Touring districts to review development programmes appears to have put President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a jubilant mood.
He told cabinet ministers last Wednesday night he was most impressed with the work carried out in the north. He said those responsible deserved credit for this remarkable progress. Though he did not mention names, it became clear he was commenting on a multitude of projects under Uthuru Vasanthaya (Northern Resurgence). Spearheading the programme is Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa.
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| President Rajapaksa addressing a meeting of government politicians and top public officials in Vavuniya. Pic by Sudath Silva |
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However, President Rajapaksa said he was "ashamed" at the pace of development activity in the south. There was a need to encourage those in the south to take a lesson from what was going on in the north. A case in point was the construction of a school building in Neluwa. He learnt during a review of development work in three districts, Hambantota, Matara and Galle that the school building, which was planned in 2002, could not be constructed. A power line that ran over the site had to be removed. The Electricity Board had wanted Rs 65,000 for the job and there had been no progress since then. Rajapaksa said all development activity in the south should be correctly timed to ensure the people did not forget what the government was doing. He assured ministers that during the upcoming three-year period, he would pour enough money to the electorates so the MPs could join in development programmes.
That these visits are coming in the backdrop of the impending local government elections became clearer. The cabinet decided that the two Bills for reforms in local authority laws be presented in Parliament. They also decided that the modalities of electing councillors would be finalised shortly. On Thursday, the Leader of the House and senior minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, tabled the Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Bill and the Local Authorities (Special Provisions) Bill in Parliament.
Rajapaksa also voiced concern over the student unrest in universities. He referred to the attack on the Ruhuna University Vice Chancellor Susirith Mendis. At least two or three students would have been killed if not for Prof. Mendis' intervention, he said. Rival groups had come to the campus in buses and a major clash was feared. That was why Prof. Mendis had intervened. He said, there was no need to arrest students if they were merely hooting. Strong punishment should be meted out for violent behaviour, he said.
Minister Wimal Weerawansa noted that an insidious political attempt was being made to engineer events that would lead to students losing their lives. This was to make it a big issue for political purposes. Students should have the liberty to launch democratic protests but the string of recent events clearly showed a different trend. He said the government should counter these conspiracies politically by evolving a strategy. Higher Education Minister, S.B. Dissanayake said, "trouble makers will be taken to task." He said he was closely monitoring the situation.
Crisis in the Universities
Student issues also figured this week at the Politbureau meeting of the JVP. Frontliner K.D. Lal Kantha said Higher Education Minister Dissanayake had plans to send upto three thousand students to jail. This was why he said he would deal firmly with the students. Lal Kantha said the answer to the current problems faced by the students was not to jail them. The crisis could be solved only by looking into the issues faced by them in a reasonable manner. JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva said Dissanayake was on a collision course with the students. What the Government wanted, he said, was to "sell education," a reference to moves by the government to allow private universities to operate in Sri Lanka. JVP frontliner Vijitha Herath said there were moves to present new laws and the students were opposed to them. He accused the government of having plans to jail student leaders when the proposed laws were before Parliament.
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| Sarath Fonseka greeting his supporters when he was brought to courts. Pic by Sanka Viddhagama |
Twenty seven students were in custody while at least 176 others have been suspended over various incidents. Among the serious incidents were : A group of students jeered Minister Dissanayaka when he visited the Peradeniya University to open a Computer Laboratory. Students prevented the minister leaving. Now four students have been charged in Courts for obstructing the minister. Nine students have also been suspended.
During the past two months, 70 students of the Sri Jayawardenapura University were suspended. The Vice Chancellor, N.L.A. Karunaratne has accused some student couples of "misbehaviour," "distributing inflammatory leaflets" and "conducting demonstrations."
At the Rajarata University two students were arrested and 24 more suspended after they held Vice Chancellor K.A. Nandasena hostage. He had refused permission for them to stage a drama. Last month, at the Wayamba University 63 students were suspended after they staged protests over the lack of facilities. On Thursday, 14 students of the Kelaniya University were produced in courts after they protested over a decision to convert a female hostel for use by males. They were released on bail with a surety of Rs 100,000 each. A report on responses by University authorities and student bodies appears on Page 12 in this newspaper.
One of the areas where the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and the main Opposition United National Party (UNP) have seen eye-to-eye is on the changes to laws relating to local councils. This became possible due to the dialogue between the two sides before the 18th Amendment to the Constitution was introduced in Parliament. Yet, there are areas the UNP is in disagreement. It wants to talk to government leaders before the bill is passed.
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| Police maintaining tight security at the Ruhuna University after a student group attacked Vice Chancellor Susirith Mendis. Pic by Krishan Jeewaka Jayaruk |
Among them:
National Delimitation Committee: The composition of the Delimitation Committee to include representatives of all communities not specified. The government promise of doubling the members of the councils to make room for smaller wards is not mentioned in the Bills.
Guidelines for Delimitation: The need to ensure representation of ethnic composition is appreciable. However, the sentence equal representation for each ethnic group is confusing.
District Level Delimitation Committee: The officials being nominated are only representative of different departments, representation of different communities at District Level Committee must be ensured.
Deposits: Earlier, no deposits existed for political parties and the amount even for independent candidates was Rs 250. Placing Rs 5000 as deposit for political parties is very high. So is the Rs 20,000 deposit required from independent candidates. This is very much biased against independent candidates who are barred from contesting single wards. It will impinge on rights of citizens to political representation.
Women and youth candidates: The draft bill states that 25 per cent of the total number of candidates and additional persons whose names appear in each nomination may consist of women and youth. The use of the word "may" nullifies the purpose of the reservation and to go down from 40 % for youth to 25% for women and youth is unfair to both groups.
Proportional Representation and cut off 5 %: The PR was offered as a means of minority representation. The cut off point of 5 % at ward level will eliminate chances for minorities collecting the dispersed votes to make it through PR. The minority and minor political parties contesting in wards to collect votes to win on PR will be in a more difficult situation since the voter in the ward will choose only between the first two probable winning candidates. This will favour the two major parties leading back to a two party system because in the ward system it will be difficult to persuade people to vote for a person who was sure to lose.
Despite the broad agreement with UPFA leaders over the main amendments to local council laws and the impending discussions, the elections that will follow poses a threat to the UNP. Its campaign to muster grassroots level support through the Grama Charika (Rural Tours) programme has caused another rift within the party. The programme envisages UNP leaders travelling to villages, living with party supporters in the area and educating them on important issues. They want to partake in meals and engage in other social activity. The first such one will be held in Horana on October 30 and 31.
Sajith Premadasa, one of the members in a Committee that endorsed recommendations to hold Grama Charika, hit out at the programme early this week. He called the exercise an "ad hoc" measure and said it would make no difference on the ground. He claimed what was needed was a "genuine change" in the party's strategy. Premadasa left Sri Lanka for India after declaring he would not back the move. He is a member of a group of parliamentarians attending the Asian Institute of Transport Development meeting.
Premadasa was one of an eight member UNP Local Government Elections Planning Committee that examined the Grama Charika programme. Deputy leader, Karu Jayasuriya who headed the Committee, proposed it. The other members were Joseph Michael Perera, Kabir Hashim, R. Yogarajan, Rosie Senanayake, Vajira Abeywardena, Upali Samaraweera (leader of the opposition, Uva Provincial Council) and Shamal Senarath (leader of the opposition of the Wayamba Provincial Council).
The Committee endorsed the Grama Charika programme, which was later approved by the Working Committee.
Just days ahead of the event in Horana, the Premadasa faction has arranged for public meetings. The two events will no doubt pitch the two factions on a collision course and leave the party even more divided. Already, members of the Premadasa faction have been demanding reforms in the party and are insisting, despite the recommendations of the Reforms Committee, that local and provincial councillors be allowed to vote when senior officials of the party are elected. This is over a leadership tussle with Ranil Wickremesinghe. That is at a time when the party's annual convention is due in December this year to be followed by elections to local authorities by March next year.
On Thursday, acting UNP leader Karu Jayasuriya chaired a meeting where the party formed its own Bhikku wing. 80 members of the Buddhist clergy took part in the meeting at Siri Kotha . A more significant event for Jayasuriya was a briefing he gave to a ten-member delegation from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA). He told them the UNP was willing to co-operate with the government on issues of national interest. However, there were issues of serious concern. The 18th Amendment to the Constitution had heavily politicised the administration. At least eight journalists have been murdered but there had been little or no progress in investigations so far.
The CPA delegation was headed by Paul Murphy and comprised Stephen Hammond MP, David Amess MP, Lord N. Dholakia, Ms Helen Grant MP, Lord Bruce Grocott, Ms Fiona O'Donnel MP, Lord Mohamed Iltaf Sheikh, Ms Emma Rowlands MP and Andrew Tuggary Secretary to the CPA United Kingdom branch. The meeting took place at the office of the Leader of the Opposition at Cambridge Place. From October 16-23 the delegation of three Peers and six MPs have been meeting with parliamentarians, civil society organisations and community and business leaders in Sri Lanka.
The UNP's viewpoint on the fallout from the jailing of former General Sarath Fonseka, human rights violations and other media freedom were also highlighted at the meeting with the CPA. In what seemed a co-incidence, UNP leader Wickremesinghe, who is in London turned up at the offices of the Commonwealth Parliament Association for talks with senior officials.
Wickremesinghe appears undeterred by continuing complaints that he prefers to travel abroad than put the party on the right path. In London, he was the guest of British Foreign Secretary, William Hague. The two have had a close relationship. Wickremesinghe in fact brought Haig from Britain to Colombo for the Royal-Thomian cricket encounter despite the latter's disinterest in cricket. The UNP has never debated Wickremesinghe's dalliance with the right-wing parties around the world through the International Democratic Union (IDU) of which he is a vice president for the Asian region. His next stop is Oslo, again as an IDU official.
Other UNPers taking part in the talks with the CPA in Colombo were its Chief Whip, John Ameratunga. There is widespread speculation that he would cross over to UPFA ranks. In newspaper interviews he gave last week, Ameratunga declared that eighty per cent or more of his supporters were urging him to join the government. He also admitted that he travelled (together with his wife) to the United States last month on business class tickets given to him by the government. He said he had called for the costs and was awaiting a response to return the money. As revealed in these columns, though Ameratunga declined to be a member of the government's delegation to the United Nations, he nevertheless accepted its air ticket to travel to Washington. It was his leader, Wickremesinghe, who told him to return the costs of the ticket. Officials of the Ministry of External Affairs facilitated his travel to US though Ameratunga was the first signatory of the vote of no confidence against Minister G.L. Peiris. The motion was defeated in Parliament last month.
The Sunday Times learnt that Ameratunga also visited New York and stayed in Waldorf Astoria though he did not serve as a member of the delegation. The room, however, had been booked in the name of a government MP. Also present at the meeting with the CPA delegation were Tissa Attanayake, Ravi Karunanayake, D.M. Swaminathan and Sujeeva Senasinghe. Explaining the issues that led to the jailing of former Army Commander, Sarath Fonseka, Jayasuriya told the CPA delegation that the UNP would continue to raise issue with the government for his release.
Fonseka reflects on life of Mandala
With the UNP and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) distancing themselves from each other over the campaign to seek the release of Fonseka, there was another development last Monday afternoon. UNP parliamentarians Mangala Samaraweera and Ravi Karunanayake made an unannounced visit to the Welikada Prison. They were exercising their parliamentary privilege of visiting the prisons on inspection. Parliamentarians are entitled to do so between 5.30 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. on any day.
The prison official on duty had wanted to arrange for the two parliamentarians to meet former General Sarath Fonseka in his office. However, the duo had said they would like to visit his cell and see for themselves the conditions in which he lived. The prison guards escorted them to a cell. When the door was open, the two parliamentarians found that Fonseka was fast asleep on a small bed. Some Sunday newspapers lay on the ground. Placed on a table in the cell was a 14 inch colour television set. Fonseka was wearing a raw cotton jump suit. Steel rods stood vertically over the window and there were no other adjoining prison cells.
The prison guards provided Samaraweera and Karunanayake with two chairs. A brief conversation with Fonseka took place . The former Army Commander was to tell his two visitors "when I get out from here, I will make trousers and shirts with raw cotton. They are very comfortable," he said pointing to his jumper. Fonseka showed a book and said he was busy reading it during his free time. The book was titled.
Samaraweera had carried along with him another book for Fonseka. That was "Toward Freedom" - An autobiography of Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru. That book detailed out the Indian leader's role in the struggle for independence and the occasions he spent in jail. Two khaki clad prison guards checked every other moment when Fonseka's conversation with the two visitors continued in his cell. A half an hour through the meeting, the guards told the two MPs it was now time to leave. The exit from the cell was through another path where they had to walk past other prisoners.
At this week's Politbureau meeting of the JVP, its leader, Somawansa Amerasinghe said the appropriation bill had increased the votes of the Ministry of Defence. He said that instead the government should take steps to lower the cost of living. Vijitha Herath said that although the government spoke of rapid development activity, the burdens placed on the people were increasing.
Earlier this week, the parliamentary group of the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) also met. Arjuna Ranatunga (Kalutara District) and raised issue over last week's political commentary in the Sunday Times. It said "this week Wickremesinghe asked Mangala Samaraweera, whom he tasked to hold talks with the DNA to form a common alliance over the Fonseka issue, why his efforts did not materialise. Samaraweera replied that he had discussed the matter with DNA's Tiran Alles. I told him we were considering one of two names - People's Movement for Democracy or People's Movement Against Dictatorship. The next thing I knew is that they have already formed the movement and held a news conference…. Samaraweera complained the name he suggested to Alles - the People's Movement for Democracy (PMD had been hijacked….."
Tiran Alles (National List - DNA) replied that the report was "manufactured" by the UNP. I saw the report and spoke with Mangala Samaraweera. He claimed Mangala was not aware of anything. Nor did he tell me anything, said Alles. That name was given to me by Vijitha Herath, he claimed. Vijitha Herath was to add that the UNP was saying that because it was not officially invited by the DNA for the mass rally on October 11.
However, Wickremesinghe told the Sunday Times on the telephone from London that Samaraweera did complain to him that the name suggested by him was taken over by the DNA. "He briefed me in detail about what had happened," he added. Besides Wickremesinghe, Samaraweera this week also told senior UNP leaders about the outcome of his talks with Alles. "I feel let down that the name I suggested was quickly seized," he told one senior UNPer.
In Parliament, on Tuesday, Samaraweera ran into JVP's Anura Kumara Dissanayake in the lobby and a conversation ensued. Joining in a while later was Ravi Karunanayake. Dissanayake was to tell Samaraweera that the JVP had no plans to make Ms Anoma Fonseka, wife of the former General, a Corazon Aquino. Ms Fonseka is due to leave for United States on a private visit next week.
Dissanayake was alluding to last week's the Sunday Times political commentary. Samaraweera was quoted as telling the UNP Working Committee that the JVP wanted to make a Corazon Aquino in Sri Lanka. Aquino was the first democratically elected female President and head of state in the Philippines. She is remembered for leading the 1986 people's power revolution. She took to politics after the assassination of her husband, Benigno Aquino at the Manila International Airport by agents of then President, Ferdinand Marcos in August 1983.
Dissanayake was to say that a combined approach was needed to secure the release of Fonseka. Karunanayake added that such an approach was also needed for the upcoming local councils elections. Karunanayake is perhaps right for more than one reason. The system of voting is clearly unfavourable to smaller political parties and the JVP may be forced to see lesser representation in local authorities. Even if some senior UNP leader felt that, the conversation showed the JVP had not altogether shut the door for a common platform,
Yet, the UNP leadership appears to have learnt its lessons. Wickremesinghe, Jayasuriya and a few heavy weights in the party do not want any truck with the DNA or the JVP. Thus, the opposition parties will find themselves in an uncommon situation at the local council polls as they vie with each other to keep the Fonseka issue alive.
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