Power To The People Beyond Parliament: Why Not?

The experience of Sri Lanka’s interregnum, and thoughts on sortition

I went to the President’s House, where I’m not allowed, which is strange. I thought he worked for me. This thing we call a democracy is really some bullshit anointing system for elites. Every few years they pretend to give a shit and then retreat behind castle walls, like kings and queens. The President’s House was actually the Queen’s House before. They just changed seats.

A few days later my wife and I bicycled into the city, to visit Temple Trees. It’s more the traditional center of power, the Prime Minister’s residence. Never been there before either. Now the barricades are broken down and the protestors have broken in. ‘Open To The Public’ is written on the wall, so we went in.

Young couples were taking selfies on the lawn, people were there with their families. Someone was playing the piano, someone draped in a Sri Lankan flag was taking a nap on a settee. On the other side, a carrom game was going on. In the garden, they’d set up a community kitchen and were feeding people.

There were signs on the wall to not damage anything and nobody did. People just walked around the halls of power like it was a museum. There were cops and military there, but not beating or gassing…