A Presidency wasted

When looking at the powers that are at the disposal of the Executive President of this country, one can’t help but wonder at the way this power has either been left to idle or been misused for personal gain.

A good example of this squandering of power is the present incumbent. Having been voted in by the majority who wanted a resumption of hostilities, He had a choice placed before him. Do what the majority want him to do and be popular, or do the right thing for the future of the country and be voted out at the end of his term. By choosing the former, all he has done is bring this country closer to the brink of ruin.

What do I mean by this? Well, given that he has almost unlimited powers at his disposal, the President could very well have thrown his entire list of campaign promises out of the window and embarked on a path that would have led to a negotiated peace process. Of course he would have had to face many problems from within his own cabinet and party, not to mention the people who voted him in. But still, no one would have been able to take away the power from him.

if you look at an earlier post of mine, I proposed a solution to the LTTE problem, all the incumbent president had to do was call an end to the war and offer a huge part of the budget towards rehabilitation of the North East. After 6 years of continuous development, I highly doubt there would be any person in the North East who would want a resumption of the war.

It would have also shown to the international community at large that he was very serious about a lasting peace, and not just saving his own political skin. This in turn would put immense pressure on the LTTE to stick to the peace process and join main stream politics in the long run.

So, am I advocating that a future presidential candidate of this country, lie barefaced to the voting public? If that is what it takes to make this country achieve its true potential and bring about an end to the decades long war….. my answer is a resounding yes! It would be better for him to do so than let this country be taken still further into the depths of madness.

Since the majority of this country, when given the choice, feel the need to vote for bloodthirsty warlords, they need to be pulled kicking and screaming down the road to peace and progress. I’m sure Lee Kwan Yu wasn’t a very popular man when he set down the reforms that have taken Singapore to where it is today. But in hindsight, he is revered as a man of great vision and leadership.

I firmly believe that if the incumbent or a future president of this country has the balls to do this, and not just look after his own skin, not only would we see an end to the war but also a start to responsible and truly patriotic leaders.

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