Scrolling through the unceasing updates on the U.S. presidential poll outcome, of a likely winner and an apparent loser in denial, I was transported back to a November morning in 2016. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump had fought hard and closely for months ahead of that day, and the verdict of their contest was emerging.
I was over 14,000 kms away from the White House, but close to another seat of power that morning. I was at the sea-facing Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, interviewing the then President of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena. He was about to complete two years in office, after his historic win in January 2015, dislodging his former boss Mahinda Rajapaksa.
President Sirisena’s government and some of his own efforts — such as reviving the Tamil version of the Sri Lankan national anthem at official events — still inspired hope among many who voted for him, although his government was tainted by a controversial bond auction at the country’s Central Bank in 2015, that caused losses to the tune of millions.
In that interview, my first one-on-one with any first citizen, I remember Mr. Sirisena speaking calmly and unambiguously — of his “obligation” to Tamils, of how liberal democracy could come together with social democracy, and about turning a new page in Sri Lanka’s international relations. Wrapping up after nearly an hour, I was just about to leave his room, when I stopped at the door and asked him what he thought of the imminent U.S. poll results.
Fast forward five months: current President Gotabaya Rajapaksa addressed a group of Colombo-based foreign correspondents at the Galle Face Hotel. At that time, he was a former Defence Secretary, who had begun mobilising a small group of professionals to discuss ways of taking the country forward on the path of development. His initiative had triggered some buzz about his probable entry into politics, but there was no sure sign then. Mr. Rajapaksa told us he was not sure if he would take that route, since he, unlike his brothers, had never been a politician. But he was quick to remind us that President Trump had come from a business background. “We have to see,” Mr. Rajapaksa told us. In subsequent interviews to the local media, he often invoked the Trump example to emphasise how people were tired of mainstream politicians and their ways.
In February 2018, the brand-new party of the Rajapaksas, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP or People’s Front), swept the island’s local government elections, paving the way for its biggest political gain in November 2019. Less than three years after Mr. Rajapaksa barely hinted at his foray into politics, he rose to the country’s most powerful office, and soon obtained sweeping powers, following a controversial legislation.
In retrospect, Mr. Rajapaksa's Trump reference assumed more significance. It reaffirmed that our news cycles, however fast-paced or consuming they might get, surely drop clues about the bigger story in the making — including those of aspiring politicians-turned-powerful presidents. And sometimes, the story of one could be inspired by that of another, no matter how similar or different they are.
As for what Mr. Sirisena told me about the 2016 U.S. poll results, we had agreed it was off the record.
