President Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected President of the Sri Lanka Freedom party (SLFP) recently fulfilling the expectations of the rank and file. His ascent to the highest position was the ultimate reward for a long and arduous journey in which his loyalty to the party and its ideals never wavered for a moment. In this respect he stands out as unique since his distinguished predecessors in office had the position almost offered on a platter with family playing a major role. On the contrary, loyalty and struggle were his forte. What more, he is a man with roots in the village. As he himself said on assuming the office of President of Sri Lanka, he was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

In 1951 S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, affectionately known by his initials SWRD crossed over and sat in the Opposition benches in Parliament , ushering in the great divide that charaterised Sri Lankan politics since then. In the 1956 parliamentary elections he swept to power and initiated what later became known as the age of the common man.

Dethroned were the comprador bourgeois and landowning elite who had merely prolonged the policies of the colonial rulers. A veritable transition took place. Sri Lanka became freer. Foreign bases on its soil were removed. The cadjan curtain cordoning off the land from the socialist states was removed. Great strides were taken to ensure the upward mobility of the less privileged rural people. Sri Lanka came to be recognized and respected for its independent foreign policy. As SWRD crossed sides in 1951, close upon his heels followed D.A. Rajapaksa, the dauntless fighter for people’s rights from the deep South.

Today, half a century after the great change of 1956, Mahinda Rajapaksa -the son of D.A. Rajapaksa, has been voted President of the country. The reins of government as well as the Sri Lanka Freedom Party founded by SWRD have passed on to him. Mahinda himself was a child of the 1956 change who first entered Parliament in 1970 as its youngest member.

Meanwhile, the program of change initiated in 1956 remains half fulfilled. The nascent bourgeois who grew thanks to the policy of independent economic development pursued in the 1960s found new allies in the colonial metropolis and with their help initiated a paradigm shift in economic and political management ushering in the untrammelled powers of neo-liberal capitalism.

The time has come for course correction as eloquently demanded by the electorate. Fruits of development should empower the poor and the marginalized. Development should reach the masses including those in the outposts and in the lowest rungs as stated in the Mahinda Chintana- the policy document of President Rajapaksa. It is up to the son of 1956, now at the helm to deliver, for the grandchildren of 1956 clamouring for social justice.