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Should the ‘aragalaya’ consider a political movement led by Nagananda, Fonseka, and Hirunika?

29 Jun 2022

BY Amrit Muttukumaru   The country being in dire straits in terms of its political, economic, and social fabric, and the people going through untold suffering due to shortages in life-sustaining essentials does not need elaboration. Unless credible political leadership is installed immediately, all hell could break loose anytime with disastrous consequences.  The islandwide aragalaya (struggle), with protestors demanding a complete overhaul of the political leadership accompanied by systemic change, are all at sea when it comes to alternate leadership. Even those who may fit the bill are fighting shy for some reason or other. This does not take away the awe-inspiring contribution of the aragalaya, which brought the powerful Rajapaksas and all politicians to their knees. But tragically for the country, things are now turning out ominous for reasons spelt out below. It is all well and good for the aragalaya protestors to demand systemic change under an apolitical leadership. But has not their inability to identify alternate leaders, either from the aragalaya itself or outside, it resulted in: United National Party (UNP) Leader MP Ranil Wickremesinghe being appointed as the Prime Minister contrary to democratic practice; President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Executive Presidency getting a respite; members of the  Rajapaksa family rediscovering their silenced voices; controversial businessman Dhammika Perera being appointed as a National List MP and Cabinet Minister; the suffering of the people worsening; and the aragalaya itself being undermined? In this context, is it not time to consider a political movement largely having the confidence of the islandwide aragalaya under the leadership of social activist and attorney-at-law Nagananda Kodituwakku, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Opposition MP and Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, and the courageous Hirunika Premachandra, also attached to the SJB, to represent the youth? Should not Fonseka and Premachandra promptly disassociate themselves from the SJB, which appears to be going nowhere with its credibility being widely questioned?  Independent Opposition MP Patali Champika Ranawaka, arguably one of the better minds among the politicians of today, unfortunately does not fit the bill due to his innate racist politics. One person each to represent the Tamil and Muslim communities largely with aragalaya acceptance would be salutary.  The main positives in the names mentioned are that none of them are identified with serious corruption or racist politics, and all of them are seemingly convincing in confronting corruption and the abuse of power. Their best credentials are the strident criticism they have “earned” from questionable politicians, and being ignored or misrepresented by influential sections of the media. The greatest strength of Kodituwakku and Fonseka, particularly Kodituwakku, is his uncompromising stance in laying bare egregious corruption and the abuse of power, wherever it occurs, with all its lurid details. This is frightful to the businessmen-controlled mainstream media, which is the fountainhead of cover-ups and the manipulation of the gullible masses with a short attention span to boot. Sadly, this applies to most of us Sri Lankans.   Premachandra and the SJB   Premachandra’s political baggage relates to some youthful indiscretions, which, hopefully, she has now eschewed. It includes a brief political association with the Rajapaksas and her alleged link to a case of kidnapping involving her bodyguards.  Her actions since then speak volumes of her courage in the public interest. It includes giving leadership to non-violent protests despite gross provocation by the Security Forces in the vicinity of the “shrine” in Anuradhapura of the allegedly wealthy soothsayer “Gnana Akka”, who is patronised by leading politicians seeking advice from her on national issues, and more recently near the private residence of Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, which has clearly unnerved him. Is not Premachandra squandering her political capital by her continued association with the motley lot in the leadership of the SJB? SJB leaders would be hard pressed to delink themselves from their close association with the disappointing and lackluster Yahapalana (good governance) Government under the leadership of the increasingly despised Wickremesinghe, who has now crept into the position of the Prime Minister after presumably taking leave of his conscience and any commitment to democratic governance. Did not SJB stalwart Dr. Harsha de Silva, who never tires of projecting himself as a top economist with answers to the country’s economic woes, shamelessly “admit” that "following an invitation” by Premier Wickremesinghe, he along with SJB MP Eran Wickramaratne attended a meeting at the former’s office?  On de Silva’s credibility, readers can gauge his obvious embarrassment when responding to a question from a journalist on his controversial “footnotes” relating to the egregious Central Bank Treasury Bond scams. Should he not clarify matters in this regard?  There is no better example of broken Yahapalana promises than the outrage demonstrated at a press conference by de Silva and Wickramaratne in the run-up to the 2015 Presidential Election in regard to casino, drug, and ethanol mafias. Are these the people who are going to demand accountability from the Rajapaksas and address the scourge of widespread corruption? This is where the maturity and good sense of Kodituwakku and Fonseka come into play to shepherd Premachandra to reach her full political potential in these challenging times. It would appear that the youthful Premachandra, with her fresh personality and courage, has caught the attention of the youth at the aragalaya, which Kodituwakku and Fonseka will find hard to match. Together, they have the potential to get the trust and confidence of the islandwide aragalaya and the masses.    Media the spoiler   It is the undemocratic appointment of Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister by Gotabaya Rajapaksa that has given a respite to his beleaguered Executive Presidency and the Rajapaksa family. It has also given a lease of life to all MPs – particularly from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) – who were under the pump after being called out by the aragalaya protestors.   Wickremesinghe not only “led” the UNP to an ignominious defeat at the August 2020 General Election, where the Party for the first time in its history could not even win a single seat in Parliament, but worse for him personally is that he himself lost the Colombo District, which has long been a bastion of the UNP.  Eventually, he crept into Parliament allegedly unconstitutionally through the one seat the UNP was entitled to on the National List. Although apologists for Wickremesinghe are raising issue on the “conflict” between Article 99A of the Constitution and the Parliamentary Elections Act, is it not obvious that the Constitution, which is the supreme law of a country, clearly takes precedence?  The question is – if not for media manipulation, would Rajapaksa, struggling to hang onto the Executive Presidency, have dared to appoint a person such as Wickremesinghe, known to be hugely unpopular or even despised, as Prime Minister? There is considerable print media hype that Wickremesinghe has accumulated considerable experience as a five-time Prime Minister with access to global funding and investments. This is clearly a myth.  What the media fail to mention is that only in one instance was he able to complete even three years of a five-year term as a Prime Minister; during his five-time tenure as the Prime Minister, his UNP never had a majority in Parliament; and his record in obtaining foreign direct investments is dismal. Does anyone recall the dubious “$ 3.85 billion oil refinery in Hambantota” and the 2017 Volkswagen vehicle assembly plant in Kuliyapitiya, which turned out to be a hoax? There was even a “ground-breaking ceremony” for the Volkswagen plant! Was not de Silva involved in this project? Will he clarify this?  Ruwan Wijewardene could not get himself elected at the August 2020 General Election from the Gampaha District, even with its Biyagama pocket borough. Wijewardene was catapulted to national politics virtually from obscurity by his first cousin Wickremesinghe, who lost no time in propelling him out of turn to the position of UNP Deputy Leader.    Wijewardene and Easter Sunday   Although Wijewardene was the State Minister of Defence during the entire period of the Yahapalana Government, no one – not even the now unusually quiet Archbishop of Colombo His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith – has demanded accountability from Wijewardene for his share of responsibility for the Easter Sunday carnage. Even if he was kept away from some meetings of the National Security Council, are we expected to believe that Wijewardene did not have knowledge of the attacks even to the extent of Minister Harin Fernando’s hospitalised father? Wijewardene, who reportedly stated that “there was no information to suggest that one of the Easter Sunday masterminds Zahran Hashim was engaged in terrorist activities”, is contradicted by Sub Inspector Srimal Sanjeewa of the Criminal Investigation Department informing the Presidential Commission probing the Easter Sunday attacks that “Zahran had been conducting a training camp” in the Puttalam area “from 2015 to 2019” on “the use of Type-56 firearms and hand grenades”.  Why does no one call out Wijewardene for his share of responsibility for the Easter Sunday carnage?    Conclusion   Is it not dangerous to give the media, both State and private, a free pass to operate without “independent” regulation? It is a myth that the privately owned media is superior to the State-owned media.  It is not for nothing that the media is referred to as the fourth estate, after the Executive, Legislature, and the Judiciary.  Under the circumstances, is it not crucial to bring this fourth estate (media) under the ambit of the proposed Constitutional Council? Should this not be a part of the systemic change being demanded by the aragalaya? A word of caution on the Constitutional Council must be flagged. There does not appear to be clarity on its composition, which is crucial to make it truly independent.   (The writer is a public interest activist)  ……………………. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication.


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