12 November, 2024

Blog

Systemic, Not Regime Change

By Sanjana Hattotuwa –

Sanjana Hattotuwa

As so many times before, Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s most recent verbal assault is relegated to the memory of a few. He continues to hold high and influential public office. The regime dealt with the fallout as it always does – masterfully manipulating a fractured, fearful media community by inviting them over to Temples Trees for a spot of dinner and running a hilariously pathetic interview in a newspaper to give Gotabaya’s ‘side’ of the verbal assault. But few were interested in the issue to begin with. Business as usual, just as the government would like it to be.

Soon after Gotabaya’s tirade, there was some talk of a civil society petition calling for his resignation. To the knowledge of this columnist, this statement, for whatever reason, never saw light of day. Perhaps, just as well. There is a photo – very easily found via Google or Bing – that shows the President hugging his younger brother six years ago. It is clearly not a staged photo, since neither subject looks particularly dignified, in the manner they usually appear hung in government institutions or projected through mainstream media. Mahinda, eyes closed and with an impish smile, hugs the younger brother. Gotabaya, spectacles in hand, gives a smile visibly more genuine than any he’s flashed since.

In this intensely private moment though shared in public, there are at least two markers for regime change idealists. One, to deal with Gotabaya is to really confront the protection afforded to him – as family – by the President. Two, and extending the previous point, is that those desirous of removing Gotabaya from office are in fact perceived to suggest the President is himself unfit to hold office. A call for accountability over one brother is an affront to all. Go after one member – brother, son, wife or relative – and it is the full, and in this case, brute force of family one faces. The answer is perhaps to not to call for resignations. They hold no real traction anyway. Not unlike increasing the space for the regime to engage in international fora that this columnist has argued for previously, the answer to the regime’schutzpah and violence is to continue to give them access to public platforms and meticulously record their excesses, so that as US citizens first or Sri Lankans, they have no place to hide when their sustained record of violence becomes too much to escape, ignore, censor or spin away.

We need to be principled in this endeavour. We do not need to know who Madini Chandradasa is beyond the fact that a few years ago, she was part of an all female crew that for the first time in Sri Lankan aviation history, flew from Colombo to Trichy. She has, unless proven otherwise, not stolen from public coffers. Largely speculative stories based on who she is in a relationship with, coupled with photos of the girl plastered in the media only adds to the regime’s censoriousness and strengthens official pushback, to the detriment of everyone in civil society. Even those most convinced of regime change by whatever means surely have no truck with Madini. It is the government that calls us and our families, colleagues and friends, terrorists. Let us not embrace their argot or lens. Let’s also be honest about calling for and working towards systemic change, lest we end up like Egypt after its revolution early last year. What can we make of, for example, the UNP’s recent decision to extend, without any chance of removal, the term of its party leader? Surely, isn’t this no less despotic and illiberal than the government the party is opposed to? Where are the calls for the UNP’s leader to resign for holding on to power at great cost? Who is questioning how a party that’s so unashamedly undemocratic can be trusted with meaningful change in governance and government?

We need to go back to that photo of Mahinda and Gotabaya. Captured in that frame is what most in society continue to perceive no matter what either brother does or says. Mindlessly shaming and naming those who only through biological accident are related to the first family risks isolating pockets of broader support in favour of accountability. We need to afford the first family the essential dignity they deny or deracinate for so many others. The threat of isolation and removal from office can enhance, not decrease, domestic regime support. This columnist would argue it is better to give government the space and platforms to undo themselves, from inside. Seen this way, periodic outbursts of the most outrageous expletives are to be welcomed, not merely feared.

The day will come when the government will not be able face public opprobrium over the accumulation of and impatience over these manic excesses. It will not happen because of civil society. That blessed day will come because the regime itself will architect it, despite itself.

All a few of us can and must do in the interim is bear witness, and fearlessly record for posterity.

Sajanana’s blog ; http://sanjanah.wordpress.com/

Latest comments

  • 0
    0

    The future
    looks glorious

    there will be
    no miracles

    there will be
    no heroes – just

    ordinary people
    doing extra-ordinary things

  • 0
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    Our natioanl problem is not beheviour of MR or GR and how they deal with public relation of masses or are they import of Foreing dogs,theses are NOT important to us!
    Our CERTRAL QUESATION IS DEVELOPEMENT AND DEMOCRACY OF ONGOING CAPTALISM IN SRI LANKA.
    We don’t want personal changes of regime time being;our urgent task is develop system in hand of ruling class ACCELERATE ECONOMY ENGIN into order.Enrich and developemnt path has come into being ,OVERCOME long suffering people of Sri lanka.
    Respect people’s Mandate and given last election by people;ensures ballot has to be protectd is the pillar of foundation of democrcy of Island.Awite for people’s change regime time to come.Until they have RIGHT develop system which, mandated dirved from people of island.
    That is we call people’s soverginity and political democrcy.

  • 0
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    If someone describes above Sanjan’s photos as clown’s smile and his eyes tells the whole story of him, I would definitely tell him/her to go and fly a kite … To my dismay, Sanjan goes on to conclude many many things from a photo of Gota and Mahinda just after a very horrific bloody incident where Gota was very very lucky to live. Are these the quality of journalists who like to portray themselves as pillars of civil society? My god! How could even god could inject some senses to these souls?
    These so called journalists who kept their tails tightly between legs when Prabha was murdering civilians/politicians/monks/children’s left and right, now asking the full pound of flesh for a uncivilised tirade in a telephone conversation! They all forget the balance because their eyes completely on the target … That is REGIME CHANGE not anything else … For what? Dollars guys dollars … Dollars speak louder than anything else …

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    Of course the behaviour of others is much less important than our own skill in responding – and what we become as a result of our negative responses

    when the portugese came with their cruelty and extreme stance on religion we followed them
    when the dutch corrupted us with gifts – we learned corruption
    when the british taught high living – we learnt this and we became more English than them
    and finally when the LTTE taught terror and victimizing civilians – we learned all this like good pupils….

    in the end we still do not know who we are…. This is why the Sunday leader is so popular – we love a confrontation. we love to make the high and mighty look stupid – but beyond the confrontation we are left with a vast emptiness with nothing – no wisdom and no compassion to fill it – and then what happens?

    SYRIA

    where both sides have little morality – descended to a level of animal bestiality – targeting children, raping and killing with no rhyme or reason –

    We choose today – where we want to go – the dream has to start NOW

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    What is this Media talk all the time by so called Journslists and so called media wingers. Just because you put on a Media Label that does not give you permission to attack a duly elected government. Even the Terrorists used the Media label to further their own ends. The Leader News papers and their editors who are a bunch of rabble rousers think that their viewpoints are of paramount importance. Lasantha bloke tried to undermine the war effort against the terrorists when the war was on. Now that Janz woman is doing the same. Someone should take a coconut branch or a buwalla and smack their backsides till they learn to act in a responsible manner.

  • 0
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    Sanjana looks line another so called journalist paid by Diaspora interests !

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