Do you believethat thereis a politicianor a
governmentthat will treat everyonefairlyunder
the law in Sri Lanka?
Noneof the current lot of politicians—Mahinda
[Rajapaksa],Gotabaya [Rajapaksa],Ranil[Wick-
remesinghe], Maithripala [Sirisena]—should
comeback. A newgenerationthatis concerned
aboutthepeopleandthenationshould emerge.
Onlythenwillthiscountry havea future.Eachof
the currentlot of politicianshas a personal agenda,
andhaspromoted justonesection.Do Muslimpeopletrustthe currentleadersfrom
withinthe community?
All the leadersare onlytryingto developthem-
selves.Nothingmuchhasbeendonefor thecom-
munity. Thepeoplealsodo nottrustthemany
longer.There is a MuslimMinisterwhocameto
politicswithnothing.Nowhe is a millionaire.How
did he amassso muchwealth?
Weat NFGG standfor goodgovernanceand
havebeentakingup people’sissues.In a short
period, we have about 25 electedmembersacross
Sri Lanka.We are gettinga good response fromthe
people.... Electionsare nowbeing fought withhuge
moneypower.Weare winningin spiteof this.Doesnot the communitycometogetherwhen
thereis an attackon itself?
Therehavebeensuchattempts.Butthereare
alwaysdifferencesbecauseof individual prefer-
ences.It hasnotworkedin the past.Why doesthe entranceto Kattankudyhaveso
muchArabarchitecture,writingand evendate
palmson the roaddividers?This is not seenin any
otherSri Lankancity...
Thiswasdoneby theformer Governorto im-
pressdonors. ThedonorswereSaudis.Butsomeof
us hadwarnedhimthatthismightendup sending
the wrongmessage to othercommunities.Strategic Plan2017-2020”,a governmentpublication.
All thatended on April 21. Although Aprilto September
is consideredtheleanperiod, it is alsothetimewhen
manyIndians travelto SriLanka.Tourism, which is
nearlya $5 billionindustry in Sri Lanka,contributesto
about5 per centof the country’sGDP(seestoryon page
20).
Withtourists stayingaway,evenaftersomecountries
withdrewtraveladvisories,jobsin the hospitality sector
are vanishingeveryday.Theindirect job lossesto local
businessesare difficultto calculateandbarelymakeit togovernmentstatistics,accordingto a localtouroperator
in Polonnaruwa,a cityof ancientruinsthatattractsa
considerablenumberof tourists.
As a consequence of the security measures
undertakenby thegovernmentaftertheblasts,many
Maldivians,for whom Sri Lankais a secondhome,are
consideringothercountries as options.AllMaldivian
citizensare SunniMuslimandtheytoo undergothe same
problems as local Muslims across a variety of
establishments. Colombowastheirpreferreddestination
for studies,medicalaid,andrestandrecreation.There
are about12,000Maldiviansin Sri Lanka.“Somehave
gonebackto theMaldives,a fewothersarelookingat
other countries suchas Malaysia to moveto,”saida
senior Maldivianofficial.FORA‘STRONG’LEADER
Sri Lanka’spoliticalproblems areevenmorecomplex
thanthe economicslowdown:the people’slackof faithin
thecountry’s polityis apparent andtherearevoices
which demandthata strongperson is needed to govern
the country. “Yes, this is true,” said Chamindry
Saparamadu,a lawyer andpoliticalanalystwhohas
worked at theforefrontof bothconstitutionalreforms
andthe Rightto Information Actin Sri Lanka.
“Thehopewasthatthisgovernment willdeliver on at
leastsomeof its promises.Butit hasfailedat all levelsof
governance. All efforts that we have put into
constitutional reforms as wellasfindinga negotiated
politicalsettlementto thenational problemhavegone
waste. So muchprogresscouldhavebeenmade,but
becauseof individual egosof thoseat thetop,a great
opportunityhasbeenlost,”shesaid.
Theideathatstrongleadershipis the antidote to all
thatis wrongin Sri Lankais gaining ground.Onename
that hasbeen proposedis of MahindaRajapaksa’s
brother and former Defence Secretary Gotabaya
Rajapaksa, whois saidto haveorderedthekilling of
unarmedTamilTigersandciviliansin the laststagesof
the Eelamwar.
“Theissuesthatcivilsocietythinksas criticalare not
actually thatimportant for the peopleat large. Thewhite
vans[which wereallegedlyused to abductcritics of the
government] werea majorissuethatwastalked about by
civilsocietyduring theRajapaksaregime.Butthatdid
notaffectthepublicat large,themiddleclassor the
traders at thattime.Thesepeopleare beingaffectednow
becauseof underworldcriminalsandthugswhoare
having a freerunnow,” Chamindry Saparamadusaid.
Fromanecdotalevidence andfromwhatcivilsociety
leaders say,it appears thattheSri Lankan peoplehave
forgottenthe excesses of the Rajapaksa era andnowwant
a strongmanas President.GotabayaRajapaksais the
frontrunner,but Sri Lanka is known for too manypalace
intriguesaheadof an election. Gotabayahasdeclared
himself a candidate (see “A Rajapaksa eyes the
presidency”,Frontline, May10, 2019)andis working to
makesurethathisbrotherandtheSinhalamajority
accepthim.Meanwhile, Mahinda Rajapaksa, themostby laws’