We must now turn away from the violence of the past and move forward to ensure democratic and good governance...!!!

Grace to reach out and to reconcile

NOTEBOOK OF A NOBODY
by Shanie


"Courage!" he said, and pointed toward the land,

"This mounting wave will roll us shoreward soon",

In the afternoon they came into a land,

In which it seemed always afternoon.


Is there confusion in the little isle?

Let what is broken so remain.

The Gods are hard to reconcile;

‘Tis hard to settle order once again,

There is confusion worse than death,

Trouble on trouble, pain on pain,

Long labour unto aged breath,

Sore task to hearts worn out with many wars

And eyes grown dim with gazing on the pilot-stars.


Mahinda Rajapakse has won re-election to the Presidency of Sri Lanka. The margin of 1.8 million votes over Rajapakse’s nearest rival was a decisive one. Even allowing for malpractices on polling day like credible evidence of attempts to intimidate potential voters for the opponents particularly in the North from exercising their franchise, the margin of victory was sufficiently large for such malpractices not to have made a significant difference to the final outcome. No doubt, the campaign itself was marred by blatant violation of election laws and the scandalous misuse of public resources. Sarath Fonseka has spoken of mounting a legal challenge to the election process. But the Courts in any country would normally be wary of taking any action to nullify a poll except in very exceptional circumstances. Any such action can plunge a country into a deeper crisis, and Fonseka would be better advised to desist from taking that step.


But the way Fonseka and his security personnel were treated immediately after the conclusion of the poll was nothing short of disgraceful. Fonseka is a distinguished son of the country who has served with distinction as Commander of the Sri Lanka Army. The attempt to humiliate him and his security officers because of the political position he took after retirement deserves contempt and condemnation. We need to turn away from this culture of seeking revenge and directing extra-judicial violence at political opponents. We need to turn away from this culture perfected by the LTTE and which was followed by their clones in the south. Surely, President Rajapakse can rise above this and put a stop to this crudity. With strength derived from his decisive re-election, Mahinda Rajapakse now has the opportunity to deliver on his manifesto promise of ensuring human rights and the rule of law. That will be a step forward towards democratic governance.


From War to Peace and Unity

Lord Tennyson was the poet laureate in England in the mid nineteenth century at the time of the Industrial Revolution when the working people were undergoing much hardship. His poem Lotus Eaters, stanzas from which we quote at the beginning of this column, is based on the legend concerning the wanderings of Ulysses, the Greek hero of the Trojan War. In the course of his voyage home, he comes upon the land of the Lotus-eaters where he and his men are tempted to give up their struggle and lead a life of ease. The poem is about this temptation to escape from the difficulties and complexities of present life and to dwell on the pleasant moments of the past. In Tennyson’s time, it was escapism from the harsh conditions of the Industrial Revolution. In our context, it is escapism into the mood of post-war euphoria that will prevent our country from moving forward to peace, unity and reconciliation.

The results of the recently concluded Presidential Election show how deeply fractured we are as a country. It appears that the overwhelming majority of the minorities, ethnic and religious and from across the country, have voted for Sarath Fonseka and the overwhelming majority of the Sinhala Buddhist majority, again from across the country, have voted for Mahinda Rajapakse. There was an element of polarisation in previous elections too but it is starkly plain in this election. The credible explanation for this is that the nationalist mood of triumphalism at the defeat of the LTTE still prevails and the UPFA’s campaign has been successful in identifying Rajapakse with the success achieved in defeating the LTTE. At the same time, some of the campaigners for Rajapakse injected communalism into the campaign by alleging a non-existent secret agreement between Fonseka and the minority parties that allegedly was going to sell out to the minorities, at the expense of Sinhala rights. This crude campaign aimed at winning the Sinhala vote has instead united the Tamils and Muslims of not only the North and East but also of the Hill Country and the rest of the country.

Despite the ethnic and religious polarisation at the election, President Rajapakse must reach out to all the people of our country. After election he is the President of the country and all her people. He should resist the temptation to feel that he was elected by the Sinhala Buddhist majority and can therefore overlook the aspirations of the minorities who did not vote for him. At the Presidential Election of 1999, Chandrika Kumaratunge won re-election, again decisively. But she lost the districts of Jaffna, Vanni, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Nuwaraiya to her UNP opponent. During the campaign, a suicide bomber attempted to assassinate her – she survived but lost an eye in the process. But the statesperson that she was, she did not allow rejection of her electoral bid by the minorities to prevent her from reaching out to the Tamils and Muslims. In 2000 and again in 2002, she presented, after all-party discussions, far-reaching constitutional proposals for power-sharing. Mahinda Rajapakse has the capacity to rise to the same level of statespersonship. He has received a strong mandate from the people which will enable him to reach out to the minorities. The Tissa Vitarana Committee appointed by him has made some proposals and he must not make the mistake of dismissing those proposals to appease the Sinhala extremist lobby that supported him at the election. There can be little doubt that such a move to implement the APRC proposals will strengthen his hand at the forthcoming parliamentary election. The UNP is committed to power-sharing and cannot afford to do a U-turn at this juncture to oppose any proposal on those lines, except at their own peril. The extremists will bark but, without the electoral support that they lack, cannot bite.


Lessons from the Election


From a simple reading of the results, it could appear that they disprove the notion that the support of the minorities is essential to win an election. Such a reading will be a facile one. This election was unique in that it came within twelve months of the end of the war and it has become clear that the mood of euphoria and triumphalism is still prevalent, contrary to what many thought. Mahinda Rajapakse was projected as the architect of that victory. Sarath Fonseka, the Army Commander, was projected as having ‘let the side down’ by becoming a candidate of those forces that were not fully behind the war effort. In that sense, the result at this election was a personal one for Rajapakse. Even if the bulk of the UNP block vote stood by Fonseka’s candidature, nearly the entire floating vote among the Sinhalese, which forms the majority and which would normally have been evenly divided, appears to have opted for Rajapakse. This personal vote for Rajapakse, the man, is unlikely to be translated into a similar vote for the UPFA at the parliamentary that must follow in a few months time. This columnist is convinced that the minority votes will certainly matter at the parliamentary election.

For the Opposition, some of their irresponsible statements ridiculing the war effort, like the comparisons of Alimankada and Pamankada, came back to haunt them. Senior parliamentarians must resist the temptation to score cheap debating points and must provide responsive co-operation in matters of national interest. For this same reason, they must not oppose any meaningful power-sharing proposals in the event they are presented by Mahinda Rajapakse.

During the election campaign, Rajapakse promised to ensure human rights and respect for the rule of law. He also promised to curtail some of the powers of the Executive Presidency. These are admirable if he can keep to his promises. Two matters regarding the Executive Presidency require urgent attention. First, would be to rid the constitution of the presidential immunity clause. This is an anachronism in a democracy. It may be acceptable where the position of the Head of State is purely a ceremonial one like in Britain where the ‘Queen can do no wrong’. But in a democracy, a citizen must have recourse to the law in respect of the executive actions of a President.

The second, which will deal both with the curtailment of executive powers as well as the rule of law and human rights, is the implementation in full of the 13th, 16th and 17th amendments to the Constitution. These amendments are not ‘defunct’ as a senior minister is infamously reported to have stated. They are a part of the law of this country and their fill implementation – the 13th on power-sharing, the 16th on language rights and the 17th on an independent and efficient public service – will go a long long way towards good governance. Now that the rhetoric of electioneering is over, the President must know that all nominations to the Constitutional Council are in place and those nominated are eminently qualified to serve on the Council. The appointment of these independent commissions will address his campaign promise to ensure the rule of law, human rights and an administration free of bribery and corruption.

We have come through a bruising election campaign. We must now turn away from the violence of the past and move forward to ensure democratic and good governance. The country deserves nothing less.


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