The Political Column

Easy to find carts, difficult to find bulls 

The charge prepared by the Attorney-General was read out by Supreme Court Registrar M. A. Cyril. Mr. Dissanayake told Court he had cause to show on the rule matter issued by the Supreme Court.

According to this rule, the minister had told the annual sessions of the architects in February that "If we cannot obtain the required two-thirds majority for the constitutional reforms, we will close down parliament for a short period and convene it as a constituent assembly and if required close down the courts and implement the reforms. There could be views against it. If any judges are in disagreement with this, they can go home.".

When the minister's speech appeared in the national media, ten Supreme Court judges requested Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva to call for affidavits from the editors of newspapers which carried the minister's speech.

The editors had submitted the affidavits affirming the story. A three-judge panel of the Supreme Court reviewed the affidavits and the minister's statement and referred the matter to the Attorney-General, directing him to draft a rule against the minister.

On Wednesday when the matter came up for hearing before the Chief Justice and two other judges, the minister requested that he be allowed to make a statement explaining the circumstances under which he made the statement. He also said that the newspapers were not precise when reporting the statements he made.

His attorney Faiz Mustapha said the minister's remarks at the architects' sessions were fair comments in the public interest as he was emphasizing the need for constitutional changes.

Earlier, some of Mr. Dissanayake's parliamentary colleagues, too, defended his remarks, saying Mr. Dissanayake was only exercising the freedom of expression guaranteed by the constitution. 

Citing many Indian examples, a lawyer MP said anybody could hold a view contrary to what was accepted under normal circumstances. 

Meanwhile, Speaker K.B. Ratnayake last week appointed a select committee to look into the same matter. In other words, this means a parallel case in the legislature. Some analysts say such a situation could lead to problems or even conflicts between the judiciary and the legislature if the select committee chaired by Minister Dharmasiri Senanayake decides to summon papers filed in the Supreme Court regarding the case.

A question that arises in this regard is whether the select committee procedure is aimed at protecting Mr. Dissanayake? The judiciary is the ultimate place of justice to the general public. It needs to be insulated from mockery and insults to maintain the public confidence in the institution and to sustain a democratic society. The minister could defend his statement before the Supreme Court. Though parliament is supreme, judiciary also represents the sovereign rights of the people. Therefore, respecting the judicial process is important.

If the proceedings of the contempt case were looked forward to with great interest, then the devaluation of the rupee this week was an unexpected blow. 

Any devaluation obviously will lead to a rise in the cost of living as ours is an import-dependent country. The devaluation came on the heels of price hikes in electricity rates, gas and diesel. 

Shell Gas which recently increased prices by 105 rupees to cope with world price increases was expected to announce a further increase due to the rupee devaluation. But a Shell news release on Friday said the company had decided to absorb the additional cost incurred by the company as a result of the devaluation. 

A multinational like Shell could absorb the effect for the time being. But man does not live by gas alone. There are unscrupulous traders who would increase prices by ten percent or more to compensate the five percent devaluation cost.

It is increasingly difficult for the ordinary man to manage the business of his day to day living on his present earnings. A private sector employee who earns more than Rs. 15,000 is taxed and also surcharged on the tax. So the wage earners are in a quandary as to how to survive under the present spiralling cost of living index.

The government for its part, must surely realise that such escalating costs of living will jeopardise its chances at the forthcoming elections.

A recent survey conducted in the Gampaha district by a team of German consultants has shown that the political climate is unfavourable for the PA, largely because of the escalating cost of living.

Minister Lakshman Jayakody at a recent weekly meeting of ministers asked whether the present situation was conducive to hold elections. 

But everyone in the PA camp was not as pessimistic as he was.

"Why not, we should hold it as fast as possible," Minister S. B. Dissanayake replied.

Opposition analysts believe that if the elections are held under the present circumstances, it would be difficult for the PA to win. They could win, only if the Wayamba scenario is re-enacted islandwide, they say.

Minister G. L. Peiris also confirmed in parliament that the elections would be held on time when UNP members Karunasena Kodituwakku and Mahinda Samarasinghe asked whether the government was intending to put off the elections. 

Prof. Peiris said parliament would be dissolved and elections would be held as required by the constitution. He said it was also the President's intention.

It is learnt the President has issued instructions to PA organisers to get ready for general elections in September soon after the constitutional reforms bill is presented in parliament.

Despite these assurances, some political observers point out the government is yet to rule out the possibility of holding a referendum to extend the life of the present parliament.

However, to do this, the government has to get a two-thirds majority in parliament as well. In this regard, the government may introduce the anti-defection bill which permits MPs to crossover. If it succeeds in getting the required two-thirds majority, there is a strong possibility that it would go for a referendum in place of an election.

In another political development an active member of the Platform for Patriotic Parliamentarians, Mervyn Silva, on Monday hosted a dinner to some of his friends and fellow members of the group at his residence. Among the invitees were Anura Bandaranaike, Rukman Senanayake, John Amaratunga, Sarath Ranawake, Harendra Corea and Sarath Kongahage.

They discussed matters relating to the present political atmosphere in the country. The PPP members decided to take on, the UNPers who were going against them, head-on if they were again insulted at the group meeting on Tuesday.

Mr. Bandaranaike said that during President Premadasa's time there was a similar group which included MPs from both sides of the divide. He said even the present UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and himself were in the group that campaigned against the LTTE in South Asian countries.

Mr. Bandaranaike reportedly feels he is being sidelined by the UNP leadership. Mr. Bandaranaike who is regarded as the foreign affairs spokesman of the party, was not present when the UNP met the visiting Indian foreign minister Jaswant Singh a fortnight ago. Mr. Bandaranaike some sources say, feels that if the UNP did not wish to make use of his skills and abilities, he was not particularly bothered.

It appears, the PPP issue is still simmering in the UNP. The PPP is consisted of some 30 members from both the UNP and the PA and its motive was to counter the LTTE propaganda abroad. But some UNP MPs at a recent group meeting accused the UNP members of the PPP of having a secret agenda. The prominent critics of the PPP were Rajitha Senaratne, Premaratne Gunasekera and Lakshman Seneviratne.

At Monday's dinner, the UNP's PPP members planned out a strategy to defend themselves at the following day's group meeting. 

But on Tuesday, before the group meeting started, Mr. Seneviratne struck a chord of compromise. He told PPP members of the UNP that levelling charges against each other would lead them nowhere.. The PPP members said they had no intention of attacking anybody but they were ready to confront anybody if they were provoked. But at the group meeting there was no mention of the PPP. Instead the UNP decided to launch an agitational campaign against the rising cost of living.

Mervyn Silva said the devaluation of the rupee had affected him badly because he was unable to send money to his son who was studying abroad.

Dr. Senaratne suggested that all UNP MPs should come to parliament by bullock cart to show their protest against the rising cost of living. Mr. Silva quipped: "it is easy to find carts, but the most difficult thing is to find bulls which could pull the carts. In any case, we will ask Pradeep Hapangama to find them for us." The whole UNP group roared in laughter.

Meanwhile, the PA and UNP delegations met again on Wednesday to talk about the unit of devolution. 

SLMC leader and Minister M.H.M Ashraff stressed the importance of carving out a South-eastern council to safeguard the interest of the Muslims who could be reduced to an insignificant minority if the north and east were merged. 

The UNP opposed the plan to carve out Ampara from the Eastern province but said it was for an interim council administration in the north and east for three years to see whether the merged province could limp back to normalcy to hold elections.

The SLMC's position is that if a South-Eastern Council is not possible, there should be separate North and Eastern Councils so that the Muslims in the East would have a larger say.

Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake said that after three years, if the North-East could not come back to normalcy, there should be two interim councils in place of one. 

The two delegations also met on Thursday night and reached an agreement on the Interim Council and the Independent Election Commission. However details of the independent elections commission are still to be worked out.

The setting up of an independent elections commission is imperative given Sri Lanka's record of recent elections.

This has been mooted by the UNP which says such a body will minimise election malpractices. An independent elections commission is a victory for a people who yearn for a just and righteous society.

Be that as it may, the Wattala bomb which killed at least three people, a fortnight ago, has given rise to many questions. Firstly, whether the bomber was an LTTEer or whether he was hired by the LTTE. The police and the state media carried out a campaign that Pathmasiri Medis who was killed in the bomb explosion was the carrier and that he was a Sinhalese. 

The immediate after-effect of this is that Mr. Pathmasiri's wife was taken in for questioning. But now it has been revealed that Mr. Medis was a mere by-stander who fell a victim to the bomb. The government media are now silent about Mr. Medis.

They have regretfully not corrected the earlier presumption which they gave ample publicity to. If that was done it would surely have cushioned the mental torture his wife and children had to undergo. The state media has recently had much to say about media responsibility. They may well ponder on a responsiblitity to the Medis family.

Is this the responsibility of the media they are talking of? The Government Analysts' report confirms that Medis is not the carrier and that he was just a by-stander. Will the government now pay compensation to Ms. Medis as was done on earlier occasions?

From the Wattala bomb, we will take you into a Colombo suburb where the owner of a large organisation was very critical of the leader of the green party in the presence of the leader's versatile political advisers. 

The adviser of the greens, known to be an economist, maintained his silence as the owner spoke on with some vehemence. A member of the Colombo Municipal Council was a witness to the whole affair. He tried to defend the leader, but realised that it was futile, when his close adviser was maintaining a deafening silence.

Situation Report

Editorial/ Opinion Contents