Editorial

It was democracy that was the ultimate winner at Thursday’s Presidential election. Sri Lanka’s somewhat questionable recent record on elections was put back on track and for that, much of the credit must go to the Elections Commissioner, all those men and women who showed what the Public Service of this country is capable of and to the Tri-Services and the Police.

The outgoing President Mahinda Rajapaksa was dignified in defeat as were the new President Maithripala Sirisena and the new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe magnanimous in victory. Many were the fears that President Rajapaksa, should he lose, would have to be carried away from President’s House kicking and screaming. There was talk of a constitutional coup or a military-backed ‘stay-put’ plan, but there was none of that, eventually. His initiative to telephone Mr. Wickremesinghe early on Friday morning to work out a smooth transition was in the highest traditions of any democracy worthy of its name. It was five-star stuff if not for the death of a young man in Kahawatta in an election-related incident.

Now President Rajapaksa must be afforded the courtesies accorded to an ex-President. He must be provided an official bungalow in Colombo. He must be invited for the Pope’s visit etc., etc. even if he stays in active politics. Mr. Wickremesinghe paid a handsome tribute to him for ending the virtual civil war in this country. When the history of this country comes to be written, President Rajapaksa and his brother Gotabaya will, no doubt, have their names written in gold for doing what they did on that front. Poojacha poojaneeyanan (honour those who deserve honour). The two brothers can take solace that the same fate of winning a war and losing an election befell an icon of world history — Sir Winston Churchill.

It was President J.R. Jayewardene, the architect of the Executive Presidency in Sri Lanka who said that a candidate needs the support of the minorities to win the Presidency. The elections in 2005 and 2010 were the only exceptions to this truism and for different reasons. In 2005, the minority Tamils in the North were prevented from voting and Mr. Rajapaksa won by default, and in 2010 he won on the wave of a popular war victory.

That it was the minority vote that pushed the new President over the victory bar is patently clear. Mr. Sirisena won 12 districts to Mr. Rajapaksa’s 10, and Mr. Rajapaksa won 90 electorates to Mr. Sirisena’s 70, but the margins of Mr. Rajapaksa’s victories were so narrow and the heavy polling in the minorities populated North, East and the central highlands proved the incumbent’s undoing. The new President, Maithripala Sirisena, is another ‘log cabin to White House’ example. Cutting his political teeth in the Communist Party, and once unfairly incarcerated for political work, he rose from the ranks of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party to the general-secretaryship. He must now carry no grudges or chips on his shoulder.

It would be best for President Sirisena to learn the lessons from his predecessor’s downfall. Mr. Rajapaksa was also a humble politician in 2005 when he assumed the presidency after serving as prime minister for a brief period. As the years went on and he grew into that exalted office, new friends with ulterior motives surrounded him, and insulated him from reality. Like what happened to President R. Premadasa, the old guard of the party was isolated as authoritarianism crept in. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely is the famous warning of Lord Acton.

Mr. Rajapaksa allowed those feigning loyalty to him to get away with ‘blue murder’. Drug smuggling was ignored; “Ethanol” became a by-word associated with his government; there was ‘monkeying’ with the higher judiciary; the Stock Exchange earned the nickname ‘The Launderette’; tenders were awarded to cronies under the counter without proper bids; mega projects became mega deals with mega kickbacks; the Foreign Service was made a Family Service; Ministry Secretaries, the Police and every aspect of public administration were politicised. The list goes on. The Rajapaksa model was to bribe their way to the votes. But for every 100 ‘gifts’ they gave with public funds, they made 500 enemies. As a humble postman in the Kurunegala district told an election survey team from this newspaper, “I’m still riding a pedal cycle while others got motorcycles. I’m voting for the Hansaya”.

Kissing babies did not go the distance when milk food prices were increased to raise funds for a Treasury going broke with colossal wastage, reeking corruption and rampant mismanagement of the economy. Misdeeds were covered up to protect the miscreants. Reports by Parliamentary Committees like COPE and the Auditor General highlighting financial deficiencies in government were relegated to gather dust at the President’s Office. In foreign policy, inefficiency reigned supreme and a time-tested Non-Aligned policy was abandoned, needlessly antagonising the West, as the country leaned too heavily on Chinese largesse.

There is much for the new dispensation to undo and much to do. A course-correction is urgently needed for the country. The intentions of the new coalition leaders seem to be right, but theory and practice are poles apart. There is the possibility of a National Government of Unity devoid of petty partisan parochial politics. There is a need to have fixed dates for elections, not based on the whims of one man and his astrologer. A seven-year term for a president who was already nine years in office was off-putting for many, to put it mildly.

There is a likelihood that we will go back to the pre-political party, pre-Independence era when the State Council had Executive Committees as Oversight Committees for Agriculture, Industry, Commerce and the like. But there is also a need for a strong Opposition, both externally and internally to pinpoint the drawbacks of a government. The role of the media is paramount in this nation-building exercise and that role must be duly honoured by the new administration. A Right to Information Law is high priority.

The Rajapaksa Government has now been deposed by People Power for a Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Government — not to breed a new set of rascals to replace the old ones or to bring back the old rogues from the woodwork. Some of them were already seen partying with the new leaders on Friday night. And those who diddled the public purse during the Rajapaksa regime must be brought to book as a deterrent to those harbouring ideas.

This great honour that has been bestowed on the new leaders by the people, even if by a small margin, should not to be a case of merely changing pillows. What is needed and indeed looked forward to by the people, is an honest approach and the will to seize this opportunity to cure the headaches that plague this nation. They will need to realise that with hope comes expectations and disappointment, from a demanding electorate.