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Gods, Goons And Gimmicks

| by Tisaranee Gunasekara

“ German history teaches us that…. nothing in the public realm is inevitable.”

Fritz tein !"eo #aeck "ecture$

! %ecember &', ()&*, +olombo, ri "anka Guardian$ #eore commencing his oicial

election campaign, +andidate -ahinda a/apaksa le0 to Andra 1radesh 0ith an

entourage o 23 !including soon4to4be 5ealth -inister Tissa Attanayake$, or a special

poo/a in the Tirumala 6enkatesh0ara Temple. 7n his eagerness to 0in divine backing

or his election campaign, not only did he become a temporary4vegetarian8 he

reportedly ordered the entire ri "anka light to ollo0 suit9 :There 0ere strict ordersto the ri "anka Airlines special light….to serve only vegetarian ood on board” .

The a/apaksas 0ill try to steal the election, i they have to. #ut

stealing an election is not ;uite an easy thing, especially at the

national level.

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The absolute ma/ority o "ankan politicians are superstitious. -any o them, including

most o 1resident a/apaksa<s predecessors, 0ould have visited various religious

establishments, seeking divine support or their political ventures. #ut ho0ever

devout, none 0ould have even thought o ordering an entire light to go vegetarian to

suit his=her needs. These leaders may have been corrupted by po0er > but not to the

point o regarding the state as their private property. The a/apaksas do, 0hich is 0hya commercial light 0as orced to go vegetarian. 7t is a telling indication o the uture

a0aiting us i they 0in.

ince the a/apaksas e;uate themselves 0ith the country, their electoral needs become

national needs8 conse;uently the use o state po0er=resources in their election

campaign becomes the normal and obvious thing to do, rom their perspective.

"ast 0eek Gotabhaya a/apaksa claimed that retired military oicers have a right to

participate in his brother<s election campaign. 5e is right. etired military oicials

have a right to engage in electioneering. #ut serving senior public oicials, particularly

permanent secretaries to government ministries, do not. This 0eek Gotabhaya

a/apaksa claimed that previous presidents did things contrary to good governance.

5e is right. ?uite a e0 o the problems 0e ace today are the accumulated results o

decades o 0rong4doing. #ut 0here did -r. a/apaksa make this statement@ 7n

5omagama, 0hile opening an election4campaign oice or his brother

-r. a/apaksa is probably the second4most po0erul man in ri "anka. #ut oicially

he is /ust another ministry secretary. Bhen he engages in election activities to promote

his brother, he is violating the Cstablishment +ode and the Clection "a0. uch blatantly illegal conduct is another "ankan irst, or 0hich the a/apaksa amily can

take complete credit. #ut, then, or a Family 0hich chased a0ay the legal +hie Dustice

and replaced her 0ith an acolyte, 0hat is the la0 0orth@ !5opeully some members o

the legal raternity 0ill ile action against Gotabhaya a/apaksa, or breaking election

la0s so openly.$

7t is no0 beyond doubt that &,)))E +T# buses, rom all over the country, 0ere used to

transport cro0ds to -ahinda a/apaksa<s inaugural meeting in Anuradhapura. 7t is

logical to assume that similar gimmicks are being used to create optical illusions o

success at other meetings. nce again the huge cost > and the inconvenience,especially to " students dependent on public transport > 0ill have to be borne by the

"ankan people.

Clection violence is obviously on the rise. %uring a t0enty4our hour period, three

opposition meetings 0ere attacked. ome o the attackers had come in deender /eeps,

the trademark vehicle o regime4mandated thugs during the va campaign. 1resident

a/apaksa has ordered an immediate investigation 4 his avourite ploy, to delect blame

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and evade responsibility.

 Another disturbing irst is the reported use o the military to promote +andidate

a/apaksa. 7n Galle, the Army had been carrying out programmes in tuition classes to

Hinorm students about the 0ar4victory<. A %eputy Clection +ommissioner has ordered

this practice to be stopped. According to the report in "ankadeepa, the army oicer incharge had claimed that the programme is not electioneering but part o an army

recruitment drive .

The country is not at 0ar. Bhy does the army need to go into tuition classes to recruit

 youngsters@ 7s it even legal@ Bhat 0ill the army do neIt@ Go to schools@ 7sn<t this a

part o the larger a/apaksa programme o psychological and societal militarization,

the militarization o hearts, minds and morals@ !7ncidentally, this is 0hat the Tigers

used to do > go to schools and sho0 propaganda movies to persuade students to /oin

their ranks.$

7 guns, goons and gods do not suice, the a/apaksas 0ill turn to racism.

This 0eek the 1resident himsel accused the pposition o having a deal 0ith the TJA.

:Be are 0atching these things careully. These things need to be revealed.” Bhy

cannot the pposition > or the 1FA or that matter > have an election pact 0ith the

TJA@ The TJA is not an illegal entity or a clandestine terror outit. 7t is a legal political

party unctioning openly and peaceully in the democratic mainstream. #ut then, or

the 1resident every Tamil is someho0 a Tiger, unless they support him, in 0hich case

they become miraculously transormed into patriots. o Deyakumari #alendran is stillunder arrest or trying to discover the ate o her vanished son 0hile 6ellupillai

1irapaharan<s handpicked4successor, Kumaran 1athmanathan alias K1 is a totally ree

man.

There are also indications that the a/apaksas may be readying to use their inhala4

#uddhist supremacist proIies to incite -uslim4phobia in the outh. The ## is once

again talking about Dihadists in the Cast8 at a recent media conerence Galagoda4Atte

Gnanasara Thera claimed that :the government is in part ignoring some o the

concerns as a result o attempts to 0in the support o the ri "anka -uslim +ongress!"-+$ at the 1residential elections” . There are unconirmed reports about a possible

link up bet0een daya Gammanpila and the ## . 7nciting racist ires or staging

Hterrorist attacks<, can 0ell become election40inning gimmicks o last resort.

tymieing Clection4Thieves

The a/apaksas 0ill try to steal the election, i they have to. #ut stealing an election is

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not ;uite an easy thing, especially at the national level.

For instance, actual or paid supporters can be transported rom place to place, to

provide the illusion o hugely successul mass4meetings. #ut come election4day,

supporters in suicient numbers cannot be transported all over the country to engage

in malpractices. A properly organised opposition, 0ith polling agents and countingagents in place at every polling=counting centre, can do much to do0nsize rigging to

negligible levels.

There are some positive4irsts too, in the campaign.

7n an unprecedented development, several top4level Finance -inistry oicials have

reportedly protested against the use o state resources to promote +andidate

a/apaksa. At a recent meeting, reportedly chaired by the Treasury ecretary himsel,

these oicials had complained about the misuse o inancial and other resources and

 0arned %r. 1# Dayasundara that they may be :compelled to reuse to carry out such

orders or slo0 do0n the process in a 0ork4to4rule scenario.”

1erhaps in another irst, in %ambulla, 1resident a/apaksa had to stop his speech and

leave the stage in high4dudgeon, due to persistent heckling rom some members o the

cro0d .

Jothing in human history is inevitable.

7n Beimer Germany<s last democratic election, despite a campaign choking 0ith

 violence and malpractices, the Jazis could 0in only *L.MN o the vote. 5ad the anti4Jazi parties contested as a united ront, 5itler could have been deeated electorally.

7t is a lesson 0e must remember and learn rom.

eerences8

1. http9==000.sundaytimes.lk=&*&(&*=columns=rupavahini4blatantly4louts4polls4

chies4guidelines4&L(((M.html

2. http9==000.sundaytimes.lk=&*&(&*=ne0s=ol4candidates4stranded4as4buses4

transport4cro0ds4or4mrs4election4rally4&L()&2.html

3. http9==000.sundaytimes.lk=ne0s4online=three4attempts4made4sabotage4

maithripala4sirisenas4election4campaigning4cae.html

*. "ankadeepa > &3.&(.()&*

5. http9==colombogazette.com=()&*=&(=&3=mr4says4maithri4tna4have4deal=

6. http9==colombogazette.com=()&*=&(=&3=bbs4ear4eastern4terror4groups=

7. http9==000.asianmirror.lk=top4ne0s=item=2O2L4gammanpila4becomes4bbs4s4

hero4ne04political4party4to4counter4/hu

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8. http9==000.sundaytimes.lk=&*&(&*=business4times=cracks4appear4in4inance4

ministry4over4presidential4election4spending4&L&MOO.html

9. http9==000.colombopost.net=columns=pot4shots=item=L*M4mr4abandons4

speech4in4dambulla

1osted by Thavam