In a nation notoriously famous for its short memory span, President Ranil Wickremesinghe appears to have taken on the job of reminding the nation about what it sought so desperately to achieve two years ago. The system change that people sought at the time was forgotten once the shortages were rectified but the new and decidedly more dangerous autocracy that is manifesting through the arrogant actions of the incumbent are reminding the people once again about the urgent need to fix the problem. After all, once bitten, twice shy is the norm. Needless to say, the Executive’s continuing egoistical attempts to intimidate the highest court in the land by defying its orders has left even his most ardent supporters bewildered.

The last thing a bankrupt nation struggling to get back on its feet needs at this juncture is an egotistical battle between the two most important pillars of governance, the Executive and the Judiciary, over which is more powerful. The chaos, anarchy, and mayhem that such a wholly unnecessary battle could portend as a grave consequence of this saga appears to be lost in the hunger for power. 

This senseless battle that attempts to undermine the authority and legitimacy of the apex court has rightly attracted universal condemnation and renewed calls for system change, which people will surely do on 21 September. This dangerous gamble that appears to have spectacularly backfired will hurt the regime’s political ambitions at this crucial juncture. 

The Executive’s arrogance to defy the highest court in the land and make sacrificial lambs of both the Prime Minister and Speaker in the process will not endear him to voters. Having tried every trick in the book to postpone the poll and failed, the latest gambit to push the nation to the brink of lawlessness by challenging the authority of the apex court will have few takers even within Government, given the fact that people are watching as to who among them will choose to stand on the right side of history.

Now that the ball is in the people’s court with D-Day finally named as 21 September, Wickremesinghe appears to have successfully doomed his own campaign even before it could get off the ground by engaging in battle with the Judiciary. Notoriously famous for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time that has cost him dearly in political capital in the past, he appears to have learnt nothing and outdone himself this time around by choosing to play with fire.

On the eve of an election, there is little hope for a candidate who continues to show scant respect and regard if not outright contempt for the highest court in the land. Even though the regime may be oblivious to the deafening cry to implement the rule of law, people are marking time to let their ballots do the talking notwithstanding claims of economic recovery, for they are all too aware of the fact that no recovery can ever take place in the absence of the rule of law.

When an individual rejected by the people and without a popular mandate lands in the Executive chair through a constitutional peculiarity and thereafter proceeds to disregard court decisions claiming constitutional superiority, it is a formula fraught with unmitigated danger. Therefore, to state that the Executive is laying the foundation for chaos and anarchy is not too far from the truth considering the dangerous precedent that is being created. One can only shudder at the thought of whoever is elected on the 21st taking Wickremesinghe’s cue on the Judiciary.

The President’s allergy to the apex court is notorious, having previously torn into its determinations under the cloak of parliamentary privilege, going to the extent of calling judgments “judicial cannibalism”. In the two years he has sat in the presidential chair, he has chosen to defy a court order to conduct the Local Government Polls, as well as attempted to appoint a dubious individual to the apex court, which attempt has been struck down by the Constitutional Council. It is in this backdrop that Wickremesinghe is now seeking a mandate as an independent candidate, having chosen to ditch his own party.

It is an established fact that people have immense respect for the Judiciary in this country, something that cannot be said about the majority of the current crop of politicians. Therefore, at a time when the call for the rule of law is unprecedented and a watershed election has been called with campaigning already in full swing, those challenging the legitimate authority of the apex court are effectively digging their own grave in the court of the people.

Wickremesinghe’s arrogance and indignation in the face of judicial authority will be counterproductive when he goes before the people. By letting his ego get the better of him at this juncture, he will rue what is already turning out to be a monumental miscalculation of the people’s pulse. As a result, he has succeeded in effectively dividing his own Government, with those backing him in this unholy attempt to undermine the Judiciary running the risk of being alienated and finding themselves standing on the wrong side of history. 

It is indeed ironic that it is the same Wickremesinghe who found succour in the Supreme Court when he was summarily thrown out of office by former President Maithripala Sirisena in October 2018 who has now chosen to challenge its authority. For argument’s sake, what if Sirisena took up Wickremesinghe’s present stance and refused to accept the Supreme Court order to reinstate that Government on the basis of Executive superiority?

Besides, this unwarranted standoff between the Executive and Judiciary with the Legislature being used as the scapegoat is rife with danger not only for the country still reeling from bankruptcy in terms of rule of law, but also for the main actors involved in the saga, for, once immunity expires on leaving office, they are exposing themselves to the prospect of imminent litigation. Meanwhile the Executive’s action has also effectively divided the State sector, with the Opposition warning public officials who act contrary to Supreme Court orders of disciplinary action. 

Whatever the President’s contention may be, as far as the people are concerned, the matter is clear given that Sri Lanka’s Constitution is rooted in the concept of representative democracy where it is the people that reign supreme. Therefore, the three main pillars of Government – the Executive, Legislature, and Judiciary – all derive their power from the people. In this instance, the Executive does not have the mandate of the people and the mandate of the Legislature has long expired while the Judiciary continues to enjoy the full mandate of the sovereign. Therefore, the bottom line is that those without a mandate are attempting to intimidate the entity with an actual mandate.

Besides, one is at a loss to understand why the regime is risking everything for the sake of protecting an individual who was not suitable for the position of Inspector General of Police (IGP) in the first place. Why is the Government trying so hard to commit political harakiri to protect an IGP whose credentials for the job have been in question from day one, having been convicted of human rights violations by the Supreme Court, found complicit in the Easter Sunday security failure, and played a role in the chaos that ensued at the ‘Aragalaya’ where peaceful protesters were brutally assaulted while he looked the other way?

The court order suspending the IGP until the conclusion of the case, which according to the Prime Minister the Government does not intend to comply with, goes on to state that the President may appoint an acting IGP. However, the Prime Minister has taken up the position that an acting appointment cannot be made because the position is not vacant while the President has taken up the stance that since he is now a candidate, he cannot make the appointment. 

Both of these individuals now in their late 70s can be excused for being forgetful of the fact that the last two elections – the Presidential in 2019 and Parliamentary in 2020 – were both conducted under an acting IGP as the then IGP had been sent on compulsory leave over the Easter Sunday saga. In that instance the non-vacant status of the position was apparently no bar to appointing an acting IGP, who thereafter went on to serve in that position for one year and seven months. 

What is reassuring is that the Election Commission has already clarified that the absence of an IGP will not hinder conducting of the poll as in the last two instances. Therefore, the President is not doing himself any favours with the obnoxious stance he has chosen to take.