Going beyond political game-playing

Four short years ago, it would have seemed quite unbelievable that esoteric terms such as 'an independent judiciary,' 'the Rule of Law, 'the 17th Amendment' and 'abolition of the Executive Presidency' would be tripping off the tongues of Sri Lanka's citizenry, from a humble tea kiosk owner in an obscure corner off Pilimatalawa to a rural school principal in Mahiyangana.

Launching a full frontal attack

At that time, the Rajapaksa Presidency's demolition of this constitutional amendment by the 18th Amendment was accomplished by a pliant Supreme Court with protests confined to a few solitary voices. The general citizenry, as it were, remained blissfully untroubled by these sophisticated goings-on.

And if at all, the myopia was so extreme that it was opined by some, notwithstanding the profound perversity of this sentiment, that a 'little bit of authoritarianism' would be good for the country. Certainly in the intervening years thereafter, the ruinous impact of this thinking could not have become more evident.

This week, as the shock breakaway of formidable sections of the old-guard Sri Lanka Freedom Party from 'Raja-pakshaya' dominance, led by none other than the now deposed General Secretary of the Party, Minneriya's Maithripala Sirisena transfixed the nation, we have come full circle. In this group's first press conference on Friday, a full frontal attack was launched on the Rajapaksa capture of Sri Lanka's democratic process, including the judiciary, the police, the public service and the electoral mechanism.

Adopting practical electoral strategies

This momentum follows the surprisingly commendable approach adopted by the United National Party during the past month where it refused to engage in futile debates regarding the constitutionality of a Rajapaksa Presidential third term which had many of Colombo's effete legal pundits chasing their own tails in wild confusion.

The self-evident absurdity of pontifications on constitutional matters in the absence of an independent Sri Lankan judiciary to adjudicate on these questions was discussed in these column spaces previously.

But even apart from this, the exceeding danger in giving undue prominence to this question was apparent to the politically astute in the public message being conveyed through the Government's propaganda channels that these legal tricks were being resorted to as no opposition challenger was strong enough to contest the incumbent President. Now we see the diabolical results of this controversy as the opinion of a Full Bench of the Court remains barred to the public and further, reportedly appear to disbar former President Chandrika Kumaratunga from contesting while removing all such fetters from the incumbent.

Thankfully therefore, the momentum of the combined opposition gathering force against the ruling Rajapaksa regime appears to be directed to infinitely more practical electoral strategies as evidenced this Friday. And as predicted in these column spaces a few weeks ago that apologies and more apologies will be forthcoming, we witnessed heartfelt apologies by erstwhile Minster Rajitha Senaratne for their silence when the 18th Amendment was enacted. More 'mea culpas' will certainly follow, one would assume.

The angry discomfiture of the Government

So while the Rajapaksa Government and its various minions in the media may scoff at the sight of the SLFP's own General Secretary breaking away to contest the President as the common candidate of the opposition (including the United National Party), it is not difficult to read the angry discomfiture underlying its reactions.

The point is not only that the opposition to the Rajapaksa regime has been situated in the person of a seasoned political campaigner with a strong rural backing but also that the focus has been clearly identified as going beyond the interests of one political party alone. Instead of game playing, what we have fairly and squarely, as fragile as this may be currently, is an emphasis on national interests.

Cautious optimism aside, this is the change that we must see. For too long, these issues have been left to the cynical and deeply disinterested interventions of this country's so-called intelligentsia, if Sri Lanka ever possessed such a class. Unlike the Indian constitutional experiment where the country's enlightened legal elite was emboldened by fierce public pressure, Sri Lanka has had to face vastly different realities. The degradation of our constitutional systems was brought about by not only the political elite but also the legal elite in the face of public inaction. The awakening of the electorate to these issues is therefore an extraordinarily welcome transformation.

Providing a realistic democratic alternative

In 2010, when the Presidential election was held between Mahinda Rajapaksa and Sarath Fonseka, the mantra favoured by some was 'better the devil that we know rather than the (possible) angel that we do not know.' Now, we face yet another Presidential election well before its due time due to the exigencies of the regime in attempting to consolidate its power still further before it runs the risk of courting more unpopularity that is apparent now. In this scenario, chants of devils and angels have become a useless luxury.

Indisputably Sri Lanka experiences a democratic crisis of the nature not seen since independence. As our systems internally implode under the sheer weight of authoritarian and corrupt rule, we have carelessly squandered away the reservoir of international goodwill that had been extended to us throughout decades. Sri Lanka now conjures up not the image of a small country fighting to right itself against severe challenges to democratic existence as a result of repeated conflicts in the North, East and, (on two notable occasions), in the South. Rather, the impressions that are immediately identified with the nation are crudeness, crassness and savagery. These images need to be transformed.

It is far too early to point to the political convulsions that we saw this week as a harbinger of the change that we need to see. But they provide the first signs of a viable political challenge to the regime. The task for the combined opposition will be in providing a realistically democratic alternative which finds resonance both with the majority and the minorities. Concerned Sri Lankans can only applaud these efforts.