Signs of a ‘South Asian Spring’

Sri Lanka’s election fits a pattern in the region as more voters expect honesty in leaders and equality in their rule.

|
Reuters
A person in Colombo, Sri Lanka, reads news about the election of Anura Kumara Dissanayake from the National People's Power alliance as the new president, Sept. 23.

Headlines can capture events. Yet trends often give them meaning. In South Asia, a series of recent political events has suddenly changed the region from being low in democratic values, as one think tank put it, to possibly enjoying a “South Asian Spring.”

In India, for example, voters broke a decade of one-party rule in elections earlier this year. Protests in Bangladesh ousted an autocrat in August and relaunched democracy. In the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan, residents are casting ballots this week for the first time since 2014.

Now it is Sri Lanka’s turn. On Sunday, voters in the island nation rejected the established parties and elected a former Marxist as president, marking the first leftist government in the country’s history.

And in a victory for a peaceful transfer of power, the defeated incumbent, Ranil Wickremesinghe, gracefully bowed out. “With much love and respect for this beloved nation,” he said, “I hand over its future to the new president.”

What may bind voters across the region are rising concerns about basic economic issues, corruption, and the rule of law. The desire for change, noted Swasthika Arulingam, a Sri Lankan human rights lawyer, reflects a shift from political consciousness based on ethnic identity to equality and accountability for all.

“Political parties and candidates can no longer come and say whatever they want,” she told The Associated Press. “People are asking questions now.”

Sri Lanka’s new president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, has promised more of a course adjustment than of major disruption. The country is still reeling from an economic crisis that erupted two years ago. He has vowed to uproot a culture of graft and impunity in government. His former passions as an insurgent have cooled after a quarter century in Parliament. While he seeks to ease the impact of economic reforms on poor people, he pledges continued cooperation with austerity-minded international lenders.

One signal from him may matter more than others. “We will work hard to rebuild the trust that people have lost in politics,” Mr. Dissanayake said in his inauguration speech. He also promised to rebuild the nation “in unity and cooperation.”

A similar humility in listening to the people is reshaping democracy in Bangladesh, where famed economist Muhammad Yunus was appointed to steer a transitional government. “In times of great difficulty, it is crucial to be patient,” the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said. “We are one family. We have one goal.”

The election in Sri Lanka has ushered in what may be a peaceful transformation of politics and economics. Yet as in much of South Asia, voters have shifted their expectations, demanding honesty and responsiveness in their leaders.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Signs of a ‘South Asian Spring’
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2024/0924/Signs-of-a-South-Asian-Spring
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe