Shame on us

By K Godage

(February 07, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) We proudly claim that we are a Buddhist country but we appear to be wallowing in anger, hate and revenge.

All those responsible for bringing the military into our political arena have done this country a grave injustice. But for that aberration in 1962 when a group of police and men from our then essentially ceremonial armed services not being able to come to terms with 1956, sought to stage a coup, our military was able to proudly boast that it maintained the highest traditions of the military in the western world and accepted that their role was to serve governments elected by the people faithfully and not aspire to take over power themselves.

It was only Lanka and India of the countries that had been under colonial rule that were able to boast that we were democracies. A military leader being pitch forked into the political arena to serve the ends of certain desperate designing politicians has spelled near disaster for our country and even divided our military.

The newspapers state that fourteen senior military officers have been forced to retire and a further number have been taken into custody. This is without precedent; it implies that some members of the army have in some way been involved with Gen. Fonseka’s presidential campaign. They are said to be suspected of being a party to a plan to stage a military style operation in the event of the General winning the election, to deal with his so-called ‘enemies’.

If true this is no doubt a dangerous and scary development which has come about because of the involvement of some army personnel in politics. This together with reports of alleged statements attributed to leaders in the campaign of dealing with ‘traitors’ on Galle Face Green and sending others to Bogambara prison would certainly have sent shivers down the spines of the citizens of this country. If some of those who expected to be targeted had a plan of their own, I fear to think of what may have followed. We would most certainly have been plunged into another war this time in the South.

Considering the powers that the President enjoys under our Constitution one feared the possibility of a constitutional dictatorship emerging from a military leader becoming our President. Military leaders have a different mindset from civilian politicians.

Politics is beyond the scope of military competence and the participation of military officers in politics undermines their professionalism. The military officer must remain neutral politically because the military could undermine civilian control in a democracy This reflects the deeply embedded assumption of modern democratic theory that it is the popularly elected government, and no other body or person, that is wholly responsible for deciding what policies are to be pursued in the name of the people. In so doing, the government is constrained by the limits to action set out under the law of the constitution, and is ultimately held accountable for its activities and decisions when it faces the judgment of the people at the polls.

A central pillar of modern democratic theory is the doctrine of constitutionalism which, in its simplest form, refers to limited government, a system in which any body of rulers is as much subject to the rule of law as the body of citizens. An important corollary to the democratic doctrine of constitutionalism is civilian supremacy. Democracy requires, therefore, not only that armed forces be subject to civilian control, but that ‘those civilians who control the military and police must themselves be subject to the democratic process’, a fundamental principle of the democratic model of civilian supremacy.

To return to our own situation I do wish that Gen Fonseka had never let himself be used by persons seeking to exploit his own bitterness at the raw deal he is said to have received to make him run for president. He was certainly a war hero and he shared with the President, who did not succumb to pressure to stop the war, the Secretary of Defence, the Navy Commander and the Air force Commander, credit for having annihilated the LTTE and ended the separatist threat. The nation is grateful to them all.

In this regard my mind goes back to Field Marshall Manekshaw of India. PM Indira Gandhi made various offers to him as rewards for what he had achieved in the Bangladesh war. He refused them all except the rank of Field Marshall and remained as the greatest military leader India had produced, respected throughout the world for what he had achieved and adored in India. Such should have been war hero Gen. Fonseka’s lot, he instead dived into the cesspit of politics and spoilt it all.

The first lesson we need to draw from this unfortunate happening in our history is that no army chief should be allowed to engage in politics till at least five years after he has retired from Service (This could be achieved through an amendment to the Army Act itself). None of the great Generals who entered politics such as Eisenhower or De Gaulle contested elections immediately after they left their uniform.

We should, in discussing this issue, be mindful of the fact that there have been instances where popularly elected civilian governments once in office abrogates the constitution with impunity and rejects the democratic values embodied in it. In such circumstances – which have not been uncommon in post-colonial states – the military considers themselves to be the only entity within the country capable of reversing such a development and reinstating democratic government.

Such appeals to the national interest have frequently been coupled with references to some perceived crisis or threat involving the security of the state or serious economic or social problems. Getting a taste of politics invariably leads to an addiction and this can certainly be dangerous for they may claim to be motivated by a perceived need to save their nation from weak, corrupt, and undisciplined civilian leadership and may seek to take power, as has happened in many parts of Asia and Latin America in particular. Our civilian political leaders must be mindful of this fact and ensure that they never ever leave room for the military to ever become involved in politics in our country.