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| Sunday, 6 November 2005 |
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Battling for Jaffna ballot by Ranga Jayasuriya The question as to who could better transform the ethnic and religious diversity of this country to a strength rather than a cause for conflict has been raised in this Presidential race more than any other election in recent memory. That is because the forthcoming election is to pick the one who could be the best representative of the Sri Lankan state. The Sri Lankan state encompasses the nine provinces, though Tigers do not accept its sovereignty in the areas controlled by them and ultra-nationalists in the South would suggest measures - on the pre text to ensure free and fair elections - which if implemented would disenfranchise the vast majority of voters in the LTTE held areas as well as in the Jaffna peninsula. The Supreme Court earlier rejected a petition requesting to make the National Identity Cards compulsory in voting in the cluster polling stations- The Supreme Court stated that it was not practical as most people in the North-East did not possess ID cards. Campaign in North-East The two main contenders to the Presidency, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe are aware of the importance, both symbolic and electoral, of a campaign in the North-East, especially in Jaffna, the Tamil political and cultural capital. Perhaps, it is the LTTE Peace Secretariat Chief, Pulidevan who pointed to the irony of this. He said, while political parties cry fowl for a free and fair election in the North-East, no one had shown any interest to hold the local government polls in the North-East. What he suggested was that the Southern political leadership was concerned of the franchise of the Tamil voter, only when it helps them. Last week saw what one would call the tit for tat visits to Jaffna by both main presidential aspirants, Mahinda Rajapakse and Ranil Wickremesinghe. Wickremesinghe was the first to go, but he confined his visit to the Palali Military Base. Rajapakse had a better trip, travelling the town and addressing a meeting at the Nadeshwara Vidyalam. Wickremesinghe later told the press that, that was not the opportune time to hold large rallies in the peninsula and that he did not visit the town as he had been advised against doing so by his security officers. Rajapakse must have been given the same warning, but, he was ready to take up the risk, if it was any help in his contest to the country's top most political position. Nostalgic memories Addressing people there, he recalled nostalgic memories of his childhood visits to the Northern capital. That was long before the ethnic war broke out. He could only lament, having seen once peaceful Tamil intellectual bastion turned into a killing field during the course of time. " Jaffna in my childhood memories has changed beyond recognition," he said. Indeed, Jaffna in the Prime Minister's childhood is destroyed. "I remember poet Cheran compared the burning of Jaffna Library to shooting the Lord Buddha," he said He said he would not be a war president and that he wanted a negotiated solution. But he said there remains one "war" which the nation needs to fight united. That is a war to defeat the instincts of separation, ensure a rapid economic growth and to give the country's children the best education the nation could afford. Rajapakse could strike a comparison between his electoral district- Hambantota and Northern capital Jaffna, both are dry zone areas abundant with Palmyrah trees. "Like that our hearts are the same," he said. Rajapakse also met the rank and file in the Palaly Military Base, where he admitted that he knew some officers and soldiers were demoralised due to various reasons. I will not allow that to happen under my leadership, he said. There are 952,324 registered voters for the Northern province in the electoral registry and there are 952,936 registered voters in the Eastern Province. As his security officials had advised him against going to the streets to win hearts and minds of Jaffna public, Wickremesinghe decided to focus on winning the postal votes of an estimated 45,000 soldiers and policemen deployed in Jaffna. He also had other reasons for the visit. His manifesto is misinterpreted and some soldiers were worried. He had to reiterate that he would not reduce man power of the Sri Lankan Army, instead would build 6 full fledged brigades to meet modern day requirements. Soldiers complained to him that they could not travel in the peninsula without a squad. His response was that before the Ceasefire, they could not travel in the peninsula sometimes even with a squad. He said the Tigers had an army for a long time, once peace talks resume, these issues would be taken up. Then the Millennium city incident came to the surface. Wickremesinghe had to reiterate that he did not know about the raid beforehand, which was carried out under a court warrant, but his government did its best to provide security to officers and soldiers including Captain Nilam, Major Muthalif and Lt. Colonel Meedin. Media event Perhaps the most notable in the Wickremesinghe's visit to Jaffna was his media crew, some hand picked 30 guys. Indeed, one agency reporter who covered Wickremesinghe's visit later said it was more like a media event. The strategy was shooting two birds at one go; he was vying for the postal votes of soldiers and policemen just a few days ahead of the postal voting and at the same time, over the airwaves, he was seen by millions of viewers, displaying solidarity with soldiers, like George W Bush in Iraq. After all, Wickremesinghe likes to do it the American way. In the military hospital, he spoke to a soldier who had been treated for a fractured leg. He asked what happened. The soldier replied that he was injured playing volleyball. Wickremesinghe asked isn't it better to be injured on the volleyball court, than in the war front. The soldier didn't reply. At the Air Force base, one TV guy introduced an Air Force Officer, who was his classmate at Ananda to the Opposition Leader. He is my classmate, the media guy introduced the officer to Wickremesinghe, who in turn asked him:" why didn't you join the Air Force. "Then I won't have a chance to interview you," the media guy replied. As the duo moved on, the Air Force officer quipped: "Thank god, he didn't join the Air Force." crowds brave rain The Prime Minister would have been moved by the crowds, who braved the rain to listen to him in the Nadeshwara Vidyalam. But, he must be mindful that there is greater room that the Northern electorate could toss in favour of Wickremesinghe. Even though he has the EPDP in his fold and could rely on a greater part of votes which went to the TULF President, Anandasangaree, it is hard to predict how the rest of Jaffna electorate will react. Wickremesinghe, whatever his rivals would say has scored on the peace front, the Ceasefire Agreement being his most salient achievement. Tamils would always have a soft corner for Wickremesinghe for halting a ruinous war, which displaced nearly one million people. Wickremesinghe's electoral gains in the North is, however, dependent on the voter turn out in the Presidential Election. And Rajapakse wants the Southern electorate to give him a landslide which would mitigate any possible losses in the North. At a campaign rally in Mapalagama he said, he wanted a sweeping victory in his home turf. He said, if anyone wishes to have an undue advantage from Northern votes, they will be disappointed at the end of the day. Wickremesinghe in a rally at Horana had a reply for Rajapakse, when he said that the National Question could not be resolved by addressing concerns of one community alone. He said a negotiated settlement has to be a win-win solution and concerns of all ethnic communities be taken into account and addressed, in which, he said, Rajapakse and JVP-JHU electoral alliance had failed. In Jaffna, Rajapakse had one interesting remark, that he is a man from Ruhuna who won the country, ("mama ruhunen rata jayagath minihek") and that there are people who do not like him to win the foremost political position of the country. Indeed, Rajapakse is not a darling of the Colombo elites even though his sons attend S. Thomas' or Rajapakse himself is a lawyer. Not that Rajapakse lacked credentials to be a favourite of Colombo's upper echelons. After all, Rajapakses are the deep down South's response to Bandaranaikes of Attanagalla and Senanayakes of Mirigama. Champion of working class Only Rajapakse would know whether he had leadership ambitions when he entered politics representing Beliatta, but, throughout his political career beginning from a youthful parliamentarian to the Prime Minister of this country, Rajapakse has been cultivating a reputation as a champion of the working class and one of the few politicians whose reputation is not tarnished by abuse of power - notwithstanding the sensational and drummed up charges of Helping Hambantota! Rajapakse would have been a favourite of Colombo's elites, had he chosen a different course. But, instead, there is a man who tried his utmost (though he sadly failed) to bring a Workers' Charter, a Labour Minister who described himself as the vanguard of the Working Class and not of business capital, a human rights activist who played the role of an unofficial ombudsman at the height of the Ranjan Wijeratne-Premadasa terror. Ironically, all these would stand in Rajapakse's favour when he contests the Presidency. His strength lies in the rural electorate, which though economically weak, is accountable for 75 percent of registered vote and is the deciding factor in the Presidential race. Heritage And, he is proud of his heritage. Visiting Rattota in Matale, he reminded that: "I am also from Ruhunu Giruwawa, far- away rural land very much like yours", in a way he is claiming that "I am one of you," and there for "I could be better trusted." Furthermore, his reputation as a politician who conscientiously embraced the political left in his good and bad times stands in his favour. This would not only present himself as a moderate alternative to the forces believed in unrivalled market capitalism, - a kind of Sri Lankan answer to Brazil's Lula de Silva- but would also help him distance himself from some policies of the Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge Administration. But, Rajapakse's real challenge would be the handling of his electoral alliance with the JVP and the JHU. Indeed, companions of his campaign wagon like DEW Gunasekara of the Communist Party and known red comrade Vasudeva Nanayakkara have not given up hope, though Rajapakse has rejected the federal solution in favour of a unitary state. DEW Gunasekara told a rally in Kandy, when weighed with all his attributes, Rajapakse was a man, the political left could identify as its own. Though they could not agree in total with the " Mahinda Chinthana," Rajapakse's manifesto, there was still room that they could lead Rajapakse to pragmatism on the solution to the National Question. |
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