A CHOGM traffic map, with RISK pieces.
The Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting ended in Sri Lanka last week. Aside from messing up traffic for a few days, it was a big event that didn’t really have a big impact. The strange and by this point predictable thing was that it became, in the international media at least, about the war, war crimes etc. It’s like the only story Sri Lanka can conceivably be associated with is civil war. It also overshadowed whatever CHOGM was supposed to discuss. As far as I can tell from the Republic Square brief, this meeting accomplished close to nothing.
There are no official costs attached to hosting the conference. Estimates were Rs. 6 billion and the UNP is claiming 14 billion. Either way it’s millions of dollars, a lot of it on cars that people will have used for three days and which now, I suppose, get gifted off to undeserving MPs and lackeys. Anush has a piece on the economic benefits of CHOGM, but the crux there is that they’re largely unknown.
I’d venture that it’s only a three day event with relatively few participants, and Anush seems to confirm that hotel occupancy rates were low. However, the main benefit of something like CHOGM is that the world’s media is focused on Sri Lanka, which turned out to be a bad thing.
The Media Circus
It’s undeniable that a lot of the western media is ignorant or myopically focused on the end of the war in 2009, ignoring everything before and after that point. However, knowing that this issue would come up, the Rajapaksa government seems to have prepared for it not at all. If they cared about international PR they could have announced that they’d implement the LLRC just before, or hold some events in Jaffna, or even just brief their diplomats better. Instead they did basically the opposite.
The government allowed in and then harassed Channel 4 journalists, quite publicly. They stood by as people blocked their train and as the connected BBS attacked the opposition headquarters in Kotte. They also led up to CHOGM by deporting New Zealand Green MPs for holding a presser, Aussie journalists for attending a conference, etc. Basically they created a belligerent image, seemingly by intention.
The vital point is that the government actually doesn’t care about international opinion. Indeed, in a way they seem to miss the old LTTE/diaspora bogeyman and their allies, a hostile western media. Even English-speaking Sri Lankans cheer on Dr. Chris Nonis on CNN for speaking about something fundamentally sad with good diction. The opposition party also says that it also opposes foreign meddling. I mean, who supports it, really? For the government it’s a cheap local win actually, if you look at it just locally.
Internationally, however, it makes us look pretty dumb. Republic Square covers this issue pretty well also. I mean, who would have known we had a Green Party MP here unless we expelled them? As impressed as some Sri Lankans are with Dr. Chris Nonis, is having a civilization for 2,500 years really relevant to the issue of war crimes investigations?
As RSQ puts it:
Creating a siege mentality (“no one likes us, we don’t care”) can be useful in shoring up domestic support, but it is absolutely destructive to international relations, both on a political and a public relations level. The language being used also presents exactly the opposite issue from the one that is intended – all the talk of “propaganda”, of “agent provocateurs”, of small powerful minorities who are really running things comes across as paranoid and more reminiscent of the rhetoric of a paranoid Soviet Union than an open democracy.
If anything, the government has made the country look worse than it actually is while the internationally media has completely missed how bad things actually are. The end result is basically that kids get of school, some MPs get cars, and everybody else gets to do the 2009 time warp again, on the taxpayers dime.
It would be foolhardy to say we have no problems in Sri Lanka. More so to rely on other countries to solve our problems. A weak opposition doesn’t necessarily mean no democracy, it just means the opposition sucks. So either way more fools us.
Do you really think Cameron was right to make the comments he made? Two wrongs don’t create a right.
The fact that we have no opposition in Sri Lanka cannot be blamed on the government. That lays squarely with the opposition.
Either way I am sure the world must laugh at all of us. Why are we going internationally for help to deal with our problems. Cameron should also remember he was able to visit Jaffna because Sri Lanka WON the war against terrorism.
“One must recall that Sri Lanka is that country which finally shunned all international intervention when it went for its military offensive against the LTTE. Do not try and force it into a situation where it does the same again. Because the last time it did this, it succeeded in fixing the problem.”
By Kamal SiddiqiPublished: November 17, 2013
http://tribune.com.pk/story/632844/toothless-tigers/
02 patrol boats (Australia)- 02 baby elephants (NZ) + loads of CHOGM jokes and memes – Rs. 14 bn + lots of bad publicity + some improvements to Colombo city – massive losses to Colombo hotels + or – Chris Nonis -> Chuck Norris – a few more deals with China, I think + Murali showing his commitment towards reconciliation & embarassing Cameron + Ranil, Mangala & Co. & BBS becoming even more unpopular + keeping Wimal Weerawansa silent for a few days + some luxury vehicles to soothe the overworked posteriors of government ministers?+ (hopefully) some attention to implementing LLRC recommendations = ?
The hotels up north, Trinco and pasikkudah must have done really well as everyone from Colombo were there. So everyone got a great weeks holiday too.
Most of all those who holiday in the north now, remember we couldn’t go there before…
Escaped from Colombo because of CHOGM, was cut off from the news except for a few snippets.
Have not got around to reading everything properly but from the little I have seen what was supposed to be a showcase has turned into a public relations disaster.
Nice, for those of us from Colombo who can afford to visit hotels in Trinco and Pasikuddah. We already have too many holidays in Sri Lanka than is good for us, or so they say, didnt you know?
We know and love the fact that we can visit the North, and were supportive of the war effort, but that doesn’t stop us from feeling bad about the way law and order has been allowed to deteriorate since then.
The truth is, thanks to the Colombo event, CHOGM has received a significant press and tv coverage than ever before! The war crimes story is nothing new, same old record played over and over again.
If you just look at Channel 4, they got away with enough of material for their next documentary. There were protestors to greet them at the airport, hotel and even block a train. Forcefully sent in a van by the police and then asked to pay for it. Immigration officials visiting them at the hotel and warning them about a planned visit to Temple trees (despite the president inviting them for a cup of tea). Removed from a press conference despite being on the approved list. The whole thing was a disaster! This govt doesn’t understand or is incompetent in PR .
CHOGM is a PR disaster for SL. Anyone who reads international media would have realised that it would become a PR disaster for SL. Tragically SL gov is extremely dumb! They dont know what they are facing and what they are doing.
Aside from CHOGM , allowing CH4 is the second mistake.
Some one told me that commonwealth gives (large part of) funds to host CHOGM. And that infrastrucure development and many other costs were done with common wealth funds. Does anyone know the truth in it?
The Commonwealth does not appear to have a lot of money, judging by this report:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/srilanka/10368301/Britain-cuts-funding-for-the-Commonwealth.html
They will probably not cover infrastructure development. The roads and pavements were done under a World bank project.