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Bombs and Bombast

© Carey Goodman

Since the day it won independence, Sri Lanka has been ravaged by civil war and guerrilla war. Now as the vying factions try to find peace, some wild rumors may disrupt those prospects.

Chaos during Parliamentary sessions is nothing new for developed states. Developing states and emerging democracies seem especially prone to legislative exhibitionism. That tradition was very much alive and well last week as Sri Lanka closed its Parliamentary session.

First some background: For the last few decades several groups have fought to control Sri Lanka. The most important of these groups are the Tamil Tigers. The Tamil Tigers have built quite a reputation for themselves as guerrilla fighters, have been the cause of ruin for various Sri Lankan governments, and until recently, they have rejected all suggestions of a compromise to ensure peace.

During the last three years that situation has changed. Several cease fire agreements have been effective. The President, the cabinet, and the Parliament have worked in close enough co-operation that Sri Lanka was able to hold free and fair elections. The prime minister now seeks loans from the IMF, World Bank, and the other usual multilateral sources. The government also would like to secure better trade arrangements with the US and Europe.

But much work remains to be done to ensure political and economic stability. The level of distrust among the main political parties and Tamil leaders remains quite high. Allegations and counter-allegations are conveyed as if they contained actual and verified information, but their claims inevitably are discovered to be mere rumor.

That was the precise situation that caused such chaos in Sri Lanka's Parliament. Some unidentified person spread word that the President took a bomb to a cabinet meeting. The report alleged that the President had concealed the explosive device in her hand bag. The opposition parties wondered who was the intended target. The President's allies tried to refute the rumors. There was no bomb, they responded. The country's prime minister was out of the country to try to prove to the world that Sri Lanka was finding its way to peace, and the idea that anyone - especially the country's President - would take a bomb in a hand bag to a cabinet meeting was entirely absurd.

The bomb-in-the-briefcase trick is among the oldest assassination attempt tactics. It rarely succeeds. So why would a bomb in a hand bag have a better chance? It would not.

Then why all the fracas in the Parliament? Perhaps to call it a fracas describes it too mildly. The scene more closely resembled an old style saloon brawl - minus the presence of booze. The Speaker ended the trouble the only way possible: by gaveling the session to a close.