Groundswell Chooses Democracy in Sri Lanka NEW DELHI — Across the great Eurasian plate these days, from Belarus to Beijing, one can find leaders dispensing with truly competitive politics. But traverse the Himalayas to South Asia and the climate is different: Democracy is on a winning streak. Over the last two years, virtually the entire population of South Asia has had the opportunity to take part in elections, and the voters have shown a marked desire to send their leaders packing. There was plenty of evidence for this already, including Pakistan’s first democratic transfer of power and, last May, India’s epic rejection of the party that has dominated the country since independence. Even so, last week’s vote in Sri Lanka was a jaw-dropper. Sri Lanka stood out because it had been on a trajectory away from democracy, with an ever-stronger state dominated by an ever-smaller circle of leaders. After nearly a decade as president, Mahinda Rajapaksa could boast of ending a civil war that had dragged on for nearly 26 years and presiding over a steadily expanding economy. He had also imposed an atmosphere of fear quite atypical for Sri Lanka, forcing the news media and judiciary to heel. Six weeks ago, when he scheduled snap elections, he had no viable opponent. The man who came out of nowhere to defeat him, a soft-spoken former health minister, Maithripala Sirisena, promised voters something simple — a weaker presidency. On Sunday, in his first address as president, Mr. Sirisena said Sri Lanka would return to a parliamentary system. “What our country needs,” he said, “is not a king, but a real human being.” South Asia is one of the few parts of the world where countries are actively jumping into the democratic column. For many years, India and Sri Lanka were surrounded by a grab bag of monarchies, dictatorships and military governments. But then, in 2006, the king of Bhutan ordered an end to the country’s absolute monarchy. In 2008, Nepal followed suit, abolishing its monarchy. In 2009, the authorities in the Maldives allowed its first contested election in 30 years. Full Article via the link below:
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 04:05:37 +0000
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