| by Harim Peiris
( October 11, 2012, Colombo, Sri
Lanka Guardian) Last
weekend, Judicial Services Commission (JSC) Secretary Manjula Tilakaratne was
brutally assaulted by an armed gang outside S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavina,
where he was waiting after dropping his son there for a sporting event. The
assault occurred after Mr. Tilakaratne on the instruction of the JSC had issued
a much publicized press statement, that there were attempts by the Executive to
interfere in the independence and the work of the Judiciary. The statement
itself followed a refusal by the JSC, comprising the Chief Justice and two
senior judges of the Supreme Court to respond to presidential summons,
supposedly to discuss budgetary allocations for judicial training.
The attack on Mr. Tilakaratne was
preceded by Cabinet level discussion his statement and pronouncements by
government spokesmen that disciplinary action was being considered against him.
Further the JSC and Mr. Tilakaratne was being vilified in sections of the State
media and Mr. Tilakaratne publicly stated that following such state media
vilification, he and his family’s personal safety was now at grave risk.
Despite this obvious security risk, his security provided by the judicial
security division (JSD) was allegedly withdrawn over the weekend, leaving him
exposed as a sitting duck for the seemingly well planned and executed operation
against him. The result was that many held the government responsible for this
outrageous attack, notwithstanding the predictable condemnations of the same
and the judiciary struck work for two days, closing down the Courts. The
tensions between the judiciary and the government are clearly rising. The
stoning of the Mannar Magistrate, the strong stand against the same by the Bar
Association, now the assault on the JSC secretary, the state media campaign of
vilification, all point to rising tensions between the judiciary and the
executive. Where this will end is uncertain but for the government some caution
and reflection will be in order.
FUTA and Increasing dissent
This is a government, which from
its apex downwards, uses public popularity as its rationalization and
legitimization of all its action, populism taken to its logical conclusion.
There is certainly some theoretical justification for this, since democratic governments
are required to draw their legitimacy from the consent of the governed.
However, it is in such a context, that the government should pause and reflect
on its current trajectory. The recent provincial polls demonstrated that
despite a comfortable majority, the government had slipped noticeably in public
support from its highs of the general elections of 2010. There is public
discontent and dissent within the education system with the agitation by FUTA
and for the sake of the young students and the next generations of Sri Lankans
it is indeed welcome that the intervention of Minister Basil Rajapaksa has
brought some temporary relief and the return of university teachers to their
duties, but much needed reforms in the state education sector need to be
implemented and the government seems unmindful of them at best.
The Federation of University
Teachers Association (FUTA) raises, among others, the issue of state resource
allocation for education, pointing out that Sri Lanka invests the least in
education even among our peer group among the SAARC countries. This in a global
economic environment, where the ‘knowledge economy’ is the emerging trend and
workforce education, skills and knowledge base the competitive advantage and
the real driver of success in the future. Unsaid by FUTA but implied is the
reality that Sri Lanka spends more on defense in peace time than in war time, a
mindboggling fact for South Asia’s most militarized society, with close upon
half a million men under arms, counting all three arms of the services,
auxiliaries, civil defense, the STF and the police. Post war Sri Lanka has not
really been able to enjoy an economic and financial peace dividend. Some
release of pent up demand and government investment in infrastructure pushed up
economic growth, without particularly reducing unemployment. But, a sustained
peace dividend through increased foreign and local direct investment is
lacking. A serious debate on these
national priorities was also absent, until FUTA stirred up the debate.
A weak and ineffectual Opposition
The real political strength of
the government is the hopelessly weak and ineffectual political opposition led
by the UNP. Keeping an opposition divided is a primary political priority of
any government and the Rajapaksa regime shows it is not second to the JR
Jayewardene regime in keeping the Opposition in splinters. But, as the SLFP
demonstrated from the late 80s onwards, there is a possibility to effectively
challenge government policies and practices while working towards uniting the
political Opposition. The initial signs of broader coalitions of forces, all
determined to push back and challenge the government on the broad issues of
governance and democracy are evident. It is in the government’s own interest to
pause, reflect, engage with these forces and perhaps revisit, review and revise
its own policies and practices rather than a head on confrontation with all
those that disagree with it in various areas of policy.
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