The inconvenient truth

“Let’s hope sanity prevails and those who want to contest elections are afforded the democratic space to do so be they Generals, terrorist turncoats, socialist comrades or the high and mighty from Medamulana.”
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(November 28, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) If the political goings on were bordering on the sublime these past few weeks it crossed the line to go right down to the ridiculous with the dawn of Friday (27) morning, when an order went out from the President’s Office that alienation or transfer of state owned property to any party during the election period was prohibited.

The shift from the sublime to the ridiculous began with the filing of a Fundamental Rights petition by the now confirmed ‘common candidate,’ General Sarath Fonseka on Tuesday (24) in the Supreme Court.

Within hours, sealed of roads that could not even be opened with a Supreme Court order, lay open. “Security concerns” that kept them closed for years apparently no longer existed. The President’s order not to alienate or transfer state owned property to ‘any party during the election period’ is a thinly camouflaged attempt to prevent Fonseka being given the land that was promised to the service commanders on completion of the war as a token of appreciation of the state. Such is the pettiness of the state.

The significance of these developments within hours of court action being instituted by the General has not been lost on the people. All this has left them wondering whether to laugh or cry. One wag was to even comment that it was Medamulana strategising at its best.

Fonseka’s main grouse that made him file the FR case was the drastic curtailing of his security contingent from 600 men to 25 upon his retirement from service two weeks ago. What also piqued the General was the insistence of the state for him to leave General’s House within one week with no alternate arrangements made – hardly the treatment that arguably Sri Lanka’s greatest modern day soldier could have dreamt of when he delivered Prabhakaran’s head, not on a platter but on a stretcher, barely six months ago.

Sri Lankans by and large irrespective of political persuasion have been watching aghast this unfolding drama with nothing but disgust. After all they have been forced to stomach the ignominy of having as one of their ministers a terrorist who not many moons ago was parading as Prabhakaran’s No.2. While the terrorist has become the vice president of the main party of the ruling alliance with a security contingent ten times the size of that given to Fonseka — the man who led the fight to “save the country” — as was repeated by the government ad nauseam. He is now being asked to step on to the road. If you hold your breath long enough the mud slinging will follow shortly as to why things are what they are.

That the General is on the warpath with the administration is old news. What should be news to the administration however is that with every vindictive move by the state to check the General’s march, the support for him will grow. The government in its shortsightedness is committing political hara kiri by making the war hero a political hero by resorting to its trademark tactics.

With presidential polls called the government it seems has been caught napping with its usually slick election machinery in snooze mode. An example is with the polls being called, the half hearted attempt to counter the rising cost of living with the announcement of sweeping price reductions of essential commodities. This has all but boomeranged on the government with no signs of the promised parippu at Rs. 140 a kilo materializing.

Just like with the opening of roads “security concerns” disappeared, “world prices” that kept the prices of commodities sky high according to the many graphs flashed before the people by the Trade Minister suddenly seem to have crashed.

If the campaign against the General is not helping the government’s cause the Trade Minister is adding fuel to the fire with his benevolent price reductions, which surely would be welcome if only they were real. When it’s not, as the Minister should know, the plan backfires. Damage control is likely to begin soon.

Let’s hope sanity prevails and those who want to contest elections are afforded the democratic space to do so be they Generals, terrorist turncoats, socialist comrades or the high and mighty from Medamulana.

-Sri Lanka Guardian