By: Roger Srivasan
To the people of Sri Lanka, who endured betrayal yet never lost hope.
Introduction: The Weight of Endemic Corruption
Corruption was once so endemic in Sri Lanka that it seeped into every corner of national life. Bribes greased the wheels of bureaucracy. Nepotism determined who rose in public office. The public coffers, meant for schools, hospitals, and development, too often became personal treasuries for the powerful. For seventy-six years after independence, the dream of freedom soured as politics became a byword for betrayal. The people watched helplessly as a nation of promise was looted. They had almost come to believe that corruption was our destiny.
Global Parallels: Nations That Defied Corruption
History, however, proves otherwise. Nations as corrupt, as broken, and as disillusioned as ours have risen — because strong, selfless leaders chose to defy the rot. –
– Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew: Once a struggling, corruption-ridden port, it became a model city-state through uncompromising integrity and a relentless clean-up of public life.
– Rwanda under Paul Kagame: Rising from the ashes of genocide, it embraced zero tolerance for graft and rebuilt trust in governance. –
– Georgia under Mikheil Saakashvili: Infamous for bribery and mafia networks, it stunned the world by firing its entire traffic police force and reinventing its institutions.
– Botswana under Seretse Khama: Where diamonds might have cursed the nation with greed, Khama ensured transparency and turned mineral wealth into a blessing for all. These leaders proved that corruption, no matter how deep, is not irreversible.
Sri Lanka at the Threshold
For decades, reform was promised but never delivered. Each election brought hope, but hope
dissolved into cynicism. The cancer of graft seemed permanent. What made it worse was the
betrayal of principle. The once-bitterly divided opposition parties, who had long hurled invective at each other as mortal enemies, became indistinguishable. Former rulers tergiversated to the opposition when it suited them — only to rejoin the ruling camp when financial inducements and perks beckoned. The revolving door of betrayal spun endlessly, while the very people who had placed their trust in them were abandoned and deceived. The tragedy was not only corruption, but the collapse of trust: politics reduced to a barter of loyalty for lucre. And yet, against this backdrop of cynicism, a new dawn is breaking.
The Phoenix Rises
The people recognise in Anura Kumara Dissanayake, a leader cut from the cloth of history’s great reformers. Like Lee Kuan Yew, he is no-nonsense and incorruptible. Like Kagame, he is unafraid to wield the scalpel against entrenched rot. Like Saakashvili, he speaks of rebuilding institutions from the ground up. Like Khama, he sees national wealth as a trust for the people, not a prize for the elite. The metaphor could not be clearer: Sri Lanka is the phoenix, rising from the ashes of corruption and despair. This rebirth is not merely political.
It is moral, cultural, and national. For the first time in decades, the people dare to imagine a Sri Lanka where: – Justice is blind, not bought. – Merit, not patronage, determines success. – Leaders serve, rather than plunder. Anura Kumara Dissanayake embodies this possibility. His mission is not to patch the old order, but to bury it and build anew.
Conclusion: Among the Greats
In the chronicles of history, certain names shine brighter than others — because they chose
principle over privilege, service over self, and justice over compromise. – Lee Kuan Yew reclaimed Singapore. – Paul Kagame reclaimed Rwanda. – Mikheil Saakashvili reclaimed Georgia. – Seretse Khama reclaimed Botswana. And now, Anura Kumara Dissanayake stands poised to reclaim SriLanka. When future generations speak of leaders who defeated corruption and restored dignity to their nations, they will list AKD among the greats — as the man who turned the page on seventy-six wasted years, and gave his people back their country.
Even when a nation is ravaged and pillaged by rapacious rulers, history proves that its rebirth is never beyond reach. From the ashes of plunder and despair, there arises the Phoenix of renewal – led by a selfless statesman who turns back the clock on corruption, and rekindles justice, and transforms the wounded land into a realm of harmony, equity and prosperity.