CBK: The President who might save Sri Lanka’s lost prestige

by Pearl Thevanayagam

(July 26, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) When Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga criticised MR’s style of governance she spoke for the whole of the nation. Her words were not empty rhetoric. As the offspring of two prime ministers, Sorbonne educated and married outside her aristocratic clan she is probably the only President who could have found a practical solution dogging the country which was divided on ethnic lines.

When she came to power in 1994 she had a genuine desire to listen to Tamil grievances her father S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and her mother Sirimavo Bandaranaike as the world’s first female prime minister denied. She, with the help of Prof. G.L. Peiris and the late Lakshman Kadirgamar, two firmaments of great intellect and integrity at the time (G.L.P is now a changed persona pandering to MR) instigated peace talks which neither the LTTE nor the hard-line Sinhala politicians comprehended. The damage caused by the July 1983 pogrom left the LTTE with resorting to armed struggle and made them suspicious of any attempts at reconciliation by the Sinhala majority.

Both her parents served selflessly even to the extent of selling their properties to campaign for their elections. That they were driven by Sinhala nationalism is beside the point. They at least did not fleece or appropriate lands and power which did not belong to them.

Never in Chandrika’s Presidency did the media see her offspring or relatives paraded or photographed as we now see in the MR dynasty.

Ms Kumaratuna’s Presidency was the only period when the media felt they could tell it all without repercussions. True, we had censorship. But we were not murdered. The fear psychosis which prevailed in the Premadasa Presidency all but evaporated with Ms Kumaratunga coming to power.

It is very sad and a lost opportunity that the LTTE did not see through President Kumaratunga’s offer of peace talks and instead attempted to assassinate her. Even when she lost her eyesight in one eye due to a bomb blast by the LTTE aimed at killing her in the year 2000 she remained steadfast in her goal to bring about an amicable solution to the Tamil grievances which she felt were legitimate.

One cannot understand why she relegated her Presidency to an insidious and insecure megalomaniac such as Mahinda Rajapakse and it is beyond comprehension. MR’s governance is riddled with nepotism, corruption and wide-scale violation of human rights which include media suppression, disregard for fundamental human rights and an overwhelming Sinhala chauvinism which does not even placate the Sinhalese who are now paying for the opulent lifestyle of the MR dynasty by way of escalating prices of essential food items such as rice, eggs, chicken, bread, coconut and meat on the one hand and growing discontent among trade unions and academia due to undue political interference.

To the average Sri Lankan rice is a luxury while the President’s offspring Namal is now racing around in his new Porsche. How much is the President’s salary to bequeath this luxury item to his son Namal who does not earn a living wage? Is it not the Sri Lankan taxpayer who is footing the bill for MR dynasty’s luxuries?

The question now arises as to why should we.

Then there is the most crucial international war crimes probe which could alter the politics and history of the island. MR government does not have a leg to stand on to justify its genocide against Tamils. Neither the Tamil political parties nor the Tamil diaspora can hope to make any meaningful changes towards obtaining Tamils their legitimate rights simply because the law of average dictates Sri Lanka has a Sinhala majority population with a Sinhala dominated government.

The LTTE lost its plot when it indiscriminately targeted common civilians in the South through its suicide bombing missions and earned the wrath of the international community as a terrorist force. September 11, 2001 bombing of the Twin Towers in New York by the Al Qaeda awakened US to the reality of arming terrorist outfits even when they could be advantageous to US interests. Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, two protégés of the US, turned tail on the US when it suited their Islamic ideals and US was not taking any more chances with rebels even if US interests or dominance in the rest of the world is assured through insurgency and rebellion against nationalistic forces.

Getting back to Sri Lanka, the opposition UNP is so enmeshed in internal rivalry that it has a hope in hell of coming to an agreement on its policy towards ameliorating grievances of Tamils as well as the common Sinhalese whose immediate concerns are escalating cost of living and their economical future.

Can CBK deliver and more to the point can she muster enough support to revive SLFP. Her recent speech could be seen as a clarion call to her investiture as the future President. She needs to prove she could deliver much more than the victory of MR through wiping out LTTE terrorism. She needs to not only flex her biceps but prove she can do one better than MR?

Is she up to it?