Yes We Can. But Will We?

| by Tisaranee Gunasekara
Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.
Paine (The !erican Crisis"
( #ctober $, %&'(, Colo!bo, )ri *anka Guardian" +o,e-ully it is a -abrication, !ade in
.eda!ulana, like the /ne0s1 o- !erica so-tenin2 its stance to0ards )ri *anka or
Pre!ier .odi 0antin2 the T3 to ,artici,ate in the latest ll Parties Con-erence.
ccordin2 to 4rida 5i6aina, the 78P has decided to boycott the Presidential election, i-
.ahinda 9a:a,aksa is a candidate . The lo2ic is that President 9a:a,aksa cannot
contest -or the third ti!e and i- he does so it 0ill be an ille2al act 0hich in turn 0ill
trans-or! the election into an ille2al e;ercise. The 78P, it is bein2 re,orted, 0ill
neither -ield a candidate in such an ille2al election, nor take ,art in a :oint o,,ositional
alliance. 4nstead the 78P 0ill conduct a national ca!,ai2n, educatin2 the 6oters about
the ille2al nature o- the election.
4n other 0ords, the 78P 0ill (i!,licitly or e;,licitly" ad6ocate an election boycott. 4t
0ill con-use, con-ound and de!oralise the anti<9a:a,aksa ca!, and de,ri6e the
o,,osition o- tens o- thousands o- !uch needed 6otes. That such an outco!e 0ill
bene-it none but the 9a:a,aksas is ob6ious and certain.
This !ay be the 78P1s 0ay out o- its o0n ,olitical conundru!. nura =u!ara
5issanayake is a !ar6ellous s,eaker, -actual, lo2ical and -orce-ul. But his leadershi, is
not enou2h to !ake an adequate turnaround in the 78P1s electoral -ortunes. The >6a
elections indicated, as did ,re6ious ,ro6incial ,olls, that the 78P 0ill -are e;tre!ely
badly i- it contests the ,residency se,arately. The 78P is ob6iously reluctant to su,,ort
a >3P candidate. )ince bet0een the!, )a:ith Pre!adasa and 9anil Wickre!esin2he,
see!ed to ha6e killed the ,ros,ect o- a :oint o,,ositional ,lat-or!, the 78P is tryin2 to
-ind a -ace<sa6in2 -or!ula.
5id the 9a:a,aksas ? or their allies ? ha6e so!ethin2 to do 0ith the 78P1s surreally
stu,id decision? -ter all, the 9a:a,aksas re,ortedly bribed the *TT@ -or i!,osin2 an
election boycott on Ta!il 6oters in %&&$. 8ellu,illai Pira,aharan 0ould ha6e !ade the
decision because he 0as rearin2 to unleash the Ainal @ela! War, but he clearly did not
!ind !akin2 so!e -inancial 2ains, on the side. .r. Pira,aharan 0as not a 9a:a,aksa
stoo2eB he 0as not in cahoots 0ith the 9a:a,aksas. +e 0as, or thou2ht he 0as, bein2
diabolically cle6er. +e 0as 2oin2 to hel, .ahinda 9a:a,aksa into ,o0er, take
9a:a,aksa !oney and use it to de-eat the 9a:a,aksa 2o6ern!ent in the battle-ield. We
kno0 ho0 that ,lan ended.
4- the boycott<story is accurate, the 78P is re!akin2 8ellu,illai Pira,aharan1s deadly
!istake. The 9a:a,aksas 0ill use the 78P boycott to 0in the election and then, ha6in2
secured -a!ilial rule by a,,ointin2 a 9a:a,aksa as P., 0ill ha!!er the o,,osition
into sub!ission, includin2 the 78P. 7ust as ordinary Ti2ers and ordinary Ta!ils ,aid
the ,rice o- 8ellu,illai Pira,aharan1s colossal inanity, ordinary 78Pers and their
-a!ilies 0ill ha6e to ,ay the ,rice o- 78P leaders1 hara<kiri lo2ic.
+o,e-ully sense 0ill ,re6ail, and the 78P 0ill abandon this suicidal<ho!icidal
decision. But the 6ery -act that such an inane idea has been !ooted, ,lus the di6isi6e
and destructi6e conduct o- )a:ith Pre!adasa and his cohorts, indicates that the >6a
Pro!ise can 0ell beco!e a !ira2e, another tra2ic !i2ht<ha6e<been. ()a:ith Pre!adasa
conduct is the o,,osite o- his -ather1s. 9anasin2he Pre!adasa 0orked, harder than
e6eryone else, -or the ,arty sans conditions. +is attitude 0as CAirst 0e 0ill can6ass the
entire country and then ask -or our due ,lace ."
The outburst o- ,ost<election 6iolence in >6a (0hich reached un,recedented le6els" is
another si2nal o- co!in2 e6ents. The 9a:a,aksas are not 2oin2 to 2o, la0-ully and
de!ocratically. They 0ill do e6erythin2 they can, -ro! trickery to thu22ary, to stay.
Better to destroy than to !ake -ree, )chiller1s Grand 4nquisitor tells a 0a6erin2 =in2
Phili, in 5on Carols. That 0ould be the 9a:a,aksa attitude, as )iblin2s, )ons and
3e,he0s ready the!sel6es to -ace a suddenly not<so<certain -uture.
The Pla2ue o- Tyranny
7ean<Claude 5u6alier, /Baby 5oc1, died yesterday o- natural causes. t 'D years he
inherited the ,residency -ro! his -ather and ruled su,re!e -or the ne;t '( years.
Arancois /Pa,a 5oc1 5u6alier ca!e to ,o0er electorally and trans-or!ed +aiti into a
tyranny and hi!sel- into its ,resident<-or<li-e. #6er the ne;t se6eral decades, the
5u6aliers !ade +aiti into a by0ord -or re,ression and !urder, ,o6erty and
back0ardness.
The still on2oin2 ,li2ht o- +aiti indicates that 2ettin2 rid o- a tyrant !i2ht turn out to
be the easy ,art. 9eco6erin2 -ro! tyranny is a -ar arduous task. 9estorin2 to health
institutions and hu!an habits under!ined by tyranny o-ten ,ro6es to be beyond the
-rail ca,acities o- ne0ly liberated lands and their ne0ly -ree ,eo,le. The lon2er a
tyranny lasts, the harder it is to build a de!ocracy on its ruins. This is ,articularly so
0here tyrants ha6e under!ined and destroyed all counter6ailin2 ,o0ers and
institutions, turnin2 countries into their ,ersonalE-a!ilial ,reser6es.
The inclusion o- de -acto Chie- 7ustice .ohan Peiris in the ,residential dele2ation to
8atican de!onstrates (a2ain" the de2radation o- one o- the !ost -unda!ental ,illars
o- the state. Today the u,,er :udiciary is a !ere a,,enda2e o- the 9ulin2 Aa!ily. 4- the
9a:a,aksas can be e6icted ne;t year, it !ay still be ,ossible to re,air the da!a2e and
restore the :udiciary to health. But i- 9a:a,aksa rule continues -or !any !ore years,
the 6irus o- subser6ience 0ill in-ect the entirety o- that au2ust institution and e6en the
!e!ory o- :udiciary as an inde,endent ,illar o- state 0ill 6anish. The ne;t 2eneration,
includin2 the ne;t 2eneration o- :ud2es and la0yers, 0ill think it natural and nor!al
-or the :udiciary to act as an instru!ent o- 9a:a,aksa ,o0er.
s 7oachi! Aest ,ointed out, Ct -irst the countless 6iolations o- the la0 by our ne0
rulers still caused a de2ree o- disquietF. soon li-e 0ent on as i- such cri!es 0ere the
!ost natural thin2 in the 0orld .
9ulers set trends. We learnt to drink tea -ro! the British. The )inhala<Buddhist
!orality es,oused by na2arika 5har!a,ala and his ideolo2ical descendents is !ore
akin to @n2lish Puritanis!, Ger!an Cal6inis! and 8ictorian 6alues. The colour-ul
costu!e 0orn by the =andyan kin2s and aristocracy (0hich 2oes by the !isno!er,
/.ul ndu!a1, ori2inal dress" 0as ob6iously co,ied -ro! the @uro,ean -ashions o- the
'$thE'Gth century, brou2ht to *anka by the Portu2uese. These days the kurrakkan
sha0l o- the 9a:a,aksas has beco!e a -ashion accessory a!on2 the ne0 elite and those
as,irin2 to that status. 9ank ne,otis!, abuse, i!,unity and intolerance are so!e o-
the 9a:a,aksa 6alues 0hich are ,ercolatin2 into lar2er society. Ai6e !ore years o- this
conta!ination, and e6en the oustin2 o- the 9a:a,aksas 0ill not su--ice to brin2 *anka
back to health and sense.
The #,,osition has been buoyed by >6a. But >6a re,resents a ,otential, a chance, an
o,,ortunity and not a certainty. The 9a:a,aksas 0ill do e6erythin2 in their ,o0er to
,re6ent the o,,osition -ro! ca,italisin2 on >6a. The unresol6ed crisis in the >3P and
the 78P1s decision to boycott elections are !erely the -irst stu!blin2 blocks in the
o,,osition1s ,ossible ,ath to 6ictory.
>6a o,ened a tra,door. 4t can be 0idened into an e;it -or the 9a:a,aksas.
4t can be done. But 0ill 0e do it?
'. 78P issues state!ent about ,residential electionsH 4- .ahinda Co!es We 0on1t
? 4rida 5i6ayina ? $.'&.%&'(
%. Iuoted in /President Pre!adasa and 4H #ur )tory1 ? B )irisena Cooray
J. 3ot .eH .e!ories o- a Ger!an Childhood
Posted by Tha6a!