Understanding people’s power and GotaGoGama

Though previous struggles were violent, the GotaGoGama clamour is for a non-violent change of political leadership, the elimination of nepotism and corruption, constitutional reforms, and the introduction of legislation/institutions, engaging foreign expertise

Since the protesting youth declared that they had no political affiliations, and no political parties were participating in their agitations officially, labels cannot be stuck on them. It cannot however be denied that infiltration has not taken place; there may be intelligence cadres and political proxies among the protesters. Some persons have been caught and exposed as Presidential Secretariat workers, according to social media

As a State officer, I had a ringside view of several uprisings in Sri Lanka. The worst was the LTTE conflict. One may call these uprisings, struggles, insurgencies, terrorism, militancy, etc. Economics was the main driver of all of them. The same is true of the current struggle as well. 

One common factor in all these uprisings has been that all of them were led by the youth. The first and second JVP ‘insurgencies’ were led by Rohana Wijeweera himself; the other armed conflict was led by Velupillai Prabhakaran, who was young when it commenced.

Another common factor was that all these events were marred by violence by the parties thereto. In 1971, the Sirimavo Bandaranaike government secured limited foreign assistance (air/military support) in handling the uprising. Later, all governments enlisted international support to procure arms and ammunition, gather intelligence, and safeguard Sri Lanka’s interests at international fora. 

Another commonality was the extensive killings by both parties and the devastation of properties, State assets, disappearances, and a large number of deaths that went unaccounted for.

The three previous struggles were not ethnically inclusive while the current one shows ethnic and religious inclusivity.

The involvement of expatriate Sri Lankans in previous uprisings was only through the Tamil Diaspora on behalf of the LTTE. But the current struggle has brought thousands to foreign capitals, irrespective of their ethnoreligious differences. Their common demand has been the removal of those in power here, the hashtag being ‘Gota Go Home!’ 

 GotaGoHome uprising

I highlighted the foregoing because we have a youth-led peaceful protest movement in Sri Lanka. The uprising commenced with consumer resistance at filling stations, gas sales outlets, cooperative shops, etc., later leading to evening vigils, and protests at workplaces and then at GotaGoGama. 

Until GotaGoGama happened People Power was thought to be spontaneous. Now, we find elders, academics, media persons, artists, trade unionists, war heroes, undergraduates, and many others also joining the uprising.

Though previous struggles were violent, the GotaGoGama clamour is for a non-violent change of political leadership, the elimination of nepotism and corruption, constitutional reforms, and the introduction of legislation/institutions, engaging foreign expertise.

The GotaGoGama protesters should not misunderstand that politicians will give up power without a ‘struggle’ for their interests. 

Since the uprising is nonviolent, the demanded change should happen without violence. We have seen the youth acting with restraint despite being provoked by some members of the Police, but the question is how long both would remain calm. 

Non-negotiables 

There are four non-negotiables according to the GoGotaGamians:

(1)  Gotabaya Rajapaksa should leave office; 

(2) The Rajapaksa clan should be removed from the Government; 

(3) The 20th Amendment must be repealed and an upgraded version of the 19th Amendment brought in as the 21st Amendment, and, 

(4) All stolen national assets should be traced and returned while the culprits are punished severely.  

The first demand is supported by most enlightened Sri Lankans as it is clear to everyone that the economic collapse is due to the wrong economic decisions of the President and the Government. However, constitutionally vacating the presidency could happen under Article 38 due to death, resignation, the holder of the presidency ceasing to be a citizen of Sri Lanka, and impeachment. The legal difficulties should be understood, especially by non-violent GotaGoGamians. 

Nevertheless, the presidential immunity is invoked when item four (corruption) is concerned, and thus there is a strong case for the ouster of the President immediately because immunity blocks potential prosecution. 

The second demand responds to nepotism, and the youth do not subscribe to the usual explanation given by pro-government spokespersons, as it is consequentially tagged to the electoral victories of Rajapaksas. Such explanations are due to a misunderstanding of the GotaGoGama demands. Protesters are also denouncing appointments to key positions, made based on kinship.

The third demand is the concentration of power (through the 20th Amendment) in one individual. This has become particularly problematic as the President lacks political experience. Inexperience made him take ill-advised, uninformed decisions and thereby plunge the country into economic misery, provoking social unrest. He has admitted his mistakes and his admission has strengthened the position of his critics that he has to give up the presidency urgently. 

The fourth demand is backed by many social and formal media exposures, which have not been countered satisfactorily. Government politicians and their cronies have callously demanded critics pursue legal action to prove allegations of corruption. Since there are time-tested international institutions (World Bank StAR, UN Convention Against Corruption, UN Office on Drugs and Crimes, etc.,) and other mechanisms to probe these allegations, it is obvious that the alleged culprits have misunderstood reality. 

Additionally, it is claimed in some quarters that corruption cases against Government politicians have collapsed, and therefore there is no point in prosecuting them. They suspiciously claim Government influence on the legal system will help key politicians cover up their tracks. It shows the understanding of ground realities by GotaGoGamians. 

Attempted civilian interventions

A group of retired public servants, civil society activists, and professionals discussed how to resolve the complex issues and had some fruitful discussions with the GoGotaGama protesters, mostly over Zoom. 

Non-negotiables and intransigence are common in conflict resolution. I experienced them when we negotiated peace with the LTTE, which was powerful at the time but opted to enter into negotiations. It is therefore advisable for the GotaGoGamians to identify a team of negotiations. Even the ruthless terrorists were flexible and the question is why a group of peaceful young protesters cannot do so. 

The protesters’ insistence that there is no need for negotiations may be taken as their position that everything should happen as they wish. The GotaGoGamians should understand that the basic law is supreme. Or, one may interpret intransigence as an attempt to explore other means by them, and on the other hand provoke the Government to find other means, which may be disastrous nationally and internationally, politically and economically. 

It is not advisable to disregard laws. The best example is the appointment by President Maithripala Sirisena of Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister on 26 October 2018, and the shock he received in the form of a Supreme Court ruling.

I recall that the LTTE during negotiations with us made certain demands with no respect for the Constitution, or the Ceasefire Agreement, knowing well that the Government would not agree. Hence, I wish the GotaGoGamians would change their stance and select some efficient, effective negotiators. 

If a stalemate occurs after their demands are partially granted—as in the case of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa stepping down—they could change their strategy, within limits. I am reminded of the advice by the President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, Saliya Pieris, PC, regarding the need to adhere to the Constitution of Sri Lanka. I recollect that one of the GotaGoGama Zoom interlocutors stressed the need to be constitutionalist; I hope all protesters share this positive approach.

Arguing for the Government

We come across critics who question why political reforms such as the vacation of the presidency are required when the issue is economics. This argument amounts to a misrepresentation of facts. Others point out that excessive constitutional power is misused (e.g. (1) whitewashing the sugar duty concessions granted to ‘friends of the President’ to the tune of nearly Rs. 16 billion, by debilitation of the parliamentary watchdog committee through prorogation, and, (2) not following action on the shady deal despite recommendations made by the Auditor General (March 2022) in his special report, (3) disastrous ban on agrochemicals (4) excessive tax concessions granted in 2019). Critics argue that if the President is allowed to remain in office and make some more disastrous arbitrary decisions, the country will be done for.  Some of those who argue on behalf of the Government ask what will happen to the country if both the Prime Minister and the President leave office. They say the Opposition has not disclosed how it will deal with such an eventuality. Indeed, the Opposition without State power has not divulged an action plan, but it is much worse when the Government with all State powers cannot spell out how it proposes to solve the existing problems. 

The Government wavered until the change of the Central Bank Governor and the Finance Ministry Secretary and tried to cover up the mess it had caused about foreign reserves, exchange rates, gold reserves, duty waivers, etc. These proved that they have been without any action plan either, and will not have one in the future as well. This bolsters the argument for their ouster. 

‘Leaderless’ uprising 

Once we met some GotaGoGamian youth informally though we were uncertain of their real role identities. That meeting and the Zoom discussions made us understand that there was no single leader for the uprising. There were some persons leading different protests and they seem to believe that leaders will emerge as time lapses. 

Although the leadership of the protest movement did not emerge for the first two weeks or so, it emerged after a new face claiming “hash-tag ownership” appeared. This created a sort of dispute among the GotaGoGamians and received publicity on social media. It must be noted that such disputes if continued will weaken the movement, and the Government will certainly benefit from it. The GotaGoGamians should not undervalue unity.

Some political critics thought that a leadership council might be preferable, but the youth might have considered the disadvantages, especially for the personal safety of those on the leadership council. They may have even considered it as a ploy to create disunity among them. Some questioned whether the movement was disintegrating, a claim which was dismissed by social media activists supportive of the uprising as emanating from the prophets of gloom. 

Concurrently, the Government seemed clueless about responding to the uprising. The easiest way for it was to use military force, which would however have jeopardised the ongoing efforts to secure IMF and international support. 

The Rambukkana incident may have been an instance where the Government tested the water, but the united front that lawyers et al presented, and the protest that erupted, condemning police brutality, put paid to the Government’s efforts. 

At GotaGoGama, there was not much military or police presence. It was something positive since the force to crush the GotaGoGama protest would have led to protests emerging in all parts of the country. 

Since the protesting youth declared that they had no political affiliations, and no political parties were participating in their agitations officially, labels cannot be stuck on them. It cannot however be denied that infiltration has not taken place; there may be intelligence cadres and political proxies among the protesters. Some persons have been caught and exposed as Presidential Secretariat workers, according to social media. 

The Government may be thinking that the uprising will die down with the time when leadership issues emerge; supplies become scarce, and public interest dwindles. 

The youth may be cashing in on competing for political interests within the Government and among Opposition groups, restraints to appease the IMF, participation of society leaders, academics, artists, professionals, and business magnates, trade unions, etc., in their protest. They may also have expected the general strike to continue for a few days, crippling the Government. The one-day work stoppage by 1,000 trade unions has proved how a strike could effectively affect communities. 

Under these circumstances, GotaGoGama may be expecting the resignation of the Prime Minister first, (even before the strike on 6 May ended!), followed by the President. Up to date, their prayers have not been answered.

However, the President cannot attend office for weeks and if the strike stops the Government from functioning, it would mean that the Executive President is toothless, and I do not think President Rajapaksa will be able to come to terms with it. It will be difficult for the Government to give up, but what alternatives are available other than to give in? 

Let the power games of the politicians and the people be settled without misunderstandings or bloodshed. My Sri Lankan brethren do not deserve such a disaster in these difficult times, simply because politicians cannot renounce power, and Opposition politicians remain undecided. All of them from the President, the Prime Minister, and all parliamentarians (except a handful) probably think people’s power is secondary to political power. This is a huge mistake. No wonder People Power is gaining momentum, and I hope that it leads to sustainable great results. Let’s keep our fingers crossed

Reverberation

I am reminded of 5 July 2018, when I left the Presidential Secretariat for good. That day, addressing my officials, I said: “There is no inherent power in power. If there were an inherent power in power, you could not oust those with power. The true power of power – whether it is personal, professional, or political- comes with your ability to give up that power. The strength that the renouncement of power gives you is unmatched by any other force. The Buddha taught us this lesson 2500 years ago. It is something important that public servants and politicians alike should reflect on.”

I believe that I have not misunderstood power. Nevertheless, these words reverberate in my mind. If these words could echo the Secretariat from where I made the speech, it may enlighten those who hear them. 

Concluding remarks

Let the power games of the politicians and the people be settled without misunderstandings or bloodshed. My Sri Lankan brethren do not deserve such a disaster in these difficult times, simply because politicians cannot renounce power, and Opposition politicians remain undecided. All of them from the President, the Prime Minister, and all parliamentarians (except a handful) probably think People’s power is secondary to political power. This is a huge mistake.

No wonder People Power is gaining momentum, and I hope that it leads to sustainable great results. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.