The Occupation Of Cinnamon Lakeside (Photos)
Let me describe the scene at the Cinnamon Lakeside. You drive in and one side of the road is closed. There’s a bottleneck at the roundabout. There’s a copshed right there, what look like riot police at the gate. As you turn in smart Army guys speak to you, politely check the car, take down IDs. After slaloming round the other stopped cars and some roadblock buses, you pull into an entirely normal hotel. General Sarath Fonseka is on the third floor.
I parked in the basement and walked up. There was a wedding party heading out, bridesmaids were wearing green. Up the stairs and into the lobby which, since remodeling from the TransAsia, looks a bit too much like a bathroom for my taste. Run into a photojournalist from Perambara, some journalists from the Sunday Leader. They’re whacking the High Tea buffet. Looked like croissant with cheese or something, some hard boiled eggs.
The place is a bit empty. On a second pass I did notice some troop presence in the hotel, unarmed. Outside there are guys from various western organizations and media. I think Sarath Fonseka is on the third floor, with his family. I heard someone from the AFP was there, but he got promptly moved. I heard Jeremy Page from the Times Of London is here on a tourist visa, naughty naughty.
Some guy is playing piano in the lobby. I’m on the patio at Seven Degrees (the bar, though not now). The manager says they couldn’t serve booze cause of the election. Some guests are lounging by the pool. Troops pass beneath.
Not To Panic
Reading this perhaps sounds scary, like a military coup. Hearing rumors in front of a computer that’s kinda how I felt, but it’s not. Like many other aspects of international PR, the government somehow makes things look worse than they are. The troops outside are extremely professional and nice, indeed, as the Army usually is. They’re basically securing the building and trying to get people in as efficiently as possible.
I disagree entirely with the politics of surrounding the opposition candidate like this, but the troops are cool. On the political note, I heard that they searched Ranil’s car on the way out, which is a bit strange.
I spoke to someone who perceives better and he said that this is really about humiliating Sarath Fonseka and showing him (and any future challengers) just who’s boss. It looks like what someone who’d rig an election would do, but I don’t think it’s quite that. I think that the election was unfair and there was widespread intimidation and fraud. I do think that Mahinda won. I’m not entirely clear on anything right now, so please make up your own mind.
In the international media this looks crazy, but it’s not. Sitting here, it’s distinctly non-threatening. The troops are polite. I guess Fonseka is scared, but the people here are pretty much carrying on. This is to intimidate and humiliate Fonny, I think, and Mahinda is also taking no chance.
But To Aggrieve
That said, this is also bullshit. It is a complete abuse of power to surround the opposition candidate with troops. They were raiding and arresting opposition people yesterday, and government Provincial Councillors and MPs were intimidating or attempting to influence average people at the polls. Any one of these is a serious violation of both elections law and honor, but we don’t take it seriously.
Mahinda has and is abusing power and it’s uncool. And illegal, but rule of law is something we’ve subsumed to this power. And which I think many people in this country support. Up to a point is just comical, but it’s also sad. The vote hasn’t even been called and one candidate has placed another under siege. It’s kinda old school rural politics, but taking place in a five star hotel. It’s wrong.
Also this.
Today on the 
Janith has updated 
This is highly dubious. Miss Travel is a travel/social networking site that connects ‘Generous’ and ‘Attractive’ travelers. To, like, travel together, I guess. It all seems a bit like arranged prostitution and trafficking. This is part of a broader online trend to connect rich men to younger, attractive women. Sites like 
Sri Lankan domestics never say anything, they just stop coming. My maid just stopped coming and when I finally pressed her she said I needed to get a washing machine. I was hoping to ride this one out, but I’ve run out of underwear and I have no choice. I finally caved and bought a washing machine, from 
” Old school politics, but inside a five star hotel “. lol. That’s the funniest part.
May be you should send BBC&CNN a link to this article so they could stop overreacting.
“Take a seat now. Drama will be starting soon”.
BBC & CNN do the rest.
May God bless the country, and may God bless those who are supporting it.
man, just stfu already. you are way too transparent
stop doing everything possible to detract (using this non issue to swing more mud and talk about the *constitution*) from the fact that people spoke resoundingly again the goons you backed and accept defeat graciously if you have any shame left in you
i just threw up in my mouth
“i just threw up in my mouth”
That’s the exact same reaction I had when I heard the final results!
“I do think that Mahinda won. I’m not entirely clear on anything right now, so please make up your own mind. ”
uhh
Look how pathetic Fonseka is:
Defeated Sri Lanka Presidential Candidate Rejects Vote Result
“Sri Lanka’s defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka on Wednesday rejected the result of the election and vowed to challenge it in court.
“The enthusiasm of the people we noticed during the campaign is not reflected in this result,” Fonseka told reporters in Colombo. “We will never accept this result. We will petition (the court) against it. ”
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100127-705296.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines
Oh boo hoo, the little general can’t take it…
the person who perceives better is probably right. i also think that the people spoke out and the president won (mostly) fair and square. whether or not we’re going to be allowed an opposition from now on is the question. i can’t see him letting anything get this out of hand in the future. then the western press can actually come and shout about lack of democracy in the country. until that day we can rub the 70% turnout in their faces.
I fully agree with yaka on the foreign thingy
“Like many other aspects of international PR, the government somehow makes things look worse than they are” you fellows including the county hopping sneaky Ranil cook up stuff and the Gov has to douse the flames… that is what the UNP has always done..
I disagree entirely with the politics of surrounding the opposition candidate like this, but the troops are cool. On the political note,
“I heard that they searched Ranil’s car on the way out, which is a bit strange” You HEARD… OK! Any way we don’t want Deserters being smuggled out… perfectly legit
“I spoke to someone who perceives better” you need to speak to more… LOL
“I think that the election was unfair and there was widespread intimidation and fraud” prove it and we will believe you… else bugger off… have can you forge 1.9 million votes…. get realistic… also this if you have even been on election duty you will know it is very hard to rig it and not get caught!
“I do think that Mahinda won” … well you don’t but 6 million voter do… so what you think is irrelevant…!
“Mahinda is also taking no chance” he should not… he has the right to protect Sri Lanka from maniacs like SF and the clan
“Mahinda has and is abusing power and it’s uncool” … well Wonder what SF would have done if he had won… thrown all position in Bogambara and give them bones to lick? It is better to take precautions against a Coup specially knowing SF’s character than let it happen and then put Sri Lanka in Peril!
Go get some sleep.. you ain’t thinking straight, OR have you ever… stop being an emotional sour looser just like SF!
Why all this,I am curious to know why all this is happening after all the president has won,why does a winner go to this level to crush and oppress,the opposing candidate?the winner should be celebrating.
How come that the 400 odd deserters who are with the SF camp in Cinnamon Grand was not detected earlier,
Mr President please,you cannot have a country with zero opposition,smells fishy
“In the international media this looks crazy, but it’s not. Sitting here, it’s distinctly non-threatening. The troops are polite.”
You haven’t thought about why they should be there in the first place. If it’s to get the deserters, why were they not got before this? why were they not got when they entered the hotel? why can’t the best army ever that crushed a terrorist organisation not take on a few deserters?
Mahinda was going to win this from the beginning. he has won it now. he may have stuffed a few votes here and there, but why? he would have won anyway. he kept the commissioner under house arrest but why? the result would have been declared this way anyway.
He doesn’t have the grit to bring under control oa few deserters. yet the people believe in him. then why this fiasco in the first place?
Your post makes no sense.
SF is no ordinary candidate. Any responsible government would keep an eye on a disgruntled ex-army chief like him, particularly when that general is desperate and blindly believes that he has external support.
SF was removed as Army commander because his bosses were worried, rightly or wrongly, about a coup led by him. That he made various threats against important people doesn’t help either.
Government has bungled this situation, just like they have done a million times before.
If you are still complaining about the result, you don’t know jack about Sri Lanka. You probably should have been out there watching how the election was run. There was nothing anyone could do to change the result by this margin.
We proved today, that we are alright with corruption, we will turn a blind eye to injustice and lawlessness, and that we would rather go to sleep than opting for a change.
Bull shit. What we proved today is that the rural masses are smarter than the urban elite. They saw through the wolf’s sheep costume.
I agree with Jana. I think the rural masses showed the Colombo crowd the middle finger and it rocks.
Why all the vitriol? Most rural masses have family or send their kids to urban centers. The rural people I know aren’t so hateful or so vindictive, that’s just urban or international people who claim to speak for them.
It is possible to support different candidates and still be respectful to each other. Most Sri Lankans do it pretty well.
Yes I agree, the hateful and vindictive people are mostly found among the Colombo crowd (mostly the elite). I don’t think Fonseka is being respectful at all, he wants the whole elections anulled and that is laughable. He and is followers need a reality check.
@V, I was talking about you.
I don’t think it’s fair to judge a person based on where they’re from, rural or urban. That’s just a rhetorical divide people use to beat each other over the head with. It’s both inaccurate and unkind.
I don’t look down on rural people and they don’t seem to look down on me. I think that’s fair, and it runs both ways.
It’s not a rhetorical divide mate – it’s real and the fact that you deny it betrays just how out of touch you are with reality. For example, you can’t even speak Sinhalese let alone read it. You do not know how the VAST MAJORITY OF SRI LANKANS think. You do not read Sinhalese language media. You live in an English speaking elitist cocoon in Colombo. You may think you are “with the people” when you go to outstations but you really have no idea. “I don’t look down on rural people” – maybe you don’t. Many others do.
@V: yes, a lot of townies look down on their country cousins. I’ll tell you who those townies are: they’re the ones who came to town less than a generation agon and made it big in the corrupt, dishonest, patronage-gobbling and -guzzling city by taking to its ways like ducks to water. Jumped-up yokels come to town. I am a true city boy, born and rised, and I resent these yobs coming to Colombo, my town, and throwing their weight about.
I agree with Indi; people are the same everywhere. If town and country folk differ, it is only in that the former tend to have a greater breadth of cultural experience. When it comes to dealing with people as people, that’s not really such a big difference.
Just for your information, people who discriminate between people based on their origins are called bigots.
“I am a true city boy, born and rised, and I resent these yobs coming to Colombo, my town, and throwing their weight about.”
Look who’s the bigot now.
The stock joke about bad foreign correspondents is that they file their reports from a lounger by the hotel pool bar.
How nice of Sarath Fonseka to make that easy for them.
I shall watch his future political career with interest.