Monday 2nd September, 2024

Election campaigns are getting down and dirty as the much-anticipated presidential contest rapidly approaches; politicians and political parties are slinging mud at one another in the hope that some of it will stick. They are trading various allegations, and it is not possible for the public to figure out whether their claims are true or false. This is the name of the game in politics. Politicians are driven by self-interest and an insatiable thirst for power, and for them the end justifies the means.

SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam has taken a swipe at Sri Lanka’s political Janus, the JVP/NPP, which makes itself out to be both Marxist and liberal at the same time. Taking part in a television interview, Kariyawasam sought to have the public believe that the US was backing the JVP/NPP. That was why the current US Ambassador to Sri Lanka had visited the JVP headquarters several times and refrained from paying a visit to the head office of the SLPP, the ruling party, he argued. We do not intend to discuss this unsubstantiated claim; suffice it to say that the SLPP politicians are looking for foils in a bid to make themselves out to be patriots. Instead, we propose a way to ascertain whether the presidential candidates in the fray are helping further the interests of the US and benefiting from a quid pro quo.

The US has earned notoriety for engineering regime changes the world over. It can be described as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide in international politics; while promoting democracy and human rights, it unflinchingly backs dictatorial rulers who help advance its geopolitical agenda. A well-argued column, reproduced from The Statesman (India), on this page today, refers to an article written by internationally acclaimed scholar and commentator, Prof. Jeffrey D. Sachs, “Accusations of US Regime-Change Operations in Pakistan and Bangladesh Warrant UN Attention”.

Referring to claims made by former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan and former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina that the US had a hand in their ousters, the article quotes Prof. Sachs as having said: “Their grave accusations (made by the two former prime ministers) against the US, as reported in the world media, should be investigated by the UN, since if true, the US actions would constitute a fundamental threat to world peace and to regional stability in South Asia.” One cannot but agree with Prof. Sachs.

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena also said something similar on 21 March 2024. He told Parliament that in the aftermath of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation amidst an uprising in 2022, he had come under severe pressure from some foreign powers and others to take over the presidency unconstitutionally, but he had refused to do so. SLPP MP Wimal Weerawansa has, in his book on the 2022 uprising and its causes, “Nine: The Hidden Story”, alleged that the US was behind the Galle Face protest campaign or Aragalaya. The US has vehemently denied this allegation, but a probe should be conducted to find out whether there was a foreign involvement in the socio-political upheavals in 2022 and the ouster of President Rajapaksa.

Sri Lanka has been under US pressure to sign the SOFA (Status of the Forces Agreement), which basically enables US military personnel to operate in a foreign country. One of the main geostrategic imperatives for the US at present is to have a stronger military presence in this region. Ousted Bangladesh PM Hasina has reportedly said, “I could have stayed in power if I had surrendered the sovereignty of Saint Martin Island and allowed America to dominate the Bay of Bengal.” It may be recalled that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa refused to sign the SOFA.

So, the best way for Sri Lanka’s presidential candidates to prove that they are not puppets put up by the US is to declare that they will not help further the geostrategic interests of Washington at the expense of this country. They should reveal their positions on the SOFA. Let the JVP/NPP be urged to do so first because the SLPP has accused it of being Washington’s darling.