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Civil society denounces despicable politics
Since the start of the political crisis on October 26, civil society organisations have been in the forefront of protests against the decisions of President Maithripala Sirisena.
Civic groups, professional associations and rights groups have held protests, rallies and conferences to voice their concerns about democracy and the rule of law.
One notable movement was the “Rise Up Sri Lanka’’ protest held near Independence Square on November 19, organised mainly through social media.
An ongoing Sathyagraha campaign at the Viharamaha Devi park. Pic by Ishanka Sunimal
More than 600 joined this protest. They held placards bearing slogans such as, “Shame! Shame! Shame!”, “Sri Lanka is a Paradise Ruled by Parasites” and “New Generation of Leaders Needed”.
One man had a strong message for the President. “Sri Lanka has enjoyed a strong and vibrant parliamentary democracy for over six decades and Sirisena you destroyed that in one act in October,” he said. “We saw the chaos that you have created. I want to appeal to all party leaders that hereafter when you choose members of parliament ensure that they are not the ruffians, thugs, kasippu [moonshine], and heroin dealers that we saw in parliament last week. Sirisena take note that if you go on like this, we as tax payers will not pay our taxes.”
“We organised this as a group of young professionals concerned about the state of affairs,” said Suchith Abeyewickreme, an education professional and member of the organising committee. “Initially we requested other professional groups to join, and then we appealed to the citizenry on social media. Our plan is to carry this forward across the country and raise citizen consciousness. The next campaign will be in Gampaha.”
The sathygraha organised by a group of Buddhist monks, a civil organisation and trade unions is another prominent show of anger against the ‘purported government’, as they called it. This protest however, was attended by UNP lawmakers Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, Patali Champika Ranawaka, Dr. Harsha De Silva, Mujibur Rahman, S.M Marikkar and Ashu Marasinghe.
An organiser told the Sunday Times that it was not a protest organised by a political party and that the UNP lawmakers joined only as representatives of a common fight and because pro-UNP trade unions were among the organisers.
Video-clips of speeches from 2015 made by then candidate Sirisena were played on a large screen reminding the people of the various statements he made against Mahinda Rajapaksa and his administration.
Also shown were clips of Wimal Weerawansa scolding President Sirisena in near-filth.
“As the convener of the Professional Web Journalists Association who worked hard to overthrow the Rajapaksa regime I am disgusted by what’s happened,” said Philip Dissanayake who is also one of the main organisers of the sathyagraha.
“We took huge risks running articles exposing the corruption in the Rajapaksa administration and urging people to vote for President Sirisena. We received many threats from the government. Some television institutes carried out character assassination campaigns against us denouncing us as traitors. But we persisted and went round the island urging people to vote to overthrow the government,” he said. “What the president did is a terrible betrayal of all our efforts and the trust of the voters.”
He said the sathyagraha will continue until Mahinda Rajapaksa shows his majority in parliament or steps aside and allows a government with a majority to rule. Rallies and seminars will be held in Galle, Kurunegala, Badulla, Anuradhapura, Anamaduwa and Ratnapura in the coming days, he said.
Mr Abdullah, a financial analyst based in Colombo, said he came to voice his displeasure at the fact that due process was not followed. “The people who voted for President Sirisena feel what they voted for is not what they got. It is a betrayal of a mandate in an extreme manner,” he said. “Also, what we have seen since October 26 is how political leaders hold the country hostage to their own ambitions.”
Mr Perera, 70, an independent writer, said events in parliament last week set a bad precedent for future politicians. “This will sanction wild behaviour as a norm for those thuggish people vying to get into parliament. It has also made the prospect of being an MP more distasteful than ever. This is dangerous for the future of the country, as decent youth will stay away from politics. Who will be left to rule Sri Lanka then,’’ he asked.
Harshana Nanayakkara, a member of Lawyers for Democracy, said he believes that the dissolution of parliament and elections are the best solutions, but stressed that it should be done in line with the constitution.
“If a majority is shown by either Ranil Wickremesinghe or Mahinda Rajapaksa it means that MPs were traded. Can you honestly say that such a rule is the will of the people,” he asked. “It will be a matter of who has more black money. However, one cannot go for a fair election with a set of people who acted the way they did in parliament and didn’t allow a vote to be taken. The conspiracy has to be defeated first, and then parliament can be dissolved with a two-thirds vote or after four and a half years.”
Mr. Nanayakkara said that a democratic government would be in the voters’ hands. “If party supporters continue to turn a blind eye to the despicable behaviour of politicians or see it as a heroic action needed to defend the party, Sri Lanka will continue to elect thugs. It is about time that this changes,” he said.
“We as citizens of Sri Lanka expected a lot from the Yahapalanaya regime,” said Kamal Perera at a briefing conducted by the Artists for Political Ethics and Democracy. “However, the regime since coming into power on January 5, 2015 promising to do away with the corruption seen during the Rajapaksa administration succumbed to the same faults. The epitome of this was October 26, when President Sirisena took a decision that went against all democratic traditions.”
Actress Samanali Fonseka said what happened should be of concern to all Sri Lankans irrespective of party colour.
A number of online petitions have been signed, too. One was titled ‘Sri Lankan Citizens Condemn President’s Actions and Call for Parliament to be Convened!’ and it received 17,269 signatures. Another petition against the MPs abhorrent behaviour in parliament last week called ‘Sri Lankan citizens demanding action against the Members of Parliament for violent and criminal behaviour in Parliament’ had 7,462 signatures and counting.