Yes, you are absolutely right on both of them. That is the irony of it all – whereas they stood on the same side once to display the raw chauvinism and hypocrisy, now they stand opposite each other with “blazing guns” pointed at each other. Imagine the worry and restlessness of the Rajapaksa brothers, particularly Gotabay, when Fonseka was in the US.

I would go as far as saying that MR, for the first time since he pursued the war option, stands to lose the presidency. The moment the war was over, he should have moved fast to resettle the IDPs, instead of giving lame excuses, offer the Tamils a reasonable space that would have accelerated the pace of FDIs into the country. He will live to regret his failure to capitalise on ending the war successfully. If SF does jump into the foray, the deciding votes could be most probably the minorities, particularly the Tamils. In the same way he enticed the LTTE not to partake in the elections, which incidentally paved the way for his election, he is now seeking the favours of the TNA, but I doubt most Tamils up North would want to have anything to do with him, even if it means to throw the support to SF.

What an irony indeed!!

The official letter sent to the President is in English.

Comments:

It was not soon, but IMMEDIATELY after the war with the LTTE was over, the NSA of India flew over to SL. Speculations were rife then that it was about the IDPs and the Tamils question but the main agenda was Sarath Fonseka (SF).

A cardinal principle for a professional in army outfit is to refrain from politics. SF very often crossed this boundary. His infamous interview with the Canadian newsmedia and his comments on a number of politicians and politicsl lacked the discipline of an army officer of his standing. Then again, he has also been shooting through his mouth, like that when he talked about shooting dead LTTEs that surrendered waving white flags. It is not that the Rajapaksa (RP) regime was not blameworthy – not only it nurtured the “out-of-context” general to proscribe the war, it also savoured the military adventure and also made a very dangerous move by dispensing the lines drawn between such military adventures and politics. In fact, all recent elections were won through this blatant propagation. You can’t have it both ways.

There were widespread concerns – why would a general announce that he would like to recruit more soldiers after the war? It had, as it now appears, created panic with the phobia-stricken RP regime. While the general’s logic may lie on the premise that more soldiers would be needed to protect and safeguard than when waging a war, many had sounded the alarm at the general’s comments. He boasted of the military strength of SL. Some even thought that he was indicating indirectly to India not to “mess” around, not realising that it will take India only days to bomb to pulp SL. What is happening in SL will always feature in India’s radar forever and has been openly admitted by MR, SL fought India’s war with the LTTE.

For a general who had not minced his words about the minorities, in a negative way, talking of the welfare of the IDPs and concerns of the rights of the Tamils now has got to do with politics.

Now that SF has decided to discard the uniform, my take is that the impending match between SF and MR is a good one – one that bodes well for democracy. With no others of the stature of SF to take on the President who is riding high after the war, it would be good though that they slug it out. The eerie similarity of his (MR) first election scenario seems to be playing out – the split among the Sinhala votes, the denial of the Tamil votes are all too uncannily similar. Of course, MR is poised to win but not as smoothly and not with the “riding-high” position he had envisaged. He will, in fact, be badly bruised with his ego dented and perhaps learn a lesson that in a country like SL second chances are hard to come by as Ranil Wickramasinghe had painfully found out.

it was in English as far as srilanken news papers revealed it all these days.

Roger Francis:

Yes, MR was correct in that regard. I would never think that masses in sl may ever want a millitary leader to govern the country. Many of us dont wish lanka to be called little Pakistan in the near future. What kinds of political background has SF gained to become the head of state for a country that has democratic ruling mechanisms for sucha long time. Perhaps people could easily get manipulated by UNP leader who is now trying to make use of the situation. No doubt, SF deserves the highest respect in terms of elemination of LTTE terrorism within SL but, never forget, under the political leadership of M + SLGO. And also agree with that SF has been the great AC in the lanken defence system. He sacrificed his life for such a long time. But many in sl would not like srilanka to become Pakistan another african state for the region. How can he ever feel to work for the nation as a politial leader, if he is in the opinion – this country for only sinhalese ? I am also a sinhalese, not a MR sympathiser but a srilanken lover while being away from sl for ages.

Getting the UNP to field General SF is a tactic to get someone friendlier to the West into the seat. He is the basic caricature the president in terms of his nationalistic view, so the hardline and not so hardline (but unvariable) supporters of the same wave of national pride will not be deterred at the elections.

We’re fooling ourselves if we actually think that the general is going to abolish the executive presidency if he comes into power. Or he might, and install some new form of militarily oriented rule; using his power in the army. The UNP is also basically selling its soul here. if it ever had one that is. Instead of competing mainly on economic lines as a capitalist party as they usually do they are diluting their brand promise by going on this desperate power grab. Ranil must step down. and the UNP must get their ducks in a row and some sense into their heads. ‘Playing with fire’ may be right; we may be heading for chaos without even knowing it.