From The Fryin g Pan Into The Fire?

General Sarath Fonseka — A new battle altogether

By R. Wijewardena

The word on the street is that the dark horse of the island’srumour mill — Gen.Sarath Fonseka will indeed serve as the joint opposition’s candidate in the imminent but unannounced presidential election.
Rumours of his candidacy seem to congeal out of the very ether of Colombo’s tropical nights and seep out the rain that has recently been soaking our capital. His travel plans are splashed on the front pages of every newspaper, and his nameis whispered in supermarket queues, mentioned in hushed tones on the back seats of buses, and declared loudly by the drinks tables at buzzing parties.

Of course the gap between rumour and reality in this island has long been rather conspicuous but it now appears increasingly likely that the man who headed the extraordinary military campaign against the LTTE, will shortly embark on a new campaign — for the Executive Presidency of the country.
The logic behindthe joint opposition fielding Fonseka as a candidate is strong.
Fractured, disunited, and discredited, the leaders of the parties within the opposition alliance have no realistic chance of successfully standing against the Rajapaksa Juggernaut.

While Sarath Fonseka may just have the popularity to stand head to head against the greatest phenomenon ever to enter Sri Lankan politics — Mahinda Rajapaksa, and win.

Initially it was speculated that Fonseka would contest as a spoiler candidate. That he would stand as an independent and tap nationalist votes that would normally be cast in favour of Rajapaksa, allowing Ranil Wickremesinghe to win the election on the strength of the UNP’s steady voter base.
However given the egos involved this was always an unlikely scenario. From his ruthless and headstrong conduct in the war it was clear from the outset that Fonseka would not accept a position as a mere spoiler candidate. Fonseka is a man intent on victory and in this case victory is nothing less than the Executive Presidency.

The joint opposition appears to have acknowledged that Fonseka is their only realistic hope of unseating their implacable and mighty foe and now seem ready to throw their weight behind the ex army commander.

Where they once maligned him for his gaffes, Fonseka has become the opposition’s great white hope and various leaders and spokesmen once critical of the rather rabidly nationalistic army commander have been quick to jump on the Fonseka bandwagon.

With their trademark enthusiasm the JVP have been screaming his praises for weeks, and Mangala Samaraweera also appears to have given his tacit approval to Fonseka’s candidacy.

Certainly it is abundantly clear that no one else stands a chance of winning an election against Mahinda Rajapaksa and the theories circulating on the 138 bus now seem to favour a simple two horse race.
The logic being that Fonseka, with his status as a southern war hero, has the mass appeal to unseat the Rajapaksa juggernaut.

Those anti Rajapaksa fanatics, who have cursed every day since the man in the Kurakkan Satakaya assumed office are almost ecstatic at the prospect of Fonseka heading a campaign that will unseat the Rajapaksas.
But for all the plaudits now being heaped by the UNA and other implacable enemies of the man from Beliatta, on the retired armed forces chief, Fonseka really is an improbable and troubling saviour.

As a politician Fonseka is completely untested. His record as military leader is exceptional but there are enormous question marks about his commitment to democracy and human rights.

Those who vehemently oppose President Rajapaksa’s dictatorial style of government are now falling over themselves to endorse Fonseka, but what particular democratic credentials does the General possess?
A ruthless and single minded army officer with no background in democratic politics is an unlikely saviour of democracy.

His conduct in thewar and statements to the effect that Sri Lanka belongs to Sinhala Buddhists raise yet more question as to what sort of a leader the General would make.

The common opposition was founded with the express purpose of abolishing the Executive Presidency, but the idea that a man with Fonseka’s drive for power and victory would willingly cede the enormous powers enshrined in our skewed constitution seems deeply misguided.

And given his singular ruthlessness, fervent nationalism, and the fact that he enjoys the  backing of the military – there is every chance that any regime headed by an ex army chief would see Sri Lanka go from the Rajapaksa Frying Pan into the Fonseka fire.

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