Book Review: ‘Corbyn: Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics’ By Richard Seymour

There is no question that Corbin as a person played a decisive role in radicalizing Labour politics. But it was not as a traditional ‘charismatic’ leader, but a determined humble one and that was his charisma among the new generations and circumstances.

Reviewed by Laksiri Fernando- Feb 8, 2018

( February 8, 2018, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) This is an exceptionally valuable book for those who wish to understand British left politics today and/or resurrect social democratic, or in Sri Lanka’s case sama samaja (equal society) politics in a context where mixed signals or choices are being posed by various quarters. This should not mean that what Jeremy Corbyn is advocating in Britain today is completely applicable to Sri Lanka or even to Britain.

Corbyn may go into history as a person who has inspired a new generation of enthusiasts on ‘social equality,’ both encompassing politics and economics. What might be necessary is social equality also in the international sphere. This may prove to be an intermediary phase between the enthusiasm for ‘neoliberalism,’ that is now turning into its opposite, and an era of ‘social equality’ and social democracy. Corbyn’s ideology is not exactly social democracy, but something going beyond, and as he says, ‘democratic socialism.’ (By the way, this is similar to the title of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka!).

Corbin’s exceptional radicalism has created a wedge within the Labour Party which was historically necessary given Tony Blair’s and other’s capitulation to what became initiated by Margaret Thatcher and other neoliberals in 1980s. This rise may coincide with a more right-wing initiatives of nationalists or ‘patriots,’ for example, who broke Britain from the EU (Brexit), and this is a challenge that committed social democrats may have to face in a many countries including Sri Lanka going through a transitional period.

Among a dozen of books already written on Jeremy Corbin, 287 page Richard Seymour’s Verso book (Second Edition, London, 2017) can be considered one of the best and it is undoubtedly closer to what I intend to highlight in this review: ‘we are closer to a new area of democratic socialism where both political equality and economic equality could prevail.’

Circumstances of New Radicalism

Seymour correctly locates Corbin’s success first within the party (2015), and next in the country at 2016 elections within the limits and downturn of neoliberalism and globalization. Corbin didn’t win the elections in the traditional sense to become the PM, but “Labour had its biggest surge in votes since 1945.” More importantly, his cause for ‘democratic socialism’ was the obvious winner in the political landscape. Vindicating his arguments and policies, the limits of ‘neoliberalism’ became revealed in the global financial crisis (2007-2008) which started in the United Stated with the burst of the ‘housing bubble’ and the credit crunch, and spread the shivers throughout the capitalist world engulfing the United Kingdom. This was ironically during the last Labour government’s tenure under Gordon Brown (2007-2010).

As Seymour reported, “World trade is still growing, but far less rapidly than before the credit crunch, and more slowly than global GDP. According to the World Trade Organization, the ratio of trade growth to GDP growth fell to 0.6:1 in 2016.” This is a valid analysis for the resurrection of social democracy or democratic socialism not only in Britain but world over. It is not through pure theoretical arguments that the need and rational for social democracy could be justified, but within an economic analysis and grievances of the people.

Perhaps heralding what is to come in 2018, world stock markets have plunged again in early February. The Dow Jones’ Index dropped by 1,175 points or 4.6 percent in one day on 5 February, but modestly recovered thereafter. This is the highest ever recorded fall within a day in its history, but the defenders of the markets argued that it is a market correction. It is not only DJ which had plunged; S& P fell by 4.1 percent and Nasdaq by 3.8. In Australia, within a day over $ 60 dollars became wiped out in the stock market.

Even it is a ‘market correction,’ it was at a heavy price and the most affected were the superannuation and pension funds. At least it shows that this world of ‘unbridled markets’ are cyclical and the real losers at the end are the ordinary people in terms of jobs, wages and living standards.

At the previous occasion, first came the recession in the housing economy and then the crash in the stock market. This time, the stocks have crashed first, and it is not clear yet what would follow in the economies. Whatever the case, there is no doubt that the ‘elected governments’ by the people would come to the recuse of the big companies and business communities at the expense of the people. This vindicates what Jeremy Corbin has been continuously advocating. People have to have a proper ideology, a party and a dedicated leadership to counter the situation.

Corbin’s Background

There is no question that Corbin as a person played a decisive role in radicalizing Labour politics. But it was not as a traditional ‘charismatic’ leader, but a determined humble one and that was his charisma among the new generations and circumstances. Until he obtained nearly 13 million votes at the elections, no one in the conservative circles or conservatives within the Labour did not take him serious. He was considered the ‘absolute boy’ and traduced as a ‘laughing-stock’ leader. All these became changed suddenly.

As Seymour said, “Corbin, from a more humble background in rural Shropshire, where he worked on local farms, has never been considered a likely Labour leader.” As he further quoted Corbin himself, there was a big contrast between him and Tony Blair.

“The difference between me and Tony was that whereas he was one of those very unusual politicians who was actually very successful in a conventional career pattern, I have been monumentally unsuccessful in the conventional career patter.” (p.4).

Perhaps that was his strength, having gone through difficulties in life and coming into contact with ordinary workers, farmers, housewives, unemployed youth and the like. This was also the difference between him and Theresa May. During the election campaign when she was asked about the ‘naughtiest thing she ever did as a child,’ she had said ‘running through fields of wheat, upsetting local farmers’! That was the difference.

(Richard Seymour, born 1977)

It is not unusual in the Labour history (UK or Australia) for the workers or trade unionists to come to the leadership. Is this possible in Sri Lanka within the Left? I doubt it at present. There was a time when trade union leaders like D. G. William or M. G. Mendis were prominent in the Left movement. But even that period is gone now as the trade union movement has become scattered and the remnants largely becoming tools of ruling parties or nationalists. Another reason is the monopoly of the English education; thus the so-called theoretical knowledge imprisoned within a small urban elite.

His Ascendency

Corbin has been in local council politics between 1974 and 1983. This is in addition to his trade union activities. He became a Member of Parliament representing Islington North since 1983. Therefore, apart from his trade union affiliation and activism, and local government politics, he has been familiar with what was going on inside the parliamentary Labour Party during this ‘reformist’ or ‘revisionist’ period (1994-2015). The ideology of this period was broadly called ‘New Labour,’ directly  and indirectly accepting neoliberalism.

In my opinion, however, there is no reason to totally reject what appeared as the analysis of ‘New Labour,’ with some excellent contributions in Marxism Today. Even in the future, social democratic movements even elsewhere may have to absorb some of this analysis particularly in respect of political liberalism. However, Corbin was completely right in objecting and countering the economic conclusions of this analysis or its capitulation to neoliberalism. Even on the question of ‘free market,’ there is no reason to completely reject the reality.

While coming from a radical family, both parents being peace campaigners since 1930s, his political upbringing was very close to Tony Benn, probably the most radical politician in the Labour Party after the war. He himself was an anti-war activist going against the vacillating policies of the party on particularly Iraq war. He followed this leftist path very firmly and was instrumental in giving Tariq Ali, the former member of the International Marxist Group, membership of the Labour Party in 1982.

There are two chapters in Seymour’s important book, chapters 4 and 5, outlining his ascending to the leadership.

(Richard Seymour, born 1977)

His Programme

As Richard Seymour, the author of the book that we talk about says, “Corbyn’s agenda is not exactly the Communist Manifesto.” He is not even a strong Marxist. He believes in many things and, first and foremost as a rational politician, he believes in the people. Not that he believes in their opinion or what we call ‘public opinion, but their interests and needs. “That is not to say he is indifferent to what people think  – but he wants to change opinion.”

His manifesto at the last election was fairly radical. It may be better to quote Seymour on this subject.

“Labour’s manifesto – above all its core commitments to renationalizing rail, mail, energy, and water; expanded public investment; abolishing tuition fees; building council houses; raising the minimum wage; and rolling out a new menu of workers’ rights – was extremely popular.” (p. xii).

There is no question about the popularity of such a radical manifesto among the labouring workers who always wait for a raise in minimum wages and among the students and youth who are eager to have tuition free education. But what about the middle classes and the public in general? His ‘renationalization agenda’ (rail, mail, energy and water) was extremely radical, while his ‘expanded public investment’ was equally popular among the party members and supporters without much questioning except among the conservatives. Building council houses was/is a primary necessity in Britain and elsewhere given the housing prices and rents.

Is such a programme feasible in Sri Lanka towards social democracy or more precisely, democratic socialism? This is a question I would like to pose with this review. Renationalization or halting privatization is necessary for social justice and affordability. Could they be run efficiently and without loss? Sri Lanka has largely preserved free education and health care although with several encroachments. Could they be expanded at least? Unfortunately, even at this closely contested local government elections, no one has promised or talked about ‘council houses.’

Corbin has continuously refuted the neoliberal theory of ‘trickledown effect.’ How long the ordinary people have to wait for the ‘trickles’ to come down like manna! That is why he is talking about ‘expanded public investments.’ Obviously such a thing is difficult in a country like Sri Lanka given the small economic base, corruption and inefficiency. Another reason is the present tax structure. Therefore a certain leverage could be and should be allowed for the private sector participation and FDI. However, the ‘free market’ should not be allowed to manifest as ‘bond scams.’

Future Prospects

What are the prospects of Jeremy Corbin winning elections in the future? Anyone interested in this subject should particularly read Chapter 6 or the final chapter. The author’s analysis is obviously cautious on this matter both weighing pros and cons or merits and demerits. For this assessment, the author has finally used several types of benchmark.

The first is organizational. This is about the party while the author has commended Corbin as fairly a good organizer and an effective communicator in previous chapters. The author has used elsewhere the common Christian saying, ‘the church is not bricks and mortar.’ This means the Party is not its bureaucracy or money, but its members. Corbin it appears has a good grasp on this matter.

The second is ideology. Corbin undoubtedly is a radical socialist. He has resurrected the word ‘socialism’ after several decades, where it was completely off the agenda. However he is a pragmatist and not an extremist. Democracy and liberty are close to his heart it appears. The third benchmark is electoral. This may be an area he is apparently weak, but appears catching up fast, but without compromising principles. He seems to be working on the youth, the poor and also utilizing the social media with much success.

The final benchmark the author talks about is policy. This is of course a difficult matter with different dimensions in any country. Corbin has however built much consensus within the party and it is a matter of effectively communicating them to the public. The following appears to be the author’s final assessment about his future.

“In the first edition of this book, I thought it most likely that Corbynism would enjoy some successes but fail in its larger, longer-term objectives….It is no longer evident that this is the most realistic reading.” (p. 287).

*Richard Seymour is not a Labour Party member or a close ally of Jeremy Corbin. A former member of the Socialist Workers Party, he is an independent Marxist writer, broadcaster and an activist.

Colombia and Brazil clamp down on borders as Venezuela crisis spurs exodus

Venezuela’s neighbors plan to dispatch more security personnel while Brazil prepares to relocate thousands of refugees to country’s interior

 Police stand guard as a Venezuelan woman crosses into Colombia through a bridge linking San Antonio del Táchira, Venezuela, with Cúcuta, Colombia. Photograph: Ariana Cubillos/AP

John Otis in Cúcuta Emma Graham-Harrison and Carmen Fishwick Fri 9 Feb 2018

Venezuela’s neighbours are tightening their borders, alarmed by the exodus of hundreds of thousands of desperate refugees fleeing hunger, hyperinflation and a spiralling political crisis.

Brazil and Colombia are sending extra troops to patrol frontier regions where Venezuelans have arrived in record numbers over recent months.

Colombia, which officially took in more than half a million Venezuelans over the last six months of 2017, also plans to make it harder to cross the frontier or stay illegally in Colombia. Brazil said it will shift refugees from regions near the border where social services are badly strained.

The economic crisis and food shortages which have driven so many from their homes show no signs of easing.

The International Monetary Fund forecasts hyperinflation in Venezuela will hit 13,000% this year, so most salaries are now worth the equivalent of just a few British pounds a month.

All but the very wealthiest, or those with access to support from abroad, are struggling to find or pay for food. Looting to eat is on the rise, with reports of people stoning a cow to death, butchering horses from a veterinary institute and raiding a fishing boat for sardines.

Filippo Martínez, a 45 year-old university researcher reckons he is among the top 5% of Venezuelans, even though he works 17-hour days on two jobs.

“Even people like me in stable and professional [jobs] can’t afford the basics,” he told the Guardian. His monthly salary for working 8am to 5pm at the university now covers just a week’s worth of food, so he works until 1am as a freelance consultant just to survive.

Friends have scattered across the region, and students leave as soon as they graduate. Martínez has stayed only because he spent years working for his current position, and can hardly bear to think about abandoning it.

“I don’t want to be an immigrant,” he says. “There’s a lot of people quitting the country with no plans, no money and no profession.”

Over the last half of 2017, the number of Venezuelans moving to Colombia jumped by 62% to about 550,000, according to immigration officials. But with illegal migration included, officials believe more than 1 million Venezuelans have moved to Colombia since the economic crisis took hold in 2015.

“Colombia has never before experienced a situation like this,” President Juan Manuel Santos said during a visit to Cúcuta, a border city of 670,000 that is the main receiving center for Venezuelan migrants.

Santos laid the blame squarely on the shoulders of Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s increasingly authoritarian president.

“I want to repeat to President Maduro: this is the result of your policies. It is not the fault of Colombians and it’s the result of your refusal to receive humanitarian aid, which has been offered, not just from Colombia but from the international community.”

It was a message echoed by Brazil’s defence minister, Raul Jungmann, who also visited a border town to unveil his government’s new plans.

“This is a humanitarian drama. The Venezuelans are being expelled from their country by hunger and the lack of jobs and medicine,” he told reporters in Boa Vista. “We are here to bring help and to strengthen the border.”

Life in exile is often precarious. In Cúcuta, tired and hungry Venezuelans often sell their possessions, including wedding rings and even their hair, to buy food. Some hole up in temporary shelters or on park benches and rely on soup kitchens set up by churches.

But the flood of departures is unlikely to slow while Venezuelans go hungry at home. “It feels like we are just dying slowly and there’s no hope of change,” said Cristian Sousa, a 24-year-old trainee doctor whose family have almost all left, including his mother, younger brother, an uncle and aunt, and half a dozen cousins.

He has stayed on to finish his degree but is counting the days to graduation. “We used to eat three full-sized meals and fruits, cookies or something between every meal. Now we can barely, really barely, eat twice a day.”

In Colombia, one of the newcomers, Jesús García, said he quit his job as an industrial mechanic with Venezuela’s state oil company in December when his salary no longer covered food for his wife and two kids.

He arrived in Cúcuta last month and while he looks for work, he is busking in a city park, playing a harp and singing folk songs alongside a a fellow Venezuelan, who strums guitar. Bystanders toss the equivalent of about £8 ($11) a day into an open guitar case – which is more than García earned as an oil worker back in Venezuela.

How Burmese forces burned, looted and killed in a remote village

9th February 2018

Ten Rohingya Muslim men with their hands bound kneel as members of the Myanmar security forces stand guard in Inn Din village September 2, 2017. Picture taken September 2, 2017. Source: Handout via Reuters

Reporting for this story is what led to the arrest of Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo.

How Burmese forces burned, looted and killed in a remote village.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Primitive human eggs matured in the lab for the first time

By Jessica Hamzelou-9 February 2018

Human eggs have been matured from their most primitive state to full development in the lab for the first time. The resulting eggs are ready to be fertilised, and, if healthy, could in theory be used to advance IVF treatments as well as helping women who had cancer when they were young.

“It is really exciting,” says Michael Dahan at McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, Canada, who was not involved in the work. “It has the potential to improve treatment.”

Scientists have been trying to develop human egg and sperm cells in the lab for years, in order to better understand how these cells work, and to improve treatments for the growing number of infertile couples and individuals. But until now, they’ve only managed it in animals like mice.

“Working with mouse tissue is incredibly easy,” says Evelyn Telfer at the University of Edinburgh, who led the new work. “The composition of human tissue is quite different, and is not straightforward.” This is partly due to the presence of multiple supportive cells that surround the egg, making it more difficult to access and work with, she says.

Telfer’s team have overcome this hurdle by persevering with their technique for years, continually tweaking it to get the conditions right for egg growth. “We’ve been bullish,” says Telfer. In their procedure, the team start with tiny pieces of ovarian tissue, taken from 10 female volunteers during caesarean section surgery.

The team then look for what are called “primordial follicles” – small structures that each have the potential to release an egg. Women are thought to be born with all the follicles they will ever have. Most follicles remain inactive during a woman’s life, but some begin to grow in order to release an egg in ovulation. “In humans, they can sit there for 40 years before they start to grow,” says Telfer.

Fully mature

The primordial follicles are then placed in a nutrient-rich liquid, where they start to grow. There is no particular ingredient that kickstarts the growth, says Telfer. She believes that the act of chopping up the ovary is enough to activate development. This chimes with the findings of a Japanese group, who essentially chop up bits of women’s ovaries and re-implant them to improve their fertility.

Telfer and her colleagues then removed the individual eggs from each follicle, and focused on getting them to grow on their own to a size you would see at ovulation.

While some of the eggs failed along the way, a fraction continued to develop to a fully mature state. The team could tell these eggs were ready to be fertilised because they had undergone a key stage of cell division, in which the number of chromosomes is halved. The end result is a large egg cell with 23 unpaired chromosomes – ready to be combined with a sperm cell – and a much smaller sphere of cytoplasm containing the other chromosomes, which is known as a polar body. These tend to be broken down in a woman’s body.

Of the 310 primordial follicles the team started with, 87 survived the initial stage of the experiment. From these, the team were able to obtain 32 fully mature eggs. The whole process took between 21 and 22 days.

These eggs are technically ready to be fertilised with sperm. The team do not yet have a licence to do this, but have applied for one. If it can lead to healthy embryos, the technique could potentially be used in a range of fertility treatments.

Young girls with cancers often have pieces of their ovaries removed before they receive treatments that can damage their egg supply. The idea is to re-implant the tissue when the girls are older, and ready to start a family. But sometimes this isn’t ideal – the tissue might contain residual cancer cells, for instance.

Better IVF

Telfer’s technique could provide an alternative. If mature eggs could be developed from the ovarian tissue in the lab, these could be fertilised as part of IVF, allowing only the resulting embryos to be implanted.

In theory, the technique could also be used to improve IVF. At the moment, women who opt for IVF are given often gruelling hormonal treatments, which trigger the release of multiple eggs. These are then collected and fertilised with sperm in the lab. Sometimes the eggs might be too immature to use, says Dahan. In these cases, there’s a chance that the new technique could bring them up to scratch, boosting the total number available for IVF and increasing a woman’s odds of conceiving. “It’s something we could use to help develop [eggs] we would have had to discard in the past,” he says.

There are other potential benefits for IVF. If ovarian tissue can be used to obtain mature egg cells in the lab, then why not bypass hormonal treatments and egg extraction altogether? Surgery to remove a piece of ovary is invasive, and the risks wouldn’t be justified in most cases, says Dahan. But for women who are already having surgery, such as for endometriosis – a common cause of female infertility – this could be an option in the future, he says.

Before that, the team will have to be sure the eggs are healthy. While they appear fully matured, they aren’t identical to those released by ovaries. In particular, the polar bodies they produce are much larger than normal – at least twice the size, says Telfer.

This might be harmless, as the polar bodies are discarded anyway, but if the eggs are losing out on valuable cytoplasm – including the energy-providing compartments it contains – they might end up worse off as a result.

In the meantime, Telfer hopes the technique will help her and others understand more about how eggs develop, and what goes wrong in fertility disorders that lead to a lack of eggs, known as primary ovarian insufficiency. “There are several conditions in which women lose their eggs much earlier in life, or they don’t grow,” she says. “If we could understand the process… we could develop treatments for that.”

Journal reference: Molecular Human Reproduction, DOI: 10.1093/molehr/gay002

Read more: Eggs made from skin cells in lab could herald end of infertility; Human sperm grown in a lab for the first time claims study; Fertility facts: how late can you leave it to have a baby?

Sri Lankan army chief says no inquiry into Brigadier Fernando

08Feb 2018

The Sri Lankan army commander on Wednesday rejected the possibility of an inquiry into the country's Defence Attache, Brigadier Priyanka Fernando, after he was filmed making a throat slitting gesture to Tamil protesters, claiming that he had only been explaining that the LTTE leader had been 'taken care of' by the military.

"On the day of the incident the protesters who were carrying LTTE flags had shouted slogans against the Sri Lankan government and sung songs in praise of Prabhakaran," Commander Mahesh Senananayake said.

"The Brigadier who was standing inside the premises of the Sri Lankan HC had pointed to the Sri Lankan flag on the shoulder of his uniform and gestured that the Sri Lankan government had already 'taken care' of Prabhakaran," he was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying.

Commander Senananayake denied the gesture by Brigadier Fernando was made in a threatening way.
Brigadier Fernando on Sunday was seen gesturing the slitting of one's throat to Tamils protesting against Independence Day celebrations outside the Sri Lankan High Commission in London.

Brigadier Fernando, who was part of the military operations during 2009, was suspended by the Ministry of External Affairs, only to be reinstated by the Sri Lankan president the following day.

The suspension by the MEA followed the lodging of a strong official protest by the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, James Dauris, acting on the instructions of the highest level of government, the source added.

Brigadier Priyanka Fernando was posted to London as the Sri Lankan High Commission’s defence attache last year said a briefing note by journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS) & the International Truth and Justice Project (IJTP).

As part of the military offensive in 2009, Brigadier Fernando fought in Weli Oya and Janakapura for the 11 Gemunu Watch Battalion as part of the 59 Division of the Sri Lankan Army.

The United Nations OHCHR Investigation into Sri Lanka detailed multiple incidents, implicating the 59 Division in the shelling of hospitals south of Mullaitivu.

“Brigadier Fernando was clearly active in the final offensive in the north of Sri Lanka from at least April 2008 – and on those grounds alone should have been subjected to a scrupulous vetting process by both the Government of Sri Lanka and the UK which should have precluded his diplomatic appointment to London,” said the briefing note. 

Related Articles: 

07 February 2018 : British Police investigating incident involving Sri Lankan military officer - reports

07 February 2018 : 'Cannot remove officer due to social media video' - Sri Lankan army

07 February 2018 : Sri Lanka's president revokes suspension of military official at London embassy

06 February 2018 : Chair of cross-party UK MPs urges govt to expel Sri Lankan military official

06 February 2018 : British MPs call for expulsion of Sri Lankan military official

05 February 2018 : Sri Lankan officer that threatened Tamil protestors implicated in war crimes

04 February 2018 : Sri Lankan military official motions death threat to Tamils protesting in London

President Sirisena Unites Tamil Diaspora Groups By Refusing To Budge On Brigadier Fernando

author: COLOMBO TELEGRAPH-February 8, 2018

President Maithripala Sirisena’s move to block what would have been the routine course of action following the throat-cutting gesture by Brigadier Priyanka Fernando, Minister Counsellor (Defence) in the Sri Lanka mission in London, has served to bring together the hitherto divided Tamil diaspora groups.


Although initially the decision was to suspend Fernando and hold an inquiry, the President revoked it. This has raised the ire of Tamil diaspora groups who have not talked to each other since the war ended and have spent years in bitter infighting. Sirisena’s decision has prompted them to come together for the first time since May 2009. They have decided to write a letter to the Foreign Secretary of the UK.

The joint letter is drafted by the highly renowned law firm Birnberg Peirce and Partners in the UK., Colombo Telegraph reliably leans. Gareth Peirce is a highly respected human rights lawyer and the law firm is known to take on high profile human rights cases.

The President has used the issue to stamp his ‘patriotic credentials’ perhaps in view of the forthcoming local government elections and low approval ratings.

Not to be outdone several ministers from the United National Party (UNP) have come out in support of the errant officer whose throat-cutting gesture at a demonstration by a Tamil organization on Independence Day caused a diplomatic furor.

Although Fernando’s status is not clear as yet, State Minister of Defense Ruwan Wijewardene praised Fernando for making the said gesture, claiming that ‘it was the right signal to pro-LTTE diaspora.’
Wijewardena told the Daily Mirror that although the Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had made a request to recall Fernando, “the President intervened and asked him to remain in the UK”.

The Minister of Plantation Industries Navin Dissanayake has written to two members of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils Joan Ryan and Siobhain Ann McDonagh APPG for Tamils, condemning the two for supporting front organizations for the LTTE. Dissanayake claims that Fernando pointing to the lion emblem on the arm of his uniform was ‘to countenance the disgust he felt when he saw Tiger flags displayed before him.’

Mangala Samaraweera, Minister of Finance and Media, who has not expressed opinions on the matter has complained to the Criminal Investigation Department that a letter purported to have been written by him to ‘The British Tamil Forum’ is being circulated in social media. The latter which erroneously has Samaraweera as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, carries assurances by Samaraweera to one T.R. Balu to the effect that Prime MInister Ranil Wickremesinghe had requested President Sirisena to recall the Army officer.

Read More

Sri Lanka: People will vote to endorse the brewing “Political Crisis”

With Rajapaksa assumed to have another comeback, President Sirisena will have a harder time ahead than his “advisors” had calculated.

by Kusal Perera-Feb 8, 2018
Feb 8, 2018
( February 8, 2018, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Saturday is D-Day for President Sirisena and the Sirisena-Wickramasinghe “Unity” government. Independence celebrations over, 15.8 million voters would go to polls on Saturday 10 February to elect long delayed LG bodies in an election that virtually decides the political power in a three cornered do or die battle.

Politically, the first month of 2018 created many downturns and possible crises for the future. The LG elections itself became a forerunner of conflicts and political speculations. The SLFP campaign showed President Sirisena on a high risk political adventure in a bid to wrest control of the majority of the Sinhala popular vote. When he contested the presidency in 2015 January as the Common Candidate of the opposition led by the UNP, he was contesting against the “war winning” SLFP candidate Rajapaksa, highlighting mega corruption, authoritarian rule and a promise to return to decent, democratic governance. The urban middle class ganged up on those issues, the rural voter was not very much interested in, as relevant to their living. Candidate Sirisena didn’t then realise he would nevertheless be portrayed as the betrayer of the Sinhala Buddhist SLFP vote. As president he expected to take control of the SLFP by doling out cabinet positions and other portfolios to SLFP members in parliament. On that assumption, he worked overtime during the August 2015 parliamentary election to keep Rajapaksa reduced to a small patch in the Southern Sinhala map. He thus further angered the SLFP vote Rajapaksa singlehandedly mobilised against the UNP to bring 95 SLFP/UPFA members to parliament and restricting UNP to 106 and below the required majority.
When President Sirisena was dragged into hold LG elections he realised, he needs those Rajapaksa Sinhala Buddhist votes to consolidate himself in power. While maintaining his “pro War hero – anti war crimes investigations” patriotic image, he turned himself into a Sinhala “Anna Hazare”. He took the line “anti corruption” is present day “patriotism”. Him pitching the Bond scam investigation report against the UNP thus turned out as the major conflict in the Unity government. In urban society and in media, the demand to translate those promises into practical action, saw the arrest of Arjun Aloysius the owner of Perpetual Treasuries and its CEO Kasun Palihena while President Sirisena was celebrating 70 years of independence. He also threw out a nonpartisan facade and wanted 34 cases cited in the PRECIFAC Report to be debated in parliament along with the Bond scam report.

After much haggling between the JO/JVP and PM Wickramasinghe over the date for the debate, it was finally agreed for 06 February. That debate fizzled out with most MPs avoiding it.  Meanwhile Rajapaka’s cousin Udayanga Weeratunge, a former Ambassador to Russia was detained at the Dubai airport with UNP leaders trying their best to have him extradited to Colombo. Surprisingly there is not much hype over that from presidential quarters. Perhaps afraid Gotabhaya will be directly linked to Udayanga on the MIG deal and that would impact negatively on Sinhala Buddhist votes Sirisena is wholly dependent on.

How much of all that would give him votes at this LG election is debatable and would be seen after the final count. With ‘Ward’ results made available on Saturday night itself, it would yet be easy to see the direction of the blowing. Some expect the UNP to win around 40 per cent of the LG bodies outside North-East that works out to around 105 Councils. That leaves Sirisena and Rajapaksa to share the balance 157 Southern Councils between them, assuming the JVP will not have control in any. If Rajapaksa manages 95 of that number leaving Sirisena with only 62 Councils, Rajapaksa would call the shots, not Wickramasinghe.

Either way, LG election results would catalyse the crisis in this government further that would not be restricted to parliament thereafter. If Sirisena comes behind Rajapaksa, the UNP will dictate terms in the government wanting to consolidate its power on the argument it is people’s mandate. How Sirisena would thereafter stick to his promise of a new beginning after February 10 will then be like him sitting in a game of chess without the front row ‘Pawns’ and the ‘Queen’. Despite what the results could be, leading government figures now on a divided election platform keep saying they will have a government of their own, after LG elections. For now while the people are yet to vote, the government remains fractured and beyond repair.

Even IF Sirisena gets that “miraculous majority” vote, it would not be easy for him to honour his resurrected and regularly made promise for “clean” rule with or without the Unity government. He himself has accused the UNP leadership of corruption after the Bond scam Report. There is also the possibility of UNP backed Colombo “civil society” groups raising the “warship” and the ‘Spectrum” deals in retaliation after LG elections to checkmate President Sirisena himself. Anti corruption turned the main election slogan over the past two three weeks could thus boomerang on Sirisena in post LG election 2018. Whether the urban middle class believes Sirisena or not, the demand to check mate “King” Rajapaksa would also gain momentum making compromises more difficult than he anticipated.

With Rajapaksa assumed to have another comeback, President Sirisena will have a harder time ahead than his “advisors” had calculated. If given a new lease of life, Rajapaksa and his JO will not allow President Sirisena any breathing space to sit back and work out new strategy, without a stake for them. It would thus leave this “Yahapalana” government tottering along for sometime, though PM Wickramasinghe assures this “unity” government will continue whatever the LG election results would be.

President Sirisena projecting a totally different image to what he carried during the 2015 August election, would not allow him to be the “anti Rajapaksa” – “pro Wickramasinghe” President he was, once the February 10 elections are over. His own men in the cabinet will not allow him to play safe with the UNP for long. At LG level, his SLFP men cannot in anyway support the UNP to take over any Council where the UNP lead without an overall majority. Thus, out of the 105 plus LG bodies the UNP is tipped to win, if SLFP and SLPP Councillors workout a coalition between them (they will not wait till party leaders compromise) at local level, they may take on a further 15 to 20 Councils under them from the UNP.

Politically, the post February period would usher in serious uncertainties. Western interests that worked for a regime change and was visiting Colombo in drones after the 2015 January elections and helped the Sirisena-Wickramasinghe Unity government to compromise on a co-sponsored UNHRC Resolution that’s now almost shelved, stay very much annoyed. Most Western countries now face difficulties in compromising with Tamil Diasporic factions in their own electoral constituencies with demands to censure the Yahapalana government becoming loud with every new day. That is quite evident from the EU GSP ”Plus” Report covering the period 2016-2017. Its plain the EU is not happy with this government’s performance.

That will raise the next question, will the West accept a new coalition between Sirisena and Rajapaksa? For now in how the post election scenario could unfold, they will not be able to think of any change of regime immediately. If Sirisena is pushed into a new compromise with Rajapaksa by ditching the UNP, they may nevertheless accelerate their campaign demanding the GoSL to honour the co-sponsored UN Resolution. They may also weigh in the “Wickramasinghe factor” in the UNP as an alternative viable factor. “Who else?” will be the question that would keep them hesitant in taking immediate decisions.

As much as the West, the ITAK leadership in TNA will also be left without any headway in pushing for Constitutional Reforms after LG elections, even if they are voted with over 80 per cent control of LG bodies in the North and close to 50 per cent in the East. That vote would mean nothing with a fractured Unity government in Colombo, left without any teeth to bite into Constitutional reforms as ITAK wants.

The ITAK leadership in TNA will therefore find themselves in troubled and deep in hot waters without any acceptable excuse for piggybacking the UNP for 03 long and unproductive years. With the TNA leadership deciding they will opt for electioneering instead of taking a position on mega corruption at the parliamentary debate, also proves they are no more interested in principle political positions, but live on blind belief they can still persuade the discredited UNP leadership to push ahead with Constitutional Reforms. It’s their blind beliefs that leaves a veteran Octogenarian politician like Sampanthan with close to 60 years of active politics incapable of reading this Unity government’s politics right. At least in the way the protesting women in Keppapilavu read the duplicity of this government. All of them at the helm of TNA will now have to search for excuses for their failure to deliver on loud political promises made from election platforms not just this time, but in 2015 August elections too.

The South cannot be any better with political instability and serious economic decline. Neither Sirisena nor Rajapaksa has any alternate workable development programme to compromise on. They would only compromise on a power equation with numbers and positions. Whoever takes control of government thereafter is destined to live with China and corruption. The economy will not be redefined in any way to channel adequate benefits for the rural poor who voted more with the SLFP and SLPP. Colombo and its “filthy rich” will remain with an advantage in a seriously rotting economy. That again would mean nothing new in Sri Lanka. That with heavy polarising of forces in the Sinhala South during election campaigns giving way to Sinhala populism, Sri Lanka would be left with ethno-religious politics deciding what North-East Tamil and Muslim people should live with in year 2018 too.

In brief, the Unity government after the LG elections will be left as fragile as no other coalition government had been in mid term before. Election campaigning by President Sirisena had already laid the ground for the political crises ahead despite how the people would vote on Saturday. What the EC would read out as official results will only add salt to the bitter pickle on the boil.

Miles to go before we sleep: Reflections on Sri Lanka’s 70th anniversary of Independence

AYESHA ZUHAIR-02/08/2018

Seven decades have passed since the ‘Pearl of the Indian Ocean’ broke free from the bondage of colonial rule. For a country that was subject to one of the longest periods of foreign occupation from 1505 to 1948, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) had a remarkably smooth transition to the Parliamentary system of democratic governance. In contrast to many other colonies both in the region and beyond, there was no violent struggle for independence nor was the transfer of power marred by racial or religious turbulence.

Ceylon had in fact been regarded as a ‘model colony’ by the imperial rulers and went on to become a ‘model dominion’ on February 04, 1948. With impressive economic and social indicators, Sri Lanka at the time of independence was a rising star to be emulated by other states undergoing
decolonisation. But the 70 years that have lapsed post-independence are littered with many instances of great shame and squandered opportunities; the pearl now more aptly characterised as a teardrop.
After independence, Sri Lanka did not become development conscious. Economic progress was overtaken by other divisive factors. The post-Independence trajectory saw ethno-nationalism rear its ugly head, culminating in a protracted, brutal civil war with devastating consequences, the scars of which appear to be set to haunt the country in the years to come. These critical seventy years have seen a disgraceful number of ethno-religious upheavals that have tarnished our image worldwide.

This is a country where divisive ethno-religious considerations predominate at leadership levels, even after 70 years of self-rule. This is a country where the ethnic majority feels insecure partly due to the over-play by foreign powers on essentially internal domestic issues. And this is a country where the ethnic minorities feel equally insecure, resulting in their continuing to think from minority perspectives.

The challenge of building a united country in which all ethnic and religious communities feel a true sense of belonging, equality and fair-play remains a daunting one. Yet it is one that does not even appear to be a priority at this juncture with the political elite preoccupied with their personal struggles to retain power. Their unmitigated pursuit of self-interest has been the bane of this country.

A Downward Descent

The road to degeneration was paved by opportunistic political leaders in independent Ceylon through the implementation of policies that accentuated ethnic tensions. Politicians resorted to ethnic-outbidding as a strategy to capture power but at great cost to the country and her future generations. In reality, the power transfer in 1948 did not resolve the underlying issues that divided the people.

Multi-ethnic Sri Lanka needed a structural framework that fostered consensus and co-existence; and the Soulbury Constitution even with Section 29 (2) which guaranteed equivalent rights to all communities, could not act as a bulwark against majoritarian politics. As a result, the language, education and employment policies implemented in independent Ceylon to improve the standing of the majority community, directly resulted in anti-minority practices.

It is pertinent to note that even in the ‘model colony’, there were two rebellions against British rule after the fall of the Kandyan Kingdom, the first in 1818 and the second in 1848, both of which were violently suppressed. In 1915, there were ethno-religious riots which were again quelled intolerably by the British. In the following years, the Ceylon National Congress was formed bringing together Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim leaders under one umbrella in a bid to push for reforms collectively.

But even this soon gave way to ethnic rivalries and complexes. After independence, sections of the Sinhala community began to stridently assert the need to revive their culture, language and religion, under subjugation for nearly four and a half centuries. Similar was the plight of most of the other communities. The rising nationalistic fervour failed to group together the other victims of foreign exploitation who continued to remain victimised.

The first targets of Sinhala ethno-nationalism were the poor, illiterate upcountry Tamils. In 1949/50, the government passed legislation denying citizenship to the Tamils of recent Indian origin and disenfranchising them, effectively reducing Tamil voting power. This signalled the first shift away from pluralism to communalism. The upcountry Tamil population comprised 11.73% in 1946 but dropped to 4.12% in 2011, primarily due to repatriation to India during the 1960s. They remain a subset of the country’s population unique for its income disparity and lagging far behind all other communities on all developmental indices.

In 1956, tensions soared after Sinhala was made the sole official language as a result of which the non-Sinhala speaking communities suffered immensely. Communal riots soon followed the same year. The worst pogrom took place in 1983 when hundreds of Tamils lost their lives and properties leading to a large exodus mainly to Western countries. The failure of Gandhian style agitation by Tamil leaders and the growing sense of marginalisation led to the formation of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the mid-1970s, signifying the shift from non-violence to violence in the articulation of Tamil demands.

The LTTE became one of the most ruthless insurgent outfits the world has ever seen. The Sinhalese and Muslims bore the brunt of their terrorist violence, as well as the Tamils. Their long list of terrorist acts include the Sri Maha Bodhi, Anuradhapura massacre in 1985, and the Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy bomb attack in 1998 just a few days prior to the 50th anniversary of independence. The Muslims too paid a heavy price for refusing to support the LTTE, including the 1990 ethnic cleansing of from the North Muslims and several massacres of Muslim civilians.

Quo Vadis, Mother Lanka?

From as early as 1958 when the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam pact was abandoned due to pressure from Sinhala nationalists, Sri Lanka has seen several unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a political settlement. Sri Lanka is Asia’s oldest democracy having enjoyed universal adult suffrage since 1931, 20 years ahead of its adoption in India and just two years after its introduction in Britain. Perhaps Sri Lanka’s greatest achievement since independence has been the ability to keep democracy alive, despite major threats to democratic practices over the decades.

The military defeat of the LTTE in 2009 by the Sri Lankan military presented a golden opportunity to put the country back on the right track, but that window was fast shut and the doors of despotism and nepotism opened wide. Post-war in 2009, Sri Lanka experienced a particularly acute erosion of democracy and communal violence directed at the Muslim and Christian communities. The minority communities together with a significant chunk of the majority community in early 2015 showed their anger at the direction in which the country was headed. Sri Lankans voted decisively to oust a corrupt, tyrannical regime and mandated a ‘rainbow coalition’ that promised to work together on a common agenda to salvage the country from ruination.

The national government had promised to restore fuller democracy, establish the rule of law, eliminate corruption and ensure security to religious minorities. As the country marks its seventh decade of independence, those pledges remain far from fulfilled. Today, foreign debt stands at Rs. 9.3 trillion and the plague of religious violence remains a matter of concern. Moreover, there is a lack of consistency in state policy and the government is unable to speak in a unified voice.

As Sri Lankans head to the polling stations for local government elections a few days after the official celebrations, they are starved for choice. Endorse a fractured, ineffective coalition government that can’t seem to get its acts together or cast a vote of confidence on a regime that was dethroned in 2015? We shall soon know but will we learn any lessons?

At 70, Sri Lanka needs to move from confrontational politics to compromised nation-building. There is really no choice here. Retrospectively, it is clear that confrontational and sectarian politicking has crippled our development. The inability of our leaders to rise above petty political ambitions and sectarian divisions to smash the myths and to work towards establishing a united Sri Lanka will engender another backward march. They need to overcome these challenges and not allow anything to overshadow their commitment to the nation-building agenda which they had already committed themselves to. So much remains to be achieved. We have miles to go before we sleep!

Editor’s Note: This piece was submitted as part of an ongoing series marking 70 years of Independence. To view more content, click here.