Second term

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been sworn in for a second term in office. Unlike his first term, which was dominated by the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Rajapaksa’s second term is expected to focus on economic growth. The president has promised to double the per capita income to $4,000 by 2016. Massive infrastructure projects have been launched in the south as well as the war-ravaged north. Several of these could contribute to attracting more investment from abroad. With substantial help from India, reconstruction in the north is reported to be progressing. On the face of it, it does seem that post-war Sri Lanka is headed for good times under Rajapaksa’s leadership. However, there is reason for serious concern. Under Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka is hurtling towards authoritarian rule. The president is preoccupied with cementing the iron grip of his family over power. He has retained the key portfolios of defence and finance, while his two brothers Basil and Gotabhaya have been reappointed ministers for economic development and defence secretary, respectively. Another brother Chamal is the speaker of parliament. The president’s son, his nephews, nieces, aunts and uncles head an array of corporations and departments.

Since the defeat of the LTTE, Rajapaksa has done little to find a political solution to the ethnic conflict. Instead of focusing on reconciliation and dialogue with the Tamils he has been preoccupied with eliminating his rivals and tightening his grip over power by pushing through constitutional amendments that have removed the two-term restriction on the presidency. Rajapaksa can claim credit for vanquishing LTTE. He has the potential to carve out a place for himself as the leader who resolved the ethnic conflict. He is immensely popular and has the requisite political support in parliament to push through constitutional change that will address the political dimensions of the ethnic conflict and enable the island’s alienated Tamils to feel Sri Lankan.

As he begins his second innings at the helm in Sri Lanka, Rajapaksa faces important choices: whether he wants to be just a leader of the island’s Sinhalese nationalists or of the entire country, a mere politician or a statesman. In recent years, India has blindly endorsed Rajapaksa’s every move. However, it is a democratic, plural Sri Lanka that is in India’s interest.