Liberal Party inclined to support Mahinda

The Liberal Party of Sri Lanka at the meeting of its Executive Committee last week, decided that of the two main candidates for the Presidential election, the preferable choice from a Modern Liberal perspective was likely to be Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse.

Before it is able to make a final decision however, the party urged him to make clear that he does not intend to move away from the pluralistic liberal democratic consensus that had seemed to develop in Sri Lanka over the last decade and a half.

The Liberal Party in a release said: "The reason for the potential preference is the experience of the last five years, when it became apparent that the United National Party, under its current leadership, has reverted to the right wing authoritarianism that characterised it during the period from 1977 to 1988.

Though some of Rajapakse's supporters seem to confuse such neo-conservative authoritarianism with liberalism, in rejecting what they describe as the 'so-called liberal open economic policy', liberalism as propounded in Sri Lanka has been based on modern liberal theory rather than libertarianism.

Modern liberalism sees open economic policies, which we believe have been clearly recognised all over the world as essential for development in the modern age, not as ends in themselves but precisely because they contribute to the improvement of the lives of the worse off in society.

The Rawlsian concept of 'maxi-min', which enjoins that state intervention is essential, though it should be limited, to ensure that the benefits of economic growth reach the minimum levels of society, has thus been the guiding principle of the Sri Lankan Liberal Party.

Unfortunately this approach was unheard of during the first decade of the open economy, which is what led to the sense of deprivation, amongst Sinhala as well as Tamil youngsters, that resulted in extreme violence during that period.

The fruits of that callousness we live with still, and regrettably it seemed during the brief period in which the UNP took power recently that it was determined to recreate the Jayewardene era with regard to the less well off in most areas of Sri Lanka.

At the same time we would worry about a return to the statist monopolies and controls that characterised the earlier period. Though such policies were widely accepted in those countries that gained independence from Britain while the Welfare State was being consolidated there, they are clearly seen to have failed, whereas the encouragement of individual initiatives through private sector involvement in the economy has proved far more beneficial.

Though we continue to believe that the state has a much greater role than that of night-watchman, which neo-conservatives (described sometimes as neo-liberals) might prescribe, the modern world recognises that the engine of growth must be the private sector. In this regard the acceptance that a mixed economy is what is necessary is welcome, but the principles on which this will be developed should be clarified.

The second area in which we believe Rajapakse should confirm his adherence to liberal democratic principles based on universal human rights is with regard to pluralism. This is an area in which the recent shift of the United National Party is hailed amongst its urban supporters as exemplifying the pluralism of the current UNP leadership.

Certainly there is a change from the assumption that Tamil grievances could be swept away by state violence, as was attempted for the first decade of Jayewardene's Government, through for instance the anti-Tamil pogroms of 1977, 1981 and 1983.

However this has been replaced only by the other side of the coin, the privileging of Tamil violence and authoritarianism through the bestowal of total power on the LTTE, with no attempt to ensure the build up democracy or pluralism or even representative institutions in the North or East. Jayewardene's contempt for the Tamils of the North and East, and their elected representatives, has thus been replaced by the UNP's current contempt for everyone else in the North and East except the LTTE.

For this reason we believe that the approach Rajapakse has adopted towards the ethnic problem, with its emphasis on the re-establishment and restoration of human rights, democracy and law and order throughout Sri Lanka, is preferable to appeasement. However, we would urge that in his manifesto he makes clear his recognition that the deprivations of ordinary citizens in the North and East were caused as much by successive majoritarian Governments in Colombo as by the current authoritarianism of the LTTE.

The need to ensure a settlement that is inclusive of all Sri Lankan citizens, based on political principles rather than the expediencies of the moment, will we trust be asserted by him and all his influential supporters in the coming period.

Unfortunately, what we trust is Rajapakse's desire to move the country forward through social and economic policies that accord with modern realities, whilst ensuring that the benefits of these reach those of all ethnicities who most need them, may well be overshadowed in the coming months unless he makes his position on major issues crystal clear.

Otherwise serious worries to many segments of society may be caused by the predilections of some of his supporters. These will be exacerbated by the skill of opposing propagandists who have already begun to project him as a backward looking figure unable to function in the modern world. And, most importantly perhaps, all this may go unchallenged because his principal opponents have eliminated the most distinguished of his supporters, who would have established beyond a shadow of a doubt the progressive pluralistic parameters of a future Rajapakse government.

In that respect, we liberals, who appreciated the stress in several obituaries of Mr Kadirgamar of his liberal democratic principles, are even more pessimistic about the possible consequences of his assassination. In hoping that we might be able to extend our support to Rajapakse without reservation for the forthcoming election, we hope he will make sure that those liberal democratic traditions also play a part in his presentation of himself, and his hopes for the future of this country, to the voters."