By Roger Srivasan
“Like rabbits caught in the headlights of justice, the corrupt political class now scurry in panic as the people’s President advances relentlessly to extirpate the twin scourges of corruption and narcotics.”
I. The Eclipse of the Old Order
For more than seventy-five years, Sri Lanka’s political destiny was scripted by a select constellation of
men who orbited the nation like celestial bodies, controlling its fate while basking in borrowed light.
Politics became a two-horse race between dynasties rather than ideas. Nepotism, corruption, and
impunity formed the gravitational field that kept the old order intact. Their kingdoms were built not
upon principle but patronage — on the commerce of favours and the currency of deceit. The ordinary
citizen, caught in the crossfire of promises and betrayals, grew disenchanted yet voiceless, convinced
that change was a mirage shimmering on the horizon. Then came 2024 — the year the heavens shifted. A new force emerged, not from palatial corridors but from the pulse of the people. It spoke of accountability, of clean governance, of merit over lineage. And the electorate, weary of hypocrisy, responded with resounding faith. For the first time in decades, Sri Lanka witnessed the dawn of a people’s government — born not of inheritance, but of integrity.
II. The Orphans of Power
Those who once ruled now wander like political orphans — dispossessed, directionless, and discredited. Cast out from the orbit of influence, they cling to one another in a grotesque fraternity of the failed. As their political lives ebb away, the formerly powerful display a sudden, almost desperate unity. Old rivals, once locked in bitter enmity, now embrace in panic. The same figures who once vilified one another on the public stage now whisper in smoky backrooms, plotting a shared resurrection. Yet their unity is not born of vision; it is born of fear. Fear of justice catching up. Fear of accountability becoming real. Fear of a nation that has finally learned to see through the masquerade.
III. A Futile Revolt
And so they rally again — the rejected, the indicted, the morally bankrupt — calling for protest meetings and “people’s uprisings.” But these are not movements of conscience; they are spasms of desperation. Their slogans ring hollow, their indignation counterfeit. They speak of democracy only when their own privileges are threatened. They decry injustice only when justice begins to close in.
They summon the crowd, not to defend the people, but to defend themselves from the people’s verdict. Theirs is not a revolution but a revenge mission — a last-ditch attempt to wrest power from a government that still commands the overwhelming trust of the majority. The new administration, though young, has become a powerhouse of public will — focused, resolute, and untainted. Against such legitimacy, the revolt of the corrupt is doomed before it begins.
IV. The People’s Mandate
This government stands not on slogans but on substance. It is cleansing the Augean stables of corruption, dismantling cartels, exposing the narcotic underworld, and restoring discipline to a country long paralysed by patronage. Naturally, those who once prospered in chaos now cry foul. But the people are not fooled. They have endured too much, suffered too long, and learned too well. They recognise the new pretenders for what they are — scavengers circling a banquet that has ended.
Their rallies may attract cameras, but not conviction; noise, but not numbers. For Sri Lanka today stands aligned behind reform, not regression. The people’s mandate is no longer a temporary loan of trust — it is a moral contract. And breaking that contract for the sake of resurrecting the corrupt would be treason, not politics.
V. The Verdict of History
History, ever the sternest judge, offers little mercy to those who betray their nation’s faith. The orphans of power can howl in unison, but they cannot halt the march of renewal. Their cries are the echoes of a dying order — a requiem for a politics that thrived on deceit and died of exposure. Sri Lanka has turned a page. The age of hereditary politics has given way to the era of accountability. The light of reform, once kindled, cannot be extinguished by the shadows of yesterday. Let them protest, if they must — it will only confirm their irrelevance. For no mob can overturn a moral awakening; no alliance of decay can dethrone the people’s conscience. The tide of renewal has risen, and history does not flow backwards.
Author’s Note
This essay is penned in the wake of a proposed protest by the so-called “joint opposition” — a union not of ideals but of insecurities. The article is a reflection on how the corrupt, when cornered, momentarily discover fraternity, and how the nation, once betrayed, learns the wisdom of vigilance.
When the Dispossessed of Power Unite, the Nation Must Stand Guard!
The post The Orphans of Power – A Futile Revolt Against the People’s Mandate appeared first on LNW Lanka News Web.
