President taking all the wrong turns
After stumbling to power, Mahinda Rajapakse surprised many by taking firm control of the political as well as the security situation of the country. And in both fronts, he achieved moderate success at a rapid rate. Few were surprised when the tanks rolled forward decimating the Tiger camps in the east "liberating" the people living in Tiger held areas. Similarly, there was little surprise when he formed an alliance with the right-wing JVP only to file divorce papers months later. Smooth as his drive has been, the president has, since of late, seems to take all the wrong turns.
1. President has not put enough emphasis on the political solution as much as he has on the war. Refugee situation has hit crisis levels. And even if the war is won, what about the plight of Tamil civilians and power devolution. And more importantly, what will become of Karuna faction? Without addressing these, the victory will only be a temporary solution.
2. President seems to forget that Sri Lanka is still and will always be a democracy. His attempt to have his family posted to all the high ranking positions and to have his son whisked off to Dartmouth smells a little too fishy - almost like the British monarchy. Dutu Gemunu on his mind?
3. His attempt to have everyone significant in the opposition to cross over effectively eliminating the opposition sounds like ... again the British monarchy. He could end up with his originally ally the JVP, who helped him to power in the first place being the only real opposition. If things go well ... this would be fine; but if they don't, all we have to fall back to is now a far-right nationalist group.
4. President's recent warnings to media institutions and such, I hope, is not a preview of censorship policies yet to come.
- Arun Sangan, Melbourne
1. President has not put enough emphasis on the political solution as much as he has on the war. Refugee situation has hit crisis levels. And even if the war is won, what about the plight of Tamil civilians and power devolution. And more importantly, what will become of Karuna faction? Without addressing these, the victory will only be a temporary solution.
2. President seems to forget that Sri Lanka is still and will always be a democracy. His attempt to have his family posted to all the high ranking positions and to have his son whisked off to Dartmouth smells a little too fishy - almost like the British monarchy. Dutu Gemunu on his mind?
3. His attempt to have everyone significant in the opposition to cross over effectively eliminating the opposition sounds like ... again the British monarchy. He could end up with his originally ally the JVP, who helped him to power in the first place being the only real opposition. If things go well ... this would be fine; but if they don't, all we have to fall back to is now a far-right nationalist group.
4. President's recent warnings to media institutions and such, I hope, is not a preview of censorship policies yet to come.
- Arun Sangan, Melbourne
posted by Hitch at 1/19/2007 10:19:00 AM
7 Comments:
4. President's recent warnings to media institutions and such, I hope, is not a preview of censorship policies yet to come.
I would say it is a classic way of imposing censorship. Tell the media that you don't like censorship and ask them to be 'responsible' in their reporting, have Ke-heel-ya talk about how it is treason to print any view contrary to the president/army/navy/air force - hey presto you have censorship!
I think we are heading for a new Premadasa.
Good points. I hope you are wrong.
Mahinda is not going to become like a Premadasa. More like a Chavez, especially the second term of Chavez.
There is an increasing urgency among a few people to discredit an honest man by any means.
There's always those who hate those who uphold the rule of law.
Yet it is the common people who support the present President, even though there is an element of politiking in him that is not quite likeable.
A good president, may be. A honest man?? Never!!! Look how he sent his son to Dartmouth after saying he sacrificed a son for the nation. Instead he took the place of a good sailor who deserve that scholarship.
I do not understand why Mahinda had his son enrolled in the Navy. Perhaps for political expediency.
But looking at the costs of safe-guarding this very obvious high value target in a war makes the costs of relegating the first-son to a safe distant shore a very sensible decision.
It is easy to bark at the politicians and assume that the decision to pack the President's son off was a political decision. Perhaps it was a navy decision.
Post a Comment
<< Home