General Fonseka: A silver line in dark clouds

By Panduka Dasanayake

(January 28, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) General Fonseka stepped into the presidential fray of 2010 at a time when no single opposition party had the confidence of nominating a candidate to take on President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The level of militarisation of the political firmament and concentration of power was such, that no ordinary politician was thought able to take on the challenge.

Many would undoubtedly commend General Sarath Fonseka for having bolstered democracy a little bit and for giving hope to many that a change of administration was possible and believable. As his election manifesto was titled, 'believable change,' was what he sought to offer, and capture the imagination of a nation. There will now come analyses, some fair, and more unfair, to the good officer.

If the 58% of the votes that President MR was credited with in the election result, is the genuine will of the Lankan voters, so be it, and we all surely will hope that the President will take into account what he needs to deliver on in his second term. The manner in which we read of blatant violations of election laws and the unbridled abuse of the State machinery in unfair support of and to the advantage of the incumbent president, and the manner in which the State Media was used at the last moment, beyond the time when all canvassing was to be over, to mislead the public about the absence of the General's name in the electoral register, which had no bearing on his suitability to be a candidate, are matters that the opposition can make use of either in a court of law or, before the people, for their information. The people have had to stomach utter illegalities resorted to by MPs etc, because they are aligned to the President.

This has been part of our political landscape since the 1970s. This can never be changed as long as the political canvas is drawn along single party lines, whether UNP-led or SLFP-led. Both have been guilty of many excesses unbecoming of democracies. It was this malaise that many of us believed the good General will be able to reform, and it was also thought that Ranil Wickremasinghe did the best he could in the situation, by agreeing to form the broadest possible alliance of parties, to introduce to this country a culture of consensus politics. It is only such a novel approach like politics of consensus that will provide the necessary checks and balances for our people to be honest and decent in politics and state service. We wish the General well and hope that he will continue to have a role of leadership in the opposition, that can still be a beacon of hope to the people.

We thank the General and the Opposition UNF and all its allies for taking the courage to show a democratic alternative was possible in a difficult situation and political culture. Hope still lives that the changes that you all intended to introduce will still be relevant and see the light of day. May this land be blessed with just and fair rule! May all be safe and well!