With the Presidential elections less than a month away, campaigning by the two leading candidates, President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gen. Sarath Fonseka (retd.) has gone into top gear with both making numerous promises to entice voters.
When Rajapakse announced his plan to hold the presidential election two years before his current term expires, he was hoping to capitalise on defeating the LTTE for his re-election. With the opposition not being able to counter Rajapaksa’s claiming of credit for the war victory, a landslide win for him was a forgone conclusion.
Unfortunately for Rajapaksa, the emergence of the Fonseka, his former military chief, as the rallying point for most of the opposition parties has made the election a tough fight for Rajapaksa.
Rajapaksa and his Fonseka, who as the army commander also claims credit for defeating the LTTE, have been at loggerheads since the end of the conflict.
Late last year, accusing the government of sidelining him and falsely suspecting him of trying to stage a coup, Fonseka quit his military post and threw his lot into the presidential election.
As hard-line Sinhala nationalists both Fonseka and Rajapaksa claim credit for defeating the LTTE in May and appeal largely to their own ethnic group.
True to their Sinhala nationalist leanings Fonseka and Rajapaksa chose cities holy to the Sinhalese majority to kick off their campaigns with religious blessings and rallies. Whilst Fonseka kicked off his campaign in the hill city of
Whilst Rajapksa is standing on an openly Sinhala nationalist platform, focusing on the Sinhala votes, Fonseka has cobbled together an anti-Mahinda coalition comprising of opposition parties who have come together despite having little commonality in their policies.
Rajapaksa, as commander-in-chief of security forces and Fonseka as overall commander of security forces are accused of crimes against humanity for the brutal way in which they conducted the war in which tens of thousands Tamils were massacred.
Chris Patten chairman of International Crisis Group and former Governor of Hong Kong writing in the International Herald Tribune wrote: “[P]ut yourself in a Tamil's shoes, and decide whom to vote for in the presidential election: Choose either the head of the government that ordered the attacks against you and your family, or the head of the army that carried it all out.”
For Tamils, this presidential election is no different to the previous ones - an exercise for the Sinhala nation to choose their leader. Tamils do not expect either candidate to take any meaningful steps to address their legitimate political aspirations.
Interestingly neither does the international community, based on Patten’s comments.
“What counts more than campaign promises, though, is what the winner actually does in office, and based on past performance, it is hard to imagine either candidate making the necessary constitutional reforms to end the marginalization of Tamils and other minorities - the roots of the decades-long conflict. Left unaddressed, Tamil humiliation and frustration could well lead to militancy again.” wrote Patten.
“While Sri Lankan voters face a difficult decision, for the international community, the choice is clear. Whoever wins, the outside world should use all its tools to convince the government to deal properly with those underlying issues to avoid a resurgence of mass violence. In the interest of lasting peace and stability, donor governments and international institutions -
“In short, this means not giving
Unfortunately, Rajapaksa’s manifesto had no evidence of a real effort by the Sri Lankan President to address the Tamil national question.
In his 14-point programme manifesto titled `A brighter future’ Rajapaksa promises “a unitary state, not to be divided” indicating no meaningful power devolution and no changes to the existing constitution.
According to the manifesto, Rajapakse will put
Speaking at the launch of the manifesto, President Rajapaksa conceded that having to spend most of the four years of his first in term in fighting terrorism, and also the many international forces that sought to obstruct the efforts to defeat the most ruthless organisation in the world, he had barely six months left to address other important issues, according to Hindu newspaper published in India.
He promised that his next term would be wholly devoted to addressing these issues that would take the country to development and progress, giving priority to the battle against corruption with the same determination with which he had fought the underworld and terrorism, the newspaper further reported.
Rajapaksa is trying to portray himself the leader who stood against international pressure to protect the nation whilst portraying the opposition parties as trying to give into terrorism by forming alliance with the Tamil National Alliance.
"These groups are trying to make way for another Eelam struggle in this country", Rajapaksa told the gathering on the occasion.
Copies of the manifesto were first presented to the Maha Sangha and all religious dignitaries present on the occasion.
A few days earlier, Fonseka launched his common minimum programme, titled "Vishvasaneeya Venasak" (Believable Change), setting out 10 points he will accomplish if he is elected.
Presenting his plan Fonseka told reporters he is not a politician but a government servant by profession and does not belong to any party but is a Sri Lankan who is acceptable to all.
In his programme, Fonseka pledged to maintain cordial and friendly ties with all countries world over and requested for an opportunity to be granted to establish democracy, wipe out corruption, and ease the burden the people are faced with.
"Life is harder under the Rajapaksas. Corruption, bribery, nepotism and ego-boosting extravagance are holding back the development of our country and hurting families," Fonseka told reporters at the launch of his manifesto.
In keeping with a Sri Lankan election tradition of populist subsidies, he promised higher public sector salaries and welfare payments, both of which are supported by one of his backers, the Marxist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party, but contradictory to the open market policies including privatisation and reduction in government expenses of another one his backers, the main opposition, United National Party.
Similarly, JVP and the Tamil National Alliance which announced its decision to back Fonseka have opposing views on the Tamil national question.
Political Analysts say whilst Fonseka may have not taken openly Sinhala nationalistic position, by trying to be everything to everyone, he may turn out to be nothing to anyone.
