Mahinda Rajapaksa: Challenges for a peoples President

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has won a resounding re election victory at the Presidential election. People preferred a performer to a pretender and demonstrated their gratitude to a leader who freed them from terrorism after thirty long years.

None can take away the scale and depth of his victory. Despite concerns that this election will see a blood bath, that did not happen, and barring a few incidents, this poll was one of the most peaceful ones conducted in Sri Lanka.

At a time when we seek to embrace all of our people as members of a single nation, the celebration of this victory, as deep as it is felt, should be expressed with magnanimity and friendship towards all," President Mahinda Rajapaksa – soon after the defeat of the LTTE by government forces.

The Elections Commissioner as well as the two main contenders and their supporters, and importantly, the Sri Lankan public, have to be thanked for this outcome.

President Rajapaksa polled a majority of 1.8 million, and this was in excess of ten times of what he did in 2005. Barring some districts in the North and East, he also polled more than 60% of the vote in virtually all other districts.

His victory was a sweeping one, as it was of considerable depth. He has already reached out to all his citizens irrespective of political differences and appealed to them to bury the hatchet and work towards the betterment of the country. Let us hope they do.

President Rajapaksa has demonstrated considerable courage and foresight, and one is reminded of a famous quotation of Winston Churchill, who unlike Mahinda Rajapaksa lost his election soon after winning his war.

Quote “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen” unquote.

This is exactly what President Rajapaksa must do now.

He needs to listen to the voice of the majority Sinhala community who have spoken in no uncertain terms that they trust him, are grateful to him and look towards him.

He needs to listen to the Tamil community who have not endorsed him to the extent he would have liked, and to all other communities in the country irrespective of whether they voted for him or not.

The listening exercise however is not limited to President Rajapaksa. All communities must also listen to each other.

The Tamil community must listen to the voice of the Sinhala community, expressed in no uncertain terms in support of President Rajapaksa. They must listen to his political platform that clearly stated that there will be no North East merger, and no compromise on the unitary status of the country. An overwhelming majority within the Sinhala community endorsed this. A solution to the Tamil issue therefore has to be found within these broad parameters.

The Sinhala community also must listen to the Tamil community, who by and large did not endorse President Rajapaksa. They must accept that the TNA, as a collective, is still a potent political force although a sizable section within it did not accept its decision to back General Sarath Fonseka. The Sinhala community must realize that a way has to be found to achieve unity within diversity, as indeed Tamils have some social and cultural differences with the Sinhalese.

President Rajapaksa has many challenges to face in his second term. Firstly he must heal the wounds of war, both the war against LTTE and the political war with those who supported General Fonseka. Secondly he has to deliver a just solution to the conflict with the Tamils. Thirdly, he has to continue the pace of economic development in the country and usher in a society that is both materially prosperous and a society that embodies the religious values of the country, whether Buddhist, Christian or Islam, a society that values ethical behavior, law and order, justice, integrity and credibility. He must introduce policies and processes that will discourage and curb corruption at all levels, not just amongst the sprats, but the sharks as well.

If winning the war against the LTTE was a difficult and momentous task, the numerous battles he needs to win in his second task will even be harder. However, he cannot do these by himself. He has inherited the progressive erosion of some of our values. All other previous governing political parties and the accepting general public have been responsible for this erosion. As much as there has to be a giver and taker of a bribe, there has to be an acceptor of a corrupt practice for that to take root within society.

The responsibility to correct wrongs therefore is not the sole province of the President, although as the leader of the country he must set a vision for himself and the people, and he must lead by example and he must insist on ethical behavior from all his members of Parliament, ministers and party workers.

Similarly other party leaders must insist on similar behavioral standards from their MPs and party workers. This practice must extend to all sectors of the society and what is good for the Goose must be good for the gander as well.

President Rajapaksa can do a few things to set an example and lead the way towards a more just and ethical society. He could introduce measures to extract greater accountability commencing with himself, his ministers and all members of Parliament by introducing a constitutional requirement (unless one already exists) for all to declare theirs and their immediate family’s assets every year and make them available for public scrutiny. This would stop or curb constant unsubstantiated allegations about corruption.

He could provide a greater degree of administrative independence to the Police force by appointing an Independent Police Commission. If he feels that the current methodology for appointing this Commission requires change, he could discuss with all political parties represented in Parliament and find an alternate way to appoint members to this Commission.

He could strengthen the public service by giving them also more administrative independence by revamping the Public Service Commission. The more he does to distance the Executive from routine administrative practices and concentrate more on policy and high level administration, the more credible he will become in the eyes of the public, and it will also enhance the stature of the Executive Presidency.

Finally, there is another message that he should heed although he did win a handsome mandate at the election. This is the decision of many voters to repose their trust in him once again and show their gratitude, but also their desire and hope that he will introduce changes to a society fractured by years of violence, and a breakdown of law and order and basic values.

To deny these needs to be done will be a mistake.

Real democracy that was curtailed to some extent during the last thirty years must flourish again. There has to be recognition that people who oppose a government are all not people who do not love the country. In a democracy, there has to be a government and an Opposition, but hopefully an Opposition that will be constructive and offer alternate policies wherever they disagree with those of the government. Not an Opposition bereft of any ideas or one that is motivated solely by revenge and naked opportunism.

Finally, there has to be recognition by all political parties that there is a need to define some standards as to how a government should use State enterprises and resources. This is a difficult area as different governments have moved goal posts according to their own definitions of what is use and what is misuse of State resources.

Perhaps President Rajapaksa could ask an all party Parliamentary committee to submit a set of recommendations on national standards, which could then be enacted as the law of the land for all to follow.

Challenges before President Rajapaksa are substantial. He has already demonstrated his guts and determination to what is right by the country in the face of severe pressure from many quarters.
Now, he must consolidate the victory against the LTTE and win the Peace and the hearts and minds of all his people. He has already shown he means what he says. All Sri Lankans must now give him the chance to deliver on his manifesto for his second term, while remembering that he is also a human being like the rest of us and bound to make some mistakes on the way.

He could live by the creed of Winston Churchill, a proud son of the United Kingdom, and be remembered for perpetuity as the son of our soil that defeated terrorism, defeated corruption, united the country around basic ethical standards and provided equality and equal opportunities to all his citizens irrespective of their ethnicity, religion or station in life.

In War: Resolution
In Defeat: Defiance
In Victory: Magnanimity
In Peace: Good Will
- Winston Churchill

- Asian Tribune -