Lonely Politics – Maithri Style
By Hilmy Ahamed –July 17, 2015
Hilmy Ahamed
Mahinda Rajapaksa is an untouchable in the eyes of President Maithripala Sirisena. He made his bold and unexpected statement on the 14th of July 2014. “He does not approve of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s candidature at the forthcoming general elections as a UPFA contestant; yet, he is willing to relent to popular demand of his coalition partners in the UPFA and let him contest but not with his blessings”. Attempts by the UPFA to discard Maithripala Sirisena from the leadership of the SLFP and UPFA were thwarted by his legal advisors with an enjoining order on the 15th of July. President Sirisena has committed to remain neutral at the forthcoming General Elections. A leader of a party, who is not willing to lead his lot from the front, and thereby give the advantage to the opponent. A charge he will have to live with, at least until August 17th 2015, and probably thereafter should Mahinda Rajapaksa face a humiliating defeat.
President Sirisena has been named and shamed with everything on earth from traitor to betrayer of the common opposition by many (including me) for not taking a stand against Mahinda Rajapaksa’s zealous gamble in reentering electoral politics. Has he managed to clear his conscience with his (very very late) statement? Has he done justice to the people who elevated him to the highest office? Has he done justice to the party that he served for 49 years? These questions would remain in the minds of friends and foes through out the tenure of his presidency and may be engraved in his tombstone.
The forthcoming election is turning out to be, not just about loyalty to political parties, but encouraging signs of principles in politics. The January 8th regime change has set in motion increasing signs of returning to the cherished democratic values that became a rare commodity with JR Jayewardene’s draconian Executive Presidential powers. For the first time in the Sri Lankan political history, issues of democracy, ethanol, corruption, drugs, nepotism, and more importantly, undesirables in parliament have become the most talked about platform slogans. The wheeler-dealers who have dominated Sri Lankan politics during the last three decades may disappear.