Change in Sri Lanka cannot end with the defeat of Mahinda
Rajapaksa. An overhaul of the executive presidency and accountability for all
war crimes going back to the 1970s need to be established and a
new economic
and social programme needs to be undertaken. A manifesto for the new Sri Lanka.
Two disasters were averted in January in Sri Lanka.
- The
first would have been the re-election of the corrupt and brutal Mahinda
Rajapaksa regime in the presidential election of 8 January 2015.
Rajapaksa’s defeat can be credited, first and foremost, to democracy
activists across the spectrum — Sobitha Thero, trade unionists, students,
teachers, women’s groups, political parties, social activists, artists,
lawyers, civil society organisations, the Movement for Social Justice,
social media activists, and so on — who organised the campaign for a
common opposition candidate with such skill and courage that it succeeded
despite the huge amount of money and muscle-power employed on the other
side. Also credit should be given to the election commissioner, who
carried out a tolerably free and fair election against heavy odds.
- Second,
to Tamil voters, who overwhelmingly rejected the Tamil nationalist plea to
boycott the election (Weerawardhana 2015). The Tamil National Alliance, in
particular, has played a commendable role in recent years, affirming its
faith in democracy by opposing the continuous slide into dictatorship
under the Rajapaksa regime. For Muslims to support the opposition should
have been a no-brainer after the state-sponsored pogroms against them by
Buddhist thugs of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS); that it took so long for their
leaders to disentangle themselves from the old regime is a sad comment on
the corrupt politics of patronage.
Hill-country Tamils, most of whom had hitherto been in
the clutches of plantation politicians like Thondaman of the Ceylon Workers’
Congress which supported the Rajapaksa regime, gave an overwhelming message
that they can make intelligent decisions on their own.
However, there is no way the common opposition candidate
Maithripala Sirisena could have won without the votes of Sinhalese voters, who
voted for change in defiance of the violence, massive expenditure and racist
fear-mongering of the Rajapaksa brothers. An analysis of the election results
shows that Rajapaksa lost “because a large chunk of Sinhala voters who
supported him in 2010 voted for the Opposition in 2015” (Gunasekara 2015).
It is notable that even the Buddhist monk party, the Jathika Hela Urumaya,
articulated the need for change and mobilised their constituents to realise it.
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) played an impressive role both in the
campaign and before it, opposing attacks on Muslims by the BBS and highlighting
the need for a political-economic democratic programme. Unfortunately, leaders
of the mainstream left parties remained with the Rajapaksas right to the end,
although many members joined the common opposition campaign.
The second disaster, perhaps even more ghastly than the
first, would have been a coup by Rajapaksa in the wake of his defeat in the
election. For many people in Sri Lanka, this was the greatest fear. It has been
reported that he conceded defeat only after the attorney general, solicitor
general, the army chief, and inspector-general of police refused to endorse an
attempt by him, backed by Mohan Peiris, whom he had installed as chief justice,
to stay in power (Sri Lanka Brief 2015). This allegation has yet to be proved,
but if it is true, Sri Lankans owe an enormous debt of gratitude to these
public officials who saved the country from sliding yet again into bloodshed
and chaos.
Last but not least, credit goes to the unarmed civilians
who risked and sometimes lost their lives in the struggle to resist right-wing
Sinhala and Tamil nationalism and keep the flame of democracy burning. There is
poetic justice in the fact that Mahinda Rajapaksa was voted out of power on the
sixth anniversary of the murder of Lasantha Wickrematunge, who wrote to the
former president in his prescient last letter, “In the name of patriotism you
have trampled on human rights, nurtured unbridled corruption and squandered
public money like no other President before you” (Sunday Leader 2009).
However, the fact that these disasters were so narrowly
averted means that the new political dispensation — the New Democratic Front —
is exceedingly fragile. Strengthening it will entail confronting and resolving
many difficult questions. A National Executive Council comprising
representatives of all constituent parties of the new government as well as
political groups and civil society organisations was set up on 16 January. It
will be the task of this institution to tackle these questions.
Accountability for War Crimes
- The
new regime has declared that it will carry out an investigation of war
crimes as required by the United Nations (UN), with international inputs
if necessary. That is good so far as it goes. However, the terms of
reference of the UN proposal are too narrow. J R Jayawardene’s regime
effectively declared war on Tamils when it passed the Prevention of
Terrorism Act (PTA) in 1979, and the war thus declared went on for 30
years. In the middle of it was the JVP insurrection and government
counter-insurrection, which should also be counted as a war. Tens of
thousands of civilians had disappeared and died in both wars before the
international community took an interest in Sri Lanka; there should, as
far as possible, be an accounting for what happened to them all. Every
effort should be made to find the disappeared or at least their remains
and return them to their families, who still suffer anguish over the
unknown fate of their loved ones.
- The
war as a whole should be investigated not only out of consideration for
the victims and their families but also out of fairness to perpetrators.
Take, for example, the current Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who
was part of the government during the United National Party regimes of
Jayawardene and Premadasa, and was implicated both in the 1983 massacre of
Tamils, and in torture and extrajudicial executions during the southern
counter-insurgency in the late 1980s (Thayabharan 2012). In an ironic twist,
at the time when Wickremesinghe was involved in human rights violations,
Mahinda Rajapaksa was a human rights defender, attempting to document
those violations and take the evidence to the UN Human Rights Commission
in Geneva (Fernando 2013). Gratitude to someone who stood up for their
human rights when it was risky to do so could be an additional reason —
apart from his winning the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) — why people from parts of the country most affected by the
counter-insurgency in the south (Colombo Telegraph 2013a)
voted for him. As cynics have observed, some human rights violators and
defenders from that period have simply swapped places, although it appears
that Gotabaya Rajapaksa was a killer then and remains a killer now (Colombo
Telegraph 2013b).
- A
truth commission consisting of people of integrity and without connections
to any political party needs to be set up, with powers to call witnesses,
investigate crimes, and question the accused. It can take off from the
excellent work done by human rights groups like the Civil Rights Movement
and University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), as well as earlier
commissions of inquiry and the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation
Commission. It needs to account for all the dead and disappeared,
including tens of thousands of Tamils arrested by the LTTE who were never
seen again, and combatants who surrendered or were captured by the army
and subsequently went missing. The work of the truth commission, as it
proceeds, should be put up on a website in Sinhala, Tamil and English, so
that it is completely transparent.
Restoring Democracy
- What
can and should be done immediately is to restore the rule of law. Anyone,
regardless of status or position, who engages or has engaged in arson,
looting, assault, rape or murder in the post-war period, should be
arrested and charged; all citizens should feel that they are protected by
the law from such outrages. War crimes cases may take years, but
prosecution of post-war crimes should be expedited because these criminals
are a danger to society, and democracy cannot be restored while they are
allowed to terrorise the public. Laws which undermine the rule of law,
like the PTA, should be repealed.
- Ensuring
freedom of expression is a priority. Journalists who dared to report the
truth have been exiled, killed or had their websites blocked. All those
who have attacked journalists in the post-war period as well as those who
have ordered such attacks should be arrested, charged and tried for these
crimes. No writer or artist should have to fear such treatment now.
Freedom of association should be ensured, as well as the right to peaceful
protest. Academic freedom and immediate demilitarisation of education are
also priorities.
- None
of these rights can be assured so long as the utterly corrupt and
nepotistic appointments of the previous regime remain in place. All those
who have been appointed to cabinet positions, the civil service,
universities, and the public sector purely on account of being family
members or stooges of the Rajapaksas should be relieved of their posts,
and replaced with honest and competent people, many of whom had been
passed over despite their obvious superiority to the incumbents. Restoring
the independence of the judiciary, so shamefully undermined by the
previous regime, must be a top priority. The reinstatement of Chief
Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, who was illegally removed from office by
the Rajapaksas, and the consequent removal of Mohan Peiris from the post,
paves the way for this to occur.
- In
the longer term, constitutional change is required to safeguard
fundamental rights and freedoms, as promised by the manifesto of President
Maithripala Sirisena. But there is a problem here. Changing the
constitution requires a two-thirds majority in parliament or a referendum.
If Sirisena’s campaign had been fought on the single issue of abolishing
the all-powerful executive presidency, then the election could
legitimately be seen as a referendum on the issue; but if that had been
so, he probably would have lost. Given that his campaign was fought on
many other issues, it cannot be claimed that those who voted for him were
necessarily voting for drastically curtailing the powers of the president.
Therefore it becomes necessary to get a two-thirds majority in parliament
in order to make this change.
- In
the current parliament, it is likely that Rajapaksa will direct his
loyalists to vote against slashing the powers of the president, in the
hope that he would have a chance to try for the post again. Given Wickremesinghe’s
history of opposing the abolition of the executive presidency by “tearing
and burning the draft Constitution that was introduced in Parliament in
2000” (Asian Tribune 2005), following which he twice contested
elections for the post, it is possible that he and his supporters would do
the same. Thus the passage by the current parliament of constitutional
amendments that reduce the power of the president drastically without
diluting the amendments or entering into corrupt deals with sitting members
of parliament is by no means certain, and pro-democracy
activists need to have a Plan B in case it fails to do so.
Democracy activists should
(i) have their own discussions on the constitutional
changes they would like to see and the time frame in which they want them
implemented;
(ii) monitor the National Executive Council to ensure
that the promised constitutional reforms are carried out within a realistic
time frame;
(iii) identify potential parliamentary candidates in all
constituencies who would support the constitutional changes sincerely;
(iv) campaign vigorously for the selected candidates in
the forthcoming parliamentary elections; and
(v) pass any changes that could not be passed in the old
parliament in the new parliament.
Economic Policy
- The
old Bandaranaike-Left project of a national developmental state was
already in trouble in the 1970s, and is no longer viable. The brutal
neo-liberal economy introduced in 1977 by J R Jayawardene (which included
smashing trade unions and killing unionists) has collapsed not just in Sri
Lanka but worldwide. The Rajapaksa model of unlimited corruption, crony
capitalism and reckless indebtedness is the least viable of all. It is
necessary to move to a new model, connected to the global economy but also
addressing exploitation and inequality, and fostering social security and
a welfare state.
- The
new government — which, sadly, has yet to appoint a labour minister — must
ratify the International Labour Organization (ILO) Core Conventions
(regarding abolition of forced labour and child labour, equal pay,
non-discrimination in employment and occupation, and respect for freedom
of association and trade union rights) and also the conventions protecting
home-based, informal, domestic, and migrant workers, and ensuring
occupational health and safety. These conventions should be translated
into legislation and implemented in national policies, providing social
and legal protection to workers. There should be a national minimum wage
for all sectors, including casual workers. Plantation workers, who face
limited livelihood options in estates where managements does not provide
minimum workdays during lean crop months, must be provided with special
guarantees or alternative employment to ensure their survival.
- The
problems of unemployment and inflation require creative solutions. If the
measures outlined are taken, the government should succeed in its efforts
to revive the European Union’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP)
trade benefits of the GSP + variant, as well as obtain investments from
companies committed to abiding by the same conventions. This will create
many jobs, but not enough to satisfy the demand for employment. One way of
creating employment is through a scheme like the National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme in India, which provides 100 days of employment per year
per household in rural development projects. Another would be setting up
centres to provide advice, seed money, and help with marketing for
cooperatives, including industrial, agricultural, service, and consumer
cooperatives. These would not only create employment but also help to
reduce food prices.
Rights of Minorities
- Equality
before law and equal protection of the law for linguistic and religious
minorities should be ensured immediately. So far as language rights are
concerned, the new government has declared it will implement the 13th
amendment. This is a good start, but that amendment itself needs to be
amended before it can deliver. Instead of saying that “Tamil will also be
an official language,” it should say that “Sinhala and Tamil will be
official languages.” So far as devolution of power to provincial councils
is concerned, it is meaningless so long as the president, either directly
or through a governor, can interfere with the running of a province at
will. All references to the president in the 13th amendment should be
deleted, the governor should be appointed by parliament, and the chief
minister and other ministers should be selected by elected members of the
provincial council.
- Already
some forms (e g, passport applications forms) and street signs are in all
three languages, and this should be extended to all official forms and
signs in railway stations, buses, etc. All government offices, police
stations and so on should have staff who collectively have competence in
all three languages. If schoolchildren are taught all three languages, the
language problem will disappear within a generation.
- Anti-discrimination
and equal opportunities legislation should be enacted, and an Equal
Opportunities Commission set up to ensure equal access to education,
employment, and so on. This should help to combat not only discrimination
against linguistic and religious minorities, but also discrimination on
the basis of gender, caste, class, geographical location, ability, and
sexual orientation. Equality, the bedrock of democracy, should be made a
reality and integrated at all levels of governmental institutions and
mechanisms.
- One
of the first acts of President Sirisena was to replace the military
governor of the Northern Province with a civilian governor, and the
government has pledged to return private land seized by the military to
its owners. This is a good start, but the demilitarisation of the Northern
and Eastern Provinces needs to go much further. High security zones and
big army camps should be dismantled, and all the families they have
displaced — some of whom have been living in camps for decades — should be
allowed to return and rebuild their homes and livelihoods.
- Finally,
the vexed issue of the merger-demerger of the Northern and Eastern
Provinces should be laid to rest by carrying out a referendum in the
Eastern Province to ascertain whether its people wish to merge with the
Northern Province or remain separate. It is our feeling that the vast
majority, including Tamils, would opt to remain separate. If this is the
outcome, it would serve to counteract the fantasies of foreign Eelamists
as well as Sinhala racist propaganda regarding a non-existent separatist
threat (Ceylon Today 2015).
Conclusions
At this time, only one thing is certain: The practice of
democracy has been so degraded by decades of totalitarian LTTE rule in the
North East and over five years of the Rajapaksa dictatorship in Sri Lanka as a
whole that democracy activists of all stripes, from socialists and feminists to
honest liberals, will have to work together tirelessly for a long time to come
before it is restored.
Source : http://www.epw.in/
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