Ahilan Kadirgamar on the danger the return of the Rajapaksas portends to democracy and how that return could be stalled.

“With the current conjuncture of geopolitical instability and the emergence of authoritarian regimes around the world, the conditions seem worryingly conducive for a Gotabaya Rajapaksa regime. The convergence of retired military actors, an extractive business lobby, a nationalist bureaucracy and an organised chauvinistic base, when combined with state power, spell danger not just of authoritarian nationalism but a fascist takeover of the state. It is democracy that is at risk, and ironically, it is elections that might pave the route to shutting down that democratic space. The return of the Rajapaksa oligarchy can be stopped by only a united stand of the fractured democratic forces.”

via: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/rajapaksa-redux-and-a-democracy-in-peril/article29103388.ece?fbclid=IwAR0P54iFTojh2VdfsIEH-r1Cfimz9MM4Im3dCSYLhaNam0yqgJZp4Y3Fais

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