Nothing less than existential: Our choice at the presidential elections
“And then I knew what to do.
I made a model of you,
A man in black with a Meinkampf look
And a love of the rack and the screw.
And I said I do, I do.”
“Daddy” by Sylvia Plath
If you can’t take my word for it, take that of Eric Hobsbawm, regarded not only as Britain’s greatest living historian but as ‘one of the outstanding historians of our age’ (Independent on Sunday). The Guardian says “Hobsbawm is one of the leading authors of the concepts and language in which all of us now discuss our situation”. It is indeed his language and concepts that help us understand why Mahinda Rajapakse is certainly my choice for president this time, given the choices available. Rajapakse’s achievement exceeds by far, his failings and failures — and I say this as a victim of one of those failures, a Pontius Pilatesque assent to a (resumed) attempt to dismiss me notwithstanding an important international mission in the country’s defense, successfully fulfilled. Rajapakse’s success was historic, and not merely from the point of view of this island’s history, but more notably, in achieving a victory that is rare in contemporary (or post modern) world history. In his most recent book ‘Globalisation, Democracy and Terrorism’ (2007), Hobsbawm includes an inaugural address delivered at the University of Thessaloniki, Greece in 2004, in which he notes that: “Today the full armed power of governments has proved incapable of maintaining unchallenged control of their territory for decades – in Sri Lanka, in India’s Kashmir, in Colombia, in the Gaza strip and the West Bank, or, for that matter, in parts of Belfast. There is indeed, a general crisis of state power and state legitimacy, even on the home territories of old and stable European states such as Spain and the United Kingdom”. (p 81).
Earlier, in Chapter 1, in a paper delivered on the centenary of the Nobel Peace Prize, Hobsbawm writes “Armed conflicts within states have become more serious and can continue for decades without any serious prospect of victory or settlement – Kashmir, Angola, Sri Lanka, Chechnya, Colombia.” (p25). And again in Chapter 7, “society has descended into permanent civil war (as in Sri Lanka).” (p117-8). In Chapter 8 Hobsbawm says the LTTE “have been conducting an effective civil war since the 1980s. They are best known as one of the great pioneers and probably the largest operators of suicide bombing…” (p122).
That then is the measure of Mahinda Rajapakse’s achievement: not only having overcome a formidable foe and ended a situation which had persisted ‘for decades with no serious prospect of victory or settlement’ according one of the world’s foremost minds; not only having shouldered and completed a task left undone by four notable predecessors; but having succeed in a task that many have not elsewhere in the world including in states far more powerful than Sri Lanka—the task of restoring state sovereignty and the monopoly of violence over its whole territory, thus resolving “the general crisis of state power”, that historian Hobsbawm identifies as one of the most daunting challenges of our time.
The authentic, detailed televised testimony given in public lectures and interviews by the frontline combat commanders Shavendra de Silva, Kamal Gunaratne, Prasanna Silva and Chagi Gallage, supported by intelligence chief Kapila Hendawitharane – arguably the finest group of officers of that rank serving in any military anywhere in the world today—means that the verdict is in about the decisive role of the national political leadership in winning the war.
For this achievement and the possession and use of those political strengths needed for it, should Mahinda Rajapakse be deprived of a second term; thrown out? While his lapses in the arena of domestic governance are legion, which error, malfeasance or collection of them outweighs his positive historic achievement?
Whose “Deveni Meheyuma”?
‘Deveni Meheyuma’ or ‘Second Operation/Second Offensive’ is the challenger General Fonseka’s campaign slogan. The problem is that there seem to be several such ‘second wave’ or ‘second strike’ operations. One of them is that of the overseas Tigers. The other is that of those external circles which wanted the war to stop (or to stop the war) before we finished off the Tigers.
This election has an external dimension and strategic aspect which is now surfacing in newspaper reports. The innocuous title of Asia Correspondent Andrew Buncombe’s January 7th piece in The Independent (UK), “TAMILS THROW WEIGHT BEHIND GENERAL WHO CRUSHED THEM”, had as revealing a “strap” as Liz Hurley’s, which read “TIGERS’ POLITICAL WING TRYING TO OUST INCUMBENT PRESIDENT AT JANUARY POLL”, while the identical piece running in the New Zealand Herald went all the way: “TAMIL TIGERS THROW WEIGHT BEHIND GENERAL WHO CRUSHED THEM”.
Now comes an AFP report “SRI LANKA VOTE RAISES HOPES IN WASHINGTON”, dated Sun Jan 17, by Shaun Tandon Shaun Tandon filing from Washington DC, which discloses significantly that:
‘…The US official was upbeat about pledges made by Fonseka including greater media freedom and independent commissions to oversee the judiciary and other key institutions.
“I’m hesitant to make predictions about the future, because candidates promise all sorts of things and then they don’t deliver, but certainly General Fonseka has been making some good pronunciations,” he said…
…”The Tamil Diaspora wants Mahinda to be defeated,” said David Poopalapillai, national spokesman for the Canadian Tamil Congress. “The climate would change and the rays of hope would come. It would bring some change in the country in the political climate,” he said.’
So the line-up is clear: our enemies the Tamil Tigers want a certain outcome and in this their views seem to converge with some elements in the West who wanted us to stop the war. The choice before the Sri Lankan voter is also clear: do we line up with the overseas based Tamil Tigers and pro-Tiger tendency of the Tamil Diaspora, as well as those elements in the West who wanted us to stop the war before Prabhakaran and his army were defeated and destroyed? Or do we line up with and defend that leader whom the Tamil Tigers want to see ousted? Do we side with the remnants of the unreconstructed, Sri Lanka hating secessionists and those who sought to deflect our victory over them, or do we side with the man who defeated the Tigers and stood up to those powers which tried to forestall that triumph of our people and nation? Do we line up with those who sought to exercise “the imperialism of human rights” (again, Hobsbawm, p7) over Sri Lanka as they did in Kosovo or with those who stood in their way?
I’d be ashamed if I were to do the former rather than the latter.
I believe that the negative phenomena of nepotism and corruption are secondary to the need to reward the incumbent for his unparalleled dedication to the war effort, decisive success in the war, refusal to blink in the face of Western pressure and safeguarding of the country’s independence and sovereignty. I also believe that corruption and nepotism are not reason enough to award the Tamil Tigers and their proxies a political victory and posthumous validation. I finally believe that these ills and secondary dangers in comparison to that of harshly authoritarian and coercive, possibly ruthlessly tyrannical rule.
The great modern political philosopher Hannah Arendt, herself the sister-in-law of that subtle Marxist thinker Walter Benjamin, once said somewhere that we unconsciously cross invisible lines in the sands of History which we become aware of only when we look back and find that they have grown into walls behind us. The election that beckons conceals just such an invisible or barely discernible line. If we cross it we not only venture into the unknown, as dangerous as a desert or a minefield; we move into a terrain from which there may be no going back for decades, because the lines we have crossed have grown into walls behind us. Now that we have overcome the worst of threats, that of separatist terrorism, why should we take a risk of such magnitude?
Our choices in this political battle will tell us who and what we are or have become; what we hold most dear and what we downgrade; how far we have come from what we were or what we have always been under the skin. The choices of January 26th are, in that sense, nothing less than existential.
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Nothing less than what??? How many readers of Groundviews would understand the meaning of ‘existential’? And since when did intellectuals change governments in Sri Lanka?
This kind of over-intellectualism will not will any new votes for Rajapaksa. In fact, intellectuals such as Dayan had a historic opportunity to influence and guide the first term of Rajapakse, who everyone including his staunch supporters will agree has far more charisma than intellect. But the 200+ presidential advisers (not all of them learned or intellectual) and others with intellect who had direct access to him failed to steer him. It took the meteoric rise of Sarath Fonseka for Rajapaksa to hurriedly promise/grant reforms and relief that his administration could have embarked on much earlier. Where have the intellectuals been hiding all this time? Why are they coming out of the woodwork now?
Your argument is vote for Mahinda because he won the war–a Thank You vote–even though in your words his “lapses in the arena of domestic governance are legion.” But what you and others who make the same argument don’t get is that this election is not about the war; this election IS about domestic governance–respect for the law of the land, media freedom, the fight against corruption, building competent government institutions free of petty political interference (of which you too are a victim), and finding a political solution to the ethnic conflict (or for a start, fully implementing the 13th). Clearly, Mahinda is NOT the man to give us that. BTW, for the record, thank you for what you did at the UN; I hope whoever wins the election finds a way to use your talents for the country’s benefit.
Dayan, you apparently missed my comments in the other thread regarding power shifting to the NCOs and enlisted ranks through Fonseka:
“And no, such a power shift had nothing to do with the victory. it was not even mentioned in the recent detailed interviews/public lectures by the top frontline combat commanders: Kamal Gunaratne, Shavi de Silva, Prasanna Silva, and Chagi Gallege.”
Really? There was a commentator named “Dayan Jayatilleka” who stated in 2008, “The defeat of such an insurgency will require (a) greater use of small-unit tactics on the part of the Sri Lankan armed forces …”
The hard-nosed realism of General Sarath Fonseka
http://www.lankamission.org/content/view/473/44/
At the grand strategic level, yes the political will demonstrated by the Rajapakses played the key role. At the operational and tactical levels, though, it was small team tactics that won the war. Tammita-Delgoda stated under the “Mentality” section of his paper, “Instead of the large formations which they had used in the past, General Fonseka adopted the idea of fighting in small groups. The four-men and eight-men teams became the core of his new strategy.”
These war-winning teams would have been led mostly by corporals and sergeants, and not officers, so my dear Dayan there definitely was a power shift within the SLA from the officers to the NCOs. Why else have you concluded that the NCOs and enlisted ranks are backing Fonseka?
this is a good analysis… are we so impatient that we waited for 30 years hoping for a end and when the end comes , we cant wait for mere 6 more months and we try to pacifiy the enemy by giving in a platter what we spent blood to achived…
i think this election will again show the difference of opinion of economy minded urban voters and patriotic rural voters…
Dayan:
Why I am not surprised that you heap such accolades on Eric Hobsbawm? What makes it more intriguing is the even mindset that you share with MR. This is the same guy who welcomed the fact that Stalin was right to murder milions. Maybe your favourite hero may not have heaped millions but nonetheless belongs to the butchers’ class in murdering thousands. What an uncanny resemblance that you have faithfully matched up? Should I not be envious of you of being the sidekick to cover up those atrocities and shrewdly try to push in a deceitful resolution to prevent the unearthing of not innocent civilians have been murdered but how many thousands. May be this is your way of giving a little bit of what it is all about and how even your greatest wisdom can sometimes fail you.
There is more: as you have often said of the casualties, it was a necessity to bring down the LTTE, and looks like you may have borrowed the idea from your reputed historian when he said “doing what had to be done” when commenting on the dastardly atrocities that Stalin committed on his own citizens to cling on to power. Bringing down the LTTE part poses or posed no problem as it had much blood in its hands but somehow it now seems to fall in place what was the mindset of the ruling regime when they butchered the innocent civilians. After all, as your infamous historian puts it “doing what had to be done” and that you were in it as as much as they were cannot be a doubt anymore.
ENDING THE WAR AS DAYAN SAYS NOT A MIRACLE AS THIS WAS THE FOREMOST REASON WHY PRESDENT WAS ELECTED BY GIVING A MANDATE IN 2005 PRESIDENTAIL ELECTION BY THE PATRIOTIC MOVEMENTS AND PEOPLE IN SRI LANKA UNHEEDING THE PRESSURE INSETED BY INDIA AND THE WESTERN INFLUENCE TO STOP IT EVEN AT THE VERY LAST STAGE. BUT THE CREDIT OF DEFEATING WAR SHOULD GO TO EVERYBODY IRRESPECTIVE OF POLITICAL DIFFERENCES AS COMMON MASS MADE THE BIIGEST SACRIFICE FOR ALMOST 30 YEARS ON BEHALF OF WAR.DAYAN TRIES TO FIGURE OUT THAT IT IS BECAUSE THE SPECILIATY THE INCUMBENT PRESIDEN THE WAR WAS WAN AND THERFORE THE CREDIT SHOULD TOTALLY BE GIVEN TO THE PRESIDENT.IN FACT MILLITARY LEADERSHIP PLAYED THE BIIGEST ROLE IN DEFEATIN WAR.AND AT THE LAST STAGE OF THE WR THE PRESIDENT WAS ENGAGED IN CAPTURING POWER IN PCS IN SOUTH RATHER THAN FOCUSSING ON WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN NORTH WHILE GEN;FONSEKA WAS BUSY CAPTURING POWER IN KILLINOCHCHI.ON THE CONTARY TO HARD WON WAR WRITER IS RECOMENDINING TO IMPLEMENT 13TH AMENDMENT WHICH IS AN INSULT TO THE WAR HEROS
Sri Lanka has now come to a new phase in its modern history. Remember the Truth cpmmossion in South Africa whcih brought the victimes and the perpatrators to reconcile the past with a focus for the future. So in Sri Lanka too. We need to get a new resolution. The alliances in the opposition is a historically importanmt development because they bring this new ground breaking alliance into the polity. Just because of giving political leadership for the country during the war period, we cannot ignore the harm whcih has been created due to the corruption, nepotism, break down of relations with the West and so on. Further, we should understand the need to develop relations with the west too rather than accusing them as imperialists always. Situation has now changes. Therefore, a new change is recquired and the ideal leadership would come from this broader political alliance whcih would be able to create relation with both east and West and also to stop or at least minimize the coorutiopn to a drastic level.
‘belittling all types al misdeeds and corruption,plundering money,family bandysm et,etc can not be justified by mahnda administration under the guise of war victories.
belittling all types of misdeeds ,corruption,family bandysm etc etc can not be justified by the Mahinda administration under the pretext of war victories
The whole argument in the article is about the PAST… sure, Mahinda provided political leadership to defeat the LTTE. Fine. If we should vote for him as a ‘reward’ for that, what about rewarding SF who was also a part of that leadership?
I think voters should look to the FUTURE and to rebuilding the country and moving on from the war. (And I’m really not sure whether MR or SF would be able to do this… but this is what the debate should be about IMHO).
And all this siding with the ‘LTTE supporters’ business just seems to be a eyewash to the real issues… and by the way, are all Tamil Diaspora ‘LTTE supporters’? Or does this argument have racist undertones – vote for Mahinda just because the Tamils don’t want him???
The hurrah-boys led by the Dayan Jayatilleka’s of this world keep talking about the Sri Lankan military victory as it was some kind of 21st century Horatius at the bridge. Compare the rag-tag Tigers and the Sri Lanka security forces in terms of armaments, manpower (SL had 500,000 personnel under arms, Russia’s army is about one million). Fonseka or Rajapaksa (the family) weren’t military or political geniuses, particularly with the West’s tut-tutting being referred to as “interference.”
That said, it is obvious that the Dayan Jayatilekas are not totally bereft of self-interest. Otherwise, why would they support the re-election of a cabal that has distinguished itself by an ability to totally disregard any norms of civilized conduct, has presided over the murder and intimidation of its opponents, ensured the demise of the rule of law, ignored the very constitution under which it supposedly exists unless there was something in it for them?
It is the God-given right of idiots to choose a regime such as this – the Rajapakse Royalty (unto the third generation) – under whose boot to place their necks. However, that doesn’t mean that the rest of us have to follow the Pied Pipers of Hamelin of the Dayan Jayatileka mould. We are not all masochists, I hope.
Wijayapala,
If you equate the innovative use of small unit tactics in warfare with a social power shift to the NCOs and the rank and file infantrymen, I’m afraid i just have to give up on the discussion. Life is just too short.
Justicia Omnibus,
You probably need to say this to Senator John Kerry, a decorated war veteran, whose report lists Sri lanka’s achievement as one of the rare instances ” in modern history” where a terrorist movement has been militarily defeated. And if i may repeat, going by Eric Hobsbawm who noted that we, among more powerful others, had failed to defeat the Tigers, it was a big deal. I rather doubt that you have better credentials than either, let alone both.
Idealist,
The point about Tiger supporters was made by the Independent UK, the NZ Herald and the AFP. All Sinhala chauvinists eh?
Jayathilaka,
So you know about the military aspect more than Shavi de Silva, Prasanna silva, Kamal Gunaratne, Daya Ratnayake, Ka[pila Hendawitharana and Chagi Gallage?
Jansee, Jansee,
Never mind me… You’ve forgotten the Guardian and the Independent on Sunday, haven’t you, you naughty girl?
What was the point of ending the war militarily if no democracy will emerge? Of course, for Rajapakse, the answer is easy enough – self-interest. By ending the war, he ensured a 100 yr uninterrupted dynasty for himself, his family, and generations of their descendants to come. Do you really think Rajapakse ended the war because he has any genuine interest in peace, in raising the standard of living of the man on the street, in creating a vibrant middle-class, or in implementing meaningful political reform and thus paving the way for a flourishing democracy to emerge?
Actions speak louder than words! Indeed, his immediate actions after the war consisted of locking up the Northern Tamils in iron cages for months, holding victory parades in Colombo, demoting his main general to prevent the possibility of a coup, upstaging the UN and international community when it came to investigating war crimes, and renewing the Emergency Regulations every consecutive month since the end of the war!
The war itself was not bad for Rajapakse and his clan. But the “peace” will be far better. More money, e.g. “loans” from the international community to siphon off into the Swiss Bank accounts. More political appointments for members of the extended family as administrative positions “open up” in “liberated areas. In general, far more investment opportunities, and by extension, opportunities to swindle, extort, and plunder. With Gothabaya in charge of the white vans, and the Emergency Regulations and Executive Presidency providing total immunity from any prosecution, Rajapakse and clan can enjoy “Paradise” like few others have enjoyed it, for decades to come.
So, MR is a military genius and told the army the tactics which should be followed, assisted by his brother Gotabaya an even more gifted armchair tactician who gave orders to the generals in the field ! Now it appears that there are/were other tacticians as well.
“………the finest group of officers of that rank serving in any military anywhere in the world………………” had to be guided by these military geniuses from colombo.
SF only did what the brothers told him to do.
All present/future historians including Hobsbawm, please note.
Now the tigers who were crushed, with their remnants in detention are again influencing the voters !
Thanks for these revealations.
i think, talking about miltery tactics , catching KP overseas was also super prize. didn;t this happen after SF left? anyway, i think this feat stand in line with the likes of the israels shinbet stuff and Hendawithrana and the boys should be thanked for nipping the KP troubles at the bud.
Justitia, so you know more about the war than the crack frontline combat commanders. Good for you!
And Heshan, you don’t see a democracy on the eve of an election so hotly contested that no one can say for sure who’ll win and Mike hanna of Al jazeera terms a ” democratic lottery”. Good for you too!
Dayan,
This election is about the future, not the past.
The war is over. What Sri Lanka now needs is democracy, respect for human rights and, in general (excuse the pun), good governance.
Gratitude, like respect, has to be commanded, not demanded
Dayan and his clairvoyance are as usual wrong and those unflinchingly supporting SF are unarguably right.
This is because SF stalwarts have an unassailable chain of reasoning.
If those undecided, on-the-fence, wishy-washy types bothered to speak to any of them, they will explain to you in simple terms what people like Dayan, Dayapala etc. lack the mental capacity to grasp.
1. SF, the decorated and incorruptible war hero, will ascend to power to rid us of that dastardly, irredeemable crook MR who, along with his family, has done nothing but brought the country to its knees in the last 4 years.
2. Under the supportive guidance of RW, the TNA, the JVP and the rest of that pious coalition, SF’s first act will be to flip an on/off switch. He will flip this switch to off and corruption will be immediately turned off.
3. He will then, defying his years of military training, caressingly and lovingly flip the good governance switch, the law and order switch, the reactivate constitution switch and finally, the ethnic reconciliation switch.
4. This will be followed by his new best friend, RW, giving a manly yank to the “time to develop” lever, which will set the relevant apparatus in motion to get us chugging on our way to our rightful place in the first world.
5. After that SF will umm… he will umm…. well, don’t know about him, but we will all live happily ever after.
I hope the rest of the dummies who are squirming with doubt are now convinced what a no-brainer this is.
The war itself was not bad for Rajapakse and his clan. But the “peace” will be far better. More money, e.g. “loans” from the international community to siphon off into the Swiss Bank accounts.
Oh dear, here we go again. Just blurt out what ever that comes to your mouth. Blah blah corruption, blah blah nepotism….. standard template. The biggest weakness is that no one has a single shred of evidence of these claims. If you claim the sea then I expect to see at least a bucket full of water!
Do you think people are that dumb to believe this non sense?
With Gothabaya in charge of the white vans, and the Emergency Regulations and Executive Presidency providing total immunity from any prosecution, Rajapakse and clan can enjoy “Paradise” like few others have enjoyed it, for decades to come.
Rather white vans (which I haven’t heard of in a while) and emergency regulations than tanks and martial law and executive commander thank you!
Anyway doesn’t matter SF got no chance with the clowns he has behind him and silly things he utter! In the very remote chance he wins, such foolish people truly deserve the punishment coming! They don’t remember how UNP sold off public assets and made money. They forget the REAL corruption back in the UNP hay days and the Madam era. Surprise, surprise that an ex corruption heavy weight just endorsed the commander.. I guess she’s expecting to make some more money. This should be fun!
“This election is about the future, not the past.”
Those who forget the past, end up making the same mistakes
Sadly, Ranil Wickramasinghe, has let the opportunity slp by going behind the General, though whose military victories were resounding, has a tarnished record with regard to many private dealings, with subordinates, opposite sex and rank and file. I won’t be surprised in a secret bollot the result turns out to be vastly different from the prediction. I know, I cannot swing the vote of my wife, if she feels a candidate is so lax as our esteemed friend SF is said to be.
Major power interests have to live and learn, the old Monroe doctrine does not work even in Haiti or Venezuela, Afghanisthan or Chile any more. In Sri Lanka the operations never yielded the returns from 50 onwards. Even Rhoda Miller de Silva who was abducted by CIA from Ceylon in early fifties returned to Sri Lanka and contributed greatly to our intellectual scene all through the 60s and 70s.
Dayan Jayatillake:
Forgive me for the oxymoron, but I predicted the outcome of this election months ago. Moreover, I find the whole exercise an abomination, a travesty, in light of the nationalist overtones that overshadow the whole thing. I recall in grade school a certain literary genre known as “Theater of the The Absurd.” Surely there is some similar categorization in political science to describe the uppermost pinnacle of absurdity in government?