13 March 2023

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

 

AUTOCRATIC POWER IN SRI LANKA

 

‘In Democracy, you have the right to Oppose through an alternate belief. Hence Equal Opposition in Parliament is facilitated. In this instance if you, Vikum Rajapakse are not part of the 'Colombo corporates' then you have the right to oppose but not criticize’ Gaja on Twitter

 Then my attention went to Tamil MP Sumanthiran’s posting: ‘The President’s convoluted argument that there is no local Government election has been clinically destroyed by M.A. Sumanthiran PC. He posed the question of why RW’s UNP, paid deposits and fielded candidates, if there were no Local Government elections/ ft.lk/columns/Will-P…’

 

My mind questioned the validity of the above. As per  my knowledge, Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe came to parliament in the last Parliamentary elections through the National list entitlement.  Wikipedia includes the following under ‘National list member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka:

 

‘On a few occasions caste groups from within the Sinhalese and Tamils also obtained representation in Parliament as appointed members. In the Senate, 15 members were elected by the lower chamber, the House of Representatives and the other 15 members were appointed by the Governor-General on advice of the Prime Minister and generally consisted of distinguished individuals’

 

In 2022, Mr Wickremesinghe  was appointed as Prime Minister by the then President Mr Gotabaya Rajapaksa. An appointment happens in an autocratic system. Election happens in Democracy. In reality, Sri Lanka became autocratic, due also to those voters who  became dependent on government. Dependent voters promote autocracy. Hence that system became naturally autocratic, which facilitated the Presidency which was denied to Mr Wickremesinghe in 2005 when Tamil Freedom fighters – the LTTE blocked Tamil votes through their autocratic power.

We often get distracted by visible outcomes. But those who believe in themselves are the ultimate winners.