Political Column

The lull in what has been one long political storm was shattered last afternoon with the news that Sripathy Sooriyarachchi, the Member of Parliament who broke away with former Cabinet Minister Mangala Samaraweera just a little more than a year ago, had been killed in a nasty car crash somewhere in the North Central Province.

An ex-Naval officer who became a Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) MP, and staunch loyalist to Samaraweera, then a powerful figure in the ruling party, Sooriyarachchi was a troubled man these last days. He had some domestic problems for starters, but that may have been the least of his problems. The political animal in him was more concerned about other matters and the political rumour mill had it that he was having some differences with his mentor, Samaraweera himself.

Then, ironically, just this Thursday, a new charge sheet was issued on him by the SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena calling him and Samaraweera for their explanation for crossing over to the Opposition, and their decision to form an alliance with the United National Party (UNP), as well for their opposing the government budget, among other matters.

Each of them had been served with a total of seven charges, and they had been given one week's time, till February 14 to reply to the charges levelled against them. It may be recalled, that in January this year, the SLFP High Command were made to eat humble-pie when charge sheets served at the time were shredded to smithereens by lawyers appearing for the Samaraweera-Sooriyarachchi combine who spotlighted some glaring glitches. They had pointed out that the SLFP Central Committee that decided to chargesheet the duo was not a lawful entity as it had an excess of three members over and above the limit (63) set by the SLFP Constitution and that four of the Disciplinary Committee members - Minister John Seneviratne, Prof. Wiswa Warnapala, W. Karunajeewa and Saliya Mathew -- were already members of the CC that had decided to chargesheet them, thus the question of bias. The charge sheets were withdrawn from court even before proceedings started.

Since then, Dilan Perera has resigned from the CC in protest over the entry of Mahinda Ratnatillake into the government benches, while two other CC members have been coaxed to quit, making the membership 63 once again, as set in the party Constitution. The SLFP then corrected these glitches by appointing a new Chairman, Senaka Walgampaya PC, now High Commissioner-designate to Australia, and lawyer Champani Padmasekera (Secretary), Boniface Silva PC, and attorneys Sagara Kariyawasam and Sarath Weragoda into the Disciplinary Committee.

Sooriyarachchi was no doubt going to face these charges. His objective, together with Samaraweera was to rope in as many SLFP supporters - and voters as possible into the National Congress, the coalition with the UNP in a grand alliance aimed at defeating the Mahinda Rapaksa Government.

Their first putsch, failed. That was to defeat the Rajapaksa Government during the Budget vote last December. Only National Heritage Minister Anura Bandaranaike sacrificed his portfolio in crossing over to the Opposition. MP Wijedasa Rajapaksa also crossed over, but eventually, neither voted against the Government. The SLFP (M), as the breakaway Samaraweera-Sooriyarachchi team banded themselves, was to re-launch its campaign against the Rajapaksa administration, but now Samaraweera will be left to do this single-handed without his main, and in fact only, lieutenant - killed in an accident.

A strange paradox in Sri Lanka's political and military firmament, meanwhile, is how their key players love to hate each other. To say that is much more than they loathe the Tiger guerrillas or more precisely, their leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, may seem an understatement. Such inhibitions manifest day to day though public awareness of that unsavory phenomenon remains less in a landscape that changes more frequently than night follows day.

Fresh after his election as the fifth executive President of Sri Lanka, in November 2005, Percy Mahinda Rajapaksa, was mesmerized by his desire for moderation. He embarked on a process of "national re-conciliation" by inviting his political rival, UNP and Opposition leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe, for talks. In doing that, Rajapaksa seemed to have accepted the now dead Ceasefire Agreement of February 2002, as a fait accompli. This was in marked contrast to his election pledge to amend the CFA if he was voted to power. More importantly, in initiating a dialogue with Wickremeisnghe, the architect of the agreement, the new Sri Lankan President was not only embracing the CFA but wanting to have Wickremesinghe as his close ally to move forward with the peace process with the help of Norway. He offered to give Wickremesinghe anything he needed, even enhance his security detail with Army commandos.

That short honeymoon was disrupted by the flirtations of Wickremesinghe's own party members. He learnt that a group led by his erstwhile deputy, Karu Jayasuriya, was engaged in a covert dialogue with Government leaders whilst their leader was doing so overtly. Understandably, Wickremesinghe was piqued by the conduct of those regarded as his arch loyalists then. These were men who had defended both the CFA and Wickremesinghe so stoutly. As he breathed fire, the pressure was too much for Jayasuriya and his followers. They cried on the shoulders of Presidential Advisor (and now a National List MP), Basil Rajapaksa. The latter was incensed that the UNP dissidents, whose secret role had come to light, were being punished for nothing more than talking to his elder brother, the President. What followed is now history.

This week, a UNP MP had to raise the issue of the Government even going to the depths of not providing the Leader of the Opposition a proper vehicle to travel in, forcing Wickremesinghe to travel in his own private car. The UNP leader was given two bullet-proof Benz cars, but both are more often in the garage than on the road. Repeated requests for them to be repaired have been ignored, and lame excuses trotted out saying spare-parts are due from Germany, or from Singapore, but nothing seems to have happened.

Soon after Ravi Karunanayake, MP brought this matter to the open - in Parliament, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake, the gentleman he is, followed it up immediately and has already taken the matter up with Wickremesinghe's Secretary Nauffel Abdul Rahuman, but the incident showed that Government-Opposition relations on such issues that are normally kept at a different level to the gutter politics out in the open, have also plunged.

And, this week both President Rajapaksa and Opposition Leader Wickremesinghe were present together at a public function in Parliament. It was to honour the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa by unveiling a portrait in that hallowed precincts -- and it was after a long time that Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe were seen at the same function. Earlier, in these columns we reported how Rajapaksa had studiously avoided Wickremesinghe at a wedding. This was at about the time Wickremesinghe had launched his Jana-rala campaigns with the newly formed National Congress and was criticising Rajapaksa at a personal level, quite un-characteristically.

It was now a new Rajapaksa, who has abrogated the CFA and declared that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) would be defeated militarily, breathing fire and brimstone at the ceremony. It was also an equally new Wickremesinghe who stood up to tell Rajapaksa of a few home truths. Rajapaksa declared that the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated by the LTTE. It was now his mission, as President of Sri Lanka, the Minister of Defence, and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, to eliminate the Tiger guerrillas. The remarks seemed directly aimed at the UNP leader and his party, known for pussy-footing on the war issue.

Rajapaksa said the duty of those who followed the principles of former President Premadasa was to support his efforts to wipe out terrorism and bring peace to the country. He said Mr. Premadasa was one of the leaders who lost his life due to LTTE terrorism. "Therefore, it is the responsibility of those who follow his policies and principles to support efforts to wipe out terrorism," he said. The late President, he said, was a leader who touched the hearts and minds of ordinary people and achieved his targets despite having to face many obstacles.

Not to be outdone, Wickremasinghe hit back. He reminded Rajapaksa that during days of the late President Premadasa, the supremacy of Parliament was well respected. He said Premadasa did not abuse his powers as the all-powerful Executive President to make the Parliament a mere rubber-stamp. UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said the late President believed in parliamentary tradition and democracy. He said Premadasa had identified poverty and impoverishment as the biggest problem facing this country.

"The late Premadasa had realized the reasons for public unrest in the South. That is why he introduced the competitive examination system," he said pointing out that some of the initiatives meant for social justice were not implemented properly. Wickremesinghe said that it was Premadasa who proposed the Nomination Committee for a proposed Constitutional Council system which was implemented through the 17th Amendment after his death.

Later, the late President Premadasa's own son, Sajith, the MP for Hambantota, and one-time opponent of Rajapaksa himself, from the same district said that his party (UNP) was not for terrorism, nor for the division of the country. He then said that the UNP stood for a "long lasting peace". It was clear that the speeches were all meant for the other, and in a sense, Premadasa may have enjoyed the thrust and parry of debate outside the chamber of Parliament, but within the Parliament complex itself.

Soon after the unveiling of the Premadasa portrait, Rajapaksa stayed back in the President's office in Parliament, and listened to some of the speeches, especially the ones made by John Amaratunga and Joseph Michael Perera on why the Government was not appointing members to the Constitutional Council when all the political parties had submitted names, as required.

Later, Rajapaksa told the UNP MPs that he had listened to their speeches, but there was a problem they were looking into; that problem being the appointment of S.C. Mayadunne, the former Auditor General to the Constitutional Council. The fact that Chief Government Whip Jeyeraj Fernandopulle referred to the same issue inside Parliament saying that as Mayadunne was on a UN consultancy to Parliament, they had to examine his credentials indicated that there was obvious concurrence with the President that the Government was stalling Mayadunne's appointment.

Mayadunne, it will be recalled is the public servant who exposed huge frauds, malpractices and waste in Government Departments. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) spearheaded the appointment of Mayadunne as the common candidate of the minor parties in the House, and obtained the coincurrance of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) first dragged its feet, but later had no option but to support the name.

What was noteworthy though, was that despite Mayadunne's name being proposed by the JVP some time back, none of the JVP MPs supported the UNP when the matter was taken up in Parliament this week - even though some of them, headed by Vijitha Herath, had indicated they would when they conferred with UNP MPs in the lobby of the House. This triggered speculation as to whether the JVP was now adopting a more than usual pro-Government stance. Even later, when specifically asked why they did not support the UNP in this exercise, their response was lukewarm to say the least, merely saying that Mayadunne's name has been proposed and the Government must now appoint him.

Shortly after this episode in Parliament, John Amaratunge has written to the President saying that the President has no discretionary power to investigate the nomination of the Constitutional Council members, and that he must do so ipso facto. For the record, the nominees for this apex body are Ranjit Abeysuriya PC, former Secretary General of Parliament Nihal Seneviratne, former Appeal Court president C. Vigneswaran, Prof. Sheriffdeen, Kumar Nadesan and S.C. Mayadunne.

Elsewhere, as the 'war' against the LTTE rages, various institutions have stepped up their own propaganda drive to boost their achievements drawing more from the other. The result, one need hardly say, has been exaggerations passing off as the truth. This week, one of them pleaded with the media to keep out a "not-so-successful" story. They unabashedly declared reportage would only lead to the rival side (within the Security Forces) seizing the opportunity to ridicule them. At a high-level conference recently, one side claimed how the replenishment of military hardware by the guerrillas has been effectively curbed. The remarks only drew a sharp retort by the 'other side'. The latter said how that could be when you see so much of mortars and artillery falling on some military positions in the theatres of conflict. So the politico-military battles goes apace hand-in-hand as the war to 'eliminate' Tiger guerrillas continues to escalate.

This week in particular, it was noteworthy. On the one hand, the military is stepping up its pressure on guerrilla positions on three main fronts in the Wanni - at Mannar, astride the defence lines at Muhamalai and northwards from the Weli Oya sector. On the ground, troops are battling their way through though significant gains are yet to be made. Some of the bitterest battles have been fought this week. In this backdrop, the LTTE triggered off a string of incidents, mainly aimed at civilians, to disrupt the 60th anniversary of Independence being celebrated last Monday.

Just hours after the Independence Day dawned, Colombo-based correspondents of foreign media received telephone calls purportedly from a so called Ellalan Force. Different correspondents received different messages. One said that just before President Rajapaksa began his address to the nation, bombs placed inside a five storied building in Colombo would be exploded. Another spoke of a major incident taking place in the City of Colombo and to watch out for it. No such incident took place. By hindsight it became clear to the security authorities that the move was part of LTTE psychological operations to create panic and fear in the minds of the public.

If it was aimed at creating a lower public turnout at the celebrations in the Galle Face Green, such a psy ops operation was barely needed. The previous day's incidents coupled together with tighter security precautions had led to virtually a zero turn out of civilians. This was on an event which the Government had earlier planned to hold on a greater scale and even invited Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh to be the chief guest. It became quite clear that the move to invite Premier Singh had ended where it began. New Delhi did not officially respond to claims by some Government leaders, particularly Foreign Minister, Rohitha Bogollagama that the Indian Premier would arrive. This once more is testimony to hurried claims becoming futile. Whilst the Government had extended an invitation, there was no word throughout from New Delhi.

More details of India's own role in the current developments in Sri Lanka are emerging. The latest is about the meeting between Ranil Wickremesinghe and M. K. Narayanan, National Security Advisor. Asked for his response on the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, Wickremesinghe had pointed out that it was the UNP Government which had introduced it. He said that his party would consider supporting it if the Amendments were enforced in their entirety. This was because it would amount to the ruling party, though 21 years late, acknowledging what was then deemed necessary by the UNP. The Indian position was articulated by Narayanan when he said this is what New Delhi is also closely watching. The Indian National Security Advisor, a one time head of India's external intelligence agency RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) is known to be an avowed adversary of the LTTE. And so, the closely watched political-military scenario continues to unfold.

Ugly politics comes into the open