{"id":196319,"date":"2018-11-26T17:38:44","date_gmt":"2018-11-26T12:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=196319"},"modified":"2018-11-30T14:18:01","modified_gmt":"2018-11-30T08:48:01","slug":"whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/","title":{"rendered":"Whose Sovereignty: Sirisena’s Or Ours?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sarath de Alwis<\/a>\u00a0–<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Sarath De Alwis<\/p><\/div>\n

At his Sunday meeting with foreign correspondents<\/a><\/strong>, President Sirisena did not play any trump cards. It appears that he has either put all his cards on the table or has run out of trumps.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He will not reappoint Ranil Wickremesinghe<\/a><\/strong>. He has wiped the slate clean with Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/a><\/strong>. He has concluded that the former President is a forward-thinking type in comparison to Ranil, whom he has likened to a privileged Pinocchio with a duplicitous nose as drawn out as the bond commission report.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He has convinced himself that he has acted strictly within the powers vested in him. He does not see any absurdity, ambiguity or anomaly in replacing Ranil\u2019s \u2018crony\u2019 plutarchy with Mahinda\u2019s family oligarchy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This insistence by President Sirisena<\/a><\/strong> on his\u00a0 <\/span>monopoly of truth and authority is what Hitler\u2019s crown jurist Carl Schmitt defined as \u2018Sovereign exceptionalism.\u2019\u00a0<\/span>Sirisena may not know it. But he is relying on the same thought process used by all Fascists known in history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Modern constitutional law subscribing to the concept of sovereignty in\u00a0<\/span>\u2018We the people\u2019 does not acknowledge a single\u00a0 <\/span>bearer of sovereign authority.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Schmidt in his tract \u201cPolitical Theology\u201d <\/i>argues that \u2018there can be no functioning legal order without a sovereign authority\u2019 \u2013 the same argument that neo fascists such as Wimal Weerawansa, Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Dinesh Gunewardena make in their call for a centralized presidency.\u00a0<\/span>We must not blame Mahinda Rajapakse. He did not either vote for or advocate the 19th<\/sup> Amendment.\u00a0 <\/span>That Man has principles and disciples who pounce on them! \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The pro fascist jurist Carl Schmitt in his \u2018Political Theology\u2019 asserts that a\u00a0<\/span>\u201cSovereign is he who decides on the exception.\u201d That is precisely the warped logic relied on by the High Priest of the Kelaniya temple and the \u2018Podi Hamuduruwo\u2019 of Hunupitiya Gangaramaya when they heartily endorsed Sirisena\u2019s new choice of a Prime minster.\u00a0<\/span>To them \u2018sovereignty\u2019 is not the collective will of the people but of decision and domination- the personal privilege of the ruler.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Restoring the Premiership of the Privileged Pinocchio is not our concern.\u00a0<\/span>But we must read the signs of these dark times unerringly.<\/p>\n

It was fascinating to watch Dinesh Gunawardena delivering his homily on why a minority should make up a majority in the standing committee planning the business of the house.\u00a0 <\/span>These\u00a0 <\/span>atrocious perversions\u00a0 <\/span>in parliament were made by serious politicians who know what they are talking about.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Watching the perfidy of Dinesh Gunewardena though painful held out some hope for the future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Such forays in to political madness have their limitations. The Marxist philosopher Adorno writing in exile described the early days of Hitler\u2019s rise. In his \u2018Minima Moralia: Reflections of Damaged Life says, \u201cNo one who observed the first month of national socialism could fail to perceive the moment of mortal sadness, of half knowing surrender to perdition that accompanied the manipulated intoxication, the torch light processions and drum beating.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Do those words not sound familiar to us in Sri Lanka in the tail end of year 2018? Do we not experience a sadness in intoxication, experiencing a catastrophe when we were hoping to celebrate democratic renewal and death when we hoped to feel the birth pangs of a society governed by the rule of law? \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let us take stock of the situation.<\/p>\n

Someone has precipitated a parliamentary crisis. What happens then?<\/p>\n

Corrupt and inefficient politicians are denounced.\u00a0The threat of anarchy and disorder has to be met with decisive historic action by the patriotic leadership. Breakdown of public order, inflation, economic decline and national interest demands a strong government to save the country.\u00a0This is not the text of a filing by a Colombo based foreign correspondent who attended last Sunday\u2019s press briefing by President Sirisena.<\/p>\n

It is a rough synopsis of page 382 of the book \u2018Fascism- Past, Present and Future’ by Historian Walter Laquer. He reminds us that Fascism is always a movement of protest and discontent. But we must ask Who is protesting and whose discontent are they voicing?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fascism has many shades and many names. People are attracted to Fascism or some shade of it for a variety of reasons. But there is one principal factor that precipitates the descent in to the horror of Fascism- It is a \u2018manifestation of a moral and a cultural crisis in which traditional values, religious as well as humanist no longer act as restraints and as guarantees of political decency.\u00a0<\/span>Fascism arises when democracy develops a delirium.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hitler came to power by undermining a democratic constitution. The first article of that democratic constitution stated simply with no adornment that power of the state proceeds from the people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After Hitler became chancellor the German playwright Bertolt Brecht wrote a fabulously ferocious poem about what happened to the power that proceeded from the people.\u00a0<\/span>It makes great reading today. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Poem by Bertolt Brecht<\/p>\n

From the People proceeds the power of the State.
\nBut where does it proceed to?
\nYes, where is it proceeding to?
\nThere\u2019s some place it\u2019s proceeding to.
\nThe policeman proceeds through the station gate.
\nBut where does he proceed to?
\n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Look, there\u2019s the whole lot on the march.
\nBut where are they marching to?
\nYes, where are they marching to?
\nThere\u2019s some place they are marching to.
\nThey wheel through the gate and under the arch.
\nBut where are they wheeling to?
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

The power of the State turns right about.
\nSomething is in the air.
\nWhat can be in the air?
\nThere\u2019s something in the air.
\nThe power of the State gives a piercing shout
\nAnd yells: Get moving there!
\nBut moving why and where?
\nIt yells: Get moving there!<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something standing in a crowd
\nSomething which queries that.
\nWhy should it query that?
\nWhat cheek to query that!
\nThe state just shoots – for that\u2019s allowed –
\nAnd something falls down flat.<\/p>\n

What was it fell down flat?
\nWhat made it fall like that?
\nThe power of the State sees something spill.
\nSomething lies in the shit.
\nWhat\u2019s lying in the shit?
\nSomething\u2019s lying in the shit.
\nThere\u2019s something lying deadly still
\nThe People, why, that\u2019s it!
\nCan that really be it?
\nYes, that is really it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":185123,"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-196319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nWhose Sovereignty: Sirisena's Or Ours? - 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\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Whose Sovereignty: Sirisena's Or Ours? - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-26T12:08:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-11-30T08:48:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Sarath-De-Alwis-1-e1512361246986.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"248\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sarath de Alwis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sarath de Alwis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 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\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/\",\"name\":\"Whose Sovereignty: Sirisena's Or Ours? - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Sarath-De-Alwis-1-e1512361246986.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-26T12:08:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-30T08:48:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9314baba9871514de4e0a9c997223784\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Sarath-De-Alwis-1-e1512361246986.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Sarath-De-Alwis-1-e1512361246986.jpg\",\"width\":200,\"height\":248,\"caption\":\"Sarath De Alwis\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Whose Sovereignty: Sirisena’s Or Ours?\"}]},{\"@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\/9314baba9871514de4e0a9c997223784\",\"name\":\"Sarath de Alwis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07966fda6463d85954ed338ce83caf298b1bc9c76ca63176e1868cb7f2b99bf0?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07966fda6463d85954ed338ce83caf298b1bc9c76ca63176e1868cb7f2b99bf0?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sarath de Alwis\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/saratha\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Whose Sovereignty: Sirisena's Or Ours? - 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\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Whose Sovereignty: Sirisena's Or Ours? - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2018-11-26T12:08:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-11-30T08:48:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":200,"height":248,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Sarath-De-Alwis-1-e1512361246986.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sarath de Alwis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sarath de Alwis","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/","name":"Whose Sovereignty: Sirisena's Or Ours? - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Sarath-De-Alwis-1-e1512361246986.jpg","datePublished":"2018-11-26T12:08:44+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-30T08:48:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9314baba9871514de4e0a9c997223784"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Sarath-De-Alwis-1-e1512361246986.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Sarath-De-Alwis-1-e1512361246986.jpg","width":200,"height":248,"caption":"Sarath De Alwis"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whose-sovereignty-sirisenas-or-ours\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Whose Sovereignty: Sirisena’s Or Ours?"}]},{"@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\/9314baba9871514de4e0a9c997223784","name":"Sarath de Alwis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07966fda6463d85954ed338ce83caf298b1bc9c76ca63176e1868cb7f2b99bf0?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07966fda6463d85954ed338ce83caf298b1bc9c76ca63176e1868cb7f2b99bf0?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Sarath de Alwis"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/saratha\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Sarath-De-Alwis-1-e1512361246986.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196319","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\/86"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196319"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":196444,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196319\/revisions\/196444"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/185123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}