Les premières semaines du gouvernement Rajapakse

En l’espace de deux semaines, le gouvernement issu des élections présidentielles s’est lancé dans une série de règlements de compte visant ses adversaires politiques. Il a commencé par l’épuration des services de la police qui avaient été chargés d’enquêter sur les meurtres de journalistes et sur les affaires de corruption remontant à la période du premier gouvernement Rajapakse (2006-2015). A la suite du départ précipité à Genève, en compagnie de sa famille, et avec ses dossiers, d’un policier menacé, une employée locale du consulat de Suisse à Colombo a été séquestrée plusieurs heures par des inconnus qui ont récupéré de force les données de son téléphone portable, et des membres d’ONG en contact avec la Suisse ont été inquiétés. La reprise en main de l’appareil policier prélude à la reprise en main de l’appareil judiciaire.

Un article du New York Times analyse les implications de l’affaire de l’ambassade suisse:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/27/world/asia/sri-lanka-rajapaksa-crackdown

“The Aftermath” by Tisaranee Gunasekara

“If Gotabaya Rajapaksa wins the presidency, he and his family will have two priorities: secure the premiership for Mahinda Rajapaksa and obtain a two-thirds majority in the next parliament for the SLPP. Reaching the first goal would be a necessary condition for reaching the second. If the SLPP can go for the next election under a SLPP president and a SLPP premier, a landslide victory would be possible…”

via: Groundviews

“Rajapaksa cites Kashmir while commenting on political solution in Sri Lanka” The Hindu

Commenting on the prospects for power devolution to Sri Lanka’s minority Tamils, Leader of Opposition and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has made a reference to the current “situation in Kashmir.”

via: https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/rajapaksa-cites-kashmir-while-commenting-on-political-solution-in-sri-lanka/article28973836.ece?fbclid=IwAR1V6WqFA53AzxnOkKsW_pdGdHPFVPqjbKJFa9mTb-FJKlmnpaePybEj9ss

“CCTV shows Sri Lankan police aid anti-Muslim riots” by Al Jazeera

Police and politicians joined anti-Muslim riots that rocked Sri Lanka’s Kandy district this month, according to witnesses, officials and CCTV footage reviewed by Reuters.

…The role of police and some local Buddhist politicians in the Islamophobia rampage points to the depth of the problem that Muslims face in Sri Lanka. It also shows that the government has no control over some of its police and security personnel, and that the violence was more than a spontaneous outbreak fueled by fringe Buddhist fighters and hate-speech spread on social media.

…Sri Lanka’s Law and Order Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara has said the violence in Kandy was “well organised” and pointed the finger at members of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), a political party backed by Rajapaksa that scored a huge victory in local elections last month.

via: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/03/cctv-shows-sri-lankan-police-aid-anti-muslim-riots-180325160133845.html

“Comeback Hopes Dim for Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s Ex-President” by David Barstow

“It is very difficult to keep Rajapaksa out, I would think,” said Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, who runs an election monitoring group and a policy research organization in Sri Lanka. On the other hand, he noted, every recent poll shows Mr. Rajapaksa trailing, and there is “no demonstrable evidence of any kind of swing or shift to him.”

see: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/17/world/asia/comeback-hopes-dim-for-mahinda-rajapaksa-sri-lankas-ex-president.html

“Sri Lanka Between Elections” by International Crisis Group

“A half year after Maithripala Sirisena’s stunning defeat of President Mahinda Raja­paksa raised hopes for democratic renaissance, the complexities of partisan politics, and Rajapaksa himself, have returned to centre stage. Sirisena’s initial months with a minority government led by the United National Party (UNP) have opened important political space: robust debate and criticism have replaced the fear under Rajapaksa, and important governance reforms have been made, but much remains undone. By initial steps on reconciliation, the government set a more accommodating tone on the legacy of the civil war and the ethnic conflict that drove it. But divisions within government and Sirisena’s failure to take control of his Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) prevented deeper reform and allowed Rajapaksa and his supporters to mount a comeback. With Sirisena opposing Rajapaksa’s return, the 17 August parliamentary elections will test the continued appeal of the ex-president’s hardline Sinhala nationalism and give a chance for the fresh start that lasting solutions to the country’s social divisions require.

see: http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/asia/south-asia/sri-lanka/272-sri-lanka-between-elections.aspx

“Chandrika Urges Supporters to Protect Jan 8 Revolution by Voting Against Counter Revolution of Mahinda on Aug 17” by DBS Jeyaraj

Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga yesterday cast her lot against her party’s candidate and presidential successor Mahinda Rajapaksa, indirectly urging Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) supporters to vote against him at the 17 August election.

see: http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/42503

“Murder probe casts shadow over comeback bid by Sri Lanka’s Rajapaksa” by By Shihar Aneez and Douglas Busvine

“It’s potentially very explosive – it might go right to the top,” said analyst Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, who runs a policy think tank and election monitoring group.”

see: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/11/us-sri-lanka-election-idUSKCN0QG0FQ20150811

“Resurrecting a Supremacist” by Anura Gunasekera

Rajapaksa, still driven by a delusional mindset, demonstrates the same obtuseness in his dismissal of minority aspirations and grievances though, in a belated acknowledgement of a miscalculation which cost him the Presidency, he has offered, in his recent Anuradhapura speech, platitudes approximating to the need for ethnic reconciliation. Coming from a man whose platform has always been Sinhala / Buddhist hegemony , such rhetoric will be recognized for its insincerity and be dismissed with deserved contempt.

see: http://groundviews.org/2015/08/05/resurrecting-a-supremacist/

“The Vision Thing: What Kind of Country aer we Votinf for?” by Asanga Welikala

The phrase ‘regime-change’ is often used to describe the dramatic result of the presidential election on 8th January 2015, both in the sense of a democratic change of government, as well as at a deeper level, to denote the electorate’s expression of a choice between two competing conceptions of the Sri Lankan state. The country rejected the Rajapaksa model and endorsed the common opposition’s promise of a radically different vision of Sri Lanka. With the main part of the common opposition’s promised reforms enacted in the form of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution in April, the electorate will be asked to endorse those changes and the promise of more, or to reject both, in the parliamentary elections in two weeks’ time.

see: http://groundviews.org/2015/08/05/the-vision-thing-what-kind-of-country-are-we-voting-for/

“Ousted Sri Lankan Leader Angles for a Comeback” by Gordon Fairclough

For the ex-president, the election battle “is a fight for political survival,” said Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo. “Rajapaksa Inc., the dynastic project, can’t stay out of power too long or it risks destruction.”

see: http://www.wsj.com/…/divisive-sri-lanka-leader-angles-for-a…

“Is this the last battle for Sri Lanka’s ‘warrior king’?” by Justin Rowlatt

As Sri Lanka prepares to go to the polls next week, the country’s controversial former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, is fighting a battle for his political life.

He has faced a dizzying reversal in his fortunes.

see: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33844166

“Sri Lanka’s Mahinda Rajapaksa vows to win general election” by Saroj Pathirana

Sri Lanka’s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa has vowed to win an outright majority in parliamentary elections due on 17 August.

Mr Rajapaksa told BBC Sinhala he was confident of winning more than half the seats in parliament.

He is hoping to become prime minister, but the result is far from clear-cut.

A Rajapaksa win would mean an uneasy cohabitation with party rival Maithripala Sirisena, who beat him in presidential elections in January.

Their Sri Lanka Freedom Party remains divided over the two men – the president failed to stop his predecessor from standing as a party candidate in the polls.

see: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33803673

“Sri Lanka opposition says no autonomy for Tamils” by AFP

Sri Lanka’s main opposition party Tuesday scrapped a longstanding promise to give greater autonomy to minority Tamils, as it tries to win over hardline sections of the Sinhalese majority before a general election.

In its manifesto launched in Colombo, former strongman Mahinda Rajapakse’s United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) said it would refuse to grant more powers to a local council in the Tamils’ northern heartland if it won the August 17 election

see:

“Ousted Sri Lankan Leader Angles for a Comeback” by Gordon Fairclough

For the ex-president, the election battle “is a fight for political survival,” said Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo. “Rajapaksa Inc., the dynastic project, can’t stay out of power too long or it risks destruction.”

http://www.wsj.com/…/divisive-sri-lanka-leader-angles-for-a…