Morality in politics is no easy matter

So long as the National People’s Power (NPP) was not in power, its leaders claimed moral high ground over other major political parties, especially those that have ruled the country before or those that had clung to them during their administrations.

- By M.S.M. Ayub

However, now that the NPP is in the saddle, its moral superiority is apparently dwindling gradually despite still holding a commanding position over others.

This is nothing but the contradiction between theory and practice. When the NPP was in the Opposition it was the strongest critic of the government regardless of which party was in power, putting the ruling party always on the defensive. Criticising is always easy. Now the party is facing the challenge of putting its theories into practice, which is not easy. And any ruling party is always being besieged by almost all other parties, NPP being no exception.

First moral test

The NPP’s first moral test was not administrative or something vital for the economy. It was just about a simple title attached to one of its senior members who was elected to the high post of Speaker of Parliament following its landslide victory at the general election in November. Speaker Asoka Sapumal Ranwala who has long been tagging a title “Dr.” to his name failed to prove his doctorate when it was challenged by the opposition parties in December last year. The NPP somewhat cleared its name by persuading him to resign as the speaker despite his promise to produce evidence of his doctorate. Seven months have passed, he is yet to produce it.

This issue came up at a time when the NPP was morally thrashing all other parties on the grounds that they all ruined the economy by robbing it for the past 76 years since Independence. In fact, the NPP’s allegation of thieving by leaders of the other major political parties is not totally baseless. Dozens of complaints lodged with the Commission to Investigate allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) and the cases in turn filed by it in courts since 2015 are a strong testimony to the allegation.

Monopoly of truthfulness