Politics in the Indian subcontinent is seemingly more fluid than ever before.
Just recently Sri Lanka has seen the rise of a coalition Government the likes of which would have been unthinkable, not only a generation ago, but perhaps even in the last few years. On hindsight, which is of course 20/20, even a cursory analysis shows how this reality was pushed into existence – the United States, as a global power broker, and India, as a regional power broker, operating just barely behind the scenes in ousting the Rajapaksa regime perhaps for his reliance on ‘the Chinese’.
As such, want as it may, the powers that be in Sri Lanka are obliged to share their playbook with their benefactors, and even permit said benefactors to adjust or change plays when it allows for manipulation in their, geopolitical and socioeconomic, favour – the ‘superpowers’ dictating how the world should work rather than respecting the sovereignty and collective will of individual nations, no matter the cost to the citizenry at large.
Prime Minister RanilWikramasinghe, whose lustre had been on a steady decline even within his own party, through this coalition government is now apparently conspiring to facilitate the same scene as that which brought him back to the political limelight; with power and influence far greater than his previous heydays.
Now with former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed visiting Sri Lanka and openly advocating toppling the legitimate Government of Maldives all that the Sri Lankan Government could muster, perhaps at the behest of their benefactors, was essentially that Nasheed was promoting democracy. One wonders how advocating the toppling of a democratically elected government by pushing for an ‘interim’ government of his choosing, rather than impeachment – because Nasheed knows he cannot get the votes, or by election – which is yet more than two years away, is democratic by any stretch of the imagination.
The Sri Lankan Cabinet spokesman RajithaSenaratne said Nasheed had, even before he became President, carried out all his activities from Sri Lanka. Senaratne would go on to further praise Nasheed, who had abducted a sitting judge with the force of his military, for thanking the then Sri Lankan Government for accommodating him. The passage of time; and a man’s actions and severe decline of moral, ethical and legal standing within that time, has been hastily forgotten.
Also hastily forgotten seems to be the increasingly duplicitous, undemocratic and dictatorial manner in which Nasheed ruled from 2008 to 2012. He came into power through a coalition and lost no time is expelling or disenfranchising the members of his coalition from his government, replacing them with close associates within his party. He would then go on to arrest opposition leaders without due process, exploit the unregulated media landscape, influence the courts – by figuratively placing one under lock and key, push his cabinet to resign – in a show protest for not being able to secure a majority in the Parliament, and to openly turn a blind eye to corruption– with cronyism running rampant, before arresting the judge for opposing the detention of his political opponents without due process – which was illegal at best and unconstitutional at worst.
The judge’s arrest brought everything to a boiling point with political unrest spilling out into the streets, as a result of which he would resign. He then contended that he resigned by force. A Commission of National Inquiry with a Commonwealth appointed, retired, senior judge from Singapore looked into his claims and said there was no coercion or force. Nasheed himself agreed to the findings of the commission but would then go on to claim again that he was “ousted by a coup” – perhaps this fantasy is what fuels his calls now.
Now he has been tried for this abduction of the judge, found guilty and sentenced to 13 years. By not any insignificant amount of subterfuge on his part the Maldivian Government granted him extraordinary medical leave to undergo surgery in the United Kingdom – a procedure that is readily available in the Maldives but Nasheed claimed did not sufficiently meet his medical standards. Now, racing office chairs in the UK and gallivanting about across continents; he’s claimed to have opted for a ‘nonsurgical’ treatment. He has political asylum in UK, a country which seems to have now adopted political colonialism as a mechanism to spread its power across the globe rather than the good old invasion strategy of decades not long past – ironically with the Maldives having just last year celebrated 50 years of independence from none other than the British they still deem fit to meddle in our affairs in the guise of promoting democracy while they field legislation exempting their soldiers from war crimes and quickly turn a blind eye to a Prime Minister embroiled in the Panama Papers scandal.
Sadly, now that Nasheed has ‘risen from the ashes’ as the ‘saviour’ that he sees himself to be some of the Maldives’ closest traditional allies seem hell bent on helping him come to power – forget years of bilateral agreement between Maldives and Sri Lanka, come hell or high water these countries will see Nasheed’s ‘democracy’ restored to the Maldives; the will of the Maldivian people, or the democratic processes it just put in place, be damned.
Tensions are high.
The actions, or lack thereof in exercising proper judgement, by our neighbours are not helping.
The almost kneejerk acts of armchair diplomacy, without prior bilateral engagement by those who are continents away, and with no ‘boots on the ground’ representation in the Maldives itself, is lazy, callous and does no good for regional stability or the rights and freedoms of the Maldivian people.
Where Egos and Unspoken Interests Prevail
