A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Tuesday, May 9, 2017
RAJAPAKSA ONSLAUGHT AND OPTIONS FOR SIRISENA – RANIL GOVERNMENT – SUNANDA DESHAPRIYA.
Image: Aerial view of the Joint Oppositions May Day- ally at the
Galle Face Green;Imag Mahinda Rajapaksas official Facebook page.
It was some half a century ago that we marched crying the slogan “We are
going to – Galle Face; Come with us to – Galle Face.” My elder brother
and I had two red shirts especially made by our mother for May Day. She
wore a red saree. My father had red bush coat. That was the May Day
rally and demonstration of the united left in 1963, which shook the
ruling classes in the country.
N. Shanmugadasan, the leader of the Sri Lanka Communist party (Chinese
wing) who penned his biography “Political Memoirs of an Unrepentant
Communist” described that historic May Day thus:
“Now, in 1963, the movement for left unity gained momentum, particularly
in view of the poor performance of the SLFP, and the threat of extreme
reaction staging a come-back. By May Day 1963, sufficient progress had
been made so that the three left parties called for a united May Day
Rally. The enthusiasm of the ordinary people for left unity can be
gauged from the gigantic demonstration and rally that took place on that
day. Ceylon had never seen anything like that ever before, or ever
since. Not only did unprecedented thousands march in the demonstration,
but thousands more thronged the route, lining it several deep and
occupying every vantage point, to watch this unique spectacle which to
many was the realisation of their deeply cherished hopes. The Galle Face
Green teemed with humanity.”
At that time there were no buses bringing party supporters to the venue.
No one carried photographs of the politicians, printed and provided by
those politicians themselves. Every one travelled to Colombo on their
own expenses. We even brought rice, pol sambol, alabadum and bala malu
from home for lunch.
Today in comparison we can see similarities as well as differences. The
defeated semi autocratic forces are aiming for power. It is they who
fill the Galle Face on May Day. Like in 1963 the Government is limping,
walking like a crab that preaches others to go straight. After the first
100 days when far reaching democratic reforms took place, the only
thing the Government is doing appears to be bragging and running to
foreign countries.
In 1963 the Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranayake was quick to
understand the dynamism of the left unity shown by the Galle Face May
Day. She understood by instinct that only way to safeguard her power
lies in breaking that unity. The three left parties had formulated 21
demands and was gaining strength. She only had to pay three
ministerial posts and buy the LSSP to destroy the left unity.
Now we need to explore how dynamics of the May Day 2017 is going to
create a new balance of forces and different momentums. In a sense, the
future of the January 2015 victory depends on these post May Day new
developments.
Rajapaksa accepted the challenge thrown at him by the ruling
politicians to fill up the Galle Face if he can. He won the challenge.
He was able to gather the largest May Day crowd without even without the
state power. That itself is a remarkable achievement. But at the same
time one should understand that the ability to mobilise people does not
always mean the correctness of political ideology. If mere popularity is
a sign of political correctness, self-proclaimed murderer President
Dutarte should be a great leader. History provides us with examples of a
number of popular dictators. The LTTE leader Prabhakaran too could have
most probably become the popular Tamil leader if he had the chance to
contest in an election.
But in real politics what matters at the end is numbers. According to
conservative estimates, SLFP and UNP May Day rellies together had more
numbers than the Rajapaksa May Day rally. Almost all other May Day
rallies held around the country too opposed Rajapaksa policies.
Arithmetic as well as Algebra of the May Day 2017 numbers does not show
an immediate possibility of Rajapaksa capturing power. His forces are
definitely gathering momentum while the rainbow coalition that defeated
him is in disarray and is disheartened. But that is not what we hear.
Politicians belonging to Sirisena camp openly count Rajapaksa’s May Day
numbers and Sirisena’s May Day numbers together saying “we all belong to
SLFP”. Their argument is that if both factions come together SLFP could
beat the UNP in any election in hands down. The leading members of the
Sirisena led SLFP has come out openly against the present unity between
the SLFP and UNP. Two of them even called for uniting with the
Rajapaksa faction to defeat the UNP. Most probably this trend within
the SLFP will gather strength in the coming months.
UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe’s game plan of splitting the SLFP by
strengthening the Rajapaksa faction is not a secret. Wickremasinghe’s
political strategy is not political campaigning but political
manipulation. When he was the Prime Minster during 2002 -2004 his
strategy was to strengthen Mahinda Rajapaksa against President
Kumarathunga and SLFP second in commander Anura Bandaranayake. Although
he thought the conflict he was fuelling within the SLFP will help him
to regain power, Rajapaksa was able to maneuverer him out of power in
2005.
On the other hand, no one knows of any political strategy of President
Sirisena. That is why politicians close to Sirisena make statement
contradicting each other. Because he does not work on a political
strategy, Sirisena has been unable to build a strong group of
politicians around him. During the last two years he has taken virtually
no political step to strengthen the party and his leadership other than
attending all kinds of opening ceremonies and making impromptu
speeches.
In this context, Sirisena will find it difficult to manage the shock
waves generated by the Rajapaksa’s May Day rally. Rajapaksaist Trojan
horses within the SLFP will gain more ground and pressures to leave the
coalition with the UNP and Wickremasinghe will increase. Already
emboldened by the success of Galle Face mobilisation Rajapaksa camp has
threatened to call a hartal to over throw the Government.
Rajapaksa himself predicts serious political developments in coming
weeks. Pro Rajapaksa media is overflowing with reports of heightening
conflicts between the two coalition partners of the government.
To ease the conflicts within the Government, President Sirisena has
appointed a committee, according to media. He knows that Rajapaksa’s
re-capturing power will be fatal blow to him politically and personally
and to his true associates. But he seems to be helpless in front of
Wickremasinghe’s political manipulations.
At this junction, it appears that there are a number of steps needed to off-balance Rajapaksa’s extremist political agenda.
1. Speed up investigations in to corruption and punish the
perpetrators. Leading members of the Rajapaksa camp are charged with
serious allegations of fraud and embezzlement. If the Government can
prove those allegations there will be renewed vigour in the anti –
Rajapaksa camp and loss of spirt in the Rajapaksa camp.
2. Re-invigorate the reform agenda of January 2015 change
without waiting for a fully pledged new constitution. Providing a
greater devolution as a solution to the ethnic issue will win back the
trust of the minorities. There are many promised reforms in waiting
such as the release of political prisoners, abolishing of the Prevention
of Terrorism Act and releasing military occupied land of the Tamil and
Muslim people.
Start a genuine political discussion on the issues of
governance and democratic reforms with civil society groups around the
country breaking the monopoly of Colombo based elite smaller civil
society groups. They are the real foot soldiers of the people’s campaign
against Rajapaksa autocracy.
If Sirisena – Wickremasinghe coalition fails to implement such a course
of action, it may be difficult to stop Rajapaksa clan capturing the
power and establishing Rajapaksa kingship. Such a scenario could have
deadly repercussions for the President Sirisena and his associates.
Wickremasinhe will be happy to get back his coveted post of leader of
the opposition.