The Mahinda group do not abandon their racist political project unless Yahapalanaya campaign it out of politics. At every opportunity, they will use the card of racial violence. It is necessary to understand the political thinking of this group to defeat it by the democratic campaign.
The yahapalana unity government as soon as possible brought in the 19th Amendment removing certain powers of the president; in accord with the agreement made with the movement for democracy. It included a constitutional amendment barring an individual from standing for more than two terms, thereby taking the Mahinda out of the next Presidential race.
However, pro-Mahinda pundits indicate a different path of development. They say every enactment has a loophole, and if Mahinda can secure victory at the polls for a proxy candidate, that individual can dissolve Parliament. Then with a massive fascistic campaign, they expect that new Pohottuwa party can secure an overwhelming mandate at the parliamentary polls with a two-thirds majority. Apparently, the way they swept the local body elections some weeks ago indicates such a victory. After that, the newly elected (proxy) President can resign, thereby clearing the way for Mahinda to return to the office he held from 2005 until 2015. They scream that given current trends, that would align with the wishes of the majority of Sri Lankan voters, who are getting disenchanted with the unity government and its “lack of strong leadership”.
Parliamentary polls
Pro Mahinda group boast that whatever be the shortcomings of Mahinda Rajapaksa, “lack of strong leadership” is not among them. Apparently, they have set plan to come back; the key is a loyal follower who will resign after dissolving parliament. The loyal individual who resigns his Presidential chair after ensuring Parliamentary polls get held, quitting in favour of Mahinda Rajapaksa, would be made Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, the way the posts of President and Prime Minister were exchanged by Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev in the Russian Federation. Among the possibilities for such a role would be Prof. G.L. Peiris, who has long been a backer of the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Former President Rajapaksa finished off the war against the Lankan state carried on by the LTTE under Velupillai Prabhakaran, who though being a Christian by faith, was considered by the Tamil people as the hero of Hindu Tamil nationalism. During those weeks in 2009, we are told that the BJP under L.K. Advani was giving a sympathetic ear to ally Vaiko’s admonition to the party to try and save Prabhakaran from final defeat, and the Congress was heeding the call of its allies in Tamil Nadu to make the Lankan military abandon its pursuit of the LTTE. Others say that Congress wanted the head of dead Prabhakaran!
At the same time, pressed by the Norwegians (who were under pressure of human rights organisations of Europe became the protectors of the LTTE within the international community), both the US as well as the EU were raising to a high decibel pitch their commands to Rajapaksa to desist from finishing off the LTTE and its commander. This is the result of the role played by the proletarians of the advanced world. Several times in the past, the Lankan military had reversed its pursuit of the “Tamil Tigers” in deference to international pressure, thereby saving the lives of Tamil people. This time around, in Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother Gotabhaya (who as Defence Secretary was having a fascistic hold of the Sri Lankan armed forces), the Lankan state had a pair who refused to play by the rules set by democratic UN charter and ruthlessly condemned the peace efforts of Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe and former President Chandrika Kumaratunga. Not surprisingly, many civilians too (especially the human shields placed in key locations by the LTTE) lost their lives. Since then, all-out efforts of radical Tamil organisations and HR organisations have been launched to ensure that at least a few Lankan generals (present and past) be brought before the International Court of Justice to stand trial for “crimes against humanity”.
UN resolution
The yahapalanaya unity government in Lanka has gone a considerable distance in exposing the real situation and accepting the demands of the global democratic forces to inquire locally, into the alleged war crimes. Also, Yahapalanaya has agreed to implement the UN resolution. At the same time, UN has recognized that country has been under a fascistic dictatorship since the final defeat of the LTTE in 2009 at the hands of the Sri Lankan military. Under Mahinda regime, Colombo and other towns in the country were at peace but terror continued harming politicians, media personnel and activists for democracy. In the 2015 polls, because of a split in the Sinhala vote between fascistic Mahinda and democratic Ranil Wickremesinghe, Tamil and Muslim minority parties were able to determine who ruled Sri Lanka; Because of the boost in voting percentages among the Tamils and Muslims under democracy to a level unprecedented since the 1970s. Muslim voters turned against Mahinda, because of the expose that he was tacitly backing hard-line Buddhist groups. The present government has the support of only a half of the Sinhala population, relying instead on the near-total backing of the Tamil and Muslim populations on the island. Both of which came out to vote in unprecedented strength during the 2015 polls thus chopping off Mahinda.
Still, the pro-Mahinda group believe, during the next round, Sinhala voters are likely to return to Mahinda, mainly because of a reaction to the consolidation of minority (Tamil and Muslim) peacefully in the country as voters against him! The era of the strongman of Sri Lankan politics seems to be on the rise of return!
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