Election Day

So today is the day many Lankans having been waiting for, for quite some time. An election without war, to be determined by the people for the people. At least, theoretically. After 30 years of civil unrest, we are finally determining who will run this country. Although there are quite a few candidates on the ballot paper, there are only two people under extreme scrutiny. The current president and the General.

I am not going to get into a complete political debate about who is good, and who I would vote for, and who has some questionable ethics etc. This blog is not meant to be a political one.. However, my humble wish is that who ever comes into power should govern this country with a gentle fist and guide it to success. Maybe I am naive, but being around this political atmosphere for some time now, makes me quite cynical.

I am grateful for the ending of the war. I can remember days of curfews, frantic phone calls to relatives to see if they were ok, conversations about people who have died, schools being closed, endless checkpoints and checking of vehicles. I am thankful that it is over. Now it is time to rebuild this nation.

Historically, we have been a great nation. We were one of the first countries to engage in international diplomacy, we had an amazing history, our people were capable of amazing technological innovation. But unfortunately, this was in the past. Now, we seem to be famous for insane politicans, the highest suicide rates in the world and alcoholism. Not exactly high hopes.

There is so much hope this time around, you can practically feel it on your skin in the polling booths. It is on the lips and in the minds of the people walking by. All this country needs is a stable platform to stand on, and we can leap forward.

Maybe this election will serve as a wake up call to who ever ends up winning.. as the saying goes, "You can fool some people sometimes but you can't fool all the people all the time". People ARE a force to be a reckoned with, even in Sri Lanka. Technology also plays a big part in this. From the many blogs online, to the advertisements on YouTube and Facebook, even the endless text messages from annoymous numbers, the people are watching and reading and educating themselves on the candidates. More so than before. Which is always a good thing. People want to know about the issues. You may think I am talking as a Colombian, but speaking to different people working in my office, so many people are actually questioning what is actually going and investigating and forming opinions. It is so refreshing to see this.

So at the end of the day, for me, it doesn't matter who wins, as long as Sri Lanka ends up triumphant at the end of the day.