By Veeragathy Thanabalasingham
Almost one month has elapsed since Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) took oath as the ninth Executive President of Sri Lanka.
During this period, he and other prominent leaders of the National People’s Power (NPP), especially the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), have been talking with pride about what they view as changes in the country’s political landscape following the regime change. They describe the decision by many politicians belonging to the mainstream parties not to contest the Parliamentary Elections as a significant change.
President Dissanayake, who said that the term ‘retirement’ had now been introduced by the NPP into Sri Lankan politics, which has a history of politicians retiring only if they lost or died, noted that the withdrawal of most of the former Members of Parliament (MPs) from contesting the elections was one of the changes expected by the people.
At the same time, Bimal Rathnayake, a prominent JVP leader, said that the NPP had achieved a massive victory ahead of the Parliamentary Elections by ensuring that corrupt and racist politicians decided not to contest the elections in order to avoid defeat.
“We thank the people for putting an end to the politics of the corrupt and racist by electing Dissanayake as President. Those politicians did not come forward to contest the elections knowing that they would certainly be defeated. The people who voted for Dissanayake have achieved a great feat by removing such corrupt politicians from politics,” Rathnayake said.
An unprecedented withdrawal from politics
More than 50 members of the dissolved Parliament will not be contesting the Parliamentary Elections, which is unprecedented in Sri Lankan politics. These politicians include former presidents, ministers, and state ministers. Some have even announced their retirement from politics.
Although these politicians have cited various reasons for their decision, there is no doubt that they avoided contesting the elections due to the fear that the people would surely reject them. This includes not just some senior politicians but also younger ones who have entered through the National Lists of their parties.
Some politicians have allowed their sons or daughters to contest the elections and have stepped aside. This shows that eradicating family politics is not so easy in this part of the world. The Rajapaksas, who have been the exclusive symbol of family-dominated politics in Sri Lanka for over two decades, will have a clear understanding of what the Sinhalese people really think about them through the Presidential Election results.
None of the Rajapaksa brothers will be contesting the Parliamentary Elections. Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) presidential candidate and National Organiser Namal Rajapaksa sought protection in the National List instead of contesting directly. He was unable to win a single electorate in his own district of Hambantota at the Presidential Polls.
It is strange that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who said last week that he had temporarily withdrawn from politics, had even expressed hope that his party would easily win the upcoming Parliamentary Elections.
An end to communal politics?
The Rajapaksas believed that the Sinhalese people would support them for a long time and would not mind their abuses due to the leadership they provided in the war in which the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was militarily defeated.
However, it was their misrule that ultimately led to a popular uprising against family political dominance and mainstream political parties in an unprecedented way in Sri Lankan political history, leading to the election of an outsider to the traditional political elite as President.
Addressing Parliament after Mahinda Rajapaksa stepped down as Prime Minister at the height of the popular uprising of 2022, his elder brother and former Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa said that his brother should have retired from politics when his second term as President had ended. Mahinda Rajapaksa has never heeded his brother’s advice to date.
It appears that the JVP leaders are describing the decision of the Rajapaksas and politicians like Wimal Weerawansa to stay away from the Parliamentary Elections as the end of communal politics. However, communal politicians like Udaya Gammanpila and Sarath Weerasekera, who have been constantly speaking out against the legitimate political aspirations of minority communities, are still in the fray.
Racist politicians not contesting the elections or withdrawing from politics will not signal the end of communal politics. What is important is the defeat of the poisonous ideas these racists have planted among the majority population against the political aspirations of the minority communities.
There is a deep-rooted opposition within the majority community against the rights of minority communities and devolution of power. It is futile to talk of a new political culture without some change in this unfortunate state of affairs.
Reaching out to minorities
NPP leaders should have the political courage to create an understanding among the majority community that a consistently unreasonable stand against the rights and aspirations of the minority communities has been an obstacle to finding solutions to various problems, including the economic crisis.
The JVP has a bitter history of fiercely opposing all attempts at finding a political solution to the national ethnic problem. There was no place for the phrase ‘devolution of power’ in its political lexicon.
It is important to note that rather than holding the JVP hostage to its violent past, the people of the south have brought an alliance led by it to power in their quest for change.
The time has now come for NPP/JVP leaders to open the way for the minority communities to reach out to them, forgetting the adversarial positions they have thus far adopted regarding the national problem. The current historic moment, wherein President Dissanayake and NPP leaders have become popular and are in a position to convince the majority community, should be used to bring about a healthy change in the thinking of southern Sri Lanka regarding the ethnic problem.
A significant section of society expects that the NPP, especially the JVP, may become somewhat flexible in its stance on the ethnic issue following Dissanayake’s victory at the Presidential Election. It is also said that a sizeable portion of people of the north and east are increasingly showing interest in voting for the NPP at the upcoming Parliamentary Elections.
However, JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva’s comments during an interview given to a private television channel a few days ago were akin to telling these people not to expect any change regarding the ethnic imbroglio.
“Tamil people don’t need the 13th Amendment to the Constitution; they only need a solution to their economic problems. Only Tamil politicians are talking about the 13th Amendment and devolution of power in order to retain power,” Silva said.
His comments undoubtedly reinforce the scepticism that Tamil people already had about the extent to which their long-term political aspirations would be accommodated by the alleged change brought about by the people of southern Sri Lanka by bringing President Dissanayake to office.
Racists who refuse to accept even the minimal political aspirations of Tamil people have long claimed that it is Tamil politicians, not the Tamil people, who are asking for the implementation of the 13th Amendment. This was not Silva’s invention. JVP leaders, on the one hand, claim that following the victory of the NPP at last month’s Presidential Election, communal politics will end, while on the other hand, they themselves repeat the old venomous rhetoric of the racists.
Moving beyond slogans
Change is not feasible if the NPP leaders who have come to power with the promise of bringing change and creating a new political culture believe in the same policies that the racists have been espousing in order to mislead the people of the majority community.
The transformation or change the JVP/NPP talk about with pride will not be complete unless their leaders change the policies they have adopted thus far regarding the political solution to the national problem. The new political culture President Dissanayake is striving to create will bring no benefit to minority communities if favourable conditions for the implementation of the 13th Amendment do not at least emerge in southern Sri Lanka.
Considering the state of ethnic relations so far, the proclamation of treating all ethnic communities as equals and establishing the identity of Sri Lankans has been a slogan alone. Even Government leaders who have unleashed brutal repression against minority communities have made liberal use of this slogan.
Only by creating a legal structure that can maintain the cultural identities of communities and facilitate the fulfilment of political aspirations will it create a healthier situation where all communities respectfully accept the Sri Lankan national identity.
For the people of the north and east to become partners in the political journey for change that the NPP is trying to bring about, the positive signal must first come from the south.
Courtesy:Sunday Morning