L-Board arrest in Colombo and seasoned mayhem in Washington

In Ranil Wickremesinghe’s parlance a cynic would probably describe the former president's predicament as being the result of an L-Board arrest. Mr. Wickremesinghe himself might have described it as such had he not been weakened and silenced owing to excessive dehydration during and after his police questioning and long court hearing last Friday.

- BY RAJAN PHILIPS

As has now been extensively reported, the former president has multiple health issues which given his age would seem to have been concerningly aggravated by Friday’s ordeal. In the circumstances, the granting of bail for reasons of health is a healthy pause in an unfolding drama that has no script for its ending. Keeping Mr. Wickremesinghe in remand would have been pound-of-flesh meanness, with potential risk to his health and continuing headache for the government.

There have been plenty of commentaries on the political fallouts of the episode, but little has been and can be said about the legal precedents that may or may not ensue. While there is much to be said about the government’s amateurishness in the whole matter, it would be an exaggeration to suggest, in my view, that the arrest of Ranil Wickremesinghe is a portent sign of a threat to democracy or drift towards a one-party polity. While These interpretations are obviously far-fetched, what has to be conceded is that the government’s handling of the matter has created a huge and unnecessary distraction to its own agenda and has provided further ammunition to those who constantly question the NPP’s competence for governance.

Mayhem in America