An Exaggerated Appearance Of Ethnic Polarisation

By Dr Jehan Perera- Monday, September 30, 2013

The results of the three provincial council elections held last week show a sharp contrast between the choices of the voters in the Northern Province and those in the Central and Northwestern provinces. In the Northern Province the vote against the government was by a majority of about 80 percent whereas in the other two provinces it was in favour of the government by a majority of about 60 percent. Nationalism was a campaign theme in all three provinces, which has led to a general feeling that the country is more divided than ever after the election. In the Northern Province those who campaigned on behalf of the TNA called for the right of self-determination for the Tamil nation and referred to the LTTE as a freedom fighting group.In the Central and Northwestern provinces, those who campaigned on behalf of the government urged the voters to cast their votes for the government that had saved the country from division and won the war over the LTTE. The result of these elections and the campaign themes, therefore, suggest that the polarisation between the Tamil-majority North and the Sinhala-majority South is acute. This would bode ill for national reconciliation. It would also bode ill for the countrys prospects for developing into a prosperous state, as a society that is internally divided will be unable to reach its full potential. However, while the case for ethnic nationalism was strong in the North, which has suffered war and discrimination on that account, it was less strong in the South where other issues have taken centre stage. This was seen by the votes of the people in the two southern provinces.None of the candidates put forward by the governments nationalist allies won seats, while those put forward by the old left government allies did win seats.Therefore, the appearance of ethnic polarisation is not seen so sharply at the community level.Those who move at the community level in the South would realize that the vast majority of people are open minded about a just solution to the problems of the ethnic minorities. Those who work at the community level to create understanding and linkages between the plural and multi-ethnic societies that cover the length and breadth of the country would know that the people on both sides of the North-South divide are eager and keen to bridge it. They are eager to show goodwill if given the opportunity. Goodwill at the local level was very well seen after the great disaster of the tsunami of 2004 when people from one community went out of their way to respond to the needs of members of other communities. This goodwill can also be seen today in community leaders who are prepared to attend seminar discussions and go on exchange visits to learn about the other.

In addition, when provided with leadership, and given the opportunity, these community leaders are prepared to put their names on public statements that call for bridging the ethnic divide.They are prepared to meet the concerns of members of other communities whose problems they understand better as a result of their civil society interactions. After a year or two of such engagement, even Buddhist monks from the South have been prepared to put their names to statements which call for justice for the Tamil people of the North, including dealing with the issues of over-militarization and land takeover. In fact there is a substantial amount of satisfaction amongst these people that the electoral result in the North shows what a strong opposition can do. This suggests that the appearance of ethnic polarisation in the voting pattern in the three districts does not come mainly or even in part from the ethnic conflict.Rather it comes from the strength and weakness of the opposition parties that contested in the North and South. In the North there was an opposition party that managed to pull itself together and bring forth a new leadership to replace those who were decimated during the war. One was former Supreme Court judge and latter day Hindu savant, C. V. Wigneswaran. He came into politics from out of the blue, as it were, from his retirement and at the age of 75. But he ended up getting the highest number of preferential votes in the North. Politics is an arena of high competition, and it is necessary for political parties to remain competitive if they are to win at elections.This is why in most countries leaders who lose elections are swift to resign and pave the way for new leadership. There is no shortage of leadership in communities and political parties, if the political system is open and permits them to surface.Justice Wigneswaran is one example. Another example of leadership springing up unexpectedly is that of the TNAs sole successful woman candidate Ananthi.She was not an established politician, but has been championing the cause of the missing persons. She got the second largest number of preferential votes.At the Northern Provincial Council election, the TNA was able to put forward a slate of candidates that combined the wisdom of the old and the passion of the new. Unfortunately, in the Central and Northwestern provinces, the opposition failed to create such a viable slate of candidates for election. The weakness of the opposition in the South gave the government an unbeatable advantage. It was not simply ethnic nationalism that prompted the large majority of voters in the Central and Northwestern provinces to vote for the government. The voters did not feel they had a viable alternative to vote for. Therefore, ethnic polarisation was not the only, or main, reason for the election outcome.If there is goodwill and restraint on both sides the balance between self-determination and national unity that the provincial council system provides for can be improved to pave the way to reconciliation.