggest, it is said, that our common good should be based on democracy and the market economy. ( Divaina, 21/01/2005)

The majoritarian, representative democracy with all its inherent weaknesses, and made much weaker in the Sri Lankan context, however, has come to stay in Sri Lanka. Abolishing the executive Presidency which centralises draconian powers in the hands of one individual who is not accountable to the law of the country, and therefore weakens the strength of our democracy, would be a definite move in the direction of improving upon our democracy.

The market as a legitimate part of the economy has also come to stay even though the manner in which the dominance of it was forced upon us in the post-1977 period has wreaked havoc on the Sri Lankan society, the unfolding of the serious ramifications of which will take a long time to come, as shown by one of its prime examples, the privatized public transport, experienced by the ordinary folk who travel around by bus. The real issue about the market is not whether it can be considered a legitimate partner in the national economy, but whether we want to accept the market as the guiding principle of our collective life. If the results of the last general election is any indication to go by, then the message from the large majority of the Sri Lankan public seems to be a resounding NO! However, even after the debacle at the last elections, in proposing this, what Ranil Wickremesinghe is proposing to have, in fact is a public debate on the neo-liberal economic policies even though one may wonder whether it is already not too late to have this debate now!

When we say that the Industrialised western countries or countries such as Singapore have achieved high levels of ‘development’ following the model of democracy and market economy, what we express seems to be our fond hope that Sri Lanka also can be ‘developed’ following the same model, rather than being realistic on how different countries achieve ‘development’ each in its own unique way, subject to specific historical conditions and cultural factors. It is also outside the consideration whether we in Sri Lanka would necessarily want to follow such a model of development even if we could succeed in such an attempt. Our penchant for Singapore as the model of development may be due to our desire to find an easy solution to the messy situation of being citizens of a country full of internal strife in all areas of collective life that do not seem to be resolvable ever. It is no wonder that in a context where there is so much of conflict, instability and social unrest, many of us would dream of doing a Lee Kwan-Yew in Sri Lanka as if human world can be put in order by the sleight of hand of a clever magician. We need to remind ourselves that even Singapore itself could produce only one Lee Kwan Yew in its life time. But more importantly, even if one of us is clever enough to become a Lee Kwan Yew as if by a secret magical act, the possibility is that being the political beings that they are, Sri Lankans would not tolerate a Lee Kwan Yew in their midst.

While the Fukuyama doctrine of End of History which can be taken to mean that the unfolding of history in the world culminates in the entire world embracing neo-liberal economic policies which give dominance to the free reign of market forces, may seem to sound generally valid in the aftermath of the collapse of the state-centred economies of the socialist bloc countries, one cannot necessarily conclude from the latter event that politics has come to an end, or for that matter should come to an end, even in a world dominated by liberalism. The dominance of liberalism itself is the reason to revive our sense of politics, to preserve and advance the political gains won by the public in such a world, as otherwise unhindered liberalism tend to be heading in a direction which generates forces of self-destruction within its own territory. This is in addition to the resentment generated from without liberalism against it due to the action of its overzealous advocates to export liberal democracy by force to the territories of the ‘non-believers.’

The other side of neoliberal myth that insists markets can solve every problem is the belief that the government can do little other than making the life of people difficult. Neo-liberalism turns the idea of collective good into an issue between the free market economy and the government. To pose the question in terms of whether to choose between the private capitalist sector and the government which is the political instrument of the collective life is to raise a red-herring.

On the other hand, the state centred economy is not the only option to market-centred economy. In industrialised countries in the West, one finds the state playing a considerable, if not a major role, in maintaining the important sectors of public transport, health care, education, child care, taking care of the elderly and welfare assistance in varying degrees. Quite a few of these countries have a strong welfare system which is jealously guarded against the intrusions of immigrants from the poor countries.

Nevertheless, we must commend Ranil Wickremesinghe for being courageous to stand by his convictions and willing to raise his vision of the common good for public debate thus throwing the gauntlet at other political parties and leaders who will be forced to articulate their visions for the common good of Sri Lanka.

Hence, if the public rises to the occasion taking the cue from Ranil Wickremesinghe and challenge all political parties to clearly articulate their visions for the common good of the country for public scrutiny, this may very will be the opportunity Sri Lanka has been waiting for its national re-awakening!

In my view, it is a sensible idea to agree that the priority given to the market mechanism in certain areas is a necessary component of the national economy as we have already come to realise and accept now in practice, instead of going back to a fully state regulated economy, the latter being a move which no one with a sense of practical reality would want to suggest. However, what aspects of the economy, to which extent, under what conditions should be subjected to the dictates of the market, is a matter to be collectively decided on the merit of each case, and therefore should not be a forgone conclusion that accepts the virtue of the market forces as a panacea for all ills in society. We know from our general experience that allowing capitalism unhindered free play in the market place, whether it is in production, trade or consumption has the general tendency of bringing into the open the rapacious character of individual human beings at the expense of public interest.

By now, with the benefit of hindsight we should be able to realise that the decision to privatize the public transport subjecting it to the dictates of market forces was the wrong decision. That it continues in its present form is only a testimony to the priority given by our politicians and bureaucrats to their ideologies and therefore the desire to place the perceived benefits of the private bus operation to the economy above the welfare of the ordinary public.

The helpless public who has no effective say in determining how collective affairs are run, daily suffer in the hands of private bus operators whose inhumanity towards fellow public is guided solely by the profit motive. These private operators of public transport have become a powerful political force unto themselves and probably a vote bank. The public, I am sure would be vigilantly watching the political alliances of these bus operators when it comes to their decision to whom to vote for in the elections. Anyone who takes the trouble to find out about the public transport in industrialised countries in the West will realise that in many cities in those countries public transport is not run on the basis of profit but as a public service, in most part funded by the city, provincial/state and national/federal governments. It is so because the public in those countries demand that the governments treat their citizens with common decency and consider that their labour force should have access to comfortable and convenient transport as they make a valuable contribution to the economy. Both the private sector in those countries and their governments are sophisticated enough to know that the productivity of labour increases under healthy working conditions of which transport to and from work is an essential part.

In fact, how we answer the question what sectors of our public services should be privatized in what manner, is not a secondary issue but one that is integral to, and hence one that itself would reflect, our understanding of our common good. In this sense any discussion of our common good need to go beyond simply stating that it should be based on democracy and market economy, but examine for which understanding of the common good we want to have democracy and market economy as its basis. I want to suggest that in determining what is our common good, the crucial issue is whether our understanding of our good life is one that gives priority to the individual good or the collective good. This we will examine in the next part of this article.

The writer could be contacted at: <citizen.ordinary@gmail.com>