By Veeragathy Thanabalasingham
Colombo, August 17: A total of 39 candidates are contesting Sri Lanka’s 9th Presidential election scheduled to be held on 21 September.
For the first time in the history of Presidential elections in Sri Lanka, one of the leading candidates is an “Independent”. Serving President Ranil Wickremesinghe is contesting, not as a candidate of his United National Party, of which he is the Leader, but as an Independent.
The so-called “common Tamil candidate” Ariyanenthiran has said that his fight is only “symbolic”. And lastly, the election has a record number of candidates with 39 in the fray.
Another interesting feature of the Presidential election this time is that it will be between three top candidates and not two as in the past. The trio are: President Ranil Wickramasinghe; the leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB ) Sajith Premadasa; and the leader of the National Peple’s Power (NPP ) Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
Some political think that Namal Rajapaksa, the national organiser of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP ), will be the fourth leading candidate as he is the eldest son and political heir of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
This time, the Presidential election is taking place in an entirely different situation. Two years ago the severe economic crisis during the reign of the Rajapaksas sparked an unprecedented popular uprising in Sri Lanka’s history. Now Sri Lankan voters are going to get an opportunity to exercise their right to vote for the first time since the uprising that ousted the Rajapaksas from power. If there has been any perceptible change in the political thinking of the people as a result of the uprising, this election should definitely reflect that.
Unlike the previous Presidential elections, this time the campaigns started several months before the formal announcement of the election date by the Election Commission. Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara announced their candidature last year and started campaigning vigorously.
But as for President Wickremesinghe, he announced only late last month that he would contest the election. With his UNP severely weakened, he had to focus on building a broader alliance that could support him in the election. He is contesting not as a candidate of his party but as an independent with the support of a peculiar alliance comprising defectors from various political parties.
An agreement on the alliance comprising 32 political parties and groups was signed last Friday.
This is the first ever time that a leader of a main political party in Sri Lanka, the United National Party (UNP) is running as an “Independent” candidate in a Presidential election.
After the Rajapaksas decided to field a separate candidate on behalf of the SLPP, most of the parliamentarians of that party abandoned them and came to the side of the President. So even if the President is happy about the developments, he needs to really think about the number of votes each of them can bring to him.
Some observers say that because of the growing support for the President among the people in their constituencies, those members of parliament are abandoning the Rajapaksas and scrambling to support him. Even politicians who were staunch Rajapaksa loyalists say publicly that they have decided to back Wickremesinghe at the behest of their supporters who are increasingly turning towards him.
It seems that the President is conducting his campaign with an entirely different strategy declaring that he will campaign among the people by promoting the nation and not himself.
He says that he is not contesting the election against anyone and unlike other candidates, he is not contesting for his own political future but for the future of the country. He has announced that he is ready to work with all parties if he wins the election.
“Earlier I invited Premadasa and Anura Kumara to come forward to work with me. But they turned it down. They may be worried about that now. Next time I will bring them into the government. Not only them, but also Namal Rajapaksa, the candidate of the SLPP,” he told newspaper editors and heads of media houses last week.
It seems certain that he is not going to attack any candidate in the election platform. Saying that the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF ) is the only way to bring (IMF) Sri Lanka out of the economic crisis and lead it towards prosperity, he asks people to give him a mandate for the next five years to continue with the economic restructuring measures that his government has been taking forward for the last two years.
The President also points out that the other main candidates are also not opposed to the agreement with the IMF. They have openly said they would continue with it. He is not making any new promises and is seeking the mandate of the people to continue the same economic restructuring programme.
In addition, Wickramasinghe, who has presented himself as an independent candidate who can be supported by all parties without showing interest in party politics as the past, portrays himself as a new ‘avatar beyond party politics.’
If he Wickremesinghe wins he may be the first non-party President in Sri Lanka. But an important question is what impact the President’s current approach will have on Sri Lankan society, which has a political culture characterized deep party political rivalries and ethnic animosity.
After submitting their nomination papers at the Election Commission office last Thursday, the three main candidates made remarks to supporters and the media.
“I seek the people’s mandate to create a bright future for the people of Sri Lanka. We took charge of the country and brought stability. You now have access to food, fuel and other essentials. This is just the beginning. There is a lot of work to be done to make Sri Lanka a stable nation. I request people to give me a mandate to carry out these tasks.”
“When asked to take charge of the country at a time of crisis, members of the opposition ran away. Decide whether you are going to hand over the country to such people or not,” Wickremesinghe said.
The SJB leader Sajith Premadasa said that he will usher in an era in which the common masses will get priority as they did when his father, late President Ranasinghe Premadasa, was in-charge.
“I promise to create an era of the common masses. I will create a situation where everyone living in the country can enjoy the benefits of development. I call upon the people to rally behind me,” he stated.
NPP leader Anura Kumara said that the people need a change and said that only their camp has the ability to bring about such a change.
He said: “Despite the number of elections held in the past, the people suffered untold hardships for years. We can win this election. People want a change in the situation of suffering. We can turn this election to rescue people and the country from hardships. Only our camp can achieve that goal.”
Namal Rajapaksa is contesting in an attempt to rebuild the SLPP with his political future in mind. A significant aspect of Namal Rajapaksa’s entry is that a prominent member of the Rajapaksa family has entered the electoral fray after a popular uprising which ousted it from power.
No other member of the Rajapaksa family has any intention of contesting the Presidential election this time. At one point it was widely believed that supporting President Wickremesinghe was their best option. But after the President flatly refused to comply with their demands or conditions to secure their future political prospects, they decided to field a separate candidate.
Before falling out with the President, it seemed that the Rajapaksas were subtly intimidating the President by the prospect of nominating the casino owner and leading businessman Dhammika Perera as their party’s candidate. The Rajapaksas’ attempt to use Dhammika and his money as a touchstone to test their current support among the people ultimately proved futile. He announced at the last minute that he did not want to contest due to personal reasons.
So the Rajapaksas were forced to field Namal Rajapaksa without any other option. Fearing that the SLPP’s vote base will be scattered if they do not contest the elections, the Rajapaksas have nominated Namal Rajapaksa to protect the party. But are the people going to vote to elect a new President or are they going to vote to protect the Rajapaksas’ party?
The Rajapaksas have a perverse idea that the Sinhalese people should be forever loyal to them regardless of their mistakes for ending the war.
At the same time, there is no doubt that the Rajapaksas will be inclined to repeat majoritarian mobilization against the political rights and aspirations of minority communities in order to garner as many votes as possible. But while all three main candidates, though may be for electoral purpose, are interested in reaching out to minority communities, it seems that the Rajapaksas’ communal rhetoric is unlikely to gain much traction with the Sinhalese this time around.
If Namal Rajapaksa, a young political leader who is nursing an ambition to lead the country in the future choses a non-communal path unlike the elders of his family, it will augur well for him. Will he be willing to change? At least he can show a change in his thinking on ethnic relations by announcing in his election manifesto a progressive stance on the implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
Candidates of 23 political parties and 16 independent candidates are contesting the presidential election. Among them are leading politicians like former army chief Sarath Fonaseka, former Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapakshe and new comer to politics Dilith Jayaweera, a leading media moghul. There is no doubt that they are contesting for other purposes than to be elected as President. Same is the case with most of the Independent candidates.
It also noteworthy that Nuwan Bobage, a lawyer, is contesting on behalf of the ‘People’s Struggle Alliance’, a movement formed by a faction of activists who were in the forefront of the ‘Aragalaya’ people’s uprising.
Meanwhile, some of the fundamental issues that usually dominate Presidential elections seem unlikely to get the attention of the main candidates this time around. In particular, it is not known whether the long-standing popular demand to abolish the Executive Presidential system will find a place in their election manifestos.
Regarding the Tamil problem, nothing else can be expected in the manifestos of the main candidates except for the declarations on implementing the 13 th Amendment to the constitution with vague positions on important powers such as police and land.
There are also politicians in the North who say that they can consider supporting any candidate from the South if they promise that they are ready to accept the Sri Lankan Tamil people’s right to self-determination and finding a solution to the ethnic problem based on a federal system. So much for their understanding of today’s political situation around them.
On the North and East political front , Pakiyaselvam Arianethiran, a former Batticaloa District Member of Parliament of the Tamil National Alliance is contesting as a common Tamil candidate put up by some Tamil parties and a newly formed civil body the Tamil National General Council .
But his appointment was contrary to all the criteria defined by the Tamil National General Council. Those who nominated Arianethiran say that he is a symbol of Tamil nationalistic political aspirations. He says that it is a symbolic duty which will end with election day. So there is no point in talking about him here.
It seems that hereafter Tamil people will not have leaders but only symbols if and when elections come.
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