Sri Lanka’s presidential election – Southasia Weekly #32
This week at Himal
As Sri Lanka goes to the polls, Marlon Ariyasinghe lays out the top 3 presidential candidates vying for people’s votes in the first election since the 2022 economic crisis that sparked mass protests calling for systemic change. With no clear frontrunner, this election is already being described as Sri Lanka’s most open and unpredictable election yet. Don’t forget to read Tisaranee Gunasekara’s recently published deep dive into presidential incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe’s political life and trajectory.
Abhishek Dey writes about how the Bharatiya Janata Party’s reduced seat count in India’s election prompted public rebuke from the head of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, offering a rare glimpse into the recurring power struggle between the two organisations.
In the latest edition of the State of Southasia podcast, host Nayantara Narayanan talks to film journalist Anna M M Vetticad about the recently released Hema Committee report on gender discrimination in the Malayalam film industry. Vetticad discusses the findings and flaws of the report, institutionalised misogyny in Malayalam cinema and why the report marks a moment of reckoning for the broader film industries in India.
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This week in Southasia
Kashmir votes in assembly elections for the first time in a decade
This week, residents of India-administered Kashmir turned out to vote in the first assembly election held in a decade, and the first since India abrogated Kashmir’s special status in 2019. So far, a voter turnout of 61,1 percent has been recorded in phase 1 of the polls. In a surprise twist, the pro-independence Awami Ittehad Party aligned with the banned political organisation Jamaat-e-Islami days before the assembly elections in a bid to unseat more established regional parties.
Kashmir residents also voted in the May parliamentary elections in record numbers, ending years of poll boycotts, often at the behest of separatist groups who argued that participation in elections would only amount to acceptance of central government rule. While New Delhi emphasised the peaceful nature of the May elections, residents in India-administered Kashmir voted for the Awami Ittehad Party led by the pro-independence Sheikh Abdul Rashid, better known as Engineer Rashid. In doing so, voters registered their displeasure with both New Delhi’s ‘iron-hand’ approach and pro establishment regional parties such as the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party. It remains to be seen whether the pattern observed during the Lok Sabha elections will continue in the assembly elections, with the final results set to be released on 8 October.
Elsewhere in Southasia 📡
Bangladesh’s interim government grants magisterial powers to the army for 2 months to improve law and order, including power to issue arrest orders and search warrants due to shortage of law enforcement officers, raising concerns
Controversial constitutional amendments which experts say are aimed to increase government control over judicial appointments and overturn a 2022 high court ruling which required legislators to vote on party lines cause tension between Pakistan’s ruling party and the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf
India issues formal notice to Pakistan for modifications to the Indus Water Treaty, signed in 1960 which allocates water rights to both nations from the Indus river system, for issues regarding changing population demographics, environmental issues and clean energy development
At least 226 killed in floods as Typhoon Yagi wreaks havoc in Myanmar, with ruling junta making rare request for foreign assistance after years of blocking humanitarian assistance from abroad
Myanmar’s military killed over 5000 civilians and subjected many more in military custody to summary executions, sexual violence and torture since coup, according to a United Nations report. The UN report also expresses concern over abuses by opposition forces.
Public screenings of election results have been banned, says Sri Lanka Police spokesman DIG Nihal Thalduwa, a measure to prevent election-related violence during the presidential elections on 21 September. Corruption watchdog Transparency International Sri Lanka reports 758 complaints of public resource misuse as of 11 September
The International Monetary Fund will evaluate progress on key commitments under the IMF-supported program after Sri Lanka’s presidential elections to issue next instalment
Former Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih urges against any action that undermines public confidence in the national bank, as Bank of Maldives CEO Karl Stumke resigns after the Bank announced controls on USD transactions, sparking allegations of a financial coup from the government
The Taliban suspends polio vaccination campaign in Afghanistan, the UN says, a major setback to eradicating the disease which remains endemic in only Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan
Bangladesh interim government asks the UK for assistance in investigating key overseas assets linked to ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s regime, including UK property portfolio worth GBP 150 million
Only in Southasia
Recently residents of Uttarakhand were surprised by a novel solution proposed by BJP lawmaker and actress Hema Malini to keep the shores of the Ganga river clean - she performed a ‘Ganga dance ballet’ on the shores of the river. As netizens quipped, perhaps the state government need not have spent 33,000 crores (or USD 3.9 billion) on cleaning the river over the years - they could have summoned Hema Malini instead.
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From the archive
As Sri Lanka goes to the polls this weekend and the third review of the International Monetary Fund’s Extended Fund Facility is scheduled for after the elections, Ahilan Kadirgamar and Devaka Gunawardena’s piece is worth revisiting. Ahilan and Devaka write that decades of looking to the IMF have brought only crises for Sri Lanka, and urging a new mode of development instead. Shiran Illanperuma’s review of Asoka Bandarage’s ‘Crisis and the World’ on the deep roots of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is also worth a revisit.