The Political Column

11th February 2001

UNP rides high on CoL wave

By our Political Correspondent

The UNP's march from Kandy in protest against the rising cost of living and what it termed bad governance climaxed in Colombo on Friday with a large number of supporters joining the procession and attending the rally at Town Hall.

Though opponents criticised the UNP leadership for not honouring national heroes such as D. S. Senanayake, Sir Baron Jayathilaka and F. R. Senanayake on Independence Day, the party turned its focus on the heavy economic burden placed on the people.

The Janabala Mehayuma march was a big success — even the party's opponents admit it. The main organiser behind the 'Janabala Meheyuma', Assistant Leader Gamini Atukorale, made every effort to make it a success. The march began in Getambe, Kandy with UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya and Mr. Atukorale attending religious observances.

However, some UNP parliamentarians who were expected to walk the first leg of the protest march were seen travelling in their vehicles and having their meals at restaurants while the hoi polloi were walking in the hot sun and eating packets of lunch.

Why couldn't these MPs walk with the commoners and eat what they eat at least for a day? Some party supporters were heard grumbling. But there were exceptions. Rajitha Senaratne and a few MPs were seen walking with the people shouting slogans and making the protest march a lively one.

Though the march proceeded smoothly with President Kumaratunga issuing strict orders to her party members not to indulge in any harassment, there were some disturbances when a propaganda van distributing banners and leaflets was attacked in Kegalle by goons of an area politician. They also attacked a boutique that supplied lunch packets to marchers.

The President in her directive urged the PA members to refrain from attacking the UNP protesters and not to tarnish the good name of the party and thus creat problems for the government. She cautioned them, saying that the UNP protesters would provoke the PA supporters to attack them and become heroes.

The UNPers now question the credibility of the President's directive. They say the attacks show the PA has scant respect for the President. The UNPers also say they have little faith in the President's directive to the acting police chief, ordering him to launch an immediate probe to bring the culprits to prosecution. The UNPers say they are quite sure the police probe will draw a blank.

"It has been the case in the past and there cannot be a difference now. It shows how the police are partial in taking action," one senior UNP member told this column.

Citing the Janaka Bandara Tennakoon case as an example, he said the police waited till the courts ordered the arrest of the deputy minister to act.

The UNPers say the Tennakoon case strengthens its position regarding the setting up of an independent police commission. Such a commission is necessary for the police to discharge its duties without being subjugated to powers-that-be, they say.

Though the march began on Sunday with much enthusiasm, by Tuesday the numbers dwindled fearing attacks. But it regained momentum later probably because the march had the grassroots support and the UNP was espousing the cause of the commoners.

The UNP had in the past failed to capitalise on the government's failures or alleged misdeeds. Some analysts say the recent revolt in the Philippines where President Joseph Estrada was ousted in a people's revolution by Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo could have inspired the UNP to organise this protest march.

Another reason is that the UNP has now realised that unless it works hard it cannot topple the PA regime, which has mastered the art of political manipulation with the alleged use of state resources. The manipulation is made easy by the proportional representation electoral system operating under a presidential form of government.

While the anti-government march was progressing along the Colombo-Kandy road, the two parties in a rare show of unity also agreed to conclude the budget debate ahead of the National New Year. In another act of consensus politics, the UNP has also agreed to go along with the government's decision to put off the local government elections by six months to restructure the local government electoral system. It is likely the 'first-past-the post' system or the mixture of the PR and the first-past-the-post will be introduced for the mini elections.

These acts of cooperation apart, the UNP is following the JVP example in preparing a public petition against the government, calling for relief for the people in the face of the high cost of living. The JVP on Tuesday handed over a massive petition containing one million signatures to the Presidential Secretariat. The JVP petition demanded an immediate salary hike of Rs. 7,000 and an allowance of Rs. 5 per unit in the cost of living index.

The UNP also aims at a one million-signature target and is now collecting signatures.

It is not only the JVP and the UNP that have resorted to public petitions, LTTE proxies in Batticaloa have also prepared a petition signed by 100,000 people, calling on Britain not to declare the LTTE a terrorist organisation.

The petition was to be handed over to British High Commissioner Linda Duffield who was on a three-day tour to the eastern province accompanied by Defence Advisor Lt. Col. Robert Kendall. Ms. Duffield who on Wednesday began her fact-finding tour — about which she had shown much enthusiasm — was expected to meet government representatives and senior military officers. It is not known whether she met Army Chief of Staff Neil Dias who was in Minneriya on a routine inspection tour.

Of late, the government has intensified diplomatic efforts to get Britain to ban the LTTE.

Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar warned Britain that the relations between the two countries would be strained and Sri Lanka would consider it an unfriendly act if the British government failed to declare the LTTE a terrorist group and ban its activities. Though the British government was considering some restrictions on the LTTE, it has so far not responded positively to the Sri Lankan government's request.

Analysts say the British High Commissioner is expected to brief London on the situation in the east and based on her report, Britain is to decide whether the LTTE should be blacklisted.

Britain along with the United States, which has banned the LTTE, are backing the Norwegian peace initiative. Norwegian Special Envoy Erik Solheim is shuttling between Colombo and London where LTTE theoretician Anton Balasingham is based, in a bid to get the two sides to agree on a memorandum of understanding. However, the government has insisted that there should not be a ceasefire under any circumstances because it was suspicious of LTTE's sincerity.

In an Independence Day speech, President Kumaratunga said there was a ray of hope for arriving at a peaceful solution with the LTTE on the basis of the proposed Constitution for which the government had received a mandate from the people.

While the President raised hopes, the polarisation of Sri Lankan society was evident in Batticaloa. Leaflets were distributed on Independence Day by a group calling itself "Students Freedom Front in Batticaloa," describing Independence Day as a day of mourning. "It is a day that rights were denied to Tamil people. Tamil people lost their freedom and were reduced to the status of slaves," the leaflet said.

Meanwhile, several parties have blamed the government, for the postponement of the local government elections. The JVP has expressed its disappointment over the postponement agreed to by the two major parties. The small parties feel their chances of being elected to local bodies would be affected under the first-past-the post system. However, the JVP said the postponement spoke volumes for the PA's fear of losing the elections. The government is scared of the JVP as lately the party has registered a steady increase in its vote bank, a statement issued by the party said.

The Sihala Urumaya, too, criticised the government for postponing the local polls. "If the government is going to replace the present system with a fusion of the present PR system and the earlier 'first-past-the post-system' we welcome it, though it is disadvantageous to the smaller parties. Some politicians have pointed out that lack of accountability has done a lot of damage to the country because politicians get away without doing a proper job as they do not directly represent an electorate," a Sihala Urumaya statement said.

In another significant political development, the leadership crisis in the SLMC has been resolved after the Monday's high command meeting at the party headquarters at Vauxhall Street, Colombo. The two co-leaders agreed to resolve the crisis in accordance with a formula worked out by leading lawyer Faiz Musthapha. Accordingly, Minister Rauf Hakeem has been appointed leader of the SLMC and Minister Ferial Ashraff leader of the National Unity Alliance. At Monday's meeting, Ms. Ashraff, widow of SLMC founder leader M. H. M. Ashraff, proposed Mr. Hakeem's name to be the leader of the SLMC.

Before Mr. Musthapha intervened, Ms. Ashraff wrote to Mr. Hakeem who is also the general secretary of the NUA requesting him to postpone the February 11 delegates conference. She said she was in favour of having co-leaders for the SLMC and wanted time to take a decision on the sole leadership after ascertaining its merits and demerits in the light of party unity.

Mr. Hakeem argued against Ms. Ashraff's request. He said the party should have only one leader and citing the DUNF example, warned of dangers involved in co-leadership. Mr. Hakeem had played his cards cleverly. He knew well that when it came to sole leadership he stood a better chance because a woman leading a Muslim party with a conservative base was quite unacceptable. Ms. Ashraff's camp was also not unaware of Mr. Hakeem's game plan. Hence she called for the postponement of the conference.

Besides, a small coterie of people backing Ms. Ashraff feared that if Mr. Hakeem was made the sole leader, their positions and interests would be at stake. The Hakeem supporters who have grown in numbers reacted angrily against this coterie. The Hakeem supporters, especially the Kalmunai crowds, jeered when the names of these people were proposed for deputy leader posts. Though his base is Kandy, Mr. Hakeem has strengthened his position in the east. When he went to Kalmunai recently for a public function, the crowds took him in a procession and what was witnessed at the high command meeting on Monday was an extension of this political drama.

Before the high command meeting began, Mr. Hakeem invited Ms. Ashraff for urgent talks with Mr. Musthapha. At this meeting, Mr. Hakeem observed that Ms. Ashraff was entertaining a thought that he was on a witch-hunt and having a sense of insecurity.

Mr. Hakeem appeased her by saying there was nothing like that. He said that she had been given a wrong picture of him by some people around her. He expressed the view that if the party continued with co-leadership there would be camps within the party. "We have to see that this kind of division is not perpetuated," he said.

Minister Hakeem also believed that Ms. Ashraff was feeling insecure because she thought that some people were having a separate agenda within the party. Realising that she was somewhat a political novice, Mr. Hakeem gave her the fullest assurance that there would not be any problem as long as the party sailed together.

After the two leaders accepted the Faiz Musthapha formula, they departed for the high command meeting. There, Ms. Ashraff announced that she had come to an understanding and agreement with Mr. Hakeem and she explained the formula.

She proposed Mr. Hakeem's name to be the leader of the SLMC, the main constituent party of the National Unity Alliance. The other party in the NUA is the Sri Lanka Progressive Front (SLPF).

While Mr. Hakeem became the leader of the SLMC, Ms. Ashraff was elected NUA leader. But it was not to the liking of many people who were trying to manipulate Ms. Ashraff. Mr. Hakeem now hopes that his party would be able to sail smoothly as one unit without being divided into various camps.

But the news of SLMC striking unity is likely to raise alarm bells. The PA strategists believe the SLMC infighting is to their advantage. If the two factions get together, the SLMC's bargaining power would be increased.

The PA is taking a leaf from the old British style of governance — divide and rule — a strategy adopted by the wily J. R. Jayewardene.

While Mr. Hakeem and Ms. Ashraff resolved their problems, the party's one-time Batticaloa strongman M. A. L. M. Hisbullah — who is now the Water Board chairman — was seen at the residence of Minister and SLFP General Secretary S. B. Dissanayake to face an inquiry. The complainant was Batticaloa's SLFP organiser Masook Ahamed Lebbe. He alleged that Mr. Hisbullah had harassed and harmed SLFP supporters. The investigations are continuing.

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