SL: PRESIDENT SHD CARE ABOUT ALL SRILANKANS!!!

A NURTURING LEADERSHIP ........Jehan Perera/NPC...courtesy:dailymirror.lk

Necessary to counter ethnic polarisation

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will soon be celebrating his third year in office this month. Despite the precarious situation in the country, where an unpredictable war drags on and global economic collapse threatens, the President has been successful in maintaining his level of popularity, especially amongst the Sinhalese majority. However the popularity of the President is accompanied by considerable alienation of the Tamil ethnic minority and other ethnic minority groups. There are reasons for this growing ethnic polarization.The intensity of the war effort in the north, the aerial bombardment that accompanies it and the sufferings of the displaced civilian population is horrifying to the victims and their kin. But it is not directly felt outside of the north. This is only partly due to the severity of the informal censorship that is being stepped up by the government. The most recent control being imposed on the media is a new licensing regulation that takes national security considerations into account. Those of Tamil ethnicity keep their best to keep out of trouble by keeping their opinions to themselves or tailoring them to what the government wishes to hear. Those in the business sector may also be wishing to keep their businesses going, and to obtain whatever concessions and contracts they can get from the government. This may explain the call by the three main chambers of commerce to support the President and his government who, according to their public statement, are proceeding on the correct track to solve the country’s problems.

However, the stringent security measures taken by the government to limit the spill over of the war outside of the north has had its own costs. Government spokespersons are repeatedly stating that there is no war in the country, only military operations to end terrorism. It has also meant that Tamils living everywhere are viewed with a measure of suspicion, as being possible terrorists or collaborators.

Sectarian support

The problem is that President Rajapaksa and those who advise him appear to be giving their first priority to bolstering their Sinhalese ethnic base. Doing so would secure their Parliamentary majority, even at the cost of the alienating the ethnic minorities.At present civil society groups are the only ones performing those symbolic actions that are necessary for reconciliation and rebuilding relationships in the country.

Last week there were two events organized by civil society groups that showed the possibilities for ethnic and national harmony if and when the war comes to an end. One was the annual general meeting of the Business for Peace Alliance. This alliance is based on a network of district based business leaders, including those from the north and east. The ability of BPA to bring together medium and small business people from different districts, and keep them together in a spirit of amity indicates the potential that lies ahead.

To give an example, some of the business leaders from the east had formed a joint Tamil, Muslim and Sinhalese owned company to cope with the challenges and opportunities of that multi-ethnic province. The manifestation of positive inter-ethnic relations at BPA indicates that there is no ethnic conflict at the level of the people where it concerns social, business and personal matters. The unresolved ethnic conflict is about political matters and inter-ethnic power sharing, which would enable people who are a majority in their own local areas to make decisions pertaining to their own lives.

Nurturing all

The second event that took place last week, and gives hope for the future, was the national delegates conference on power sharing organized by the National Peace Council. Over two hundred delegates from seven of the country’s nine provinces, including the east, met in Colombo. At their conference they unanimously approved a manifesto on power sharing. This document was handed over to government minister, Professor Tissa Vitarana, who also is chairman of the All Party Representatives Committee, which President Rajapaksa has tasked with working out a political solution to the ethnic conflict.

The government’s position so far is that the political solution has to be within the framework of the present 13th Amendment to the constitution that established the existing system of provincial councils. The government claims to be implementing the law, but the reality is different. All governments, including the present one, have for the past 21 years held back powers over police and land, and diluted other powers that ought to vest with the provincial councils. The provincial councils have also been starved of economic resources, making them white elephants.

On the other hand, the people’s manifesto on power sharing went beyond the 13th Amendment. It called for the setting up of a second chamber of Parliament, drawn from the provinces, which would decide on the dissolution of provincial councils along with the Supreme Court. It called for the devolution of powers over police, land, health and education in order to bring effective administration to the people of the provinces. It also called for safeguards to uphold the supremacy of the constitution.

At the mid term of his period in office, President Rajapaksa and his government appear to be prevailing over both the LTTE and the democratic opposition. But the political polarization that exists and the alienation of the ethnic minorities suggests that this dominance is not going to be sustainable. The hope is that the pragmatism that the President has demonstrated throughout his long years in politics will cause a change of approach that brings respect for human rights, media freedom and respect for life back to the center stage of politics. What the country needs is a political leadership that nurtures the people as a whole, and not just the ethnic majority segment of it.

courtesy:dailymirror,lk