陷入危机的斯里兰卡在其历史上首次出现债务违约。尽管其崩溃的经济既是其腐败政治的产物,也是全球经济趋势的产物,但斯里兰卡也是其他地区不稳定的一个令人担忧的风向标,这种不稳定可能是由高贫困国家经济安全状况下降引发的。
印度对斯里兰卡的援助
斯里兰卡是南亚的一个岛国。它位于印度洋,孟加拉湾西南部,阿拉伯海东南部;它被马纳尔湾和帕尔克海峡与印度次大陆隔开。斯里兰卡与印度和马尔代夫接壤。它的历史可以追溯到 3,000 年前,史前人类住区的证据可以追溯到至少 125000 年前。它拥有丰富的文化遗产。从最早的古代丝绸之路贸易路线到今天的海上丝绸之路,地理位置和深广的港口使其具有重要的战略意义。
斯里兰卡的奢侈品和香料贸易吸引了许多国家的贸易商,这有助于创造斯里兰卡多样化的人口。 20世纪初,一场争取政治独立的全国运动兴起,1948年,锡兰成为自治领。1972年,斯里兰卡共和国继承了该自治领。今天,斯里兰卡是一个多民族国家,拥有多种文化、语言和种族。僧伽罗人是该国人口的大多数。泰米尔人是一个庞大的少数群体,在该岛的历史中也发挥了重要作用。其他历史悠久的群体包括摩尔人、市民、马来人、华人和土著吠陀。
更好地理解问题
巴基斯坦和斯里兰卡的关系可以追溯到两国建国初期。两国于1948年奠定了友谊的基础,都是英联邦成员国。双边关系很好,贸易也很顺利。在政治和外交方面,两国相互支持。
巴基斯坦最近对斯里兰卡的危机进行了非常仔细的研究,许多学者和知识分子每天都在关注事态发展。由于两国有许多共同点,并且在许多方面存在相似之处。以下是斯里兰卡近期事态发展的叙述(摘自《华盛顿邮报》,2022 年 5 月 22 日出版),许多研究人员可能会发现这很有趣:
斯里兰卡——暴徒正在猛击斯里兰卡总理官员的大门住宅,其规模和愤怒膨胀危险。几周来,随着经济内爆和抗议活动的爆发,76岁的总理马欣达·拉贾帕克萨(MahindaRajapaksa)一直面临辞职的压力。马欣达是总统戈塔巴亚的兄弟,也是其政治王朝的元老,他曾被誉为阿帕奇,人民敬爱的父亲。现在,他蜷缩在二楼的卧室里,在亲戚的陪同下,疯狂地呼叫军官,带领他获救。在大门外,早些时候遭到马欣达支持者袭击的反政府抗议者正在进行报复——暴乱、焚烧公共汽车,并烧毁拉贾帕克萨盟友拥有的数百所房屋。
他们党的一名议员被殴打致死,尸体被拖过街道。5月9日这一天是斯里兰卡近代历史上最暴力、最混乱的一天。但这是拉贾帕克萨(Rajapaksa)家族内部多年动荡的结果。拉贾帕克萨兄弟在过去20年的大部分时间里主导着这里的政治。在2005年帮助马欣达赢得总统宝座后,他的兄弟查马尔、戈塔巴亚和巴兹尔接管了控制四分之三国家预算的部委,尽管有侵犯人权和腐败的指控,但这些部委仍赢得了民众的支持。但到2019年,哥达巴亚当选总统时,这个家庭因内讧和功能失调而受损,这将使这个南亚最发达的国家走向毁灭。
在采访中,现任和前任部长、外交人员以及拉贾帕克萨的亲信(其中一些人在看到家族分裂时首次发言)说,戈塔巴亚和马欣达以及他们各自的派系在部长任命和农业政策、投资协议和政治支持方面发生了冲突。随着今年经济的自由落体,马欣达在拉贾帕克萨(Rajapaksa)几位后裔的支持下,拒绝了戈塔巴亚(Gotabaya)让他下台的愿望。
不信任加深到5月9日被围困在马欣达大院中的马欣达核心圈子成员感到总统抛弃了他们。与首相在一起的堂兄UdayangaWeeratunga和另一位在场的家庭助手告诉《华盛顿邮报》,他们怀疑戈塔巴亚在军队中的支持者故意拖延了六个小时才前来援助。戈塔巴亚(Gotabaya)在以新总理取代其兄弟后仍执掌大权。这位新总理本周透露,斯里兰卡的外汇储备不足100万美元,医疗供应不断减少,几乎没有燃料。斯里兰卡前总统西里塞纳(MaithripalaSirisena)说,斯里兰卡面临“彻底毁灭”。“这个国家已经从王朝政治中吸取了教训。”
家族企业
马欣达(Mahinda)是一位富有的大米和椰子农场主的儿子,他在政治上很活跃,他参加竞选。
1970年,他继承了统治斯里兰卡的少数精英家庭的传统,斯里兰卡是印度海岸外一个郁郁葱葱的泪滴状岛屿。新加坡国立大学(National University of Singapore)教授拉泽恩·萨利(RazeenSally)表示:“如果你不是一个老牌家庭,你就不可能(在政治上)获胜。”。“因此,这个系统留给了那些可以掠夺国家的老牌内部人士。”马欣达是九个孩子中的第二个,他很有魅力,喜欢人群,与弟弟巴兹尔关系密切,巴兹尔被认为是家族的政治战略家。他们的中间兄弟哥达巴亚(Gotabaya)总是与众不同:冷漠,缺乏政治经验,是一个戒酒者和素食主义者,在军队里呆了21年。“他只会在新年期间访问祖籍,”他们的堂兄威拉通加回忆道,威拉通加与马欣达关系密切。2005年马欣达担任总统10年期间,拉贾帕克萨家族像家族企业一样管理国家。他任命戈塔巴亚为国防部长,而巴兹尔和他们的长兄查马尔则负责灌溉和经济发展。
斯里兰卡在巨额外债的推动下实现了多年的增长
马欣达受到选民们的奉承,他们赞同他在26年的反泰米尔叛军内战中取得的血腥但决定性的胜利,以及他频繁呼吁僧伽罗佛教民族主义。
但有关腐败的指控,围绕着马欣达展开。戈塔巴亚也受到牵连,但程度较轻,并因2006年从乌克兰购买米格战斗机而面临审查。斯里兰卡透明国际组织副执行主任桑基萨古纳拉特内说,马欣达和巴兹尔面临许多指控,包括挪用海啸救援资金和使用公共资金购买土地,但许多案件已经搁置或被撤回。她说:“所谓的拉贾帕克萨腐败就像一棵大树,为许多人遮荫。”。2021,一份被称为潘多拉文件(Pandora Papers)的金融文件泄露,拉贾帕克萨兄弟的侄女在海外账户中藏有数百万美元。由于对拉贾帕克萨家族的任人唯亲和腐败指控越来越愤怒,马欣达在2015年第三次竞选中失利。几乎立即,亲西方企业高管、军事强硬派和佛教僧侣组成的折衷联盟确定了一个新的候选人:Gotabaya Rajapaksa。
中间的兄弟
很快,有新的政治赞助人支持的戈塔巴亚将与马欣达发生冲突。两人很少直接对峙,但他们在所有事情上都有分歧,包括高风险的政治花招和轻微的腐败,家族密友说。媒体大亨莉莉丝·贾亚维拉(Lilith Jayaweera)被广泛认为是发起戈塔巴亚参选的原因,她记得2018年的一次事件,当时马欣达叫他去戈塔巴亚家。
马欣达把戈塔巴亚的名字写在一个非法建造的度假村的名字上,这样一个强大的僧侣,一个政治盟友,就可以得到免费的电力。丑闻即将泄露,马欣达不愿告诉他的哥哥,这是常有的事,所以他推了推贾亚薇拉,让他把这个消息告诉他。戈塔巴亚“怒不可遏”,贾亚维拉说,怒气冲冲地跑到一座佛教寺庙,拒绝和他的兄弟共用一辆车。2018年10月,时任总统西里塞纳解除了总理拉尼尔·维克勒马辛哈(Ranil Wickremesinghe)的职务,由三年前他在选举中击败的马欣达取代,引发了一场宪法危机。两人都声称自己是该国的二号人物,有谣言称维克勒马辛哈可能会被武力驱逐,首都气氛紧张。
由于担心马欣达和巴兹尔试图包抄他,策划自己重新掌权,戈塔巴亚秘密会见了维克勒马辛哈,保证支持他。不久之后,最高法院否决了马欣达的要求,他放弃了。这家人别无选择,只能支持戈塔巴亚。在选举前夕,极端分子发动的恐怖袭击震动了斯里兰卡,激发了这位前军人周围僧伽罗佛教徒的支持。在竞选过程中,Gotabaya谈到了安全、良好的治理和发展,将自己定位为一个技术官僚,并将科伦坡描绘为下一个新加坡,因为它的天际线上出现了印度和中国投资的摩天大楼。
他以压倒性优势获胜。在2019年11月19日宣誓就职的当天,戈塔巴亚表示要与家人分开。他拒绝戴红色的“萨塔卡”,这是拉贾帕克萨家族的标志性围巾,他喜欢穿短袖衬衫。与马欣达在担任总统期间将自己的肖像印在1000卢比钞票上不同,戈塔巴亚禁止政府部门悬挂他的官方肖像。但第二天就是“垮台的开始”,前金融高管、后来成为哥塔巴亚大众媒体部长的那拉卡·戈达赫瓦(NalakaGodahewa)说。戈塔巴亚的亲西方商界支持者推荐了一份任命名单,但当总统公布他的第一个内阁时,内阁由马欣达担任总理,并有巴兹尔和马欣达的忠实支持者。他们实施了大幅减税,并反对向国际货币基金组织(imf)寻求援助,尽管债务不断增加。
就在全球食品价格飙升之际,Gotabaya亲自推动通过了一项禁止使用化肥的禁令,这损害了农作物产量。马欣达的支持者说,他们塑造了内阁,但却被戈塔巴亚的任命削弱了。政府在若干情况下发布的贸易政策在24小时内被撤回。Weeratunga说:“有部长对抗秘书。“战斗渗透到了整个政府。”拉贾帕克萨家族在一个问题上团结一致:2020年通过的一项宪法修正案削弱了调查腐败的委员会,并赋予了法院深远的权力。
秋天
到2022年初,经济呈自由落体状态。大米等食品价格比去年上涨了一倍。汽油和电力供应不足。外汇储备正在耗尽。
今年4月,要求拉贾帕克萨家族退出政坛的夜间示威活动在首都扎下了根,一些示威活动演变成了暴力事件。戈塔巴亚的整个内阁——包括财政部长巴兹尔;哥哥查马;马欣达的儿子辞职,给了戈塔巴亚组建新政府的机会。斯里兰卡需要给外国债权人一个稳定的形象,以便就紧急救助进行谈判。但是总理马欣达拒绝了反对派的要求,甚至拒绝了来自总统的辞职信号。Gotabaya没有强迫解决这个问题。“广义相对论会说,‘他知道我想要什么,’”戈达赫瓦说,他在几个拉贾帕克萨离开后加入了内阁。“他觉得自己需要巴兹尔和马欣达的支持。”
随着马欣达面临越来越大的压力,他的支持者于5月9日在首相官邸Temple Trees组织了一次集会。据两位家族内部人士和活动视频显示,这位家长感到泄气,正考虑辞职,突然间似乎充满了活力。“作为一位始终听取人民意见的领导人,我现在问你:需要做什么?”马欣达对成千上万的支持者说,他们盘腿坐在吊灯照亮的大厅里。“你必须留下来!”人群怒吼起来。“这是否意味着我不应该辞职?”他又问了一遍,沉浸在继续战斗的呼声中。集会结束后,支持者们手持钢棍和木棍从寺庙的树木中涌出,殴打反政府抗议者,引发了震惊全国的血腥反弹。
马欣达和他的儿子们躲在寺庙的树上,他们曾敦促他留下来。下午4点,马欣达告诉他的演讲稿撰写人,他将辞职。院落内的两人表示,这位演讲稿撰写人向媒体传播了这一消息,但这并没有阻止暴力。尽管家人请求,但在抗议者已经冲破大门后,军队直到晚上11点才增援。凌晨4点,士兵们将马欣达疏散到一个军事基地。“马欣达明白这种拖延是故意的,”韦拉通加说,他指责哥达巴亚试图恐吓他的兄弟。但当天站在总统身边的两位部长表示,他愤怒地呼叫军官,但没有结果。Godahewa说:“他既不能控制军队也不能控制警察。”。
戈达赫瓦和外国外交官表示,陆军司令萨文德拉·席尔瓦(ShavendraSilva)一直与西方官员保持着频繁接触,他不愿部署部队,因为担心被视为下令军事镇压。那天军队的缺席扩大了兄弟之间的分歧。在本周向议会发表的演讲中,查马尔谴责马欣达在2015年没有离开政坛。在拉贾帕克萨党成员最近的一次会议上,家族盟友愤怒地问道,为什么他们在5月9日没有得到保护,这是一次罕见的不和表现。Weeratunga说:“Gotabaya现在如何对待该党将决定人民愤怒的方向。”。5月12日,四面楚歌、与世隔绝的哥达巴亚任命了一位新总理:拉尼尔·维克勒梅辛哈(RanilWickremisinghe),他在2018年第一次与兄弟争夺这一职位时秘密结识了他。媒体巨头Jayaweera表示,四年后,斯里兰卡最有权势的家族正在崩溃——也许是永远的。他说:“拉贾帕克萨和斯里兰卡以悲剧告终。”。“这是因为他们自己的所作所为。”
愿我们睁大眼睛,观察周围发生的一切。我们可以从别人的经历中学习,而不是体验自己。是时候认真、明智地思考了。各国必须在任何情况下为生存而斗争。我们是一个有韧性的国家,有潜力克服对我们提出的任何挑战。
翻译整理:那娜
责任编辑:陈龙狮
附件:本报时事评论员巴铁泽米尔简介
Zamir Awan,泽米尔阿万,笔名:巴铁泽米尔。
现任巴基斯坦国立科技大学中国研究中心副主任。巴基斯坦驻中国大使馆原科技参赞。
泽米尔生于1962年3月1日,80年代在中国留过学。在上海大学获得学士与硕士学位,机械专业。
从2010年,在巴基斯坦驻华大使馆,担任参赞,负责中巴两国之间科技交流与发展科技合作。中巴两国政治关系非常密切,通称“铁哥们儿全天候战略合作伙伴”的关系。科技算战略地位,所以两国也重视科技交流与合作。
泽米尔阿万,利用他在中国学习时学过的知识(包括农业、林业、生物学、健康业、工业、水电、能源、高等教育等等)加强了合作关系。签订了不少合同与协议,推动了不少项目。
他为巴中两国人民之间的友谊做了不少的工作,特别一带一路与巴中经济走廊方面。在他的任期中,在两国关系发展壮大。
从2020年起成为《澳门法治报》时事评论员。
Sri Lankan Crisis: A lesson for Pakistan
Sri Lanka – mired in crisis – defaulted on its debt for the first time in its history. While its collapsing economy is as much a product of its corrupt politics as of global economic trends, Sri Lanka is also a worrying bellwether for the instability elsewhere that may be triggered by declining economic security in countries with high levels of poverty.
Sri Lanka is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, and southeast of the Arabian Sea; it is separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. Sri Lanka shares a maritime border with India and the Maldives. Its history goes back 3,000 years, with evidence of prehistoric human settlements that dates to at least 125,000 years ago. It enjoys a rich cultural heritage. Its geographic location and deep harbors have made it of great strategic importance, from the earliest days of the ancient Silk Road trade route to today’s so-called maritime Silk Road.
The country’s trade in luxury goods and spices attracted traders from many nations, which helped to create Sri Lanka’s diverse population. A national movement for political independence arose in the early 20th century, and in 1948, Ceylon became a dominion. The dominion was succeeded by the republic named Sri Lanka in 1972. Today, Sri Lanka is a multinational state, home to diverse cultures, languages, and ethnicities. The Sinhalese are the majority of the nation’s population. The Tamils, who are a large minority group, have also played an influential role in the island’s history. Other long-established groups include the Moors, the Burghers, the Malays, the Chinese, and the indigenous Vedda.
Understanding the matter better
The relations between Pakistan and Sri Lanka date back to the formative years of the two countries. The two countries laid the foundation of their friendship in 1948, both are Commonwealth members. Bilateral relations are excellent and trade is very smooth. On the political and diplomatic front, both countries support each other.
The recent crisis in Sri Lanka is very carefully studied in Pakistan and many scholars and intellectuals are monitoring developments on day to day basis. As both countries are having many things in common and similarities exist in many aspects. Below is a narrative (from The Washington Post, published on 22 May 2022) of recent developments in Sri Lanka, many researchers may find it interesting:-
Sri Lanka — the mob was bashing on the gates of the Sri Lankan prime minister’s official
Residence, its size and fury swelling dangerously. For weeks, Mahinda Rajapaksa, the 76-year-old prime minister, had been under pressure to resign as the economy imploded and protests erupted. The brother of the president, Gotabaya, and a patriarch of his political dynasty, Mahinda was once hailed as appachchi, the beloved father of the people. Now he was huddled in his second-floor bedroom, accompanied by relatives who frantically called army officers, leading him to be rescued. Outside the gates, anti-government protesters who had been attacked earlier by Mahinda’s supporters were taking their revenge — rioting, burning buses, and torching hundreds of homes owned by allies of the Rajapaksas.
A lawmaker from their party was beaten to death, his body dragged through the streets. That day, May 9, was one of the most violent and chaotic in recent Sri Lankan history. But it was precipitated by years of turmoil inside the house of Rajapaksa. The Rajapaksa brothers have dominated politics here for most of the last 20 years. After helping Mahinda win the presidency in 2005, his brothers Chamal, Gotabaya, and Basil took over ministries that controlled three-quarters of the national budget and built popular support despite allegations of human rights abuses and corruption. But by 2019, when Gotabaya became president, the family was marred by infighting and dysfunction that would drive South Asia’s most developed nation into ruin.
In interviews, current and former ministers, foreign diplomats, and Rajapaksa confidants, some of whom spoke for the first time as they saw the family splinter, said Gotabaya and Mahinda, and their respective factions clashed over ministerial appointments and agricultural policies, investment deals, and political favors. As the economy went into free fall this year, Mahinda, backed by several Rajapaksa scions, resisted Gotabaya’s wish that he step aside.
Distrust deepened to the point that members of Mahinda’s inner circle, besieged in his compound on May 9, felt that the president had abandoned them. UdayangaWeeratunga, a cousin who was with the prime minister, and another family aide who was present, told The Washington Post that they suspect Gotabaya’s supporters in the army purposefully delayed coming to their aid for six hours. Gotabaya is clinging to power after replacing his brother with a new prime minister, who revealed this week that Sri Lanka has less than $1 million in foreign reserves, dwindling medical supplies, and almost no fuel. Sri Lanka faces “total destruction,” former president Maithripala Sirisena said. “The country has learned a lesson about dynastic politics.”
The family business
When Mahinda, the son of a wealthy rice and coconut farmer who was active in politics, ran for parliament in 1970, he was following in the tradition of the few elite families that dominate Sri Lanka, a lush teardrop-shaped island off the coast of India. “You cannot win [in politics] if you’re not from an established family,” said Razeen Sally, a professor at the National University of Singapore. “So the system is left to established insiders who can pillage the state.” The second of nine children, Mahinda was charismatic, loved crowds, and stuck close to his younger brother, Basil, who is considered the family’s political strategist. Their middle brother, Gotabaya, was always different: aloof, politically inexperienced, a teetotaler and vegetarian who spent 21 years in the military. “He would visit the ancestral home only during New Year,” recalled Weeratunga, their cousin who is close to Mahinda. The Rajapaksas ran the country like a family business during Mahinda’s 10-year presidency, starting in 2005. He named Gotabaya defense secretary while Basil and their oldest brother, Chamal, were placed in charge of irrigation and economic development.
Sri Lanka enjoyed years of growth, fueled by a mountain of foreign debt Mahinda enjoyed the adulation of voters, who approved of his bloody but decisive victory in a 26-year civil war against Tamil rebels and his frequent appeals to Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism.
But allegations of corruption, including questionable deals with Chinese state companies and officials, swirled around Mahinda. Gotabaya was also implicated, though to a lesser extent, and faced scrutiny over the 2006 purchase of MiG fighters from Ukraine. SankhithaGunaratne, deputy executive director of Transparency International Sri Lanka, said Mahinda and Basil have faced numerous accusations, including diverting tsunami relief aid and using public funds to buy land, but many cases have stalled or been withdrawn. “The alleged Rajapaksa corruption is like a large tree that provides shade to many people,” she said. In 2021, a leaked trove of financial documents known as the Pandora Papers revealed that a niece of the Rajapaksa brothers had millions of dollars hidden in offshore accounts. Amid growing anger over the Rajapaksas’ alleged cronyism and corruption, Mahinda lost a bid for a third term in 2015. Almost immediately, an eclectic coalition of pro-Western business executives, military hard-liners, and Buddhist monks identified a new candidate: Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
The middle brother
It quickly became apparent that Gotabaya, backed by new political sponsors, would clash with Mahinda. The men rarely confronted each other directly, yet they disagreed on everything, including high-stakes political gamesmanship and petty corruption, family confidants said. Lilith Jayaweera, a media magnate who is widely credited with launching Gotabaya’s candidacy, remembers an incident in 2018 when he was called by Mahinda to Gotabaya’s home.
Mahinda had put Gotabaya’s name on the title of an illegally built resort so that a powerful monk, a political ally, could get free electricity. The scandal was about to leak and, as was often the case, Mahinda was reluctant to tell his brother, so he nudged Jayaweera to break the news to him. Gotabaya was “livid,” Jayaweera said, and stormed off to a Buddhist temple, refusing to share a car with his brother. In October 2018, a constitutional crisis erupted when Sirisena, then president, fired his prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and replaced him with Mahinda, who he had defeated at the polls just three years earlier. The capital was tense as both men made claims on the country’s No. 2 job and rumors swirled that Wickremesinghe might be removed by force.
Fearing Mahinda and Basil were trying to outflank him and engineer their own return to power, Gotabaya secretly met Wickremesinghe to pledge his support. Soon after, the Supreme Court ruled against Mahinda’s claim, and he backed down. The family had no option but to support Gotabaya. In the run-up to elections, terrorist attacks by extremists rocked Sri Lanka, galvanizing Sinhalese Buddhist support around the former military man. On the campaign trail, Gotabaya spoke of security, good governance, and development, pitching himself as a technocrat, and Colombo, with its emerging skyline of Indian- and Chinese-funded skyscrapers, as the next Singapore.
He won in a landslide. On the day of his swearing-in on Nov. 19, 2019, Gotabaya signaled a break from his family. He refused to wear a red “sataka,” the Rajapaksa clan’s signature scarf, favoring a short-sleeved shirt. Unlike Mahinda, who printed his own image on 1,000-rupee notes while he was president, Gotabaya prohibited government offices from hanging his official portrait. But the next day was “the beginning of the downfall,” said NalakaGodahewa, a former financial executive who was later Gotabaya’s minister of mass media. Gotabaya’s pro-Western business-sector backers had recommended a list of appointments, but when the president unveiled his first Cabinet, it was led by Mahinda as prime minister and stocked with Basil and Mahinda loyalists. They enacted steep tax cuts and argued against seeking aid from the International Monetary Fund despite mounting debt.
Gotabaya personally pushed through a ban on chemical fertilizers that hurt crop yields, just as global food prices soared. Mahinda’s supporters said they had shaped the Cabinet only to be undermined by Gotabaya’s appointments. In several instances, the government issued trade policies that were retracted within 24 hours. “You had ministers fighting secretaries,” Weeratunga said. “Fighting permeated the administration.” The Rajapaksas were united on one issue: A constitutional amendment passed in 2020 that weakened commissions investigating corruption and granted the president far-reaching powers over the courts.
The fall
By early 2022, the economy was in free fall. Foodstuffs like rice doubled in price from a year prior. Gasoline and electricity were in short supply. Foreign currency reserves were running out.
In April, nightly demonstrations took root in the capital demanding that the Rajapaksas leave politics, and some turned violent. Gotabaya’s entire Cabinet — which included Basil, the finance minister; the elder brother, Chamal; and Mahinda’s son — resigned, giving Gotabaya a chance to form a new government. Sri Lanka needed a stable image to present to foreign lenders and negotiate an urgent bailout. But Mahinda, the prime minister, resisted calls from the opposition and even signals from the president to quit. Gotabaya didn’t force the issue. “G.R. would say, ‘He knows what I want,’ ” said Godahewa, who joined the Cabinet after several Rajapaksas departed. “He felt he needed the support of Basil and Mahinda.”
With pressure mounting on Mahinda, his supporters organized a May 9 rally at Temple Trees, the prime minister’s compound. The patriarch, feeling deflated and mulling resigning, suddenly seemed energized, according to two family insiders and videos of the event. “As a leader who has always listened to the people, I now ask you: What needs to be done?” Mahinda said to thousands of supporters sitting cross-legged in a chandelier-lit hall. “You must stay!” the crowd roared. “Does that mean I shouldn’t resign?” he asked again, soaking in calls to fight on. When the rally ended, supporters streamed out of Temple Trees with steel rods and wooden sticks, beating anti-government protesters and sparking a bloody backlash that shocked the nation.
Holed up in Temple Trees with his sons, who had urged him to stay, Mahinda told his speechwriter at 4 p.m. that he was resigning. The speechwriter spread the news to the media, but that didn’t stop the violence, said two people inside the compound. Despite the family’s pleas, the army didn’t send reinforcements until 11 p.m., after protesters had already breached a gate. At 4 a.m., Mahinda was evacuated by soldiers to a military base. “Mahinda understood this stalling was deliberate,” said Weeratunga, who accused Gotabaya of trying to intimidate his brothers. But two ministers who were by the president’s side that day said he furiously called military officers to no avail. “He could neither control the army nor police,” Godahewa said.
Godahewa and foreign diplomats said army commander Shavendra Silva — who has been in frequent touch with Western officials — was reluctant to deploy his forces for fear of being seen as ordering a military crackdown. The absence of the military that day widened the fissures among the brothers. In a speech to parliament this week, Chamal chastised Mahinda for not leaving politics in 2015. And at a recent meeting of the Rajapaksas’ party members, family allies angrily asked why they were not protected on May 9 in a rare display of discord. “How Gotabaya treats the party now will decide the direction of the people’s wrath,” Weeratunga said. On May 12, an embattled and isolated Gotabaya named a new prime minister: Ranil Wickremesinghe, the man he secretly met in 2018 when he first jockeyed for the position against his brother. Four years later, Sri Lanka’s most powerful family was crumbling — maybe for good, said Jayaweera, the media magnate. “The Rajapaksas, and Sri Lanka, ended in tragedy,” he said. “It ended because of their own doing.”
May we keep our eyes open and observe what is happening around us. Instead of experiencing ourselves, we may learn from others’ experiences. It is time to think seriously, smartly, and wisely. The nations must struggle to survive under any circumstance. We are a resilient nation and possess the potential to overcome any challenge posed to us.
Reference Link:- https://www.amfzbao.com/mpost.html?id=628cacba776d3602289e20d3
Reference Link:- https://www.globalvillagespace.com/sri-lankan-crisis-a-lesson-for-pakistan/
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