CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS REVIVES FEARS OF NEW CIVIL WAR, SAY SRI LANKANS IN UAE
▶ Opinions divided about return of former president Rajapaksa as PM
Sri Lankan residents in the UAE say the constitutional crisis in their homeland has stirred up memories of the civil war and fear it could lead to new divisions.
The country’s president, Maithripala Sirisena, stunned Sri Lanka and the world two weeks ago when he sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe over allegations of an Indian-backed assassination plot and suspended parliament.
Mr Wickremesinghe has refused to recognise his dismissal – branding the move a coup – and remains ensconced in the prime minister’s official Temple Trees residence in Colombo, surrounded by supporters to prevent his removal.
The president’s appointed successor, Mahinda Rajapaksa, is also mired in controversy after his first tenure as the country’s premier.
Mr Rajapaksa led Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015 and has the backing of its Sinhala majority community after ending the 25-year civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eela – a rebel group of minority Tamils fighting for independence.
The separatists were defeated in 2009. But Mr Rajapaksa has faced widespread allegations of human rights abuses over claims he targeted thousands of Tamil civilians in the final weeks of the war, a charge he has denied.
Sri Lankans in the UAE are watching events unfold with concern and anxiety.
Most believe the dissolution of parliament and a call for early elections is the answer to resolve the political impasse in their island nation.
Kalum Sujith, 42, a Dubai resident, believes the turmoil is tarnishing Sri Lanka’s reputation on the world stage.
“The situation is really bad now,” he said. “The country is not stable, so my hope is they go for elections. There have been strikes, government entities are not working properly and this is affecting people.
“I’m a supporter of democracy. This is also not good for us internationally. There will be less respect for Sri Lanka abroad.”
Critics of Mr Rajapaska accuse him of rights abuses, corruption, a crackdown on essential freedoms and saddling the country with billions of dollars of debt to China.
Mr Sujith believes Mr Rajapaksa’s return will divide the country.
“It is a nightmare. Mr Rajapaksa is respected for winning the war but people forget the reality that he has taken a lot of money from Sri Lanka and given it to China. He is dividing the people and the country.”
Criticism has also been laid at the door of the ousted Mr Wickremesinghe for being soft on the Tamil separatists and too eager to please western powers, such as America.
A UAE resident for 25 years, Ajantha Premarathne, 55, believes the return of Mr Rajapaska can unite the country.
“We want peace. The previous Rajapaksa government brought peace when it wiped out Tamil separatists, and stabilised the country,” he said.
“If Mr Wickremesinghe stayed in power, the country would be sold to the separatists. The way he worked was creating division and ethnic tension between communities.
“Western powers have tried to safeguard him because he is pro-West. I want to go back to a Sri Lanka that is not divided or economically hampered.”
The Wickremesinghe government came under attack last year from opposition groups for handing over operations of a southern port to a Chinese company.
Under Mr Wickremesinghe’s rule, Sri Lanka’s parliament last month approved legislation to pay reparations to civil war victims. Opponents argued that it amounted to compensating separatist rebels.
“Wickremesinghe’s government tried to sell our land and ports to China. The turning point was when he gave compensation to the Tamil separatists,” Mr Premarathne said.
“The move to appoint Mr Rajapaksa is good because the previous government did unpatriotic things,” said Mr Premarathne, whose family were in a plane in 2011 when it was attacked by Tamil rebels as it landed at Colombo airport.
“It was traumatic for my kids. We heard the gunshots, bombs, thousands of people ran away. It was chaotic.”
The immediate effect on the country worries Ranil de Silva, 42. “We are concerned that the economy is falling apart. A general election will come sooner than later, the people will then have a choice to elect cleaner politicians,” he said.
“We are hopeful.”