The National Peace Council (NPC)

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has reaffirmed his determination to appoint a panel of experts to advise him on Sri Lanka’s adherence to its international obligations pertaining to human rights.    This has evoked a predictably negative response from the Sri Lankan government and, indeed, the more nationalist sections of civil society, whose position was that the elimination of the LTTE was necessary even at high cost for the restoration of normalcy in the country.  The government’s consistent position on this issue has been that whatever happened during the period of the war with the LTTE, and subsequently, is an internal matter.  The government has also been very critical of those international and local organizations that have called for investigations into the allegations of human rights violations, with the local ones feeling more under threat than their international counterparts.

The ethnic divide in the country is not only manifested politically but also socially in the lack of positive integration in which members of the different ethnic communities keep to themselves.  As a result there is a government attempt not to permit pockets of ethnic segregation to develop.  One such arena is the university system.  The problem that has arisen in Southeastern University, Oluvil in the Ampara district has brought this issue of lack of integration into focus.  Southeastern University was an outcome of the war that made it difficult for Muslim students in the east to make the journey to Batticaloa to attend classes at Eastern University.  The founder of the SLMC, the late M H M Ashraff was instrumental in getting the university started in 1995, since which time it was seen as a university for Muslim students from the east.

The opening of the road to Jaffna was one of the dividends of the Presidential Election.  It illustrated the benefits that could accrue to the people due to the competitive bidding for votes by rival political parties.  In its bid to attract votes from the North prior to the Presidential Election, the government relaxed several of its security measures.  One of these was the restrictions on travel to Jaffna by the A9 highway.  This was promise that the government made, implemented immediately, and has kept even after the election.  Unfortunately, as I discovered on a visit to Jaffna last week, there were also promises the government made and did not keep which has bitterly disappointed the people.  They include the reunification of detainees in the camps with their families, and the dismantling of High Security Zones to enable people to get back their long lost lands.

The last Presidential election was relatively peaceful and calm on the day of the election itself, which has led the government to declare it free and fair.  However, there were several aspects to that election that could do lasting damage to the country.  One was the government’s propaganda campaign that claimed a conspiracy to divide the country.  The support that the TNA publicly pledged to Opposition Presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka was said to hide a secret agreement to that effect.  In the last two weeks of the election campaign the government controlled media saturated the air waves and print with this propaganda. This had the effect of increasing the ethnic polarization already inherent in society, as manifested in the election results.

The end of the three decade old war that pitted the government against the Tamil militant movements, and divided the population created a reasonable expectation that Sri Lanka would be able to reach reconciliation and healing that would pave the way for rapid economic progress.  But unexpectedly the country appears to be getting more divided and polarized than ever before.  The lines of ethnic division that existed are now being supplemented by lines of political division even as political conflict escalates.  A situation that is reminiscent of the decade of the 1980s and early 1990s is now threatening to re-emerge.  The crisis may not leave any institution unscarred, with not even the Buddhist clergy being untouched.

It was reasonable to expect the aftermath of the Presidential election to usher in a period of political stability.  The large majority of votes secured by President Mahinda Rajapaksa was impressive on its face and promised benevolence in his decisions after the elections.  His unchallenged command over the levers of state power, made it unlikely that there could be any viable opposition to his rule.  But the evidence of presidential insecurity had already manifested itself in the dramatic events that unfolded even as the votes were being counted.  This was the surrounding of the hotel in which his chief opponent and former army commander, General Sarath Fonseka, had set up temporary office along with other leaders of the opposition coalition that had backed him.

The authenticity of the result of the recently concluded Presidential election has been re-affirmed by the Election Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake although it continues to be disputed by the defeated joint opposition candidate retired General Sarath Fonseka  and the political parties that backed him. The two most outstanding features of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s re-election was the big margin of victory that caught many by surprise and the cleavage between voting patterns in the former war zones of the Northern and Eastern provinces and most of the country.  The election result itself gives a hint of how the cycle of Tamil separatism might start turning again.

The result of the Presidential election that was held last week has a potential of further dividing the country on both political and ethnic lines unless the spirit of magnanimity prevails.  One of the important challenges for President Rajapaksa will be to address the sense of alienation of the ethnic minorities and provide a political solution for their problems and grievances by way of devolution of power.  The President said he called for early Presidential Elections because he wanted a mandate from the people of the North and East who were unable to vote at previous elections due to intimidation by the LTTE. During most of the election campaign both major candidates gave considerable attention to the issue of inter-ethnic harmony and reconciliation.

Today Sri Lankans will go to the polls to decide a race that has become too close to call.  The election itself has been the most bitterly contested one in recent times.  It has also seen the most one-sided utilization of state machinery in favour of the ruling party candidate in a long time. Religious leaders have felt impelled to issue calls for the government to implement the law with regard to the need for balanced and fair coverage by the state media and for all contesting parties to ensure an environment for free and fair elections.  The Election Commissioner even removed the competent authority he had appointed to ensure balanced and fair media coverage in the state media and accused the authorities therein of having humiliated his appointee.

With the race for the presidency getting increasingly close and uncertain, there has been considerable speculation as to why President Mahinda Rajapaksa chose to shorten his presidential term.  The President called for fresh presidential elections two year before they are due.  A common explanation is that he wished to take full advantage of the victory over the LTTE.  Prior to the sudden and surprise entry of former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka into the presidential contest, President Rajapaksa was in a position to claim full credit for the war victory as head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces.