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The House elects new President while protests simmer on the streets

Everything comes to him who waits. Ranil Wickremesinghe had to wait for nearly thirty years for the season to arrive and lotus buds to bloom in Parliament to be chosen as the man for all reasons to lead Lanka out of its economic mire.

A hush fell over the normally raucous House on Wednesday afternoon when the Speaker called for order to announce the result in the first contested election held in Parliament to choose a President to serve the remainder of ex-President Gotabaya’s term. Fanciful conjectures that had swamped the nation the day before were laid to rest when the verdict was delivered: Ranil Wickremesinghe 134 votes, Dullas Alahapperuma 82 votes and Anura Kumara Dissanayake three votes.

PARLIAMENT’S CHOICE: Lanka’s new President Ranil Wickremesinghe takes the Guard of Honour before being sworn in to office by the Chief Justice at the Parliamentary complex in Diyawanna Oya

Of course, the decision of the 225 members present in the House came as no surprise.  The ruling SLPP, the single largest party, had the whip hand. It fielded the two front line runners, with its party secretary backing Ranil and its chairman plugging for Dullas with the opposition staging a dramatic no-show at the starter’s whistle. The rank outsider, Anura wearing his NPP colours, was doomed to fail even before the race started.

Elected by Parliament to exercise the ‘executive powers of the people’, the new President, Ranil Wickremesinghe, was magnanimous in his victory, having done the incredible to garner the support of nearly two-thirds in the House without even a single one to truly call his own.

In his victory speech, he urged all MPs to work together to uplift the nation and said: ‘The people are not asking us for old politics. I request Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and other opposition parties including former Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Maithripala Sirisena to work together. We were divided for the last 48 hours. That period is now over. We have to work together now.’

But, apart from the SLLP ranks, were there any takers on the opposition benches? The lukewarm gut response was hardly positive.

Defeated party rival mate, Dullas insisted that the majority of people wished for a consensus Government and the quest remains and his defeat is not a setback but ‘an encouraging guidance.’ He said: Politicians had only thought of the welfare of their own families while we held paramount the interests of the millions of families outside the Diyawanna.’

The also-ran JVP leader Anura, who hobbled home with three votes, said he had contested only to make the point that ‘the present parliament is a distorted reflection of the people’s will’. He said: “This is the nature of the composition of the Parliament of our country today. What really exists in society today is not the composition shown in these numbers. If anyone thinks that a reflection of the fair will of the people has appeared in this Parliament, it is a complete myth.”

Opposition leader Sajith, who did not throw his hat into the ring but kept it to wear as Prime Minister should Dullas win, declared that the result of the election for a succeeding President does not reflect the true aspiration of the people who are demanding a system change.

But even though many may have turned infidels in the sacred temple of the people’s sovereign rights, incentivised by more reasons than one to follow a demonic creed at an inner masonic lodge and issue a grotesque decree that lies discordant with the greater will, it must be obeyed for it comes wrapped in the purple of the nation’s constitutional law, however anathematic the controversial edict may be.

True. Though Ranil pulled out his presidential Excalibur not from the people’s hearts but from the SLLP’s collective pocket, it was the only constitutional option available; and the necessity to have a stable government for a nation tottering on the brink of anarchy became the supreme expedient. The quest for the moral scabbard can come later once some semblance of normalcy has been restored.

Ranil’s topmost priority is on the economic front. As a first step, his task will be to end the nightmare queues. To ease the dearth of essentials, he will need the grace of India’s credit lines. For the long-term IMF bailout plan to revive the Lankan economy, he will need to restructure the international debt — mainly with the three top lenders India, China and Japan — to comply with the IMF demand for debt sustainability. But all this is underscored by the need to have political stability as a sine qua non or indispensable for economic recovery.

The smooth transition of power has now received international approval, though with a caveat, noting the simmering street protests. Within two hours of Ranil’s election, the Indian High Commission tweeted not so much to congratulate Ranil Wickremesinghe but to reiterate its continuing support for the Lankan people.

It said: The Parliament of Sri Lanka, in the exercise of the provisions of the Sri Lankan Constitution, has today elected H.E Ranil Wickremesinghe as the President of Sri Lanka. As a close friend and neighbour of Sri Lanka and a fellow democracy, we will continue to be supportive in the quest of the people of Sri Lanka for stability and economic recovery through democratic means and values.”

American Ambassador Julie Chung sounded a similar note the following day when she tweeted: “We look forward to working with the new President. In these challenging times, it will be essential for all parties to redouble their efforts to work together to tackle the economic crisis, uphold democracy and accountability and build a stable and secure future for all Sri Lankans.”

Today we have a stable government in Parliament, in the same manner Gotabaya Rajapaksa had during his tenure. Elected to the presidential office by 6.9 million people, armed with a two-thirds majority in Parliament and, furthermore, empowered with all the draconian provisions of the 20th Amendment, Gotabaya Rajapaksa could not have wished for a more stable government to guarantee his reign. But the iron-clad warranty, forged on the people’s sovereign anvil, melted before the heat of the self-same people’s anger and brought about his ignominious end.

What caused the vacancy in the presidential office halfway into the term, what cut the presidential tenure in mid-flight, and what enabled Parliament to constitutionally usurp the right of the people and elect a President of their choice is not Gotabaya resigning from office with grace due to poor health or mental or physical infirmity but due to the thunderous roar of a people’s peaceful protest reaching its crescendo on July 9; and forcing him to take sudden fugitive flight aboard a military plane in the cover of night in the utmost disgrace.

Political stability of a nation, as this illuminative episode amply reveals, lies not on stable government in Parliament alone but ultimately rests on a people’s content.

On Wednesday evening, after being elected as President, Ranil made his customary visit to the Gangaramaya Temple. After obtaining the auspicious blessings of the monks, he made clear his intention not to let history repeat itself in a hurry.

He told journalists: “If you try to topple the Government, occupy the President’s office and the Prime Minister’s office, that is not democracy, it is against the law. We will deal with them firmly according to the law. We will not allow a minority of protesters to suppress the aspirations of the silent majority clamouring for a change in the political system.’

He kept his word even before he had warmed to the presidential seat. Like a Turkish Sultan not keeping his brothers next to the throne, Ranil couldn’t brook keeping the ‘Aragalaya’ on his doorstep.

On Friday night at 1.30am, a large military contingent and a police force moved in under the cover of darkness to do on his order what his predecessor had flinched from ordering. They stormed the iconic Gotagogama site at the Galle Face Green. By dawn, the area surrounding the Presidential Secretariat had been cleared and the territory restored to government control.

The western world reacted sharply to the raid. Britain and Canada expressed ‘grave concerns’ whilst the EU slammed it saying: “Freedom of expression proved essential to Sri Lanka current transition. Hard to see how restricting it severely can help in finding solutions to the current political and economic crises.”

The US ambassador who had tweeted on Friday morning saying, “Deeply concerned about actions taken against protestors at Galle Face in the middle of the night,” tweeted again that evening at 6.15pm stating: “Just met with President to express my grave concern over the unnecessary and deeply troubling escalation of violence against protesters overnight. The President and Cabinet have an opportunity and an obligation to respond to the calls of Sri Lankans for a better future.”

But what made Ranil risk world ire and jeopardise the IMF bailout by storming the Gotagogama site when the protesters, ‘naxalites’ or otherwise, had already announced the day before their intention to leave the Green in peace on Friday afternoon? What was the rush to evict them by force? The answer is, as Churchill once described Russian intentions in 1939, ‘a riddle wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.’

Ranil had and still may have the potential to turn back the tide of public protests deluging the country. His credentials to restore political stability are impeccable. A sworn lifelong adherent of liberal democracy, steeped in the Buddha’s exposition of the Licchavis’ Seven Dhammas (Sapta Aparihaniya Dhamma) – and the 4 quintessential values ingrained therein which made the Licchavis invulnerable to their foes, namely, consultation and consensus, maintenance of the rule of law, protecting the weak and respecting those worthy of respect – he has the stuff that takes to lead the nation to reconciliation and revival.

Though he has never gone the whole six yards in his six-notch tenures as PM, Ranil Wickremesinghe can still lay claim to an unmatched record of experience. But, alas, though fortune has often smiled on him, it has not lingered long enough to fulfil his political ambitions.

As Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister for six jinxed short-lived terms, his maiden outing in the Prime Ministerial role began in 1993 following President Premadasa’s assassination on May 1 that year. With D.B. Wijetunga succeeding to the Presidency, Ranil’s tenure lasted only 15 months when Chandrika made her debut entrance to parliamentary politics and swept the hustings to become the nation’s second woman prime minister.

Similarly, under President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s second presidential term, Ranil held the prime ministerial office in December 2001 but held it only for two years when he was summarily sacked by Chandrika. In 2015, President Sirisena appointed Ranil as Prime Minister in January. It ended in 9 months when general elections were held in August.

At the August 2015 polls, the UNP won 106 seats but was still short of 7 to command a simple majority. Only an MOU signed with the SLFP which had won 95, enabled him be sworn in as Prime Minister for the fourth time. But even this cosy compact that provided Ranil secure tenure on SLFP leash was, alas, to last for only 3 years. It was cut short brusquely on 26 October when President Sirisena stripped him of his premiership and garlanded Mahinda Rajapaksa as the new Prime Minister, even though he had no constitutional power to do so.

Only when Rajapaksa resigned as PM in mid-December after losing a crucial parliamentary vote, was Ranil appointed as Prime Minister for his fifth time by Sirisena on December 15.  This time it lasted only 11 months when following Gotabaya’s presidential win on November 17, 2019, Ranil gave up the ghost, handing the premiership to Mahinda on a platter. His appointment as Prime Minister by Gotabaya on May 12 ended in two months on July 15. That was the last of his six fly-by-night terms.

But his chequered career was still not complete. It was time for the ‘always the bridesmaid, never the bride,’ to finally become the bride. On July 13, he was made acting President by Gotabaya. On July 15, following Gotabaya’s resignation, he was sworn in as acting President for the first time.

Soon after assuming office, acting President Wickremesinghe pledged to revive the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. Instead of mucking around with the discredited 22nd Amendment Bill, it will fill the need for an immediate Parliamentary solution to the political crisis and reintroduce the checks and balances on political power that were repealed by the 20th Amendment.

On July 20, he was sworn in as President, his second time within a week. Now as he stands on the sunlit uplands of power, he glistens with the promise of showing the hallmark of true statesmanship by enacting the 19A as pledged, sacrificing his own powers for the nation’s good; by reaching out to the people and regaining their trust and confidence as recompense for Friday’s glitch; and by ushering in Sri Lanka’s economic renaissance.

If Ranil can succeed with all the odds stacked against him, he can harbour the hope to be sworn in for the third time — this time elected by the people — as President in 2024.

Or else, winning the prized Presidency this week in Parliament may turn out to have been a Pyrrhic victory, where the cost of winning had outsoared the cost of losing.