How to send ‘Gota Home’

Doublespeak ‘All nations are our friends’ because our Non-Aligned policy has been the parochial boast. But placed in the worst financial crisis a nation could be in today, Sri Lanka has no friends coming to its rescue.

The cry, ‘ Gota Go Home’ has been reverberating ‘Lanka-wide’ for over a week, but it does appear that Gota is thinking nothing of the kind but staying put with his kith and kin.

When such demonstrations keep breaking out day and night in any part of the world -- even Gota’s former countrymen, the Yanks would say: ‘ Gota, you’ve gotta go home’.

But Gota ain’t going ‘cos it ain’t that simple. The Rajapaksa family, since the days of the family political patriarch, Mahinda, began his ‘mother’s marches’ long years ago, banging pots and pans with the gullible Anura Bandaranaike in front, had been committed to building up a family dynasty--like what the Senanayakes and Bandaranaikes had done before.

The fun loving Anura designated the crown prince of the Bandaranaikes passed away prematurely and soon Mahinda muscled out Sorbonne liberal Chandrika Bandaranaike from leadership of the Bandaranaike party.

Systematically and imperceptibly the Bandaranaike party was transformed into the Rajapaksa party and the Rajapaksas took over power: lock, stock and barrel. Even before they were thrown out in 2015, they controlled more than 75 percent of the budget allocations and today even more. All key decisions on the 21.5 million populous nation can be made over the family dinner table or till last week by one of the three key players-- Gota, Mahinda or Basil with the ‘babe’ of the team leaking to reporters that he was the initiator of the move.

All this, the frenzied demonstrators know well and are demanding that the whole Rajapaksa clan be moved out en bloc. But how?

If the economy continues to deteriorate, the price of food now rising into space continues to drift away, there is no gas, diesel, petrol or electricity and essential medicines, we leave it to our readers to imagine the consequences.

Gota can’t be sitting pretty.

But if the promised Indian aid materialises before the Aluth Avuruddha and the basic needs of the people are met even to a satisfactory extent, the pressure on the Rajapaksas to quit could ease temporarily. It’s a photo-finish whether the Indian loans in gas, fuel and medicines could reach the Sri Lankan people, before festivities, as we pointed out last week in this commentary. But Indians, knowing well the urgency of such assistance to the Rajapakasas do not seem to be in too much of a hurry.

It is significant that a well- recognised Indian newspaper had editorialised that the Indian assistance to Sri Lanka should not be seen as a bail out for the ruling Rajapaksa family but to the Sri Lankan people. There could be several reasons for circumspection in New Delhi, one of which could be that the Rajapaksa political base has been the Sinhala-Buddhist electorate which has not been much sympathetic to Indian interference.

The foreign policy of the Rajapaksa government--Neutral Non Alignment-too seems to be contributory to the current pitiable state of affairs. ‘All nations are our friends’ because our Non-Aligned policy has been the parochial boast. But placed in the worst financial crisis a nation could be today, Sri Lanka has no friends coming to its rescue. India’s loans to Lanka are obviously for pure geopolitical reasons. Sri Lanka’s strategic position at the tip of the Indian subcontinent is considered from British colonial days essential to the defence of India.

With China achieving superpower status, economically and militarily, its interests are clashing with the United States, other pro-western powers and also with India, a regional power in South Asia. India has joined the US, Australia and Japan to form the Quad as a countervailing force to China. Sri Lanka trying to play a ‘ Neutral NonAligned game’ in the clash of the superpower forces has come a cropper.

Demonstrating its Non Alignment by granting facilities to India in the North and China in the South appears not to have pleased either powers. China, Lanka’s time trusted friend since the fifties helped Lanka unequivocally in combatting separatist terrorism. India’s role has been ambiguous, having nurtured separatist Tamil terrorism in Tamil Nadu and also attempting to use the separatist terrorist forces for its geopolitical objectives.

China having granted massive loans to Lanka and coming to the rescue of this country when requested appears to have cooled off in recent months probably due to Lanka going on bended knee to India for financial assistance. While China has expressed the possibility of billion dollar loans being granted to Sri Lanka, the usual alacrity of Chinese response in emergencies appears to be missing.

India has plans of action in rescuing nations in the Indian Ocean--not only Sri Lanka and the Maldives-- but even Mauritius and islands close to Africa when in distress. Sri Lanka could be in no greater distress than now with its people facing starvation, but India’s rapid action teams have not been set in motion to help Lanka. Has a country to be invaded by terrorist forces or struck by a tsunami for India’s rapid action forces to be set in motion? Isn’t threat of starvation, lack of medicines and fuel to keep an economy going, enough of an emergency? Or is it that the New Delhi Foreign Office is awaiting Shylock’ pound of flesh to be delivered: the geostrategic demands such as ports, airports and the implementation of the so- called Indo- Lanka Agreement?

Sri Lanka does not need foreign assistance to throw out the incumbent regime. They have to do it by themselves although no strategies are yet identifiable.

A possible way out constitutionally is to remove the executive powers of the President and make him just a constitutional head from which he could be removed without much difficulty. Most MPs now in parliament have at one stage or another declared support for the abolition of the executive presidency.

But this is a huge challenge. The 20th Amendment to the Constitution which Gotabaya Rajapaksa got gullible Pohottuwa party parliamentarians to vote for would have to be removed with a two- thirds majority in parliament with consequent amendments.

If Gota is to be sent home through constitutional means, a parliamentary majority, preferably a two- thirds majority, is required.

Many ruling coalition MPs, who are facing severe opposition in their electorates, have already declared themselves as ‘Independents’. But desertion in greater numbers is required if constitutional moves are to succeed. It’s a difficult task for Opposition parties with wide political disparities to come together but it is a basic requirement.

The pressure on Gotabaya Rajapaksa to quit keeps mounting each day. It will gather momentum if the current chaotic economic situation continues. When will the critical point be reached?

The challenge before the people is not to cry out: Gota Go Home but to send him home.