{"id":87201,"date":"2019-04-12T16:12:34","date_gmt":"2019-04-12T23:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=87201"},"modified":"2019-04-12T16:12:34","modified_gmt":"2019-04-12T23:12:34","slug":"the-cases-allegedly-filed-in-the-u-s-against-gotabhaya-rajapaksa-and-their-implications-for-sri-lankan-voters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/04\/12\/the-cases-allegedly-filed-in-the-u-s-against-gotabhaya-rajapaksa-and-their-implications-for-sri-lankan-voters\/","title":{"rendered":"THE CASES ALLEGEDLY FILED IN THE U.S. AGAINST GOTABHAYA RAJAPAKSA AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR SRI LANKAN VOTERS"},"content":{"rendered":"

DHARSHAN WEERASEKERA<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

10th<\/sup> April 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There can be no better endorsement of Mr. Gotabhaya\nRajapaksa (\u2018GR\u2019) for the Presidency of Sri Lanka than the fact that his enemies\nhave already begun a campaign to scuttle his chances of running for that\noffice, even before his candidacy has been officially announced.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I refer to the reports in a number of newspapers\nthat two civil cases have been filed against GR in the U.S., one allegedly by\nthe daughter of slain journalist Lasantha Wickrematunga and the other by the\nNGO International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) representing a victim of purported\ntorture by the Sri Lankan security forces.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, I shall briefly discuss what one\ncan reasonably expect the enemies of Sri Lanka to do in the coming weeks and\nmonths to scuttle GR\u2019s chances of running for the Presidency.  I write as a Sri Lankan citizen and a\nconcerned voter who will vote for GR if he runs, and I hope that his campaign\nstaff will address the concerns below, which I think are shared by many others\nin my position.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE CONCERN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If GR runs, he will run as the candidate of the\nSLPP.  At the 10th<\/sup> February\n2018 local government elections, the SLPP stunned a lot of people by trouncing\nthe UNP as well as Sirisena\u2019s SLFP.  To\nthe best of my knowledge, the final results of those elections were:  45% SLPP, 33% UNP and 13% SLFP.[2]<\/a>  The election had a 65% voter turn-out.[3]<\/a>   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there is a similar high turn-out at the next\nPresidential Election, and under normal circumstances there will be, it is\nreasonable to suppose that the SLPP will be able to get its candidate roughly\n44% percent of the vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to win a Presidential Election, one needs\nto get over 50% of the vote.  Therefore,\nGR must get a minimum of 5-7% of the vote either from the SLFP, the traditional\nUNP vote-base, or the minorities.  I have\nno doubt he is capable of getting such a portion, especially if he runs a\ncampaign focused on the factors that most Sri Lankans today find to be\nessential, starting with the economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

GR brings to the table a combination of service to\nthe country, experience and proven administrative skills that no conceivable\ncandidate that the UNP or the minorities can conjure up against him can\nmatch.  Therefore, all things being\nequal, if the Presidential election is held tomorrow, or a month from now, or\nsix months from now, and GR is a candidate, he will win. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conversely, from the point of view of GR\u2019s enemies,\nthe best way to scuttle his chances of winning the Presidency is to reduce the\nnumber of SLPP voters who will turn out to vote.  And one of the best ways to do this is to\ncreate the impression that GR is saddled with many lawsuits, each capable of\nannulling his candidacy, or if elected, prevent him from functioning, that a\nvote for him is tantamount to throwing away one\u2019s vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, it is essential that if GR is running for\nPresident his campaign staff now itself take steps to reassure voters that they\n(i.e. the staff) are aware of the aforesaid threats, and have formulated\ncounter-measures or are in the process of doing so.  I am not saying that they should publicize what\nthe counter-measures are; that would be to inform the enemy unnecessarily.  But, it is important to let voters know that\nthe relevant threats have been identified<\/em>, and\nefforts are underway to address them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At present, a number of persons purporting to\nrepresent GR\u2019s interests have made public statements denying that any cases\nhave been filed against GR in the U.S. More disturbing, to the best of my\nknowledge, these persons have in general dismissed the possibility that cases\nmay be filed, whether in Sri Lanka or abroad, to obstruct<\/em> GR\u2019s\nfrom running for President of Sri Lanka. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, in the eyes of most voters, these\npersons have very little credibility to comment on legal issues.  This is especially so because, if I am not\nmistaken, the same persons were at the forefront in defending Sirisena\u2019s\ndissolution of Parliament in late October 2018. \nThey claimed that, Article 33 of the Constitution permitted such an\naction.  The Supreme Court made short\nshrift of that argument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If at the next Presidential election SLPP voters\nwere to put all their hopes on GR, and at the last moment hear that his\ncandidacy has been cancelled or suspended pending the outcome of one or more lawsuits,\nit would absolutely devastate the morale of those voters.  In such a situation, it is reasonable to\nsuppose that a fair number of them will avoid going to polls, and this will no\ndoubt throw the election to the UNP candidate. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last thing that SLPP voters need is a\n\u2018surprise\u2019 such as what happened in the weeks prior to the August 2015\nParliamentary elections.  At that time,\nUPFA voters (today\u2019s SLPP voters) were ecstatic that Mahinda Rajapaksa had a\nchance to become PM.  But, Sirisena\nyanked that possibility away at the last moment by announcing that he would\nnever make MR Prime Minister, leaving many voters devastated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, to repeat, if GR is running for\nPresident, his campaign staff must address the issue of these cases, if indeed\nthey have been filed.  More importantly,\nthey must address the possibility that cases may be filed in the future, whether\nin the U.S. or Sri Lanka.  Among other\nthings, they must address the following issues:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. It is well known that a U.S. citizen can relinquish\nhis or her citizenship by informing the U.S. Government of that purpose, and\nnormally the cancellation is granted without any difficulty.  However, under extraordinary circumstances,\nare there instances where the U.S. Government has prolonged cancelling a\nperson\u2019s citizenship, and if so, what are the remedies available to such\nperson?<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n