JEDDAH, 9 November 2003 — Sri Lankan expats are nervous about the political turmoil that has gripped their island state over the past five days.
“What’s going on is not good for the country. The two leaders (President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe) should have sorted out their differences amicably. The president ought to have taken the initiative. Now the peace process with the Tamil Tigers could be in jeopardy, and she should be careful of that. Back home, people were relieved at the way peace was returning to the island after 20 years of war,” said Muhammad Iqbal, 43, a Sri Lankan sales executive in Jeddah.
The moves made by the president, including sacking three of Wickremesinghe’s ministers — defense, interior and information — and the suspension of Parliament, as well as the imposition of the emergency and now its revocation “sound very dramatic. We can only hope things don’t get out of hand once again,” said Som Roopasinghe, 52, an executive in a packaging company.
Wickremesinghe supporters say he is popular and many would join his campaign against the restrictions slapped on his government by the president while he was away in the United States. “I can’t understand the charge leveled against Wickremesinghe that he gave too many concessions to the rebels,” said Zaki Muhammad Ibrahim, 35, a worker in a carpet factory. “The peace process with the Tamil rebels was on track and her actions could derail it,” he added.
Supporters of the president termed her decision “right but belated.” According to Rahmat Mubarak, 39, an office assistant in a food company, “the president is right in saying that the strength of the rebels had increased since the Wickremesinghe government signed an accord with Tamil Tiger. They were only 6,000, but now they have recruited several thousand children,” he said.
