A Hero’s Resignation: Triumph, tragedy and farce

By Rajan Philips

(November 15, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) First there was triumph – of the army over the LTTE. Then came the tragedy - the encampment of 300,000 people. And now the farce – an establishment divided, the resignation of a war hero, and all but the announcement of a premature presidential race.

The outgoing General Sarath Fonseka’s letter of resignation, written with military license, is perfectly professional in tone and duly submissive to his civilian authority. The sting is in the tail annexed to the letter. Thirteen – someone is going to be unlucky here – of the sixteen points of contention, or reasons for resignation, are concerned with military organization and the rapid changes thereto so soon after victory. At this point, it is only one side of the story, but a man will not end his career and plan a future in so public a manner if what he is giving as reasons is less than true. But the thirteen reasons are not all factually verifiable, as some of them are perceptions and therefore contestable.

The fatal perception appears to have been about Sarath Fonseka becoming too big for his boots and posing a threat to the present political establishment. The perception of this threat led to paranoia of a military coup, not once but twice. First, the non-existent – according to Sarath Fonseka – coup threat was dealt with by the changing of guards in key areas of the military and state establishments. The second time, as was also independently known, the non-existent coup threat had morphed into an irrational coup fear, and India was asked to be at the ready for any eventuality. Whether there was any truth to these coup threats, we will not know unless those whom General Fonseka is accusing begin to tell their side of the story,

Whether there was some basis for the coup threat, and fear, or it was just a ruse created to clip the wings of a war hero is also not known, at least to those of us who are at a safe distance from the clashes of ego and the struggles for prominence that seem to have become the be all and end all of our politics. There is no politics without ego, but what is problematic about Sri Lankan politics now is that it has become so vulnerable to the power of personalities and their contending egos. This is a new development.

The battles of the past, outside the parliamentary arena, the 1953 Hartal, the 1961 Satyagraha, the 1962 coup, the JVP insurrections and even the LTTE phenomenon were extensions of political struggles and involved social and political forces that had lost patience with formal processes. Although challenged and woefully imperfect, the parliamentary system prevailed until it was vitiated by the current presidential system.

Now there is no political process, parliamentary or otherwise, only a farcical clash of two titans. The two have not been thrown up by contending social forces. Instead, the search is on for voting blocs to be brought into alignment with the clashing egos of two ambitious men. The presidential system has spawned a whole industry devoted to making and breaking coalitions and alignments for prize presidential candidates. Six years is too long for them to wait, so an election has to happen any time after four years when the stars are in order and the voters are in the mood. J.R. Jayewardene may have had a method in amending the Constitution even as he was writing it, but he may not have foreseen that after him there was going to be only madness and no method.

The twelfth of the 16 annex points in General Fonseka’s resignation letter is an interesting one. He was hurt by the failure of the government to appoint an acting Chief of Defense Staff during his recent and much publicized sojourn in the US. His point is that the CDS position is a no-status position and he had been ungratefully shoved into it so soon after he had run aground the LTTE. The good General should have known better. There is no provision in our constitution or convention for an acting President or a Vice President. What is good for the presidency should be good enough for a military office.

The last three points in the annex veer from the military into the political. There is the concern for the displaced people, anxiety over the failure to reach a political solution after the military victory, and criticism for the failure to capitalize on the peace dividend due to corruption and maladministration. Whether these are enough to make a convincing manifesto, it is too early to say. In any event, General Fonseka is in office till November 30 (his retirement is effective from Nov. 13 and not Nov. 30 as he requested – editor), and it is illegal to speculate on a political future for him until then.

In contrast, the President appears to be all ready for such speculations. Contrary to paralegal pettifogging about ‘what if’ the President does not accept the General’s signature – the President has promptly accepted the General’s resignation. He has accepted the challenge for the parody of a presidential fight.

The fight is sure to feed everyone’s morbid curiosity more than anyone’s political interest. Amidst all the fun and excitement, it is necessary to point out that a new track in Sri Lankan politics has been opened. The army is going to be directly in the political frame from now on. The government may have thought that by sidelining Sarath Fonseka it was preventing a coup that was never going to happen. In so doing, the government may have handed the opposition a presidential candidate it would not have ever dreamed of having. A General scorned may not be enough to cause a political upset, but he can sure militarize the polity just as his detractors are politicizing the military.

-Sri Lanka Guardian