The Staunchest Friends Of The Regime
By Malinda Seneviratne -August 18, 2013 |
Malinda Seneviratne
The word in the street is that Ranil Wickremesinghe’s is the regime’s best friend. Inept leadership, fuelling division in opposition ranks to prompt defection, refusal to take on the Government in any meaningful manner on crucial issues of public concern, rhetorical slip-ups made to be pounced on for purposes on ridicule and being conspicuously out-of-touch with the sentiments of the masses are often cited as evidence to support this friendship claim.
On the other hand, it must be mentioned in Ranil’s defence that the 1978 Constitution does not grand the opposition any favors. In fact, just as it confers dictatorial powers on the executive president, it also disempowers the opposition. Sarath N Silva’s horrendous crossover ruling that made parliamentary traffic a one-way matter hasn’t helped. These factors helped scuttle the 17th Amendment and worse paved the way for the 18th, further strengthening those in power and conferring further disempowerment on the opposition. Ranil’s detractors might say ‘Still!’, implying that he could do much better.
But is Ranil really the only friend that the regime can count on among those who object to it on matters of policy and policy implementation, and of course corruption, incompetence, inefficiency and overt and covert attacks on democracy?
Mahinda Rajapaksa had few friends when he was running for President in 2005. Today he has few enemies and fewer still have the courage to stand up and object. That’s not unusual. Power corrupts. Power also attracts. There was a time, after all, when there were countless ‘friends’ swarming around his predecessor. That was not the case before she became President and it is not the case now that she is Ex-President. It is about playing the right card. It is about mutual benefit. Important no doubt, but still less critical than friends among the enemy in times of declining popularity.
It’s not just Ranil.
In the past few years there have been ample reason for many to object to the regime. Not just object but to be appalled, in fact. The umbrage however has not translated into mass protests. ‘Fear,’ some explain, but that’s just a part of the story. A small part, one might add. Where does the anger find expression, then? Why, in social media! Read More
