Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Putinization Has Been Stopped but Sri Lanka Needs a New Ideological Project

The possibility of the Rajapaksa-led opposition using Sinhalese communalism to unsettle and undermine the new government of moderates is actually very real

Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe walks past former President Mahinda Rajapaksa during the ceremony to swear Ranil Wickremesinghe in as Sri Lanka's new prime minister in Colombo on August 21, 2015. Wickremesinghe secured formal support from sections of the main opposition Friday for a broad coalition shortly after he sworn-in for a fourth-term. Wickremesinghe took his oaths before President Maithripala Sirisena at his office in Colombo over looking the Indian Ocean at a simple ceremony telecast live on national television. Shortly after the brief ceremony, a powerful section of opposition MPs loyal to President Sirisena entered into a formal agreement with Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) to work together. Credit: Ishara K.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and President Maithripala Sirisena . Credit: Ishara K.

Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, walks past former President Mahinda Rajapaksa during his swearing-in ceremony in Colombo on August 21, 2015. Shortly after the brief ceremony, a section of opposition MPs loyal to President Maithripala Sirisena’s SLFP entered into a formal agreement with Wickremasinghe’s United National Party to work together. Credit: Ishara K.

BY JAYADEVA UYANGODA ON 26/08/2015

The most important consequence of Sri Lanka’s recent parliamentary election is that voters have prevented the Putinization of their country and its politics.
Putinization Has Been Stopped but Sri Lanka Needs a New Ideological Project by Thavam Ratna