President Mahinda Rajapaksa sounded a strong note of caution to United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) parliamentarians at 'Temple Trees' last Sunday.
"Be careful about whatever you say," he declared in his first encounter with the MPs after the April 8 parliamentary elections. In a speech to them ahead of a buffet lunch, Rajapaksa spoke plainly, when he demanded their undivided loyalty. To underscore the seriousness, he said, he had planned to play a tape recording. However, he was asked not to do so. Since he was one who listened to such advice, he chose not to play it on the public address system, he said. Yet, he wanted them to remember that even walls have ears.
For some of the MPs, or even most of them, the moments were too ecstatic and the message would have been lost. They were busy 'pressing the flesh' and congratulating each other. Some revelled in recounting their experiences during the polls campaign. A few complained they were able to make it despite financial hardships. Others were cursing the evils brought about by preference votes.
Demand for loyalty
For Rajapaksa, buoyed by landslide victories at both presidential and parliamentary elections, a historic week in the country's political firmament, began with a demand for loyalty from his MPs. The fact that the question of loyalty underpinned all his actions this week makes the subject significant. It reflects the concerns in his own mind as he won the people's mandate for a strong parliament. The fusion of a stronger presidency with the legislature, there is little doubt, was uppermost.
The tape recording, which Rajapaksa did not play because he was advised against it, was not a trivial one. It related to some disloyal remarks made by one of his own Cabinet Ministers during a telephone conversation with an opposition MP at that time. In that, the former Minister concerned had been speaking of a financial scandal under one of his corporations, when he made those unsavoury remarks. A forgiving Rajapaksa re-appointed him to his cabinet. However, he gave him a less important portfolio where his managerial skills would become necessary only during a crisis, one caused mostly by acts of god than human beings.
Meeting with UNP leader
Just a day after he delivered that message to his MPs, Rajapaksa had a meeting with the now crisis-ridden United National Front (UNF) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at 'Temple Trees'. An aide had called Wickremesinghe's staff on Sunday night and sought the meeting at 9.30 a.m. the next day.
Wickremesinghe readily agreed. He arrived earlier than planned from Galle that morning, where he was recovering from a sore throat. A handshake and a nervous smile later, Wickremesinghe sat down with Rajapaksa for a lengthy chat.
The first subject was the appointment of a Speaker when Parliament met on Thursday. "I want to make Chamal the Speaker. He was not willing earlier but I have persuaded him. What do you think of it," the President asked Wickremesinghe. Here again, to Rajapaksa, a loyal person as Speaker was uppermost in his mind.
The Speaker plays a crucial role at crucial moments in the life of Parliament; Speaker Mohammed Haniffa Mohamed played such a crucial role once in safeguarding the then President Ranasinghe Premadasa. In the days that were to follow, the President was to name his Cabinet of Ministers and Deputies. Whichever way it was formulated, he would still leave a few unhappy, frustrated and even angry, however much a brave face they showed when interviewed by the media soon after the swearing-in. Such groups could gang up as power blocs threatening the government's stability in Parliament as happened in the Premadasa-era.
The August 27, 1991 move to impeach the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa was not lost on some of the UPFA leaders. Then Speaker, M.H. Mohamed (who was later a Minister in Rajapaksa's last cabinet) had entertained a motion, which bore less than the required number of MPs signatures. The Constitution required 75 MPs or more to sign an impeachment motion for the Speaker to entertain it. However, after the Speaker had entertained it and the political drama progressed, there had been only 53. The move ended in a fiasco.
"It is your side that has the majority. You can choose whom you want," replied Wickremesinghe responding to Rajapaksa's move to have Chamal, the eldest of the Rajapaksa brothers, as Speaker. Once that was done, Chamal was to recognise Wickremesinghe as the leader of the opposition. The issue was resolved within minutes. Though they did not discuss it, both Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe were conscious of another reality. If the opposition were to propose a name to challenge Chamal as Speaker, the voting would have been through secret ballot. A change in numbers, either for the UPFA or for the opposition, would have been an embarrassment for one or the other. They would have had to live with the knowledge that some were disloyal to the party.
With that over, Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe discussed a number of other subjects. Among them were issues relating to the 17th Amendment to the Constitution including the setting up of the Constitutional Council and the ongoing crisis in the UNP. Rajapaksa told Wickremesinghe that the UPFA Government would not present a budget in Parliament in May. Instead, there would be a Vote on Account in June. A budget proper would be in December this year. Ahead of this, President Rajapaksa will take his oaths for the second term as President in November. In swearing in his Ministers on Friday, Rajapaksa has retained the Finance portfolio together with ports, aviation and highways.
As the meeting ended and Wickremesinghe returned to his residence at Fifth Lane, Kollupitiya, his woes within the party had increased. Some were incensed that he had rushed to meet Rajapaksa without telling the party seniors or other leaders of the United National Front. The fact that Wickremesinghe always chose to go alone for meetings whenever Presidents, both past and present, have invited him or when travelling abroad as the leader of the opposition, had been a thorny issue. Compounding it further were accusations that he neither consulted his senior colleagues nor informed leaders of UNF constituents. More details on the woes of the UNF, or in particular the United National Party (UNP), came later.
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| At an auspicious time on Thursday, Chamal Rajapaksa assumed his duties amidst chanting of seth pirith. Several MPs and parliamentary staff were also present |
The 13 days after the April 8 polls are already history. Sri Lanka had remained without a cabinet of ministers, the result of the inability of the Department of Elections to declare the elections successfully concluded. Malpractice in one polling booth in Kumburupiddy (Trincomalee district) and 37 booths in Nawalapitiya (Kandy district) led to re-polls on Tuesday. This was amidst tight security where both the Police and the Army were deployed.
There was more jubilation in UPFA circles when the official results were announced early on Wednesday. In Trincomalee, The UPFA had won two seats ceding one each to the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), in reality the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), and United National Party (UNP). In the Kandy district, the UPFA had won an unprecedented eight seats leaving four for the UNP.
Thus, the official April 8 polls results announced by the Department of Elections gave the UPFA a landslide victory - 144 in the 225-seat Parliament. That included 17 seats on the National List. The UPFA was only six short of a two-thirds majority though the alliance seemed in no mighty hurry for it. Two more MPs peeled away from the UNP on Friday to remain as independents. With their support, which was not in doubt, the number needed was a mere four. If one were to go by the official figures of a less than transparent Department of Elections on the percentage of votes cast, the April 8 poll did not have a low turnout. It says 61.26 of the electors cast their votes. If one is to go by these figures, the UPFA had polled 60.33 per cent of the votes cast.
The UPFA's victory is all the more significant since it has won 19 of the 22 districts or 127 of the 160 electorates. For the United National Party (UNP), it was the worst defeat in history. It won just 51 from the 196 seats for which polls were held. Giving it a semblance of respectability was the nine National List slots bringing the total number to 60 seats. In 1989, just two months after the presidential elections, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), came up with the poorest performance winning 58 seats and receiving nine more on the National List bringing the total to 67. The UNP, the architects of the proportional representation system of voting, has now created a new record. The UNP polled only 29.34 percent of the votes cast. One analyst said if the voting were to be on 'first-past-the-post basis,' the UNP would have received only a paltry six seats.
Coming third was the ITAK or the Tamil National Alliance with 14 seats including one from the National List. The TNA was able to secure the once war-torn Wanni, Jaffna and the eastern Batticaloa districts. It had secured 2.90 percent of the countrywide vote.
The Democratic National Alliance led by retired General Sarath Fonseka secured five seats and was allotted two on the National List bringing the total to 7. It had garnered 5.49 percent of the votes cast countrywide.
National list MPs
Even before the results of the re-poll were announced, both the UPFA and the UNP were busy picking MPs from their respective National Lists. These names of those nominated by the four different parties that contested the polls appear elsewhere in this newspaper.
Rajapaksa picked some of his loyalists among others as National List MPs. They included J.R.P. Sooriyapperuma, a senior politician. He contested polls since 1970 but was never successful banging his head against the then powerful Bandaranaikes in Attanagalla. He was one time Secretary General of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) but UPFA leaders say two different Bandaranaike regimes, one by Sirimavo and the other by Chandrika had ignored him. The other is Janaka Priyantha Bandara, a one-time judge who fell foul of the former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva. He was Governor of the Sabaragamuwa Province. On Friday, former Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara was named to the Governor's post, sidelining him on the basis that Lokubandara's son had entered Parliament from the Badulla District.
Rajapakasa also named three senior members of the SLFP - D.M. Jayaratne, Ratnasiri Wickremanayake and Dullas Allahapperuma. G.L. Peiris, who first joined the SLFP, then the UNP and then again the SLFP, was also named on the National List together with D.E.W. Gunasekera (Communist Party) and Tissa Vitharana (Lanka Sama Samaja Party), both long-standing coalition partners of the SLFP. A JHU slot went to Ven. Ellawala Medananda Thera whilst Malani Fonseka, one of Sri Lanka's leading actresses, was Rajapaksa's personal choice. Geethanjana Gunawardena (appointed Deputy Minister of External Affairs later) was named on the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) slot.
The CWC's slot went to Muthu Sivalingam, a plantation Tamil and a senior member of the party. Kamala Ranatunga, a long time women's activist from Attanagalla and Bandaranaike loyalist now standing by the new party leadership was also picked by Rajapaksa. Her name has remained in SLFP national lists since 1989. Also picked by Rajapaksa was Professor Rajiva Wijesinha, a former leader of the Liberal Party and later Secretary to the Ministry of Human Rights and Disaster Management.
National Freedom Front (NFF) leader, Wimal Weerawansa, was angered that his party's Mohamed Muzammil was not named on the National List. He hurriedly summoned a news conference to say that UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayantha had knocked Muzammil's name off. Premajayantha was to strongly deny the accusations. Though the blame was directed at Premajayantha, it was clear, Weerawansa was sending a message to Rajapaksa. And that was not lost on the President.
When he swore in Ministers and handed over their letters of appointment, he told Weerawansa "Eka erala hondata kiyawanna. Balanna Sanskruthika Amathiyansaya thiyanawada kiyala." (Open it and read it well. See if it is the Ministry of Cultural Affairs). Originally, Weerawansa had been first offered the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. He protested strongly and said that would be an absolute insult to him. That was how he ended up being sworn in as Minister of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities.
But the matter did not end there. The newly sworn-in Irrigation and Water Resources Development Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, responded to some of Weerawansa's criticism at the news conference, clearly on the instructions of Rajapaksa. He delivered a not-so subtle message from the UPFA. He said, "The SLFP has emerged as a strong party. There are 124 members of the SLFP in parliament. The SLFP can form a Government even without the help of others. We will not do that because we want the co-operation of other parties as well".
If the outcome of the parliamentary elections was to make UNP leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe, the object of severe criticism with some demanding that he should quit, naming MPs to the UNP's National List added to the issue. He was in for more biting criticism.
Rukman Senanayake left out
Though some were aware, for most, the shock was when Wickremesinghe dropped Rukman Senanayake, the grandson of the founding father of the UNP. He was the third in line in the party hierarchy being Assistant Leader, only next to Wickremesinghe himself as party leader and Karu Jayasuriya, deputy leader.
Senanayake, who entered Parliament at a keenly contested by-election at Dedigama in 1973 - some 37 years ago, following the death of his uncle former Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake has contested and won from two districts since 1994, but opted not to contest at this election. He got to know that he had been dropped from the National List by a friend sending him an SMS. He then received a message to come and see Wickremesinghe, whereupon Senanayake had telephoned him instead and asked why he should come to see him if he has already decided on dropping him from the National List. He had also told Wickremesinghe to remove him from the post of assistant leader, as a result of which he will also vacate the party's highest policy-making body, the Working Committee.
Later, he was to tell several party MPs who came to see him that the UNP has lost the Sinhala-Buddhist
base it had and that the party needed a new leader. "The party is finished," he kept telling them and said that he would support the late President Premadasa's son, Sajith as the next leader of the party.
Wickremesinghe boldly picked two of his own personal confidants, Eran Wickremaratne and Harsha de Silva. Wickremaratne, former CEO of the NDB Bank is relatively unknown to most party workers including candidates who contested the elections, but is considered a backroom boy of the leader while being a prominent member of the Assembly of God (AOG), the American-funded church that has had the traditional Church and the Buddhists up-in-arms for its conversion methods and has been severely criticised by the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress report of 2552/2009 and others.
Wickremesinghe loyalists say that Wickremaratne "sacrificed" a lucrative private sector job, but his critics say that many before him have done the same, including those who have served as Government Agents, to contest elections. Harsha de Silva, an economist, however is a known face having often represented the party on TV talk shows to counter arguments put forward by Government representatives, especially on economic issues, and is one of the key advisers to Wickremesinghe on fiscal matters. Both Wickramaratne and de Silva are foreign-educated graduates.
Yet, the two nominees are, without doubt, political novices. Some party seniors say they were better qualified to work for the party from outside Parliament. This is on the basis that seasoned opposition members could have formulated their political strategies. Moreover, they say that issues in Parliament, unlike during talk shows, were not confined to economic matters but to a broad range of issues.
These arguments come in the backdrop of UNP's coalition partners being incensed by Wickremesinghe's move.
SLFP-M leader, Mangala Samaraweera told his party members that the UNP leader had, during discussions before elections, agreed to give his party one slot in the National List. Samaraweera's confidant, Ruwan Ferdinands was to be named in the National List. Samaraweera said Wickremesinghe did not consult him.
He had learnt of the omission only after the UNP National List was released officially. National Democratic Front (NDF) leader Mano Ganeshan, who lost in the Kandy district, was livid. Neither he nor a representative of his own party was given a slot in the National List as previously agreed. Ganeshan used some harsh words on Wickremesinghe in media interviews and said that his party would pull out of the UNF. R. Yogarajan, who had quit the CWC last year to support retired General Sarath Fonseka's candidature found a slot.
Also accommodated was Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) representative - Aslam Mohamed Saleem Mohamed. A political activist from Dharga Town, he is the treasurer of the SLMC. He has been picked overlooking a more fancied Nizam Kariapper. D.M. Swaminathan, who has served the UNP as treasurer and lawyer, was named to represent Tamils. Wickremesinghe chose Anoma Gamage, a novice in politics. Her husband, Daya Gamage, a UNP candidate, was defeated in Digamadulla (Ampara) district. Gamage, an apparel industrialist, is known to have funded the UNP considerably. This raised queries in some sections of the UNP whether spending large sums of money was a requirement to gain a National List seat.
The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) named Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Tiran Alles on its National List. The TNA's nomine was attorney at law M.A. Sumanthiran.
The polls outcome fuelled by the manner in which Wickremesinghe selected MPs from the National List has come as turbo fuel by sections within the UNP to oust him. Perhaps sensing that dissenting voice would raise issues, Wickremesinghe who chaired the first meeting of the parliamentary group ensured it was over before it began. It lasted only a few minutes.
But most of the rumblings are coming from the party's National Lawyers Association and Wickremesinghe has moved in to split the grouping up into those backing him and those wanting his ouster. The lawyers who were often in the forefront of issues before Courts on behalf of the party seem to have been totally over-looked. Some of their members were not even considered for the National List, while senior lawyers like K.N. Choksy and Tilak Marapana who were former Ministers as well were dropped in the final race.
At a meeting at party headquarters, 'Siri Kotha' last Monday the Association met with its president Upul Jayasuriya, the President of the Colombo Law Society in the chair. They dissected the party organisation, saying that the party didn't have 26 electoral organisers at the time of elections and last minute changes were being made, some leaving the party and joining other parties as a result. They cited the inability to have a complete list of candidates for even the Colombo district and how the party secretary was pleading at the last minute with people to contest. They said that corruption and mismanagement of the UPFA was never highlighted by the party while the leadership was making public utterances that made the people hate the party. The meeting ended inconclusively as one section wanted Wickremesinghe ousted while others wanted reforms with him remaining as leader.
The lawyers had decided to meet again on May 7, but in the meantime, Wickremesinghe had arranged a meeting of the faction loyal to him to meet at the Leader of the Opposition's office at Cambridge Place Thursday. Two non-lawyers, former party General Secretary Senerath Kapukotuwa and Harsha de Silva, who had taken his oaths as an MP just that morning were also present. They had expressed support for Wickremesinghe to remain as party leader.
That same night, the National Lawyers Association secretary Gunaratna Wanninayake was having a party at his residence to mark his 15th wedding anniversary. Five UNP MPs had turned up there, viz., Sajith Premadasa, Dayasiri Jayasekera, Thalatha Atukorale, Sujeewa Senasinghe and Ranjith Maddumabandara.
Wickremesinghe had urged voters not to vote for Maddumabandara who contested from the Moneragala district. Around 15 lawyers who were present at the Cambridge Place meeting were also at Wanninayaka's party.
Word got through to Wickremesinghe that these MPs were meeting at Wanninayake's residence, probably hatching some plot. Indeed the discussion at the party revolved around amending Section 8.1 of the party constitution where the Leader of the party continues until his death without ratification either by the membership or even the Working Committee. Discussions also revolved around the loss of the Sinhala-Buddhist vote base of the party, and the increasing shift towards anti-nationalist policies that the Rajapaksa government was exploiting to the full at the UNP's expense. They decided to take these matters up at the May 7 meeting, which is now bound to be a heated one, to say the least. One lawyer was to say that it will be great if only arguments are thrown about.
This week, Wickremesinghe also met with UNP's Sajith Premadasa and Ravi Karunanayake to ask for their views on which direction the party should be headed and what reforms were needed. This process has been initiated for a 'transition' in the party. "Let the party decide. They must work together. We must be prepared for the impending local council elections," Wickremesinghe told the Sunday Times in the midst of these consultations. He said he would have a few weeks before senior party members come up with their plans for what he called "internal restructure".
However, some party members are unhappy. A group of newly elected MPs and lawyers supporting them met in a house in Colombo to formulate their own strategy to take on Wickremesinghe saying they were fed up with these "delaying tactics"; but, equally, it was a fact that there was no particular individual they could come up with as the best alternative to Wickremesinghe, with young Premadasa not being a unanimous choice. The fact that deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya was not even being considered for leadership by these young Turks was also a fact to reckon with.
On the government side, the Cabinet of Ministers was to be sworn in on Wednesday, shortly after the results of Tuesday's re-poll were announced. However, formulating the new Ministries and assigning subjects to them became a time consuming process. Added to that was the hourly changes that were being made on which MP should take over which Ministry. Hence, it was decided that only a Prime Minister should be sworn in on Wednesday.
This became necessary since a Minister is required to move the adjournment motion when Parliament began sittings on Thursday. There was an unexpected development on that day, a departure from tradition.
Thursday's session of Parliament was to be a ceremonial opening where President Mahinda Rajapaksa was to have made a policy statement. However, the 'ceremonial opening' was hurriedly changed to an 'inauguration' of Parliament though no official reason was given for the switch.
The focal point of attention during Parliament sittings was the presence of retired General Sarath Fonseka. The Government had examined laws but found there was no way he could be prevented from taking his oaths.
So he had to be escorted from his detention centre at Navy headquarters. He was to be driven to Parliament in an old Pajero vehicle. Security personnel wanted Gen. (retd.) Fonseka to sit in the middle of the back seat, flanked by two guards on either side of him. "Why are you doing this," he asked. "Sir, this is to prevent anyone trying to fire at you," one of them replied. "Then tell them to give me a bullet proof vehicle", Fonseka responded.
Later, the former Army Commander arrived in Parliament in a car accompanied by Anura Kumara Dissanayake. It became a moment of re-union with his one time colleagues who rallied round the swan symbol at the presidential elections. Gen. (retd.) Fonseka hugged Mangala Samaraweera and pecked him on his cheek. Later, he sat down with Wickremesinghe for a chat.
Soon after the election of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker and the Deputy Chairman of Committees was completed, party leaders were given an opportunity to make three-minute speeches. As it ended, UNP's Palani Digambaram rose to make a speech though he was not a party leader. No one stopped him. Digambaram said he would remain an 'independent' since his party has been "cheated" in the appointment of National List MPs. Later, Democratic National Front's Praba Ganeshan who was elected on the UNP ticket from the Colombo district said he would also remain an 'independent' MP' since his party had been "betrayed" in the appointment of National List MPs. Thus, on the very first sitting of Parliament, the UNP strength had come down to 58.
Retired General Fonseka congratulated Chamal Rajapaksa on his election as Speaker. Then he made a speech which was his first since he was taken into custody on February 8. Here are highlights:
"With the country heading to a politically decisive period, your duties, Mr. Speaker will be immense. We hope that you would perform your duty independently and neutrally. We strongly believe you will work towards preserving Parliamentary traditions and protecting democracy within Parliament.
"Safeguarding basic policies and fundamental rights of democracy, freedom for all, equal opportunities to all citizens, parity, maintaining the country's law and order should be initiated by Parliament...
"Freedom of the public is most important in a democratic society. The right to speech, right to express ideas, to support different political parties and follow diverse political views, to associate such political figures and not to be imprisoned illegally are some of the rights you should direct the House to protect. I am personally a victim of such oppression. I am happy to address these issues for the first time in the House".
There was a heavy presence of Presidential Security Division personnel in Parliament. Not surprising because President Mahinda Rajapaksa was present and was observing proceedings from a dimly lit official's box. PSD men had taken up position even at the MPs entrance, usually manned by uniformed Police. When SLFP-M leader Mangala Samaraweera arrived, after he walked through the metal detector, a PSD officer in black uniform called for his diary, which he was carrying, and ran through it. He was trying to check whether there was anything concealed. That was in contrast to the reception he received from Basil Rajapaksa when he was waiting for the lift. "You have done well in Matara. How are you keeping," a smiling Basil asked Samaraweera. Such charm naturally melts even the strongest opponent.
The swearing in of the Cabinet of Ministers on Friday, perhaps due to the pressures of many seeking appointments and the names of some being chopped and re-introduced, was confusing to the public. Rupavahini, the national television network, showed Ministers and Deputy Ministers taking their oaths. However, they did not give the Ministries assigned to them. It came later. Rupavahini officials said they only linked the events for the Presidential Media Unit. There is no one who would have been more disappointed than President Rajapaksa that his countrymen had to wait for a longer time after the televised event to know which minister got what. Of course, some with the mobile phones received them early through SMS.
Though D.M. Jayaratne, was named Prime Minister, the Sunday Times learns that he will hold office only until November, this year. In that month, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, will take his oaths for his second term as President. Thereafter, Basil Rajapaksa, is to take over as the new Prime Minister. The trusted chain of loyalists will be thus consolidated. The second and third top most positions in the political leadership, the Prime Minister and Speaker, will be held by two most loyal brothers of President Rajapaksa.
Friday's swearing in of Ministers was sans at least four. One was the portfolio given to Arumugam Thondaman, the leader of the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC). He was to be the Minister of Livestock Development. He had declined to accept it at first. Rajapaksa had a meeting with him on Friday evening. He agreed to bring in several subjects to the same Ministry including the Thondaman Trust. Thondaman agreed.
The appointment of three Ministers from the Kandy district is pending. They are Keheliya Rambukwella who is tipped as Minister of Media, Sarath Amunugama, tipped for a portfolio dealing with Science and S.B. Dissanayake, tipped to be Minister of Higher Education. They have been put on hold until senior members of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) conduct a disciplinary inquiry into the disruption of polls in 37 booths in Nawalapitiya. A portfolio for Mahindananda Aluthgamage, who came first in the UPFA preference list, hinges on the outcome of this disciplinary inquiry. There were widespread allegations that Aluthgamage's supporters forced away polling agents of opposition parties from the booths in Nawalapitiya where polling was annulled, and that he did not even permit his own party candidates to campaign in the area.
Before swearing in his Ministers, President Rajapaksa had offered the foreign affairs portfolio to Nimal Siripala de Silva. He had declined it. He became Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Development. Sworn in as Minister of External Affairs (the name given to Foreign Affairs from 1948-1977 and the name of the portfolio in India) was Dr. G.L. Peiris. Mahinda Samarasinghe who was widely tipped for this post was sworn in as Minister of Plantation Industries.
The naming of portfolios left many asking questions; for instance former Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake was made Minister of Public Management and Reform. No one was quite familiar with what Public Management meant. Nimal Siripala de Silva was given Irrigation with Water Resource Development while Dinesh Gunawardene was given Water Supply. He was of course given Drainage as well; this probably being the first time that Drainage has been given such importance by a government.
Basil Rajapaksa has been given what appears to be an innocuous Economic Development Ministry, but this ministry will include foreign investments, tourism and most of the development projects in the country under his wings. So too the Ministry of Youth Affairs given to Rajapaksa confidant Dulles Allahapperuma - this ministry will include foreign employment and vocational training.
However, it is clear that President Rajapaksa has kept for himself the biggies, viz., Defence, Finance & Planning, Highways, Ports and Aviation. Together with brother Basil, it is clear that the Rajapaksa brothers will have a firm grip on all the major development plans for the country.
Significantly, with all the talk of a new Constitution in the making, there is no Minister of Constitutional Affairs, and the previous Minister D.E.W. Gunasekera has been shifted to Rehabilitation & Prison Reform and Tissa Vitharana who was painstakingly chairing an All Party Committee (APRC) on the ethnic issue has been dropped from the Cabinet. Vitharana of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) complained to the President that his party and himself in the process have been overlooked, and is quoted in this newspaper as saying that the President assured the party a position on his return from the SAARC summit in Bhutan next week.
In any event, the consensus is that this is merely an interim Cabinet and the President will take another look at it come November when he assumes his second term as President.
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