{"id":193607,"date":"2018-09-18T15:31:30","date_gmt":"2018-09-18T10:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=193607"},"modified":"2018-09-23T03:10:01","modified_gmt":"2018-09-22T21:40:01","slug":"civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Civil Society’ To Yahap\u0101lanaya’s Rescue ?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Rasika Jayakody<\/a>\u00a0\u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Rasika Jayakody<\/p><\/div>\n

A prominent Cabinet Minister, in a recent interview with a state TV station, made the statement that civil society organizations would play a vital role in the government\u2019s national election campaigns in 2020.<\/p>\n

This prescient prediction came, ironically, just a few days before the Economist Intelligence Unit, in its latest country report, forecast that the party backed by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa would win the next Presidential and Parliamentary elections. It also predicted a close aide or a relative of the former President would assume presidency after President Sirisena\u2019s imminent exit next year.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t require the wisdom of Economist Intelligence Unit to realize that the government, three and a half years into its term, is batting on a rugged wicket. The UNP-SLFP\u2019s combined dismal performance at the LG polls earlier this year predicted doom and stressed the need for radical improvements in the government\u2019s affairs. There have been little signs though, these past few months, to suggest the government has understood this ominous signal. Where things stand now \u2013 approximately 15 months from the next national election – the possibility of \u2018radical improvement\u2019 remains as bleak as ever.<\/p>\n

In light of the recent thrashing at LG polls, the UNP-led government\u2019s strategy to win the forthcoming national elections seems arcane. But, the Cabinet minister\u2019s statement illuminates that the government is banking heavily on the \u2018civil society organizations\u2019 to drive its campaign \u2013 a task they undertook, to some degree, in 2015.<\/p>\n

In the context of electoral politics in Sri Lanka, the term \u2018civil society organizations\u2019 is often identified with a certain set of faces and a certain group of Colombo-based organizations. There is a clear distinction between this group and Colombo’s NGOs and research outfits in terms of modus operandi.<\/p>\n

The popular face of this ‘civil society movement’, in the run-up to the last Presidential election, was that of Maduluwawe Sobhitha Thera, the convener of the Movement for a Just Society which almost single-handedly united all opposition parties around the common candidate\u2019s campaign. Alongside Sobhitha Thera\u2019s movement, organizations such as Purawesi Balaya, Aluth Parapura and Pivithuru Hetak also actively campaigned on the ground to orchestrate the victory of the Common Candidate.<\/p>\n

After Sobhitha Thera\u2019s death in 2015, just months after the election of the \u2018unity government\u2019, the mantle was passed on to a new crop of activists who were relatively new to the domain, unlike their mentor who was a long-standing crusader for democracy and freedom in Sri Lanka, even under the most trying circumstances in the late 80s.<\/p>\n

Those who replaced Sobitha Thera led their organizations right into the cesspool of power politics \u2013 which Sobitha Thera avoided with contempt throughout his active years. Some of them even went on to form front organizations for political leaders (often under the banner of anti-corruption) while the majority sided with various \u2018centres of power\u2019 within the ruling coalition for short-term, personal gains. Aluth Parapura, an organization formed by young artistes, gradually lost momentum after the presidential polls and a handful of its members aligned themselves with the JVP.<\/p>\n

In short, their conscious decision to move away from Sobhitha Thera\u2019s path has damaged their credibility and shrunk public support.<\/p>\n

When leaders of the government deliberately derailed the promised reform agenda, the civil society organizations that previously vowed to function as a pressure group signalled little resistance and failed to carry out a sustained campaign against the derailment. Their occasional sqauwks on isolated issues were mainly tied with the interests of certain of the top echelons of the government, who often used these \u2018civil society leaders\u2019 as mouthpieces. Their overall contribution to the \u2018Yahapalanaya\u2019 cause was reduced to giving media statements or \u2018voice cuts\u2019 on contentious issues, often favouring the positions of their political masters.<\/p>\n

In the process, they have betrayed Sobhitha Thera\u2019s hopes for a better society, paralyzed their own organizations and let down the public. Those who gathered around them before the last Presidential election \u2013 especially the educated, urban middle class \u2013 have abandoned these organizations as they see little meaningful civil society intervention in shaping the government agenda.<\/p>\n

This is the context in which one has to understand the futility of government leaders’ dependency on \u2018civil society organizations\u2019 to drive their election campaigns in another 15 months. With waning public support and little to no credibility, these civil society organizations and their leaders have very little to offer at the next election.<\/p>\n

This illusion will, in fact, prevent the government from conducting a thorough, a necessary self-assessment to understand what needs to be corrected before the next election. It also indicates how flippant they are about setting things right, even at this late stage.<\/p>\n

A government whose popularity is on a sharp decline, should lean more on truth-tellers than servile, self-serving cronies who will only lead the \u2018yahapalanists\u2019 into political oblivion.<\/p>\n

*Rasika Jayakody is the former Editor of the Daily News and Asian Mirror and may be contacted at rasikajayakody2@gmail.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":334,"featured_media":192187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-193607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\n'Civil Society' To Yahap\u0101lanaya's Rescue ? - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Civil Society' To Yahap\u0101lanaya's Rescue ? - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-18T10:01:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-09-22T21:40:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rasika-Jayakody.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"205\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rasika Jayakody\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rasika Jayakody\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/\",\"name\":\"'Civil Society' To Yahap\u0101lanaya's Rescue ? - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rasika-Jayakody.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-18T10:01:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-09-22T21:40:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4a4bc76735f01fb006bb3e03b8bc28dd\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rasika-Jayakody.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rasika-Jayakody.jpg\",\"width\":200,\"height\":205,\"caption\":\"Rasika Jayakody\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"‘Civil Society’ To Yahap\u0101lanaya’s Rescue ?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4a4bc76735f01fb006bb3e03b8bc28dd\",\"name\":\"Rasika Jayakody\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f3136483e72bcdc7869823ecddabc2505a91170d6ba168d59de9a6e4aa88b0c7?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f3136483e72bcdc7869823ecddabc2505a91170d6ba168d59de9a6e4aa88b0c7?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rasika Jayakody\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/rasikaj\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'Civil Society' To Yahap\u0101lanaya's Rescue ? - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'Civil Society' To Yahap\u0101lanaya's Rescue ? - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2018-09-18T10:01:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-09-22T21:40:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":200,"height":205,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rasika-Jayakody.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rasika Jayakody","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rasika Jayakody","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/","name":"'Civil Society' To Yahap\u0101lanaya's Rescue ? - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rasika-Jayakody.jpg","datePublished":"2018-09-18T10:01:30+00:00","dateModified":"2018-09-22T21:40:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4a4bc76735f01fb006bb3e03b8bc28dd"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rasika-Jayakody.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rasika-Jayakody.jpg","width":200,"height":205,"caption":"Rasika Jayakody"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/civil-society-to-yahapalanayas-rescue\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"‘Civil Society’ To Yahap\u0101lanaya’s Rescue ?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4a4bc76735f01fb006bb3e03b8bc28dd","name":"Rasika Jayakody","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f3136483e72bcdc7869823ecddabc2505a91170d6ba168d59de9a6e4aa88b0c7?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f3136483e72bcdc7869823ecddabc2505a91170d6ba168d59de9a6e4aa88b0c7?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Rasika Jayakody"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/rasikaj\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rasika-Jayakody.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/334"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193607"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":193711,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193607\/revisions\/193711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}