A fresh chapter?

Tremors in Sri Lanka’s political landscape are rarely visible, but one was seen on Tuesday when former Army Commander turned politician Sarath Fonseka launched his freshly registered party and fired the first salvo against both the Government and the Opposition. But how deep this tremor will be remains to be seen.

The Elections Commission formally registered the former General’s Democratic Party on Monday after a long-drawn registration battle. Fonseka hailed the birth of the Democratic Party as a defining moment in Sri Lanka’s democracy.

Three years after contesting presidential polls, two years in prison and 10 months since his release, Fonseka has had a relatively short but very eventful time in politics. During the media meeting he was vocal on many important issues unfolding in Sri Lanka and insisted that he would bring his party to the table at elections starting with the polls to be rolled out later this year.

Perhaps his most crucial showing will be at the highly-anticipated northern provincial council elections, which will gauge his acceptance level among the country’s main minority and evaluate his political image with his military one. This is also important because Fonseka has made it a point to come out in support of power devolution and minority rights but has steered clear of the sticky problem of investigating allegations of war crimes and other human rights abuses, preferring to frame power devolution as needing to take place with consultation of all communities.

His call to the military not to take arms against civilian protests could also be a herald for campaigns to come as he pursues an agenda specifically targeted at the Rajapaksa family, whom he repeatedly faults for ignoring national needs and instead concentrating on amassing personal wealth – a point that he did not forget to mention on Tuesday.

Fonseka contested the 2010 presidential election as the common opposition presidential candidate and allied with the JVP-led Democratic National Alliance to contest parliamentary elections held the same year. The then unregistered Democratic Party fielded two candidates at the General Election – MPs Arjuna Ranatunga and Tiran Alles – both of whom have since left Fonseka’s fold.

 This means that Fonseka, devoid of his civic rights, has to find the right representatives, backers and members for his party. However, despite media speculation of crossovers, no clear indication has been given by prominent politicians, either in the opposition or the Government, of any movement.

Fonseka was also recently quoted as saying that his party does not have “saloon doors,” referring to a statement made by President Rajapaksa that anyone is free to come and go from his party as they please. Such a tough policy could also make potential crossover think twice about a move. This also leaves Fonseka with the challenge of having to build the party from the ground up virtually on his own. The silver lining in this situation is that the former Army Commander can directly appeal to the public, maintain a clear agenda and pick his fights, as it were, in the political arena.

In his statements on Tuesday, Fonseka criticised the Opposition for being no better than the Government, but was unclear on whether he would partner with any political party for future elections. Be that as it may, it is obvious that Fonseka plans to remain the dark horse in Sri Lanka’s vapid political sphere, but whether the people agree that he is “the only alternative” will be seen by election results.