BY Amrit Muttukumaru It is intriguing that the ‘aragalaya (struggle)’ which has bravely done a magnificent job with much sacrifice to oust Gotabaya Rajapaksa from the office of the Executive President, Mahinda Rajapaksa from the office of the Prime Minister and brought the entire political establishment – particularly the 225 Parliamentarians to their knees has seemingly withdrawn into their shell after United National Party (UNP) Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe took office as the ‘acting President’. Even the courageous Hirunika Premachandra of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya who was the catalyst for the ‘aragalaya’ is now missing in action! I am amazed. Here is a person who got a drubbing at the August, 2020, Parliamentary Election, failing to secure a seat being a serious candidate to replace an individual who less than three years ago obtained a whopping 6.9 million votes! Although the votes obtained by Wickremesinghe were not released in the public domain, it is widely perceived to be less than a measly 20,000 votes! Is this not perverse? Does not Wickremesinghe who rarely misses an opportunity to tout his purported commitment to democracy where he often refers to the ‘Latimer House Principles’ which relate to transparent and responsible governance have any shame? Also shameful is that after leading his Party (the UNP) to Parliamentary oblivion at the August, 2020, General Election, he is depending on Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) to fill the balance period of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s tenure. On or around 11 July, Wickremesinghe is said to have stated, “I am here to safeguard the Constitution”. Even his Parliamentary Membership on the ‘national list’ has been plausibly questioned on the basis that it is inimical to Article 99A of the Constitution. This is due to the alleged failure of the UNP General Secretary to submit his name to the Election Commission as its nominee on the ‘national list’ within the specified seven days after the then Chairman of the Election Commission Mahinda Deshapriya had requested the said General Secretary to do so. BASL – ‘Double Standards’? 1) The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) which “urges all parties to respect the party leaders’ decision” and uphold “democratic values” in electing “a successor” to Gotabaya Rajapaksa does not utter a word about the suitability of Wickremesinghe for this position. This is in the context of the General Secretary of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s SLPP stating that the SLPP will support Wickremesinghe at the election in the Parliament. News reports which published the BASL ‘statement’ has glaringly ignored the letter from the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) addressed to acting President Wickremesinghe. The FUTA letter inter alia demands from Wickremesinghe, (i) “You consult with the Speaker of the House and the Parliament and take appropriate steps to resign from office immediately”, and (ii) “Pledge to the people of this country that you will not offer yourself as a candidate when the Parliament meets to appoint a new President yesterday (20).” 2) The BASL which was reportedly “deeply disturbed at the occupation of the Prime Minister's office at Flower Road, Colombo 7” is apparently showing no such distress when protesters occupied the President’s official residence in Colombo Fort and the Presidential office at the Old Parliament building. BASL and the media in cahoots? The BASL and the country’s media acting in cahoots to promote Wickremesinghe’s candidature to fill the balance period of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s tenure and even beyond seems crystal clear. The President of the BASL, President’s Counsel Saliya Pieris was the inaugural Chairman of the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) established by the ‘yahapalana (good governance)’ Government in which Wickremesinghe was the Prime Minister. Pieris was also a Member of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka during the yahapalana years (October, 2015, to March, 2018). It is apparent that the real motive of the media to go out of its way to promote the disastrous political track record of Wickremesinghe is to carve out a political future. This is all part of dynastic politics. The trillion dollar question is why the ‘aragalaya’ has gone into hibernation? (The writer is a public interest activist) The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication.