A question of statecraft

Nominations for the Presidential poll will take place in a fortnight, on December 17 to be precise. The country will be set on election mode. Still the protagonists are in the dressing room and not all of them have come on stage.

Unlike a General election a Presidential election is a contest for leadership. Though the party may eclipse the candidate at a general election, the candidate counts more at a presidential poll.

Already four or five contestants have publicly announced their candidature. Still others may join the fray before nomination day. The contest, however, may be between the two principal protagonists representing the UPFA and the UNA (UNP).

The voters have an onerous task, that of electing a person capable of leading the country. They would have to scan the credentials of each candidate and scrutinize his past conduct, gauge his ability to deliver on promises given.

One aspect of leadership concerns the difficult terrain of international relations or the ability to maintain good relations with other states while defending the sovereignty and independence of the nation.

Foreign policy, it is said, is an extension of the domestic policy. In this respect it would be feasible to concentrate on the domestic economic and political policies so as to understand their foreign policy implications and complications.

Sri Lanka has entered a new phase in its development. A 30-year secessionist war has ended. During the period of the war we saw attempts by certain foreign powers to dictate terms to Sri Lanka. Some even attempted to tilt the balance of forces in the conflict to our disadvantage by denying much needed military hardware. It is no secret that during the last stage of the war several states and international agencies including those of the UN attempted to intervene violating our sovereignty. It is to the credit of President Mahinda Rajapaksa we withstood all such pressures and skillfully handled such pressure. His astute diplomacy prevented foreign intervention.

This was done through keeping open the dialogue with all while developing new friends, especially in the Third World. What was more constructive was his ability to see the direction in which world developments are taking place. The world is no longer under the hegemony of a single super power. A multi-polar world is emerging in which the centre of gravity of world politics has shifted away from the developed west.

In this endeavour he was guided solely by the national interest. In the days of the UNP regime the national interest was made subservient to the interests of the Western powers and the international financial institutions. The foreign policy establishment, as is known, contained a strong pro-western orientation then. We could remember in the J R Jayewardene era how Sri Lanka was isolated in the world when it took the side of the colonial master Britain against Argentina on the Malvinas issue. Then again during the Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure as Prime Minister in 2001 - 2004, Sri Lanka antagonized all developing countries by its pro-western position in the WTO deliberations on trade matters, which ran counter to our national interest.

Even at the present moment several foreign powers have not given up their attempts to intervene in our internal affairs, besides effecting a change in our foreign policy. The attitude of the UNP on the GSP Plus issue and on the question of so-called human rights cast a doubt whether it could safeguard our sovereignty. This is especially so as its economic philosophy is none other than neo-liberalism, which precludes any independent development.

A President should be able to master statecraft, which includes the ability to defend the country’s sovereignty against all odds. In this we have a trusted and tested leader President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Stunt riders

Four times world champion Christian Pfeiffer last weekend delighted Sri Lankans with his master performance opposite Colombo Town Hall.

His performance, however, could be easily outwitted by our stunt masters who will come to the arena in a few days. No doubt Sri Lankans would be delighted by their performance too.

Unfortunately the world champion would have left when our fellows come up on stage. Hence there would not be any chance to compete with him.

Besides our fellows are not sportsmen as Pfeiffer, they are political stunt men. There is, however, a similarity. As in the case of the stunt rider the audience will watch the performance, applaud and forget him the moment he turns his back. They would rather like to hang on to the pillion of a known rider for safety.