Having arbitrarily shelved the conducting of Local Government Elections on the pretext of a lack of funds, a Member of Parliament of the ruling party, obviously acting on the diktats of his bosses, recently presented a Private Member’s Bill in Parliament, of all things, to reconvene the dissolved Local Councils – a concept that has no parallels in the democratic world.
If withholding elections and running the administration through Executive diktat was even remotely feasible, it would understandably be quite the fad by now. The fact that it is not, and democratic norms are respected and adhered to by the great majority of nations is clear enough indication as to which of the two is enduring.
To make matters worse, the denial of the people’s franchise appears to be accompanied with tangible shrinking of the democratic space for the freedom of expression and, more notably, any form of public dissent. The brutal manner in which the Police is being used to stifle public dissent is indicative of the political motives of the regime.
Back when the war ended in 2009, the great majority of people – save the rabid extremists on both sides of the ethnic divide – expected the then President to seize that historic moment to unify this fractured nation, once and for all. But what happened was the opposite. The war victory was cashed in for electoral benefit, which necessitated the existing ethnic divisions to be further exploited, even dragging the Muslim community into it. The rest is history.
Likewise, a little over a year ago, an equally-historic moment dawned upon the nation and all that was required to seize that moment for the benefit of all Sri Lankans was for the leadership that rode to office on the back of that people’s revolution to simply give ear to what the people were demanding. But, in identical fashion to 2009, the wealth of public goodwill was yet again squandered at the altar of political expediency, and, one year later, it has come to a state where people demanding the same things are being hounded and attacked by the State.
Sri Lanka’s long and continuing litany of missed opportunities for true, organic, people-driven national reconciliation continues to be kicked aside by the same political actors who have alternatively dominated the country’s leadership for the past two decades. The modus operandi has almost always been a political circus based on the proverbial ‘hingannage thuwale’ or ‘beggar’s wound’ – the 13th Amendment – still under discussion for the 36th year.
It appears that the latest urge to discuss the 13th Amendment was the divestiture of Police powers to Provincial Councils. However, on closer inspection, it seems like an attempt by the Executive to take control of the cops through provincial governors who are his nominees in the absence of elected members. However, Opposition legislators were smart enough to smell a rat and openly questioned why more powers were needed for Provincial Councils that were anyway non-functional. The end result of that episode is the not-so-subtle power play between the President and his Police Minister, who have already clashed over the appointment of the new IGP.
It is the second setback for the administration in quick succession, with the Attorney General informing the Secretary General of Parliament last week that the proposed amendment to the Pradeshiya Sabhas Act, Municipal Councils Ordinance, and Urban Councils Ordinance to reconvene the dissolved councils will not only require a special majority in the House but also approval at a referendum. For a regime that is clearly allergic to elections, that was probably the last thing it wanted to hear, effectively ending that particular endeavour.
To further complicate matters, the Supreme Court also gave the green light to proceed with the Fundamental Rights application filed by the Jathika Jana Balawegaya challenging the decision to indefinitely postpone Local Government Elections. Court has set aside four days in early October to hear the case. Given the precedent of the Easter Sunday attacks verdict, where court found fault with officials for dereliction of duty, it will be interesting to see what transpires in this matter.
The question that arises is why the administration is paving the way for a Police state – even by default – when that is probably the last thing it should be doing if it is genuine in its intention to resurrect the bankrupt economy. The Police Department, which is maintained with public funds, is primarily tasked with ensuring law and order based on the Constitution of the country and not on the whims and fancies of its political bosses. Corrupt law enforcement is the last thing this country needs in its attempt to overcome bankruptcy, for no investor will ever think of setting foot here in such an environment. It is unfortunate that the political establishment remains blind to this reality.
Needless to say, public confidence in the Police is at an all-time low thanks to its unprecedented politicisation, which has been further aggravated by contenders for the soon-to-be-vacant top post in the department bending over backwards to please their respective political masters in the hope of securing the top job. It is easy to identify where the rot starts, but with no political will to root it out despite the wasteful existence of what passes for a joke of an independent Police Commission, people will continue to be at the receiving end until such time that their patience runs out.
The despicable manner in which an award-winning journalist was arrested and allegedly assaulted within the confines of a Police vehicle while being taken to a Police station in broad daylight exemplifies the depths to which the Police Department has fallen these days. The journalist in question was the recipient of the Mervyn de Silva ‘Journalist of the Year’ award in 2020, which awards are organised and presented annually by the Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka. The deafening silence of this body on the matter is yet another pointer to the general degenerative state of affairs of the State.
The Executive turning a blind eye to Police excess will inevitably be construed as tacit support for such excess, but what must be kept in mind given recent history is that there is such a thing as breaking point and given the precarious nature of the economy, it is about time that mitigatory measures are put in place to prevent such an eventuality – again by default.
On the flip side, whether such an outcome is in fact what is desired given the political dynamics at play in a dog-eat-dog situation only time will tell, but yet again it is the nation and its people who will once again be at the receiving end.
If the current administration is even remotely interested in putting things right in terms of moral rectitude, it could conduct exit interviews at the airport of the droves of professionals who are currently abandoning the country in search of greener pastures.
Then again, given the precarious nature of the current political configuration, there is little that the President can do to rein in errant ministers. The only way out of the mess, at least for the sake of those who have chosen to remain, is for the President to dissolve the current Parliament which lost its mandate one year ago with the resignation of the then President, Prime Minister, and Cabinet and pave the way for a fresh team that can support the President in a more meaningful and productive manner. Flogging this dead horse in the hope of a better tomorrow is surely the ultimate pipe dream.