{"id":32525,"date":"2014-08-16T19:02:39","date_gmt":"2014-08-16T23:02:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=32525"},"modified":"2014-08-16T19:47:17","modified_gmt":"2014-08-16T23:47:17","slug":"president-rajapaksa-needs-the-defence-secretary-and-gotabhaya-can-succeed-only-by-operating-behind-the-charismatic-mahinda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=32525","title":{"rendered":"President Rajapaksa Needs the Defence Secretary while Gotabhaya Can Succeed only by Operating Behind the Charismatic Mahinda."},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/p>\n

Kalana Senaratne<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many of Sri Lanka\u2019s opposition movements that have sprung up in more recent times especially in the South, movements which seek to construct an alternative discourse, appear to be oscillating somewhat ambivalently between the ready desire to affect course-correction and the very reluctant ambition of initiating regime-change. Those which have the greatest potential of affecting regime-change are for course-correction; while those who may have influenced certain movements to adopt a course-correction approach appear less promising about affecting regime-change.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The first is the project of National Freedom Front\u2019s (NFF) Minister Wimal Weerawansa. His criticisms directed at the present regime became prominent with the release of the 12-point proposals agenda. Weerawansa is an individual the regime needs at an election, therefore his disgruntled attitude did appear to be a cause for concern. But if the NFF is actually serious about the 12 proposals they placed before the public, it\u2019s a movement which will never threaten the regime.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s no rocket-science. For example, one of the proposals was about the need to defeat separatism and protect territorial integrity; and in this regard, the need to widen democratic rights, initiate constitutional amendments, ensure good governance, etc. Another proposal was about condemning the UNHRC resolution. Another was about ensuring that no investigation whatsoever took place concerning alleged war-crimes, except those which have already been initiated under domestic law\/constitution. There was also a proposal to the effect that no discussions were to take place on the 13th Amendment, officially or unofficially with any party, especially foreign dignitaries. So the list went on.<\/p>\n

In short, this is the kind of project only the state, or its ideological apparatus, can create. These proposals even make the incumbent regime look liberal. At best, it may have made President Rajapaksa somewhat uncomfortable when establishing the advisory panel to assist the Paranagama-commission; a panel which was to be made of (as we now learn), international criminal law experts and prominent rural development-activists. Apart from that, the NFF-project is of no ideological threat. It only raises the nationalist bar even higher; forgetting that President Rajapaksa is a master in the political sport of \u2018high-jump\u2019, if seriously challenged.<\/p>\n

The second is the National Movement for Social Justice (NMSJ) led by Ven. Sobitha. It\u2019s a movement which, at present, is groping in the dark, having no clear policy about what it needs to do after a Presidential election. As argued before in this column, the NMSJ-project has many problems. What is most disconcerting about the movement is perhaps not that it is led by Ven. Sobitha, but rather that it includes some well-meaning and leading leftist legal\/constitutional law scholars who tend to admit that now is not the time to talk about the Tamil question. The movement\u2019s promise lies in its commitment to construct and actively promote a broader state-reform project once the 2015-elections are over.<\/p>\n

The third movement is led by another monk, Ven. Athuraliye Rathana of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU). His is a call for a \u2018Pivithuru Hetak\u2019 (A Better Tomorrow). Having stood with the regime on issues such as the 18th Amendment, it is now a project which promotes the need for constitutional reform, which critiques the Rajapaksa-family, which critiques certain aspects of the regime\u2019s development discourse, which claims that the Executive Presidency should be reformed, etc. It is reported that the movement has the assistance of one of the shrewdest politicians ever to have become the Chief Justice, Sarath N. Silva, PC. It is also undoubtedly a project in which the more \u2018smart\u2019 Sinhala-Buddhist politician, Minister Champika Ranawaka, plays a leadership role.<\/p>\n

What is interesting about it is that it is perhaps the most formidable Southern Sinhala-Buddhist movement that can challenge the regime, if necessary. At times, it even sounds a bit more radical than the NMSJ! In an interview with Daily FT\u2019s Chamitha Kuruppu, Ven. Rathana talks about the need to bring about a change to the \u201cexisting system\u201d. He even says that if the government is not willing to act accordingly, the movement would have no hesitation in going for regime change. On the UNP leader, Ven. Rathana said this: \u201cRanil Wickremesinghe may have his weaknesses but he is a good politician. He is thorough and very knowledgeable. The majority of our politicians lack that quality.\u201d That\u2019s the kind of stuff that makes even UNP\u2019s very own Sajith Premadasa cringe.<\/p>\n

So what about these movements then?<\/p>\n

While they appear to be ready to form broad alliances, all of them are largely committed towards addressing the Southern voters. Therefore, it is indeed a waste of time to examine whether they are interested in addressing the Tamil question. Rather, for a critical observer, the more immediate and perhaps the only question that arises in relation to these movements is about their stance on the question of course-correction\/regime-change.<\/p>\n

To be sure, without a grand coalition, none of these movements can individually affect a regime-change. The only significant challenge will come if and when all of the above mentioned groups come together to form a broad alliance with the clear slogan of \u2018regime-change\u2019. And ironically, even that will be promising, not with the likes of Ven. Sobitha but with the likes of Ministers Ranawaka and Weerawansa leading the way.
\nBut regime-change, at present, is a fantasy for two broad reasons.<\/p>\n

Firstly, this is because movements such as those of Ven. Rathana are yet to abandon the course-correction slogan. Such a slogan poses no serious threat because course-correction is a manageable threat. Various legal moves can be made to manage present tensions. For example, the government can introduce the Victims Protection Bill, some other bill on reforming the Presidency, another one which seeks to strengthen the human rights commission, etc., and shift the debate. Or, it can accept measures presented by the likes of Ven. Rathana, and perhaps debate them at least until the elections are over.<\/p>\n

Secondly, and perhaps importantly, the main reason why Ven. Rathana\u2019s movement is not promising about regime-change is because of the very form of critique they engage in. It is a critique directed at an abstract category, namely the Rajapaksa family.<\/p>\n

There are two types of critiques of the Rajapaksas in Sri Lanka; both of which are defective. One is the abstract critique of the Rajapaksa-family, the other is that of the Defense Secretary only. The easy one is the former, but the defect there is that it ends up being an abstract critique of all and therefore none. The more difficult is the latter form of critique; but the defect with it is that it ends up being a critique that seeks to chase away one member of the family while protecting the rest.<\/p>\n

In other words, the most serious defect in critiquing the Defense Secretary alone is the inability to realize the complex relationship of the family itself; that President Rajapaksa needs the Defense Secretary, and that the Defense Secretary can only succeed if he operates behind the more \u2018charismatic\u2019 President Rajapaksa. To synthesize these two forms of critique is the challenge for a movement like Ven. Rathana\u2019s. That\u2019s not happening; at least, not yet.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Nation<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Kalana Senaratne Many of Sri Lanka\u2019s opposition movements that have sprung up in more recent times especially in the South, movements which seek to construct an alternative discourse, appear to be oscillating somewhat ambivalently between the ready desire to affect course-correction and the very reluctant ambition of initiating regime-change. Those which have the greatest …<\/p>\n

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