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Lessons Sri Lanka can learn from the Malaysian election
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Will there be a Basil R breakaway faction in the SLPP?
Politics in Sri Lanka is as fluid and dicey as it always has been. It’s difficult to predict which way the political winds will blow, but it won’t be to resurrect the old Rajapaksa cabal whichruined the country.
The Mahinda breeze is over, and the revival programme “Stand up with Mahinda” has also ground to an abrupt halt.
Rajapaksa’s political cohorts who drew parallels with Mahathir Mohammed in Malaysia have disappeared without a trace following his resounding defeat in Langkawi, Malaysia, recently.
However, Mahathir left politics after his defeat at the age of 97, understanding the aspirations of the electorate who wanted to break away from the past.
If he had decided to stay away from contesting, he would have spared himself from being humiliated. In addition, he would have been in a better position as a leader who rebuilt Malaysia.
The result is clear: The youth no longer recognise past political actions and bask in their radiance for a long time. Therefore, it will be rather difficult to take people and their aspirations for granted. It was clear from the Malaysian elections that people are ready to dump anyone who doesn’t fit into the current situation.
Mahathir is history now, and the Malaysian people have announced their verdict in no uncertain terms that they look forward to a new future without reservations.
There were mixed reactions to the outcome of the Malaysian election results and the defeat of Mahathir Mohammed.
Dr. Johan Saravanamuttu, an adjunct senior fellow in the Malaysia Studies Program at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, pointed to Dr. Mahathir’s pride as the reason for his downfall.
“I think the whole question of Mahathir hangs around the notion of hubris that he wasn’t ready to see that it was his time to actually stop doing what he was doing.” “He just thought that he could carry on,” he said. He went on to say that Dr. Mahathir was indirectly responsible for the Sheraton move, which resulted in the collapse of the short-lived Pakatan Harapan government in early 2020.
The infighting came about because he failed to relinquish the role of prime minister to Anwar Ibrahim as agreed, something the Malaysian public has not forgiven, said Dr. Saravanamuttu.
Another analyst called former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohommed “a highly divisive figure in Malaysia.”
“On the one hand, he’s widely respected for what he did in his first term as prime minister, but I think a lot of people are in agreement that he made a huge mistake in coming back for the second term.
“If you look at the physical landscape in and around KL (Kuala Lumpur) his name is written on it. From the Petronas Twin Towers to the Multimedia Super Corridor and so forth,” said Dr. Francis Hutchinson, senior fellow and Malaysia Studies Program coordinator at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
The Multimedia Super Corridor, announced in 1996, was Dr. Mahathir’s plan to transform Malaysia into a knowledge-based economy.
Dr. Hutchinson also said the election result was “quite ironic and difficult” for Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister, given his association with the state of Kedah and specifically, Langkawi.
“When he was prime minister the first time, actually after the KL federal territory, Kedah got a lot of development expenditure, and he was really the one trying to develop Langkawi as an international destination.” “I guess that was behind why he chose that seat,” Dr. Hutchinson explained.
In Sri Lanka too, it is time for the old guard to retire from politics and take a back seat, allowing new blood to take over; otherwise, it would only be a matter of time before the old coterie will be thrown out of power once again, to make way for young blood to take over.
The Aragalaya that began with the imprudent steps taken by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa may come back yet again in another form to challenge the present set of leaders who act contrary to the people’s wishes and aspirations. Instead of stamping out corruption, which is one of the demands of the aragalaya promoters, it appears now that the politicians who managed to overcome the aragalaya, temporarily or otherwise, are now again imbibing in corruption and waste when the country is saddled with serious economic issues owing to the shortsighted decisions of the previous regime.The current administration is silent on matters of accountability for Sri Lanka’s economic destruction and the recovery of allegedly stolen money, while on the other hand the people are being squeezed dry with taxes to reduce a budget deficit resulting from these economic misadventures. Former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, widely believed to have been one of the triumvirate to have brought on the economic Armageddon, recently launched his book with his point of view about the economy. That Cabral, an economic hitman withserial allegations of economic malpractice and maladministration against him, can do, be damned and also write a book, is an insult to the people of this country.
One big mistake of the previous government was the cancellation of the Japan International Corporation (JICA)-funded light rail transit project (LRT) with just a stroke of a pen. The Japanese project was aimed at easing the traffic congestion in Colombo due to the heavy traffic that flows into the city every day. The LRT project would have reduced the number of vehicles travelling to Colombo from the suburbs, significantly reducing traffic congestion and making it easier for people to get to their destinations on time. The project would have resolved transport issues to a greater extent.
According to figures released recently by the National Audit Office, the decision to halt the Light Rail Transit Project (LRT) cost the government Rs.10677 million. It has been noted that the abrupt suspension that has come as a policy decision has caused a huge monetary loss and affected the goodwill between Japan and Sri Lanka. Japan was one of the biggest donors that helped Sri Lanka in the past. It continues to be among a trio of donors with China and India with whom Sri Lanka is now desperately trying to restructure her external debt. Despite the rebuff, Japan appears to be conciliatory to a restructure.
On June 28, 2022, a cabinet paper was also submitted regarding compensation to JICA and consultants OCGJV for the loss caused by the stoppage of this project.
Meanwhile, the president seemed to be taking a tougher line against those interfering with hisgovernance. He squarely blamed Frontline Socialist Party Leader Kumar Gunaratnam for instigating the aragalaya. The president said Gunaratnam too is a dual citizen, perhaps to draw parallels with Basil Rajapaksa and Gotababya.
Addressing Parliament, he said he wouldn’t allow unlawful demonstrations and would crush them using the security forces and emergency laws. “I am called Hitler for this.” He also said no parliamentary elections will be held until the country is rescued from the current economic crisis. He also recalled how the president’s office and various other places were stormed by the violent groupings behind the aragalaya and said that he will appoint a commission to find out which media group instigated the violence.
‘The aragalaya forces were planning to take over the President’s House, the PresidentialSecretariat, the Prime Minister’s office, parliament, and the judiciary. Consider what would have happened if such an event had occurred’, he queried. However, aragalaya activists may disregard the president’s warnings and continue to gather forces against what they call the government’s tyrannical instincts.Opposition political parties have already vowed to fight against what is clearly a violation of the peoples’ fundamental rights if Wickremesinghe decides to go ahead with his threat.
In the meantime, the president also stressed the need to introduce political reforms and hold an all-party conference to resolve the ethnic question. Tamil parties believe it was a deliberate ploy to divert attention from the real issue of finding pragmatic solutions that Sri Lankan Tamils have been waiting for since independence.
Speaking about privatisation and his plan to revive the economy by injecting liquidity into the ailing SOEs, the president said the SLPP could seek the opposition’s assistance if they were opposed to privatisation.
This was in response to former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who said that they could not agree with the decision to privatise profitable government ventures such as Sri Lanka Telecom and Sri Lanka Insurance. Some people, on the other hand, wonder what the point is of acquiring a loss-making business when a profit-making business could fetch a higher price and be subject to relevant taxes that would fill the government coffers.
Ranil Wickremesinghe, with his right-wing capitalist ideology, will definitely go ahead with privatisation and make the private sector the engine of economic growth. In India too, that opened up the economy after Sri Lanka made giant strides with a resilient economy that showed significant growth amidst a global recession.
Be that as it may, the return of Basil Rajapaksa has also created ripples within the ruling SLPP. His return could endanger the existence of another group within the SLPP led by Namal Rajapaksa. Skirmishes within these party factions could be possible if Basil takes a firm decision to put a halt to the series of meetings conducted to revamp the political fortunes of Mahinda Rajapaksa. The main speaker in all these meetings was Namal Rajapaksa.
Basil may have considered it an obstacle to his future plans. Basil Rajapaksa, according to reports, is engaged in another crucial task: drafting a constitution for the SLPP. He may have thought about the importance of having a proper organisational structure to gain power and give a professional outlook to the party.
Some SLPP activists in the party are already drawing up the contours of a new constitutional amendment to bring Basil back to parliament while holding on to his US citizenship. Basil has two options: explore the possibility of introducing a new constitutional amendment or renounce his US citizenship. What is more appropriate is for him to renounce his US citizenship, but he needs a backup plan, unlike Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is now looking for a diplomatic position and trying to sneak back to the US. Last week, civil society activists handed over a petition to the US Attorney-General through the US Ambassador in Sri Lanka JulieChung not to re-instate Gotabaya Rajapapaksa’s American citizenship.
Basil has not given up or surrendered his ambitions to anyone but has instead spent more time seeking support in order to use his clout to tinker with the constitution once more. But it is too difficult for him now since most of the senior parliamentarians who pledged allegiance to Basil have switched camps and are tagging along with President Ranil Wickremesinghe. There are clear indications that his clout within the SLPP has been sliding sharply and is likely to diminish if he doesn’t pull out a magical wand to resurrect his image within the party ranks as the most competent theorist the Rajapaksas have ever produced and simultaneously give the SLPP the necessary charismatic leadership— Alakeswara
