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Provincial Councils Elections before the year ends, in the wake of the ruling coalition partners’ drubbing at the February 10 local polls, are turning out to be a distant dream.

Though the official machinery is moving tardily towards such an event, there were a number of other factors that add to strong uncertainty. One was a new deadline placed by Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Faiszer Musthapha.

He told a conference chaired by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya on Thursday that it would be December when the Government would be ready. A rewind to the months ahead of the local polls would shows how Minister Musthapha kept on shifting the goal post periodically over local polls. They were mostly on procedural issues. It was after the protests mounted by opposition parties peaked that the Government relented. In fairness, Musthapha cannot be blamed, for he has his own constraints and does not decide on policy matters.

President Maithripala Sirisena serving a plate of rice to a child at the Poson Dansala near Parakrama Samudraya in Polonnaruwa on Wednesday.

The conference with Speaker Jayasuriya was sought by Elections Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya. “I conveyed to him (the Speaker) that we are prepared to hold PC elections before the end of the year,” he told the Sunday Times. He said the Speaker asked Minister Musthapha who replied that “a road map for the elections” would be ready “around December” so the polls could be held. The Electoral Register to be used, he said, would be certified on September 30. Also present at the meeting was the five-member Delimitation Commission Chairman, Dr. K. Thavalingam. The Commission’s task is to demarcate new boundaries for the PCs.

The issue now, at least ostensibly, is what should form the basis of the electoral process for the PC polls. While one view, particularly from opposition parties, is that it could be carried out on the previous system — proportional representation — on which current and former PC members were elected. However, the government believes, like the local council polls, a mix of both the first-past-the-post (FPP) system and 40 percent through the proportional representation (PR) system should be introduced. Formulation of the new mechanism and reaching consensus will be a time-consuming process. Ahead of these measures, Parliament will on Thursday, July 5, debate the Delimitation Commission’s report. The request for such a debate has been sought by the Tamil National Alliance. Views on whether the PC polls should be held now or put off for next year will surface. The focus will sure be on the majority opinion.

The precursor to the ongoing issues over PCs came in October last year. The government rushed through the Provincial Councils (Amendment) Law. This effectively ended elections to Sabaragamuwa, North Central and Eastern Provincial Councils whose terms had expired. These PCs have remained under Governor’s rule since then. The tenure of the Northern, Central and North Western Provincial Councils is due to lapse in September this year. The terms of Western and Southern Provincial Councils are set to lapse in March next year whilst the Uva Provincial Council’s term will end in September 2019. With a new law in force, the centre has gained virtual control over the PCs.

Eight months after the passage of the legislation enabling it — the Provincial Councils (Amendment) Law — took effect, some of its long-term impacts are resonating in opposition circles. Basil Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) key strategist and ideologue, raised issue at a meeting of ‘JO’ leaders over the subject weeks ago. Noting that the amending law has been made effective purely to postpone PC elections, he said, it had come with the express support of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the main political party representing Tamil interests. The PCs, he said, had been set up as part of measures to address the Tamil polity. If the political grouping that represent their interests collaborates with the UNP to put off PC elections, thus leaving a void, there was a bigger issue one has to look at, he said. That was the working of the Provincial Councils itself. One question that has to be examined, he noted, was whether PCs which, it was said, set up to ‘share power’ was really necessary without their elected members. More so when the TNA has extended its fullest support to such an exercise and thus acknowledged elections could wait indefinitely. Couldn’t someone argue PCs could become no longer necessary if they cannot function without its members, that too with the full support of the major Tamil party?

Elections Commissioner Deshapriya, ahead of his conference with Speaker Jayasuriya, held a meeting with members of political parties represented in Parliament. Among those taking part were Rohana Lakshman Piyadasa (SLFP), Kavinda Jayawardena (UNP), Basil Rajapaksa (SLPP) and Nishantha Warnasinghe (Jathika Hela Urumaya).

Argument at Elections Commission meeting
One of those outspoken at this meeting was Ratnajeevan Hoole, one of the three members of the Elections Commission. He declared, “The Commission would take all possible steps” to ensure polls if they were not conducted within the specified time frame. At least two of those present at the meeting said he was alluding to the possibility of the Commission seeking legal remedies. This was to draw an angry retort from JHU’s Warnasinghe. He argued that it was up to Parliament to decide when the PC polls should be conducted. He said some relevant legislation would have to be introduced ahead of this.

Chairman Deshapriya dismissed Warnasinghe’s claim as incorrect. He said that according to the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, it was the Commission’s constitutional mandate to ensure that polls were conducted on time. He declared that postponing the polls would be a violation of the constitutional right of the people. Warnasinghe who had earlier remarked that Comisaris thuma veta uda inna epa (or do not sit on the fence), ended up demanding the resignations of Hoole and Deshapriya.

Warnasinghe told the Sunday Times, “Political party representatives met the Elections Commission members. The issue was about the delay in conducting PC elections. Some of the parties were unhappy. There was also division among members whether the old system or the new system should be used to conduct the elections. SLFP General Secretary Rohana Lakshman Piyadasa said the party Central committee had not decided which system should be used. Hence, he said, a commitment could not be made. The JVP also did not make its position clear.

“We took up the position that the shortcomings in the new system could be adjusted and the elections conducted accordingly. I pointed out that the Elections Commission cannot bring pressure upon conducting polls. They cannot be expressing their opinion and threatening to quit the Commission as mentioned by member Ratnajeewan Hoole. I pointed out that they were going beyond their mandate. I said that the Commission’s duty is to prepare for the elections. The Parliament will decide as to which system should be used for the elections. My argument was supported by another minority party.” However, an Elections Commission official re-iterated that it was well within the commission’s mandate to conduct elections for which dates are determined by them.

According to Warnasinghe’s comments, the SLFP, one of the major political parties in the ruling coalition, is yet to make up its mind on an electoral process for the PCs. Nor has the other partner, the United National Party. Whether both of them did not wish to place their popularity to test before a presidential and parliamentary elections, and perhaps face a defeat, may be a deterrent. Moreover, repairing the damage caused by such a defeat before the major polls would become an arduous task with organisational and funding issues, leave alone the possible unpopularity.

Other than that, Minister Musthapha’s December deadline for PC polls is not definitive. He said that a road map would only be ready by December. Herein lies the crunch. Like the local council polls, which were dogged by many delays, a date beyond December, which will go into 2019 would be very difficult for the coalition. Developments in the recent weeks have made it clear. Both on the government and the opposition sides, the leaders have pulled off their gloves.

Preparation for big polls
On the political front both the SLFP and the UNP have declared a new war and are busy making preparations for the election campaigns for next year. Thus, intervening PC polls are inconceivable any time after December this year and until both the presidential and parliamentary elections are concluded.

It is no secret that the pro Sirisena SLFP, as it stands now, does not know where to begin. The vote of no-confidence on Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in April has seen 16 of its MPs sitting in opposition benches of Parliament. This week, most of them had a meeting with the SLPP whose team was headed by Basil Rajapaksa. “They will become members of the ‘Joint Opposition,’ Rajapaksa told the Sunday Times. Former ministers S.B. Dissanayake and Dayasiri Jayasekera appear to be exceptions and were likely to remain in the SLFP fold under Sirisena. From the 23 members who still remain in the SLFP, at least one key office bearer has made overtures to the UNP. A dispute at the moment is over the district from which he will be allowed to contest. Other than party re-organisation that is moving at a snail’s pace, the SLFP has had little or no time to focus on PC elections or whom to field as candidates.

But the strong element in the pro-Sirisena SLFP is the group that wants to ensure the coalition completes its full term. They are members of the Joint Committee with those in the UNP to ensure issues that crop up are resolved and they move ahead. The SLFP team is made up of Mahinda Samarasinghe, Sarath Amunugama, Wijith Vijithamuni de Soysa, Mahinda Ameraweera and Duminda Dissanayake. On the UNP side are Kabir Hashim, Malik Samarawickrema and Mangala Samaraweera.

After their last joint meeting, at least one senior UNP minister has undertaken the task of asking the Police to complete all high profile investigations without further delay. This is to ensure that those involved are arraigned before the newly set up High Courts. Among the cases to be expedited is one against former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Allegations against him centre on the construction of a memorial in the name of his father. The presidential aspirant has already challenged the action in the Court of Appeal which has directed that Gotabaya Rajapaksa be not arrested until his appeal is determined. Another case centres on allegations against Yoshitha Rajapaksa, son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, over the Carlton Sports Channel and money laundering.

These and other cases involving those linked to the Rajapaksa family, it is clear, have a twofold objective. One is to obviate criticism on the UNP that for the past three and half years it has reneged on promises at presidential and parliamentary elections in 2015 to deal with these high profile cases. The other is to use the outcome at the special courts, which will take months, for their polls campaign next year. Coming as it does, the move seems too little too late and faces the prospect of a boomerang. This is in the light of a possible public perception that the exercise was now a political witch-hunt which could draw sympathy to the Rajapaksas. It is at a time when the Government is perceived to be unpopular.

Nevertheless, what is noteworthy in this respect is the emphasis placed by the UNP in this regard. It is the UNPers who have become proactive with some degree of acquiescence from their SLFP counterparts. Yet, there is little doubt that the two sides will contest the major polls separately. In the light of the SLFP being preoccupied with its own internal issues, the UNP is seizing on opportunities.

Ranil and Mahinda throw challenges at each other

One of the UNP’s parliamentarians lodged a complaint with the with the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID)that former President Rajapaksa had received money from China for his January 8, 2015 election campaign. As a news report elsewhere reveals, Rajapaksa denied the claim published in a New York Times report.

Rajapaksa also broke silence this week to throw a challenge to Premier Wickremesinghe. He said he would ensure the return to Sri Lanka of former envoy to Russia, Udayanga Weeratunga, wanted by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) over the year 2006 MiG-27 procurement deal. In return, he asked Wickremesinghe to ensure the return of former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran. The remarks drew a retort from Wickremesinghe that he, unlike Rajapaksa, did not harbour fugitives.

Mahendran, who was nominated to the post of Governor of the Central Bank by Premier Wickremesinghe, is allegedly at the centre of the bond scam now being probed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). He has refused to answer summons from court in Sri Lanka. Premier Wickremesinghe told Parliament that extradition proceedings to bring down Mahendran were under way. Singapore has extradition relations with 39 Commonwealth countries, including nine members of the Initiative (Australia; Bangladesh; Cook Islands; Fiji; India; Papua New Guinea; Samoa; Sri Lanka; and Vanuatu) and four Parties to the OECD Convention (Australia; Canada; New Zealand; and the United Kingdom).

Lawyers representing Weeratunga on Thursday told Colombo Fort Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne that Weeratunga was willing to return to the country and sought to facilitate it. After it was pointed out that the matter should be directed to the Federal Court in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The court allowed the request.

However, some legal and procedural hurdles will have to be cleared before he steps on Sri Lankan soil. Even if he does so voluntarily, he could still face arrest. This is because there is an international (Red Notice) warrant by the Interpol and Weeratunga is now being held in detention in Abu Dhabi.

The Government has sought his repatriation to Sri Lanka to face charges in courts over his alleged involvement in the MiG-27 scandal. The process has been long drawn and now the Sri Lankan lawyer who represented the Government’s interests in Abu Dhabi, at a very high cost, has returned to Sri Lanka. Weeratunga still remains there.

The Sunday Times has learnt that former President Rajapaksa spoke on the telephone with Mr Weeratunga. He had advised him to return to Sri Lanka and face the charges, a request which the former envoy to Russia had agreed to. He has plans to return by August.

There are also other challenges facing the Government. There are serious concerns at the highest levels over the deteriorating law and order situation. For a week, from June 20 to 27, there have been 15 murders in different parts of the country. This is in addition to fatal accidents that took the lives of 54 people.

Like in the Government, those in the opposition too are aware that PC polls will not materialise, not until after the next presidential and parliamentary elections. After all, the government is now armed to indefinitely delay such polls though many other issues have arisen.