Marching for what, for whom?

There have been many mass marches of people in modern Sri Lankan history. The biggest in scale was the sudden mass displacement of the entire metro-Jaffna citizenry (as well as those already internally displaced). This saw hundreds of thousands of people (and animals) frantically marching across the lagoon into the dubious safety of the Vanni. That mass movement of people was not only a great tragedy but also of military-strategic and political significance in the light of the battles that followed.

The excitement today is about a much smaller - comparatively miniscule - march of party activists along the Kandy-Colombo highway, or, what purports to be the highway. This well-looked-after cohort of politicians and activists, marching with much gusto and fanfare - costumes and floats and all - seemingly has the great political goal of unseating a popularly elected coalition government.

Unseating a government is a major political goal and task. But why unseat a government that has not served even half its electoral tenure? Such a move, especially the extra-institutional action of a public agitation in the form of a Paada Yaathra, goes against both the letter and spirit of electoral democracy of which this country is one the earliest Asian proponents.

The breaking of constitutional practice by forcing a government out of power early, would only be justified by extreme circumstances, as is recognised universally. Of course, that 'extremity' has been defined by political forces ranging from the Islamic State organisation and the Taleban on one end of the political spectrum to the 'People's Power' civic movement that unseated the Marcos dictatorship in The Philippines, on the other.

Who, at this moment in Sri Lanka, will define the current conditions as 'extreme' enough to justify toppling of a government well ahead of electoral schedule?

Of course the Paada Yaathra that took off from Peradeniya last Thursday had many subsidiary demands articulated, much of it in the public interest of a better bearable cost-of-living, economic policy, rights, etc. The higher VAT figures prominently in the placards among other currently contentious public issues. In this light alone, the Paada Yaathra from Peradeniya to Cololmbo is the exercise of a legitimate democratic right of loud public expression. Tour bus operators, however, may think otherwise, since their passengers are foreign tourists who cannot, in the least, identify with the public issues.

These columns will recognise the right of anyone to peacefully agitate on issues of their concern as long as they do not advocate violent actions. In the case of this Yaathra, the implementers of the action are the politicians of the dissident faction of the UPFA which include some small political parties originally allied to the SLFP as well as some members of the SLFP itself. In Parliament, the MPs combined in this grouping call themselves the 'Joint Opposition', although, to date, they have yet to reasonably explain this term to the citizenry. The 'Joint' nature - if any - of this part of the Parliamentary Opposition has been further diluted by the Communist Party's disassociation from the Yaathra.

We leave it to our readers to assess the representative nature of this collection of politicians and their followers and, their intentions and motives in conducting this agitational march.

Mangala Moonesinghe - doyen of quiet diplomacy

Sri Lankans aware of the manifold problems affecting our country know full well the complexity of the challenges to resolve them. And those leaders and experts engaged in resolving these problems make history in doing so.

Some of them have sacrificed their very lives in their brave endeavours. Others have won fame while yet others have laboured more quietly, seeking more the outcome and less the public attention. Often, their contribution to resolving intense conflicts, requiring complex and delicate negotiations between diverse and hostile political blocs, necessitated such quiet work, avoiding public attention and the possibilities of misunderstandings and misperceptions that could undermine the negotiations.

Mangala Moonesinghe, who passed away on July 22, was one such quiet achiever.

Moonesinghe's contribution to Sri Lankan society was embellished by the range of social issues with which he had engaged from early adulthood. Initially, as a Marxist activist in the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) in its heyday, the young Mangala worked for social justice of the workers and peasants of developing, post-colonial Sri Lanka. His training as a barrister no doubt added to his political skills which were then put to good use when he represented his party in Parliament during the period of socialism under the centre-left coalition in the early 1970s. Shifting gears from class politics to broader national issues, Moonesinghe represented the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in Parliament from1989-94. It was his experience and skills in addressing both class as well as inter-ethnic dynamics combined with his skills as a political negotiator, that led to his appointment as head of the bipartisan Parliamentary Select Committee to seek a political consensus towards a comprehensive political settlement of the ethnic conflict - by then, the worst problem besetting the nation.

Subsequently, Moonesinghe continued to give of his skills as a negotiator and an activist committed to inter-ethnic justice by serving as Sri Lanka's high commissioner in two key foreign capitals - New Delhi and London. This was when both India and the United Kingdom had begun to contribute their good offices for the management and resolution of the ethnic conflict. Long into retirement age, Moonesinghe, then, continued to serve his country quietly as the manager of a conflict resolution and negotiations platform within the country.

He leaves a legacy of rich experience in strategies and tactics of conflict resolution and the meticulous negotiations required to achieve that resolution. The country awaits those who will follow in his footsteps.