Editorial

The People’s Republic of China celebrated its 70th anniversary last week in a show of pomp, defiance and pride.  It was to show the world, what was already known, that this ancient country had arrived on the modern world stage. The Chinese call their magic, “socialism with Chinese characteristics”. There was however, little mention about democracy and the freedom of the individual.

Having eliminated the two-term limit to his tenure, China’s most authoritative leader since the charismatic Mao Zedong founded the Republic in 1949, President Xi Jinping will remain in office till 2027. At the celebrations he said “the founding of the People’s Republic of China completely changed China’s miserable fate of being poor and weak and humiliated in over 100 years.”

The military parade included a Dongfeng-41 missile capable of striking the United States in 30 minutes with 10 nuclear warheads at once, each with different targets. The sleeping giant has awoken. Its blue navy parades the seas not far from Sri Lanka.

After the then US President Richard Nixon opened the doors to a reclusive China so that American businessmen would have a huge market of a billion people for US products, China has turned the tables. It now has, according to Credit Suisse, 3.5 million US dollar millionaires, a burgeoning middle class and a firm grip on world trade. So much so, the current US President is trying to turn the clock back and put the genie back in the bottle invoking a trade war to choke the Chinese economy.

President Xi said, “The Chinese people don’t have it in their genes to invade others or dominate the world.” That statement, aimed at Western hegemony will, no doubt, be taken with a pinch of salt. While China stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Sri Lanka when this country’s sovereignty was under threat from a separatist insurgency, pay-back time came no sooner the threat was overcome.

China’s “investments” in Sri Lanka have not been entirely altruistic, especially in a deep water port, an airport in strategic Hambantota, and a 665-acre Colombo port city giving loans which could not be repaid in time. In return they have been accused of turning the country into a virtual vassal state of China. This has been part of China’s USD One trillion ‘One Belt; One Road’ foreign-defence policy modus operandi in a new-look global hegemony with tentacles spread through 60 countries from Sri Lanka to Pakistan to countries in West Africa and elsewhere.

China’s post-2010 economic thrust into the Sri Lanka economy has not been without controversy. Chinese-fuelled corruption went to new heights pre-2015 and post-2015.  Our news reports that the former Chinese ambassador offered the Prime Minister and Finance Minister money for their non-existent ‘Foundations’ remain uncontradicted. That kickbacks have been funneled to election campaigns are there to see. Lesser politicians – and others, have also fallen prey, seduced with incentives. That China has an interest in the upcoming Presidential race is clear.

Congratulations to China nevertheless. It has emerged as a powerful force in what would have otherwise been a unipolar world.

Direct democracy

 The National Elections Commission (NEC) Chairman has pointed out that every eligible citizen has a right to contest a Presidential election. This time round, there are 35 such candidates and costs are estimated to escalate now to six billion rupees to pick a winner.

The election has been turned somewhat farcical though with so many candidates, some never heard of before, some wanting cheap publicity and some seemingly put up to break up the votes of the main contenders.

Electing an Executive President has, among other things, resulted in the country facing two national elections to pick its leaders and two local level elections.

With the ballot paper being so long and extra ballot boxes required, the question is why the political authorities do not use such national elections to have non-binding Referendums on matters of national importance. That is direct democracy.

NEC’s impractical guidelines

 The National Elections Commission (NEC) has come out with a weird and utterly impractical set of guidelines for the media to follow during the ongoing Presidential election campaign. No media union, neither The Editors’ Guild, nor the Sri Lanka Press Institute was consulted.

These guidelines have no force of law but are so warped and complicated that they are tantamount to a censorship or news blackout. A previous attempt to attach punishments to violations was struck down by the Courts.

The NEC wants the media to engage in balanced reporting, whatever that means. It wants all candidates given equal time and space, which put mildly is a silly proposition when they themselves hint at the absurdity of the number of candidates. If any media outlet wishes to support any one particular candidate it should be at liberty to do so. If such an outlet genuinely believes one candidate is better than the other for the country, it should be able to endorse that candidate – and let the readers, listeners or viewers decide for themselves.

Media institutions may have agendas but the ultimate test should not be with some committee of the NEC, but the voter. State media is different because they are funded by the public.  In democracies in the West, media endorse candidates. NEC guidelines quoting constitutional provisions seem to conflict with other constitutional provisions guaranteeing freedom of expression.

That apart, what is needed is a robust exchange of opinions not a sterile coverage. The only restraints should be on erroneous facts and intemperate language. Muzzling the mainstream media is opening the doors even wider for fake news via social media.