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As elections loom large, politics is becoming dumber and outright opportunistic

23 Jul 2019 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}      

 

 

 

 

 

  • SL has failed to harness systemic opportunities in international politics due to this creeping domestic paralysis 

 

 

Two weeks back Dayasiri Jayasekara, MP told the Parliamentary Select Committee probing the Easter Sunday attacks that it was not the Islamic State that was behind the attack. He alleged that certain foreign countries have used Mohammed Zahran ‘to fulfil their objectives in Sri Lanka’.  


He opined that a bomber refrained from blowing himself up in the Indian- owned Taj Samudra hotel because there were ‘ certain people’ in it.   


Like the majority of Parliamentarians, Jayasekara MP was not clear as to what he was talking about. Nor is such knowledge needed given the pitiful status of Sri Lankan politics. His objective is nonetheless clear.   


( Abdul Latheef Mohamed Jameel, the British and Australian educated suicide bomber failed to blow up due to a suspected malfunction in the bomb fuse, he was seen in CCTV cameras inside the hotel lobby. Later he returned to a motel near the Dehiwala Zoo and exploded accidentally when he was trying to repair the bomb, according to the investigators)  
Jayasekara MP is exploiting a natural Sri Lankan weakness to blame our problems on others, but, his ploy is dangerously politicking the national security.   


He did not reveal who’s who of State actors, he was alluding to. Nor did the members of PSC ask him. Everybody probably knew this whole thing was one partisan gimmick.  
Electoral democracies are insane and wild compared to their more choreographed counterparts in places like China and Singapore. However, even in the most cacophonous of these systems, politicians, at least the well- intentioned ones, leave national security out of their political machinations. That is because, it deals with the lives of real people, as we Sri Lankans learned through the Easter Sunday monstrosity, made possible through political bickering and outright incompetence across the political office and intelligence agencies.  
Most politicians in the developing world democracies fail to stick to these basic niceties. Also, their electorate is all too servile to feel outraged or the politicos are above the scrutiny.   
However, political opportunism blurs the priorities of national security and creates misplaced threat perceptions ( especially when intelligence and defence apparatus are vulnerable for politicization).   


Notwithstanding the Sri Lankan proclivity to blame others, Easter Sunday attack is a product of home grown Islamic terrorism. Intelligence agencies knew about the unfolding radicalisation. Muslim elites knew about the Wahhabi ultra-conservativism that was reshaping their community. Muslim politicians either supported that ominous transformation, or turned a blind eye. The government leaders, ignored the emerging threat not to offend the Muslims.  


Now partisan persons are looking for a foreign link to pin the blame. That is a dangerous mistake. Instead of chasing imaginary foreign enemies, Sri Lanka should reconfigure its intelligence agencies to keep a tab on rising Islamic extremism of both violent and non-violent variants (the latter is only a stepping stone to the former).  


Sri Lanka is also blessed with a set of humbug, (but vocal) foreign policy observers who see crocodiles in the washbasin. They now find a link between the Easter Sunday attacks and the defence cooperation agreements with America- namely the Acquisition and Cross Service Agreement and State of Forces  Agreement ( SOFA) and US$480 Millennium challenge cooperation grant and, development cooperation with India in Palali and Trincomalee.  


ACSA is a preliminary foundational defence cooperation agreement that the United States has signed with over 75 countries. Our neighbour, India which in the recent past was plagued by a far more insular foreign policy than us have now signed a third foundation with America in an agreement known as Communication Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) meant for secure encrypted communication.  


Local pundits have viewed defence cooperation with the United State as a sell out, and infringement of sovereignty. In truth however, small countries like Sri Lanka can increase their security and chance of survival by making their existence a mutual self- interest of great powers in the international system. They can acquire a good degree of relevance by providing some basic public goods to the international community and committing to a stake in the global security dictated by the great powers.  


However, a long list of local personalities are now crying blue murder over an impending American military base in Sri Lanka.    


 Sri Lanka’s chaotic domestic politics and fickle State policies do not endear any major state to rely on this country for a significant part of its security interests. Nor does any Sri Lankan government have political autonomy to allow a foreign base- a long shot for a government which cannot acquire land for basic development projects.  


However, Sri Lanka has historically failed to harness systemic opportunities in international politics due to this creeping domestic paralysis.  


The President, Maithripala Sirisena has his own surprises. He has warned to end the moratorium on the death sentence and hang four death raw convicts. Since then the Appeal court has issued a staying order on the death sentence. The President’s low brow strategy was to prop up his waning domestic popularity, but it triggered a torrent of negative publicity at a time that the country was trying hard to rise from the economic fallout of the Easter Sunday attacks. Now the UNP has tabled a private member motion proposing the abolishing of the death sentence. In response, the president has warned to announce a day of mourning. That however may be a much less damagingploy than possibly risking the livelihood of millions of Sri Lankans who rely on tourism and European Union GSP Plus tariff concessions.   


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