The death on Thursday of State Minister Sanath Nishantha on the Katunayake expressway when his luxury sports utility vehicle (SUV) crashed headlong into the back of a container carrier in the early hours of the morning generated the predictable publicity in the evening news bulletins of the various television stations and Friday’s newspapers.

What caused the accident which killed Nishantha and his police security guard and injured his driver has not been definitively revealed as this is being written. There was a later report that the driver who had not been seriously hurt has been arrested and a statement recorded. He had allegedly been driving at a very high speed when the crash occurred. This raises questions on police inaction over dangerously driven VIP vehicles.

Nishantha apparently had attended two weddings in Kurunegala and Chilaw and was on his way back to his official residence in Colombo when the accident happened. His family had attended the function at Kurunegala while he had gone without them to Chilaw. Thursday evening’s television news provided extensive coverage of the accident including images of the clearing of the wreckage from the scene and condolence visits by President Ranil Wickremesinghe and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa among others to Nishantha’s Colombo residence.

Rajapaksa spoke glowingly of the late state minister saying his death was a great loss to the party and to the nation. Readers may remember that it was Nishantha who settled an unpaid electricity bill incurred on the occasion of Namal Rajapaksa’s wedding.

The body lay at a funeral parlour in the city prior to their removal for interment at Aratchikatuwa, the home base of the Puttalam district parliamentarian who was serving his second term in the legislature. He had previously served as a provincial councilor and been a member of a local body. Many members of the ruling party and others paid their respects. The late Nishantha, incidentally, was one of the many ruling party politicians whose homes/offices were attacked and destroyed after a mob from ‘Temple Trees’ set upon the Aragalaya protesters on Galle Face.

It has been alleged that he was one of the leaders of this attack. His political history is replete with many violent incidents and various social media references to his demise were less that complimentary. This angered some of his political colleagues prompting them to say such references were proof of the need to have some controls over social media.

On the flip side were other points of view with a former member of the Human Rights Commission, Ambika Sathkunanathan, taking to Instagram to claim many connections between public reaction to the politician’s death (such as cheering, references to karma etc.) and impunity, lack of respect for the rule of law and the inability of people to obtain redress for abuse of power and rights violations.

“In societies where the state and politicians are predators and public institutions do not function to serve the public, when someone who has abused power, used violence and acted with impunity suffers a loss or is killed, people see that as punishment and/or justice,” she said. Some readers would remember there was lighting of firecrackers celebrating President Premadasa’s assassination, a clear indication of certain social values that persist in this country.

The vacancy in the legislature caused by the death of the state minister will not go to the Sri Lanka Podu Jana Peramuna (SLPP) but to Wimal Weerawansa’s breakaway group which contested the last parliamentary election under the SLPP banner. This is on account of the number of preferential votes polled by Jagath Priyankara who topped the preference vote count of unelected candidates in the Puttalam district.

ITAK/TNA

Last week’s election of a new leader of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) which leads the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), widely regarded as the most formidable of the Tamil political formations, saw the defeat of front runner Mathiaparanam Abraham Sumanthiran, PC, MP, by fellow Jaffna district parliamentarian T. Shritharan who soon after his victory visited the LTTE cemetery triggering unease about a possible return to Tamil extremism.

Although what was originally slated to be a three-cornered contest, eventually became a battle between Shritharan and Sumanthiran and the finish was not even close with the former winning comfortably. The third candidate who withdrew fom the race threw his weight behind the winner whose supporters say had the backing of a formidable section of the Tamil diaspora.

Sumathiran, an accomplished civil, constitutional and human rights lawyer, first entered the legislature through the National List of his party but was later able to secure election from the Jaffna district. Demonstrating considerable political and debating skills, he is among the outstanding frontbenchers of the incumbent legislature. Academic Dayan Jayatilleka who is a respected political analyst, said in a column last week that he had hoped that Sumanthiran, “a sophisticated post-war parliamentarian” he was rooting for, would have won the race – “but that’s democracy and the autonomous choice of a community.”

The new leadership of the TNA in an election year assumes special importance. President Ranil Wickremesinghe has been working towards achieving minority support for his candidature and has established contact with the diaspora. When President JR Jayewardene first stood for election as president, Mr. Kumar Ponnabalam also ran finishing fourth behind Hector Kobbekaduwa and Rohana Wijeweera but ahead of Dr. Colvin, R. de Silva. Kobbekaduwa won a considerable number of Jaffna votes attributed to the high prices that onions and chillies commanded during Mrs. Bandaranaike’s United Front government when scarcities were endemic.

Whether there would be a Tamil candidate this time round or whether the Tamil parties would back a main contender is yet an open question. The JVP is throwing considerable effort to organize itself in the North and East. These are yet early days and how events will play out remains to be seen.