Srilankan Presidential Elections-Issues After
Mahendra Rajapakse is back again in the seat of power in Srilanka.. In the Srilankan Presidential elections which were held in the backdrop of the complete rout of the LTTE which threw a serious challenge to the governments of that country over a few decades. Mr. Mahendra Rajapakse who led this successful operations against the Tamil Tigers which his more famous predecessors failed, became an overnight hero throughout the island nation especially among the majority Sinhala community. He had an unusual opponent in the form of his former Army Chief Sarath Fonesekara who bitterly complained about Mr. Rajapakse bagging the entire glory and staking a claim in it. Rajapakse's thumping victory once again goes to highlight the fact that however competent a military leader might be in his own domain he can not hope to seriously challenge the popularity of a mass leader in democratic dispensation.
What does this decisive victory would mean for this strife-torn island nation? The fact that Mr. Rajapakse had the former Army Chief as his principal opponent only underscores the complete state of disarray in the opposition ranks which does not augur well for a true democracy and that might fuel some dictatorial ambitions on his part.
Now that he has secured another term in office, he must get down to brass tacks of immediately launching initiatives towards national reconciliation between the majority Sinhala and the Tamil minority in the spirit of give-and-take. With LTTE ghost effectively banished from the scene, it is an appropriate moment to start a process of dialogue with the sensible, responsible and moderate section of the Tamil people who have suffered so much misery and sufferings for no fault of their own. He has to display vision, statesmanship and magnanimity of the highest to lift his country from this morass. It is particularly important to keep in mind that solutions achieved through military might are of a temporary kind and goes to give birth to another set of problems. He has to take a series of steps to win the hearts and goodwill of the Tamil people. Any attempt to rub the defeat of the LTTE in the minds of the Tamils would only worsen the sense of alienation further. The entire world would watch him out on this!
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