The morning after the political honeymoon: President Sirisena’s future

Photo via Bloomberg

• by Dr. Kalana Senaratne 
• - on 02/04/2016 

With days turning into weeks and weeks into months, President Maithripala Sirisena appeared to have realized that power is ultimately the primary concern of politics and political leadership. What necessarily follows from this is also the realization that, to sustain a ‘good government’ in trying times one has to engage in practices which are antithetical to the very idea of good governance. Ever a contradiction to the ordinary mind, this is an uncomfortable reality in politics.

But in a democracy (unlike in any other system of governance), political realities can carry unpredictable consequences. Now with the completion of the first year in power, the people are exposed to a leader and a government, confronted by daunting challenges, facing an uncertain future. Once considered a refreshing voice – and still the West’s newfound darling of South Asia – President Sirisena has begun to speak and act in old and familiar ways. This isn’t surprising. As a political honeymoon (between a President and the people) slowly ends, the popularity wanes and the stains become more apparent, it would be natural for a leader to wonder how to retain power while protecting himself from his political enemies.

Lamentation

Democracies can tell us how the people have voted, what the numbers are. But they are unable to tell us accurately why leaders get defeated, why the people voted the way they did. This inability has caused the popular lamentation one encounters in political commentary about Sri Lanka today. In wondering, as political commentators often do, whether real ‘change’ has taken place, one may be engaging in a critical exercise; but it’s also an exercise that stems from a misunderstanding of what actually happened in January, 2015.

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