New Patriotic Party sweep marks 'earthquake in Sri Lankan politics'

The stunning electoral sweep by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's National People's Power party is “an earthquake in Sri Lankan politics,” says Erik Solheim, a former Norwegian peace facilitator in the island nation.

The former diplomat also feels that the NPP's strong performance in Tamil-populated areas, especially in the north, represents a “very strong call for a fresh start in ethnic relations in Sri Lanka”.

However, Solheim, who has interacted closely with many Sri Lankan leaders, warned that although the inner core of the New Patriotic Party “is certainly not corrupt, eliminating corruption is a huge task.”

“Voters are angry about corruption”

Solheim, now a committed environmental activist, led the Western-backed peace process that led to a landmark agreement between Colombo and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in early 2002.

But the operation collapsed, leading to a renewed war four years later that led to the elimination of the LTTE in 2009 and almost the entire annihilation of its leadership including founding leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

Solheim, the former leader of Norway's Socialist Left Party, still closely follows developments in Sri Lanka, where he was once attacked by sections of Sinhalese majority society for allegedly supporting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a charge he has repeatedly denied.

In an email interview with The Federal newspaper from China, which he visits frequently, Solheim said he expected the New Patriotic Party to be “very successful” in the November 14 election but that “their landslide victory was bigger than I expected.”

He added: “It is an earthquake in Sri Lankan politics. For the first time, Sri Lankans elected a president and party outside the Colombo establishment, the son of a laborer in Anuradhapura.

He said voters, especially the less fortunate, were angry about corruption, felt that the traditional elite did not represent them well, and were upset about having to cut meals after the economic collapse of 2022.

Although many traditional Sri Lankan leaders were very kind on an individual level, “as a class they let Sri Lanka down and made the nation perform poorly compared to Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia or Tamil Nadu,” Solheim said.

Is the Tamil vote for the New Patriotic Party a rejection of Tamil nationalist politics?

He blamed narrow ethnic appeals for protracted war — “and no nation moves forward in the midst of a civil war.” The ability to formulate a successful economic policy to achieve growth and alleviate poverty was limited.

Solheim said the unexpected scale of electoral support for the NPP – a party rooted in Sinhalese areas – in Tamil areas was a “stunning vote of confidence from many Tamils” in the centre-left party. I think it represents a strong desire for peace and normalcy in the North and East. It also comes from the confidence that the current NPP is not like the People's Liberation Front (JPVP) of the past.

The PNP, whose primary strength is the leftist People's Liberation Front party, won 159 seats in the 225-seat parliament, eliminating a divided opposition. It also won seats in the Tamil-majority north and the multi-ethnic eastern province.

Asked whether the Tamil vote for the NPP represented a rejection of Tamil nationalist politics, Solheim said: “It is a very strong call for a new beginning in race relations. If the NPP is able to meet the needs of the Tamils ​​and maintain their support, it represents a transformation.” Historically.

The New Patriotic Party's victory in the Tamil regions is significant, as the NLF, the party's dominant core, opposed the transfer of power to the Tamil region, advocated a unitary state, and obtained the division of the united North-Eastern Province into two parts – all to the dismay of Tamil politicians Traditionalists.

The Norwegian, a former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, said the new government's priority would be to negotiate a better agreement with the International Monetary Fund and formulate a successful strategy for economic growth through a fairer agreement for Greece. poor.

“Left parties with old ideas do not win elections.”

Solheim added that the performance of the PNP – which also won the presidency in September – showed that the left can win elections if they put left-wing sectarianism aside and come up with a policy that has broad public appeal.

Dissanayake embodied this through his comprehensive approach. He said that left-wing parties with old ideas do not win elections, referring to the electoral defeat suffered by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which was once powerful in the state of West Bengal.

“If the PJD (Dissanayake) like (President) Lula (da Silva) in Brazil introduces pro-poor policies while at the same time working closely with business, the PNP can stay in power for a long time. It is too early to say “Whether we have witnessed a new era in Sri Lankan politics or just a change of government for five years, this is an opportunity for the NPP to consolidate its position as a long-term ruling entity with the potential to transform Sri Lanka.”

Solheim, who has often met with LTTE leaders, including Prabhakaran, reiterated his view that a peace agreement could have been reached in Sri Lanka in 2002-04. “Unfortunately, we were not successful… The result was the loss of tens of thousands of lives, mostly Tamils ​​but also many Sinhalese. Of course, the war also brought enormous economic hardship to all communities. Sri Lanka was once the shining star in Asia that every country wanted Others are almost emulating it and now Sri Lanka needs sustained green economic growth for a number of years to catch up with many of its neighbours.

Does he, as an observer of Sri Lanka, have a message for President Dissanayake?

My advice is to focus on economic and racial inclusion. Uplifting the poor is important for all ethnic groups. He added that the RJD should respond positively to the call of Tamils ​​and Muslims for equal rights and self-rule.

Source: Federal agencies

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