Opinion Colombo breakpoint

With the campaign in Sri Lanka coming to a close on Monday, it is clear that the presidential election this time is centred on the legacy of Mahinda Rajapaksa. Elected president twice, he amended the country’s constitution to seek a third term and advanced the election by two years to capitalise on a divided opposition and prevent a consolidation of public sentiment against his government. Yet, the poll announcement in December triggered an unexpected realignment of political forces that threw up a common opposition candidate, ironically, from within the Rajapaksa camp. Maithripala Sirisena, a leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and former minister in the Rajapaksa government, has been successful in getting political groups across a wide spectrum of ideologies — from Tamil and Muslim minorities to Sinhala-Buddhist nationalists besides the main opposition, the United National Party — to endorse his candidature, even though many suspect that his vision for Sri Lanka isn’t radically different from that of Rajapaksa.

The Sirisena campaign, however, has mirrored the disenchantment within the Sinhala mainstream towards the Rajapaksa administration, accused of nepotism and administrative highhandedness. The Sinhala nationalist ideology championed by the SLFP and the crushing of the LTTE helped Rajapaksa win the last two elections. But by all accounts, governance issues like the rising cost of living, lack of jobs and educational opportunities could be the overriding factors this time. Sirisena, however, has matched the Rajapaksa campaign in espousing the Sinhala nationalist cause while attacking the administration for misgovernance. He refused to acknowledge the demand for more powers to provincial councils and the demilitarisation of Tamil areas. The Tamil National Alliance, influential in the north, and Muslim groups, are backing Sirisena because their agenda is now limited to defeating Rajapaksa. The Tamil chief minister of Northern Province, Justice C.V. Wigneswaran, summed up the opposition mood when he said “a vote against the Rajapaksa regime is a vote for democracy”.

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At the root of the authoritarian regime that Rajapaksa presides over is the refusal to recognise the reality that Sri Lanka is a multi-  ethnic, religious and linguistic nation. The defeat of Tamil militancy or the silencing of Muslims does not change this reality, which, unfortunately, wasn’t sufficiently discussed during electioneering. Hopefully, the winner of Thursday’s election, will also win space to be free from the pressure of bowing to chauvinist causes, and approach the minorities issues with greater sensitivity.