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REGION: Buddhist monks plunge into Sri Lankan politics

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s Buddhist clergy has advised kings and presidents for centuries, but its decision to field candidates in April’s parliamentary vote is causing consternation among politicians and officials.

The first-ever all-monk party is running in the April 2 elections called by President Chandrika Kumaratunga nearly four years ahead of schedule, and clergy candidates are causing concern to rivals as well as to election officials. The elections commission will have to relocate hundreds of polling booths which are usually set up in temples in this majority Buddhist nation, election officials said.

With some 281 Buddhist monks contesting the 225 parliamentary seats, setting up a voting centre in a temple would be inappropriate, they noted. The fear that the monks could attract a sizeable number of new voters as well as those dissatisfied with mainstream politicians has led to intense criticism as well as physical attacks against.

Officials said a Buddhist monk was wounded when he was attacked allegedly by supporters of Kumaratunga’s party in the southern town of Galle on the day nominations closed last week. State-run media controlled by Kumaratunga have unleashed a campaign against monks being allowed to contest the polls.

However, members of her alliance have also been calling for a return to the country’s Buddhist heritage to neutralise minority Tamils who are mainly Hindu.

The monks have declined an invitation by Kumaratunga to hold talks. They plan to take on the Tamils, who hope to gain the balance of power in a close fight between the parties of the president and the prime minister. The monks banded under the National Heritage Party say they are likely to beat the Tamils to become kingmakers.

Political analysts say the monks may attract hardline nationalists who may otherwise have voted with the president’s newly formed Freedom Alliance, which includes nationalistic elements. “There are some who believe that by our contesting they (Kumaratunga’s party) will lose some of their votes,” monk Uduwe Dhammaloka said. “We are not interested in that. We want to protect Buddhism that is now under siege in this country.” Kumaratunga’s new Marxist ally, the JVP, or people’s Liberation Front, has sought to play down the impact of the monks’ participation.

“The monks entering the campaign will not affect our votes, but they will take a sizeable amount from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s party,” said JVP spokesman Wimal Weerawansa.

The JVP and almost all parties use the monks to drum up support for themselves. The first monk to enter Sri Lanka’s parliament was Badegama Samitha who became a lawmaker in the December 2001 election, representing Kumaratunga’s broader People’s Alliance party. A spokesman for Kumaratunga said she was not in favour of Samitha’s becoming an MP. The monks say they are entering the fray because politicians had failed the country and the 18.6 million people and it was time for them to guide the country towards a “righteous state.” Buddhists account for 69 percent of the population. The rest are Hindus, Muslims and Christians. —AFP

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