Tuesday, 22 April 2014 00:16
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The attack on a group of United National Party (UNP) MPs while they were engaging in an inspection tour of the Hambantota Harbour and Mattala Airport has gained significant traction as an example of how dangerously wrong the country’s politics have become.
On the surface it would seem that the most disturbing aspect of this incident is the ability for an elected official, in this case the Mayor of Hambantota, to be participating in a clearly political protest toting a pistol. He then attempted to explain away the weapon by insisting that he was there to only stop the attack, since the Police clearly could not, but also because he was ordered to do so by the President’s son MP Namal Rajapaksa. Rajapaksa junior has since insisted that he made no such request and the whole event took a humorous tone when the Mayor claimed it was a plastic pistol.
Whether the pistol was plastic or not may never be proved, but what it shows is that Sri Lanka has become a nation of plastic politicians and plastic Police. Whatever the perceived shortcomings of the main Opposition party, the fact that they have a right to inspect projects that will utilise billions of rupees of taxpayer money to repay loans cannot be disputed. The UNP MPs also obtained the necessary approvals from the relevant ministries and officials, making this visit above board.
Even after the regrettable incident, it is disappointing that President Mahinda Rajapaksa is focusing more on what he says was an attempt by the MPs to discredit and criticise the projects rather than seeing the great dual threat of armed politicians and politically-disempowered Police. Undoubtedly the most disturbing point is the creation of a culture that allows a politician to behave in a violent and despicable manner without any danger of retribution, either from the law or his own party. This is nothing new to local politics but it is incredibly worrying that such an environment is being openly fostered by the very people who claim to have built an inclusive and peaceful society. Clearly the two aspects are not mutually-inclusive in their minds.
The law is increasingly being sidelined by people who seek to move above it and Police, it seems, are sidetracked by the UNP MPs’ lack of security rather than why the Police present at the site did nothing to prevent the attack. Investigations have no public confidence because they lack transparency or consequence to the perpetrators and so justice continues to be ignored.
Democratic Party Leader and former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka has weighed in by saying the attack is another example that justifies the pending United Nations probe on the Government. He also went a step beyond, according to reports, agreeing to participate in any investigation by the Office of the High Commissioner. Opposition parties have showcased the attacks on the MPs as another in a long line of anti-public actions, aligning it with notorious incidents such as Weliweriya. The UNP will also present a report to Parliament, making it a matter of official record obtainable by interested parties outside of the country.
Hambantota, deep in the heartland of the Rajapaksa family, endowed with multi-billion dollar projects, should ideally be an example for progressive attitudes and development. Rather, it has come to embody all that is wrong with the present political system, the political elite and the plastic functioning of Sri Lanka’s tottering democracy.
