Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The pertinent question before  Sri Lankan political parties is whether electability or popularity should warrant a repeat offender, a known underworld criminal, or an accomplice being placed on their electoral lists. Such individuals defile the sanctity of the elected office

The killing of Wickremesekara saw allegations by SJB that the government had failed to provide security for the deceased politician despite several written requests.  However, concerns have also been raised over the chequered character of Mr. Wickremesekara himself, who had previously been charged with a litany of crimes

Last week’s killing of Lasantha Wickremesekara, the  Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) controlled Weligama Pradeshiya Sabha chairman, inside the chamber by a gunman, and subsequent allegations and counter-allegations over the killing have rekindled the fear of the return of political violence. The killing was politicised before the blood dried up.   However, more appropriately, the brazen murder should prompt an honest discourse within Sri Lankan politics about the political underworld nexus, which does not seem to disappear, no matter how eloquently our politicians pledged for good governance.

The slain Pradeshiya Sabha chairman Lasantha Wickremesekara– the police are being criticised for circulating social media videos of the alleged shooter making a confession

The assassin arrived on the public meeting day of the Weligama PS and shot Wickremesekara, also known as ‘Midigama Lasa’, at close range before fleeing the scene on a motorbike.  The suspected gunman was later arrested in Maharagama. No sooner, in a televised confession,  he  claimed the killing was undertaken at a Rs 1.5 million contract from an exiled underworld kingpin known as ‘Dubai Lokka.’ The televised confession has raised concerns about the professionalism of the police and tainted the very professionalism in the swift arrest of the suspects.  

The gunman, the pillion rider, the wife of the gunman, and a person who had provided accommodation are being detailed for 72-hour questioning.

A chequered character

The killing of Wickremesekara saw allegations by SJB that the government had failed to provide security for the deceased politician despite several written requests.  However, concerns have also been raised over the chequered character of Mr. Wickremesekara himself, who had previously been charged with a litany of crimes, including the murder of ‘Sunshine Suddua’, a robbery in 2008, possession of an unlicensed T-56, causing grievous injury to a person by firing, and defrauding several individuals. Wickremesekara had previously been in remand custody and released on a suspended sentence. He was also accused of being a close confidante of another underworld kingpin, Nadun Chinthaka alias Harak Kata.

SJB’s fielding of Mr. Wickresekara sparked opposition within the constituency; yet, alas, once on the party ticket, he won 67% of the vote and was elected to the Weligama PS. 

The same week saw  claims by SJB MP Jagath Vithana that he was also facing death threats. The IGP had countered that the MP himself had underworld links.  MP Vithana  has threatened to take legal action against the IGP. 

Pohottuwa stalwart Sagara Kariyawasam had alleged  that even Prabakaran didn’t kill public representatives in their chambers”. Many opposition MPs have raised the spectre of the return of state violence.   As far as the murder in Weligama is concerned, they are wrong.  The killing of ‘Midigama Lasa’  appears to be  a result of underworld 

score-setting.

Purge unsavoury individuals

Instead of fear-mongering, the political parties have a duty to clean up the mess and purge unsavoury individuals who have infiltrated the political space.  Yet fear-mongering has a political utility. A vast majority of Sri Lankans who have a memory of JVP terror in 1988-90  would naturally be alarmed by these claims, which, at least for the moment, are premature and therefore insincere. They reek of hypocrisy and opportunism, and hide a grim picture. All major political parties in this country have a problem with underworld association, to which they continue to turn a blind eye. Once in politics, in person or by proxy, the underworld exploits political office to serve its ends.  Why this keeps happening is because there is little cost, reputationally or electorally. 

Intriguingly, fielding even  extremely unsavoury individuals has not deterred the political parties from their electoral success. Late Wickremesekara, who, despite multiple court cases against him, managed to win two-thirds of the popular votes in his constituency, is a case in point.  Why that happens is that, in most instances, those constituencies are safely in the hands of a particular political party, leading the electorate to vote for that party, overlooking the egregiousness of its candidate. On other occasions, even the worst criminals could cultivate a fanbase by throwing breadcrumbs of their criminal enterprises — Pablo Escobar of Colombia had a devout following that lionised him.

The pertinent question before  Sri Lankan political parties is whether electability or popularity should warrant a repeat offender, a known underworld criminal, or an accomplice being placed on their electoral lists. Such individuals defile the sanctity of the elected office, make many hundreds of thousands of citizens distrust it, and discourage able, professionally qualified, and competent individuals from running for it.  That effectively reduces politics into a fool’s errand of wheeler-dealers and political goons. The gradual de-legitimisation of the political office in Sri Lanka has much to do with the entry of the lowlifes, for  gentlemen and women feared to thread in. The rise of the JVP/NPP from a mere 3 per cent to the ruling party was, in part, guided by the wider disgruntlement with the type of politics and politicians in  traditional mainstream political parties.