Just two weeks after the conclusion of the Presidential election,
the man who challenged Candidate Rajapakse
(and is the bete noire of his omnipotent brother) was assaulted,
handcuffed and dragged away like a common criminal
to an undisclosed location.
Such a development cannot but cause the gravest misgivings
about the future of Lankan democracy,
particularly given its timing -
in the run up to a crucial parliamentary election,
in which Gen. Fonseka was expected to play a key role.
The retired general was arrested under the Military Act,
possibly because getting a warrant from a civil court would not be easy,
given the fantastic nature of the charges against him.
He may be tried by a military tribunal,
a stratagem which would enable his prosecutors
to avoid media scrutiny
and depict abusive allegations
and conspiracy theories as hard evidence.
Both the arrest of Gen. Fonseka
and the crass manner in which it was done
are symbolic of the Rajapakse ethos premised
on boundless arrogance,
absolute intolerance
and total paranoia.
This action, so manifestly anti-democratic,
so unmistakeably reeking of phobia,
hatred and vengeance,
so clearly aimed at teaching a humiliating lesson a former acolyte
who dared to commit the supreme crime
of lese majéste is entirely compatible
with the logic of the Rajapakse power project.
Without a new constitution,
Rajapakse rule will wither away
at the end of the President’s second term
and the innumerable family members,
who currently occupy the heights of the polity
and society on the basis of kinship,
will be compelled to retreat
to less exalted and lucrative places,
more in keeping with their natural abilities.
Can the Rajapakses afford such a future?
Would they not do anything to avoid such a mighty fall,
at whatever cost to anyone?
When the very survival
of the Familial project of the Ruling Rajapakses is at stake,
anything can happen,
however heinous or grotesque.
the man who challenged Candidate Rajapakse
(and is the bete noire of his omnipotent brother) was assaulted,
handcuffed and dragged away like a common criminal
to an undisclosed location.
Such a development cannot but cause the gravest misgivings
about the future of Lankan democracy,
particularly given its timing -
in the run up to a crucial parliamentary election,
in which Gen. Fonseka was expected to play a key role.
The retired general was arrested under the Military Act,
possibly because getting a warrant from a civil court would not be easy,
given the fantastic nature of the charges against him.
He may be tried by a military tribunal,
a stratagem which would enable his prosecutors
to avoid media scrutiny
and depict abusive allegations
and conspiracy theories as hard evidence.
Both the arrest of Gen. Fonseka
and the crass manner in which it was done
are symbolic of the Rajapakse ethos premised
on boundless arrogance,
absolute intolerance
and total paranoia.
This action, so manifestly anti-democratic,
so unmistakeably reeking of phobia,
hatred and vengeance,
so clearly aimed at teaching a humiliating lesson a former acolyte
who dared to commit the supreme crime
of lese majéste is entirely compatible
with the logic of the Rajapakse power project.
Without a new constitution,
Rajapakse rule will wither away
at the end of the President’s second term
and the innumerable family members,
who currently occupy the heights of the polity
and society on the basis of kinship,
will be compelled to retreat
to less exalted and lucrative places,
more in keeping with their natural abilities.
Can the Rajapakses afford such a future?
Would they not do anything to avoid such a mighty fall,
at whatever cost to anyone?
When the very survival
of the Familial project of the Ruling Rajapakses is at stake,
anything can happen,
however heinous or grotesque.
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