Rajapakse won election because majority of war euphoria infected Sinhalese wanted to keep the Tamils in their place
By Tisaranee Gunasekara
“Here on the slopes of hills, facing the dusk and the cannon of time Close to the gardens of broken shadows, We do what prisoners do, And what the jobless do: We cultivate hope”. – Mahmoud Darwish (Under Siege)
So begins the Rajapaksa era, heralded by a massive vote of confidence by the Sinhala majority, a resounding vote of no-confidence by the Tamil and Muslim minorities and armed soldiers surrounding the hotel in which the main contender was temporarily residing.
For those who oppose the dynastic project of the ruling family, illusions of a Fonseka victory should not be replaced by delusions of a fraudulent election. The situation is far too critical to engage in such comforting but ultimately self-defeating charades. Though the election campaign was far from free and fair, as even the Election Commissioner admitted, the election was, by and large. Whatever irregularities there were (and there were some) would have had only a marginal impact on the final outcome. Even without those isolated incidents of malpractice, Rajapaksa would have won, though perhaps with a slightly less wide margin.
The presidential election is over, irrevocably, irredeemably. Debating about who really won the presidential election is as productive as flogging a dead horse. Instead, the entire focus should be on the parliamentary election and the absolutely vital, and possible, task of preventing the Rajapaksas from winning a two thirds majority.
President Rajapaksa won the presidential election because a majority of the Sinhala people, intoxicated by war-euphoria, opted for a leader who had kept and promised to keep Tamils in ‘their place’. General Fonseka lost because he and the other opposition leaders failed to persuade UNP voters and Tamils to vote, in sufficient numbers.
Sooner or later, hard economic realities can and will dispel Sinhala euphoria. A new leader might be able to inject some enthusiasm into the veins of the UNP. It is possible that the crisis of the UNP is terminal and that the Grand Old Party of Lankan politics has passed the point of recovery. Still, the only way the UNP’s death can be ascertained is by replacing Ranil Wickremesinghe with either a new leader or, in the absence of a suitable single alternative, a leadership council. (A digression: at a personal level I am delighted that candidate Rajapaksa’s received his lowest percentage of votes outside of the north and the east in Ranasinghe Premadasa’s constituency of Colombo Central – a paltry 22.54%).
The Tamils too are leaderless; most of them live in fear and uncertainty with little hope of a better tomorrow. Despite these insalubrious political conditions, a large segment did vote against the incumbent President. The fact that most of the Tamils who voted did so not for the ‘independent’ Tamil candidate but for the former Army Commander (who, when ensconced in power, told them that Sri Lanka is a Sinhala country and they should therefore desist from making unreasonable demands) demonstrates their antipathy towards the Rajapaksa regime and their eagerness to join with the rest of the country to effect a regime change. It may take many years for a new Tamil leadership to emerge; until then a revitalised UNP will be able to attract a majority of the Tamils, on the basis of restoring democracy, ensuring development and delivering devolution.
The President’s spectacular victory with almost 58% of the valid vote would have rekindled dynastic ambitions in the Rajapaksa family. If there is no constitutional change, President Rajapaksa will have to retire at the end of his second term; in that event, the dynastic project of the Ruling Family will come to naught. Consequently winning a two thirds majority at the parliamentary election and effecting constitutional change are sine qua non for the success of the Rajapaksa dynastic project. Therefore it is reasonable to expect the President to dissolve the government and go for a parliamentary election as soon as astrologically possible, before the opposition has time to recover from its crushing defeat.
The opposition therefore should not waste time licking its wounds or engaging in acrimonious and pointless debates about who lost the presidential election. Pointing fingers and indulging in delusions are unaffordable luxuries, given the imminence of the parliamentary election. It may not be all that difficult for the UPFA to reach from 58% to 66% (or close; the gap can be bridged with defections), especially if the opposition continues to be in disarray, obsessed with the lost presidential election.
Though it will not be possible to defeat the government at the parliamentary election, it is entirely possible to prevent the UPFA from winning a two thirds majority or even coming close to that level. President Rajapaksa is more popular than the UPFA; the UNP, as a party, is more popular than its leader. Denying the Rajapaksas a two thirds majority is thus a realistic goal, a goal towards which all opposition parties, irrespective of their different agendas, can commit themselves wholeheartedly. In fact this is a goal that can be shared by the more enlightened sections within the UPFA, especially those SLFPers who do not want to serve the Rajapaksas, father, brother and son, for the rest of their political lives.
If the UPFA wins a two thirds majority, a Rajapaksa constitution would become a reality. This was confirmed by Minister Champika Ranawaka at the post-victory press conference of the UPFA. A Rajapaksa constitution will be less democratic than the existing constitution both in terms of basic rights and devolution of power. The Rajapaksas will drop the 17th Amendment in its entirety and enshrine within the constitution many a repressive measure in the name of national security. Since the President is on record dismissing the 13th Amendment as a ‘mere slogan’, the new constitution is unlikely to contain any provisions granting provincial level devolution.
Instead there would be district level administrative decentralisation (President Rajapaksa’s preferred model) at the most. A Rajapaksa constitution will thus usher in an era with less rights and freedoms, not only for the anti-Rajapaksa minorities but also for the pro-Rajapaksa majority.
But the raison d’être of a Rajapaksa constitution will be to ensure the longevity of Rajapaksa rule, to set up a Rajapaksa dynasty with either a brother or a son succeeding the incumbent, someday. Removing the impediment to the Rajapaksa project, represented by Presidential term limits, will thus be the paramount aim of a new Constitution. Once that impediment is removed, a Rajapaksa future will descend on Sri Lanka.
The outcome of the Presidential election demonstrated that notwithstanding the defeat of the LTTE, Sri Lanka remains a divided land, politically and psychologically.
Establishing a dynastic rule dependent on Sinhala support and subscribing to Sinhala supremacist policies and practices in such a country would be nothing less than a recipe for permanent strife.
During the presidential election campaign Candidate Rajapaksa equated a vote for Sarath Fonseka with a vote for separatism. After the victory, President Rajapaksa treated his main electoral opponent as a common criminal. In doing so, the President was merely continuing a practice established during the Fourth Eelam War, a practice followed by both the President and his Army Commander, based on the belief that we, as patriots can do no wrong. The most powerful symbol of this thinking was the myth of a humanitarian operation which spared civilians and just killed Tigers.
This logic not only denied civilian casualties; it also turned the dead civilians into Tigers and branded any critic of the conduct of the war as a Tiger stooge. This lie bestowed on the Lankan state (and its armed forces), ipso facto, a cloak of infallibility, the right to be always right. This was later used to justify the internment of almost 300,000 civilian Tamils in open prisons masquerading as welfare villages.
The equation of the necessary but unfortunate war with a holy enterprise was a basic ideological premise of Sinhala racism/supremacism, and this was adopted by the Rajapaksas during the Fourth Eelam War. According to this version there is no difference between Tigers and Tamil nationalists, between Tiger propaganda and Tamil grievances. It is as if history began in 1983 with the LTTE attack on Four Four Bravo, skipping Black July and various atrocities committed by the Lankan forces and ending with the death of Velupillai Pirapaharan on the shore of the Sea of Conches.
This ideological sleight of hand was used by the Rajapaksas during the recent presidential election campaign. The President and his acolytes used coded racism to win Sinhala support and damned all their opponents as anti-patriots who seek the division of the country. For instance, Rajapaksa himself accused “SLMC leader Rauf Hakeem of trying to revive the separatist movement once spearheaded by the LTTE” (The Island – 15.1.2009). Since the belief that anti-patriots are undeserving not just of constitutional and legal rights but even of humanity has been established during the Eelam War, daubing his electoral opponents with the anti-patriotic brush enabled President Rajapaksa to vilify and persecute them at will.
The unsuccessful attempt to arrest Gen. Fonseka for harbouring deserters as well as the manner in which his security detail was treated (according to media reports these uniformed serving soldiers were made to kneel on the road and handcuffed) are the natural outcome of this warped and self-serving logic. All it takes for the patriot of yesterday to become the anti-patriot of today and the criminal of tomorrow is to go against the Rajapaksas, who like the ancient kings, equate themselves with the country/state/nation.
The anti-democratic excesses of the Rajapaksas are likely to increase during the parliamentary election season. Last week another journalist, Prageeth Eknaligoda of Lanka e-news website vanished. Others dissidents will share his fate.
The regime may also turn its guns against the JVP, as the following remarks by President Rajapaksa at an election meeting in Bandarawela indicate: “The President said that a political party which is well-known for creating a fear psychosis among the people in the past is trying to sow the seeds of discontent and fear among the people again….
President Mahinda Rajapaksa stressed that he will not allow such unscrupulous elements to breach democracy nor disrupt the peace and co-existence among the people under any circumstances. The President stressed he has already ordered the police to take stern action against the elements engaged in activities detrimental to peace and democracy in the country. ‘I will not hesitate to call for the armed forces if the police and the STF fail to ensure peace and democracy in society,’ he said” (Daily News – 23.1.2010).
What is at stake today is not the fate of this or that political party or leader but the fate of the democratic system. That is why the opposition needs to put the discontents of the presidential election behind and look ahead to the parliamentary election – because that is the last chance to stop the Rajapaksa Juggernaut. Labouring to prevent a two thirds win by the UPFA at the parliamentary election is the responsibility of any who do not want to see the establishment of Dynastic Rule behind a democratic façade.
31 Comments
Long Live the Lion of SriLanka. The hatred of the west towards the great Statesman knows no bounds. Mahinda Rajapaksa is our hero our helmsman and dear leader. The section of Sinhala traitors who carried out a campaign of hatred against Mahinda have been exposed. Its time that the government reclaim all the staff and vehicles given to Chandrika Kummaratunge another traitor , at the tax payers expense is taken away.
People say that MR has won but this election is not valid. Govt violated so many election guidelines which include but not limited to mis use of public owned media and other assets, mis use of public officers, bribes to voters, mass scale vote rigging, threatening of election officers and altering election records. In other words it is another Saddam Hussein type election. This was confirmed by Election Commissioner’s post election speech. Everyone should look into when they will be dealing with this illegally appointed President.
i saw tisaranee end of 1970s coming to see the left party meetings with dayan jayathilake,specialy to the de mel park in slaywisland, after that meny things been changed , but good thing is she still respect ,the "democracy"
but this democracy is endanger, in hand of eather ltte, and sinhala supramist,(jvp cant get liberate been with fonseka)
U know that VASUDEVA helped you to hide from DHESAPPREMI JANATHA WIYAPARAYA,(PATRIYOTI PEOPLE'S MOVMENT)wich would be kill you that time, after they killed daya pathirana,Leader Of INDEPENDENT STUDENT MOVEMENT in colombo university.
so the sri lanka so-called 3rd world country,it is very hard to protect the democracy, not like a so-called develop country.thats what leon trotsky said,
make a intelectual front,associate with working class , start the agitation on behalf of democrasy,.other than a isolated person, we need people like you this timee , but be a broad frontier.
The despotic actions of the president and his henchmen are leading this country into a state of tension and instability. The vindictive use of the police and security forces against the opposition is merely a taste of things to come. Whereas we have been freed from the LTTE terrorists we are now victims of state terrorism which is unable to face dissent and freedom of expression. So all the promises made prior to the elections have already been thrown to the winds.
Thanks, TG. As usual you have analysed the current situation with precise intelligence. Yes, it is important for the opposition to prepare for the impending Parliamentary elections pronto than wasting time with face saving excuses. If all the accusations by the opposition about the conduct of the just concluded election is true, it is a grand opportunity in the next parliamentary elections to prove it my getting at least 50% of the vote. The the people will accept that there is some truth in their allegations.
Now election is over, don't think you cut your own neg by your self. wait and see what happaning but maby too late, main reson is opersetion ledeer ship must be expel people will not trust him he is not good politision not a good speker not motivate at all. speeking rubish need inteligent people...
Tisaranee Gunasekara another tamil writing in the name of a sinahalese. so theaw tamila think we r really dumb??? sinhalese supremacy?? lol another excuse. we sri lankans saved the minority tamils from another 100yes of war by the tamils themseleves yet they didnt vote for rajapaksha becos fear from TNA. in the end the west lost, tamil dispora lost, no peelam and sri lanka lion
people has spoken!!!!! lions live forever!! if tamils r noy happy
by all means migrate to a country(toiletnadu) that they r happy and came from.
if people like the author of this article did even a days useful work instead of writing rubbish, sri-lanka would be a better place to live in.
I would like to ask this author have you ever volunteered to build a single road, helped construct even a single house, campaigned to save even a single forest or a single wild species or to clean even a single river or volunteered to teach even for a single day?
If they have at least done a few of these things, i will believe what they write, otherwise this writing as usual is a load of rubbish.
We congratulate the President.
But we condemn Mervin Silvas action during the Election campaign.
I will request a campaign with my readers to condemn this Mervin Silva , so thta he will have a political death for ever,who has been
a cancer to Mahinda Rajapaksa. He is such a Pain.
This guy shamlessly sais he will bet his Benz? Montero? This is all public money
President, please no more duty free vehicles- It is for 10 years not every 5 years.
This is our sweat and hard earned mony please.
when others can use vehicles for 10-15-20 years why do you allow duty fre vehicles every 5 years,.
President please think, we voted for you to stop this please.
Sarath Silva
People have taught this traiter and his motley crew of shameless idiots the lesson of their life.Now they are running to their Western masters for advice,to launch the next attack against the country
I think this article is full of wrong assessments. Actually I have been travelling in sri lanka just before elections, I spoke to people, most of them said they were happy about the development work, agricultural policies of Rajapaksha administration. the turnout was so high thanks to Fonseka (masterminded by west) who offended the nation and it's father of the nation with so much hate speech. words like Kalawedda, paharaya, etc should not be used by presidential canditates. Sri Lankan people have proved to be still too civilized.
Or did Mahinda win because all Sri Lankans was fed up because of years of war and Sri Lanka needed a hero to come along with the strength of a true lion. Or was it because he was the first president ever to actually carry out an election promise of finnishing off the bloodthirsty Terrorists?? Mahinda myself and Sri Lanka salute you. Your victory is a massive victory to all Sri Lankans irrespective of race or gender. I have no doubt that you will engage in the War against economics and cost of living in your second term of Office. May the Tripple Gem bless you for many years to come. And your Brother Gotabe also deserves the admiration and gratitute of the nation..
Thissaranie,
Can you remember an era when SL had a democratic system you expect.I can remember that was under Chandrika, and that was when all of us were prisoners under your so called democracy.We could hardly travel on public transport and that was when a lot of our blokes from rural area got killed because of war.It is only when people try to do something they can err.Because Chandrika did nothing everything was comparatively fine for people like you who would not care whether people got killed because of war.
Yes the so called democratic values may be less under MR but when we think of what he has achieved, what you people are highlighting is a storm in a tea cup.Most of loosers from SF side try to build mountains out of mole hills.
THE WHOLE WORLD INCLUDING DEMOCRATIC LTTERS(TNA) GOT TOGETHER TO DEFEAT MR AND THEY COULD NOT EVEN GET CLOSE TO HIM.THIS APRIL THE PEOPLE OF SL WOULD GIVE A TWO THIRDS MAJORITY TO MR AND TEACH SF AND HIS TEAM WHO ARE TRYING TO GIVE THE DEMOCRATIC LTTERS A SEPERATE LAND DEMOCRATICALLY
A GOOD LESSON
Thisaranee if she come straight and say that she is a SF and UNP supporter her opinions are understood. But when she talks as if she is an independent analyst there is more to be desired of her. The analogy that MR was elected by Sinhalese vote is not true. The agreement entered into by TNA with SF and UNP sent shivers with average Tamil citizens. This agreement blew a hole in the confidence of Tamil people that they can think independently. The agreement brought fears on Tamil people that LTTE is still alive and they cannot think freely. If they think independently they fear that LTTE elements will bring harm to them and their family members. As long as this fear exists in the Sri Lankan society the Tamils cannot vote otherwise. No one should interpret this as a rejection vote of the Tamils. The Muslim bunch is different. They are hallucinating that UNP will be friendlier for Business, and they expect to make a killing. They have already done this by taking over most of the Tamil real estate in Colombo. This does not mean the Muslims are against MR either. They will be happy when the results of development start reaching their door. Majority Sinhalese did vote for MR was because they feared another blood bath under SF. He has a double tongue to praise MR just six months ago, and during the election started slandering him. His foul language was distasteful to the electorate. SF was trying to run politics like an Army Camp. Only the officers were to be heard and the troops were there to be seen. The Officers were living in a different world some with so many skeletons in their cupboards. The public has not heard the real Fonseka as yet. He is a crude, ungrateful and self-serving person with insatiable greed.
mind your own bussiness plesse. The writer is try show that she is the best writer in the world. These people are workers of sombody else
It is a wrong to comment that " Rajapakhse won the presidential election because of the majority of Sinhalese people intoxicated by war-euphoria." It is not the war intoxicated Rajapakhe to win the war, but the peace people enjoy after the war.
Valid case and good argument about the impending parliamentary election and the dangers of a two-thirds majority but in relation to the just concluded election, it doesn't explain why the JVP's attempt to rouse Sinhala ire over a 10 point DEVANANDA-MAHINDA pact , which allegedly included " self rule, taking the 13th amendment as a start", simply didn't fly, while criticisms of the SF-TNA alliance did.
So perhaps it isn't the TAMILS that the Sinhala voter wanted kept in their place, but the TNA , i.e. pro-Tiger Tamils?
t.gunesekara maybe a serious journalist.many s.l.did not want fonseka because he was not suitable. this top sinhale nationalist together with the national socialist party the jvp could and would be more dangerous to the minorities.s.l.ans maybe did not want military style dimocracy,and dictatorship of the proletariat(jvp). for many unpeers jvp was a big problem.i supported mahinda,and for years i have been working for the welfare aspirations and rights of the minorities,ofcource not forgetting the sinhale rural volk.ranjit de mel berlin
Mr. Rajapaksa is not hero or not a leader for people who did not vote (30%) and who vote against(40% of voted).
He won because he invoke racism of politically blinded people.
Where are those rulers who ruled the world by fraud and discordance, where is Sadam Hussain? where is Hitler?
If this is a misled election majority population were cheated by the power and the strength of ruling elite, and the minorities were pushed aside in the sea to take the boat to the mainland thus no one will benefit but the devil which rules the idiots mind.
If this paradise Island belongs to the people who consider this land belongs to them irrespective of religion and cast and if the majority think the other way around ie. it belongs only to them, and if the present president elect supports that stand, there is no dought Sri lanka will go back to the stone ages again.
I am sure the President is a visionary with lots of hopes, he is smart and strong, he will think wisely and do good for all the citizen of this beautiful country. Hope the best.
Finally she has openly talked.Quite visible is her unbearable pain at the loss of SF.Now see how she spreads the venom of pessimism.
Hey Mr.? Ranjith Jay, did you read this article with a sound mind or prejudice? thats the real problem I find in most of the Sri Lankans now a days(especially those who voted to reelect MR) What ever said and done they do not want to listen analyse or think? they are all prejuce with their opinion? so MR and his family could easily take these GONS for a ride for another 2 decades or so? lions? long live the Gons?
gunasekara,
u sure have demonstrated your discontent and hatred of the President and his goverment and even have accused the people of SL as "war euphoria infected/ imtoxicated sinhalese"
people of sri lanka spoke and spoke LOUDLY with an unprecedented WIN for the president, so compared to massive endorsement by the people of SL your statements does not worth a penny or a cent in my opinion. and you are accusing of SL forces of atrocities and ending with killing prabakaran!?!? are u out of your mind? wonder whether u are also a mouth piece like MIA?
let me tell u something u sure may not know about the USA elections in 2004 when bush/ cheney got re-elected for the 2nd term. the Illegal Iraq was in operation and in the presidential campaign bush/ cheney literaly scared the hell out of the americans by falsely orchestrating terrorism threat from Al Qaeda (lieing that bin laden has released another audio tape threatning US!!!!) also they indirectly said voting for john kerry the challenger is unpatriotic!!!
did u or the UNPers who romantacize USA know this? i bet not. 'dreamers only' like you and the UNPers think that USA and the western world is the heaven for everything and have the inferiority complex of your own.
i wish writers like u put things in right context as in global perspective!?!?! is that too much to ask from you gunasekara?!?! think outside the box too! who are u comparing sri lanka and the president when u say that the president used scare tactics to get re-eleted?!??!
aren't you a misleading people? writers like you a disgrace for the profession.
How naive we are! How quickly emotions can be roused, and how quickly one enters a fools paradise.Poor naive Sri Lankans , for the majority of them are good hearted but, gullible, the future will prove what is in store for us! Our salvation is to quickly find a true and honest leader, a Ghandi or an Obama.What a tragedy to find those livig in Luxury with ill gotten gains in ultra expensive vehicles and, and palaces,to those trudging bare foot on scorching tarred roads.What an irony it is to find those on cat walks and those in perpetual fancy dress aping the west,and thus looking a sad sight!Compare them to those who have difficulties to get a decent meal or clothes to wear.Its time for the interlectuals,and philanthropists (of which we still have in plenty,but rarely in politics)to surface on the political arena and save this country , blessed with everything,but... to quote Robert Knox "Where only man is vile"!!
President should do more to develop the South. He is just developing North and East
The writer seems to be obsessed with sheer ridicule of the Rajapaksas as a political family. By using the word "dynasty" as if it were a dirty word throughout her column she has exposed her biasness, which she could have avoided in order to drive home her salient yet rather vague reasons for fearing a constitution that would be initiated by the Rajapaksas.
It has been great political families of SL that brought almost all the constitutional requirements. Starting from the Senanayakes to Bandaranayakes to Jayawardena. The Rajapaksas have been in the political arena of SL for over 70 years whilst all other Dynasty's have withered away.
If the constitutional changes are the requirement of the hour to address the issues of the time then they are welcome.It is immaterial as to whose name underwrites the changes but the changes must address the issues in relation to the ethnic diversity, socio economic and political scenario of the world order.Much thought must be given to the territorial integrity and National security as well as state secrets.
The US of A has a democratic constitution which safeguards the USA covered by several inactments. For example the the journalists right to withhold the source of information is nullified when it comes to matters of national security. The constitutional council must ensure that the rights of the journalists are safeguarded by the supreme court and that decision to divulge the osurce must be on a supreme courts ruling.
So it's not who makes ammendments that matter but how the statutes are stated and implemented.
This presidential results show us that Sihala community has divided. it is Manmohan Sings Govt.who is responsible for this division.Before the Election,Manmohan Singh wanted Gen.Fonseka removed from army by fabricating a "Military Coup" and by doing so,MR paved the way for Gen.Fonseka to Contest the Election.Now the time has come to the UNP & JVP to get together again with all the other parties (supported/not supported),under any symbol with the leadership of our War hero "Gen.Sarath Fonseka" to defeat this MR Company in the forthcoming parlimentary Election and give our Tamil Community(Sri Lankans)a Lasting peaceful Life to Live with us as we used to be before 1977.
"Sooner or later hard economic realities can and will dispel Sinhala euphoria". Thisaranee you and your pro-LTTE diaspora living with all the luxuries in West at least keep your mouth shut and see what happen next 7 years. We don't need your predictions.
The people already suffering with immense economic difficulties but they choose MR as their leader.Why? Because Sinhalese giving priority to their mother land.We know if we lose our mother land we have no where to go.
The UNP cannot win an election under Ranil's leadership. In next general election he is gonna lose his electorate.
Finally I ask from you why you use Sinhala name? It is a shame to write these crap using a sinhalese name.How about Thisaranee Gunasekaram.
He did not win his brothers manipulated the results what are yourl talking about.Was there any transperency.Wake up guys.
The real challenge for Mr. Rajapaksa is to use the whopping majority he received from the majority to bring about social justice to the minorities while selling to the majority that he is doing it to make the lives of his Sinhalese-Buddist polity better. Perhaps the most effective salesman even better than Vimal Weerawansa - they are the best team to pull it off provided they can structure a make-sense solution acceptable to the minorities.
NOW EVEN MILITARY AND POLICE HAVE BEEN POLITICISED ELCETION COMISIONER MAY BE POLITICISED AT GUN POINT.