Politics and doctoral embellishments

Tuesday 10th December, 2024

The JVP/NPP got pillorying its political rivals down to a fine art while it was in opposition. It questioned their academic and professional qualifications and even ridiculed some of them as charlatans. Never did it miss an opportunity to cast aspersions on some educated members in previous governments, claiming that they were the descendants of Mahadenamutta (a blundering self-proclaimed pundit in folklore). The boot is now on the other foot, and the current Opposition is giving the JVP/NPP a taste of its own medicine.

Speaker Dr. Asoka Ranwala is coming under increasing pressure to furnish proof of his academic qualifications, which the JVP/NPP has publicised. Former Chairman of the Election Commission (EC) Mahinda Deshapriya is among those who have reportedly asked the Speaker to prove that he has a university degree. If the Speaker fails to do so, he should resign, or the JVP/NPP must remove him from his post, Deshapriya has said.

The former EC Chief’s challenge has received wide publicity, but the Speaker has chosen to ignore it. The Opposition has got hold of something to beat the government with, and therefore it is not likely to give up its campaign against the NPP. So, Speaker Ranwala would do better to field the questions being raised about his academic qualifications and put the matter to rest if he has nothing to hide. The NPP flaunts what it calls its commitment to transparency, accountability and respecting the people’s right to information, and therefore its silence on the issue at hand has raised many an eyebrow.

Sri Lanka needs educated politicians, but education alone does not make a good politician, and one need not necessarily have dazzling professional and/or academic qualifications to be able to do well in politics and serve the country to the satisfaction of the public. There have been numerous instances where doctorate holders failed and others succeeded in Sri Lankan politics. So, a person without a doctorate can make a good Speaker, but let it be repeated that the NPP ought to provide proof of Speaker Ranwala’s academic credentials.

Some political parties make university dons in their ranks out to be mavens, but the question is why those worthies have not been able to help raise the standards and rankings of the state-run seats of higher learning. True, successive governments have not cared to develop the state universities, which are affected by severe resource constraints and political interference, but the blame for the current sorry state of affairs in the groves of academe should be apportioned to university teachers as well.

The NPP government bears some resemblance to its immediate predecessor where the parading of its members’ doctorates is concerned. The Gotabaya Rajapaksa government also had a phalanx of academics drawn from various disciplines and self-styled intellectuals in its ranks. In fact, it wasViyathmaga, a diverse group with an eclectic mix of members including university professors, that promoted Gotabaya as ‘a visionary leader’, and enabled the Rajapaksas, who suffered an ignominious defeat in 2015, to make an early comeback four years later. Those dons secured key positions in the Gotabaya government, but could not prevent its failure and the collapse of the economy. Some of them were responsible for Gotabaya’s downfall itself; they persuaded him to plunge head first into disastrous experiments like his organic farming initiative coupled with a blanket ban on agrochemicals; they also made him resort to draconian measures such as the mandatory cremation of the Muslims who died of Covid-19. Viyathmaga turned out to be an exclusive club of know-alls, who ruined the SLPP government and the country. Many of them stooped so low as to offer their services as bootlickers to the Rajapaksas. They undertook to defend the indefensible for the sake of the ‘Family’ and cut pathetic figures in the process. The NPP also seems to have a me-too version of Viyathmaga, and one can only hope that its members will not make the same blunders as the self-proclaimed pundits who ruined the Gotabaya government.