Rajapaksa's return highlights SLFP's deep divide

by Saman Gunadasa

Leaders of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and its parliamentary bloc, the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), have nominated former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa as their prime ministerial candidate in the August 17 General Election.

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The declaration was an open rejection of a statement made four days earlier by President Maithripala Sirisena, also a leader of the SLFP and the UPFA, that he would block Rajapaksa's appointment as prime minister if the party won a parliamentary majority.

Sirisena's readiness to use his sweeping executive powers as president against his political rival exposes claims by various upper middle class groups that the current president stands for democracy and good governance.

Rivalry

The intense rivalry between Sirisena and Rajapaksa reflects deep divisions within the Sri Lankan ruling class. Sirisena, a former health minister, defected from Rajapaksa's government last November and then defeated Rajapaksa in January's presidential elections.

Rajapaksa's ousting was a carefully planned regime-change operation orchestrated by Washington with the assistance of the United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and former president Chandrika Kumaratunga. The Obama administration was determined to disrupt the relations between Beijing and Colombo that flourished under Rajapaksa.

Rajapaksa has been politically emboldened to make a new bid for power by the increasing discontent with Sirisena and the current administration over a range of issues, including its broken promises to improve workers' living standards and protect basic democratic rights.

In a clear indication that Sirisena has lost control of his party, SLFP opposition leader Nimal Siripala de Siva told the Anuradhapura meeting that Rajapaksa's leadership would ensure that the party won a majority in the election. "The SLFP needs a strong leader, so we will nominate you as prime minister," he said.

Referring to the 2009 defeat of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), SLFP General Secretary, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, declared that Rajapaksa should be shown gratitude for saving the country from "the clutches of terrorism."

The SLFP's election campaign slogan, "Let's give life to the country; let's start afresh!" is a cynical attempt to cover up Rajapaksa's record in office and his government's police-state methods of rule and attacks on living conditions.

Rajapaksa told the meeting that under his leadership the Sri Lankan Government would "work towards a new foreign policy and new economic direction."

Chinese loans

While he did not elaborate on his "new foreign policy," Rajapaksa and his supporters want a return to the close relations with Beijing, and in particular, access to investment and cheap loans from China. In other meetings, Rajapaksa has criticized the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government for "reviewing" and "blocking" Chinese investments and promised to boost financial assistance from China.

Between 2009 and 2014, the Rajapaksa Government received estimated US$ 5 billion in loans and investments from China that benefitted the former president, his family, political associates and big business cronies. This layer of the ruling elite wants a continuation of these policies.

Rajapaksa also claimed that his government had developed the Sri Lankan economy and improved the social conditions of the poor during the 10 years he was president. "My government gave electricity and water to the whole country and built schools, hospitals and developed cities," he declared.

These are patent lies. The Rajapaksa Government unleashed wide-ranging attacks on basic living conditions, with systematic increases in the price of essentials, assaults on democratic rights and stepped up the war against the LTTE in the North and East of the island.

In 2011, the Rajapaksa Government mobilized police commandos against striking workers from the Katunayake Free Trade Zone, killing one. Another protestor died when police attacked demonstrating fishermen in Chilaw. The army also opened fire on residents demanding clean water at Weliweriya, a Colombo suburb. Three youth were killed in the attack.

Such was the hostility to his government that Rajapaksa decided to call the presidential election two years early, fearing that the backlash against his regime would only worsen. As for claims that his government opened the way for new infrastructure and other building projects, this brought windfall profits to investors and little benefit to ordinary people.

Suppression of democratic rights

The main foundation of Rajapaksa's election campaign is Sinhala chauvinism, which is aimed at diverting attention from his government's real record. The whipping up of Sinhala chauvinism is an age-old tactic and one used by all factions of the Sri Lankan ruling elite to divide the working class along ethnic lines.

The selection of Anuradhapura, which was the first capital of the ancient Sinhala kings, for the UPFA's first election meeting was also designed to appeal to Sinhala chauvinists. Rajapaksa began his address by declaring that Anuradhapura was chosen because it was "a great city where ancient kings had defeated foreign invaders."

Rajapaksa and his supporters have accused Sirisena and the UNP Government of putting "national security" in danger. "I never betrayed the motherland like other politicians, I never struck secret pacts. Every leader from 1978 to 2005 has gone down on bended knee before LTTE leader Prabhakaran."

Whipping up the crowd and painting himself as a saviour of the Sinhalese, Rajapaksa continued: "Those living in areas vulnerable to sudden LTTE raids slept under trees. You can remember how the bodies of soldiers killed in battle were brought to villages, can't you?"

According to UN experts, an estimated 40,000 civilians lost their lives in military attacks. Washington began raising concerns about the war and the associated human right violations as means of pressuring the Rajapaksa government to break its relations with China.

While the Rajapaksa and Sirisena camps differ over the country's foreign policy orientation, they are united in their determination to continue their attacks on basic democratic rights.

(wsws)