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Monks and mayhem: The beginning and the end
By Santhush Fernando
The stage for the close contest that kept the country in suspense for nine and a half hours on Thursday was set with the "disappearance" and the sudden "reappearance" of two Jathika Hela Urumaya monks.

The whereabouts of the two rebel monks, Gampaha District MP Ven. Apperakke Punyananda Thera and Colombo District MP Ven. Kathaluwe Rathanaseeha, became a top secret days before the 13th parliament's first session was held on Thursday.

The JHU leadership accused the UPFA of keeping the two rebel monks in hiding so that they could defy the JHU's decision to stay neutral and tilt the balance in favour of the government in the battle for the Speaker's post.

Charging that the JHU reeked of corruption and financial irregularities, Ven. Punyananda Thera had submitted his resignation from the party after he submitted his nomination from the Gampaha district.

Under election laws, a name of a candidate will not be removed from the list of candidates after the Elections Commissioner has accepted it. However, the monk appeared on UPFA platforms and campaigned against the JHU though his name appeared on the JHU's Gampaha district list.

The JHU accused the monk of being bought over by the UPFA and being a stooge of UPFA stalwart Jeyaraj Fernandopulle. In spite of the clash and his resignation, the monk came second on the JHU's list, obtaining 7,389 preferential votes. He thus secured one of the two seats the JHU won in the district.

The other rebel monk, Ven. Kathaluwe Rathanaseeha Thera from Moratuwa, a close associate of Ven. Kolonnawe Sri Sumangala Thera, obtained 10,512 preferential votes and emerged third in the JHU's Colombo District list. The party's final tally at the April 2 general election was nine - seven of them were directly elected and two were from the national list.

The six-member supreme Sangha council of the JHU took a decision that two of the seven members directly elected should step down to facilitate two senior monks - Ven. Dapane Sumanawansa Thera (Colombo) and Ven. Polgahawela Sugathanada Thera (Gampaha) - to enter parliament.

After handing in nomination papers, on the advice of the Supreme Sangha Council, all JHU candidates submitted undated resignation letters of their own free will in a bid to maintain party discipline and give the leadership a free hand to remove any elected member if he turns against the party or to appoint any monk, who in the opinion of the leadership, was better qualified to represent the party in parliament. This took place in the presence of a lawyer.

Since the JHU had decided not to contest for preferential votes because the system promoted intra-party rivalry, the supreme sangha council had prepared a list of monks who should be sent to parliament irrespective of preferential votes.

When it became clearer and clearer that the April 2 general election had only produced a hung parliament, the horse-trading began in full fury with prominent UPFA and UNF members and other influential bigwigs making a beeline to Asapuwa, the JHU monks' abode in the city. The JHU, with its crucial nine seats, had been elevated to the position of kingmaker, if not Speaker-maker, as things turned out to be on April 22.

The monks remained firm though they promised to extend support for the UPFA government on the merits of the issues at stake. But what disturbs the UPFA was the JHU's decision not to support either of the party if there was a contest for the post of Speaker.

In a desperate last ditch attempt, President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse met the monks on two occasions to win the crucial support of the JHU. UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya and the party's Speaker candidate, W. J. M. Lokubandara, also met the monks to persuade them to back Mr. Lokubandara.

These meetings took place against the backdrop of a rebellion by the two monks. The JHU forwarded the resignation letters of the two monks to Parliamentary Secretary General Priyani Wijesekera, who informed the JHU leadership that the two monks should present themselves in person before her and prove their identities for her to accept the letters.

The JHU leadership made all efforts to establish contact with the two monks and ask them to abide by the party's decision. But the two monks had gone "missing".

When the President and the Prime Minister called on the monks, the JHU leaders told them that a powerful UPFA politician from the Gampaha District was sheltering the two rebel monks.

During her second meeting with the monks two days before parliament met, the President assured the monks that the UPFA had nothing to do with the missing monks and she promised to take tough action against anyone who was involved in the alleged abductions.

The two "missing" monks turned up at the ceremonial opening of the thirteenth Parliament on Thursday and they took their seats on the government side, much to the chagrin of the JHU leadership. But soon, parliamentary staff told them that they had to be seated on the side of the opposition since they were elected on the JHU, which is not a government party.

The other seven monks arrived after attending a religious ceremony at the Siri Parakumba Pirivena, Kotte. Addressing a news conference on Friday, JHU Propaganda Secretary Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera accused the JVP of playing a major role in the disappearance and emergence of the two monks but absolved the President and the SLFP of the alleged abductions. The monk claimed that the President too acknowledged that the JVP was behind the disappearance of the two rebel monks.

Ven. Rathana Thera also alleged that one of the rebel monks was brought to Parliament escorted by a JVP MP in a vehicle bearing number 56-5199. The vehicle belongs to a UPFA activist from Radawadunna.

Ven. Rathana Thera claimed that the other rebel monk, Ven. Kathaluwe Rathanaseeha Thera, was brought in a vehicle bearing number 19-4308 belonging to a Colombo University lecturer, who also acted as transport advisor to President Kumaratunga.

JHU General Secretary Ven. Uduwe Dhammaloka Thera charged that the two rebel monks warned them in parliament that if the JHU tried to influence them, the President and the Prime Minster would take tough action against the JHU. Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera charged that the two monks had been bought over by the UPFA to defy the JHU's decision on the vote for the Speaker.

To counter the two votes of the rebel monks in favour of the government, two JHU monks -- Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera and Ven. Dr. Omalpe Sobitha Thera -- voted for the opposition's Speaker candidate on Thursday.

On Thursday, after the election of the Speaker, it was time for the party leaders to make their speeches. When the JHU's turn came, Ven. Kataluwe Ratnaseeha Thera, one of the rebel monks, in an act that further annoyed the JHU, rose to speak. He was, however, stopped by JHU leader Ven. Ellawala Medananda Thera.

The JHU monks warned that unless the government apologized, they would not even extend their conditional support for the government. Earlier, the JHU had linked its conditional support for the government to the UPFA's approach to the ethnic issue. Saying that the JHU was not happy with the government's decision to allow the LTTE's Wanni cadres to cross into the Batticaloa district during the Karuna-Prabhakran clash, the JHU monks warned that they would have to reconsider their decision to extend conditional support for the government.

The JHU monks said they had received a note from the UPFA, saying just 'sorry', but added that it was not adequate. The JHU monks charged that during Thursday's contest for the post of Speaker, bribes upto Rs. 10 million were offered to opposition MPs to vote for the government candidate.

The very entry of JHU Buddhist monks into active politics and their decision to contest the April 2 general election were clouded in controversy. Now that the monks have made a dramatic impact on the election of the Speaker, political observers believe that there will be more surprises during the lifetime of this parliament.

I was not abducted, says breakaway monk
In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Times, JHU rebel monk Ven. Kathaluwe Rathanaseeha Thera said he was not "abducted", as the JHU leadership was alleging.

Ven. Rathanaseeha Thera said during the past two weeks he visited eight temples and stayed at the Siri Sambuddha Viharaya in Moratuwa, his usual abode.

He said no UPFA Parliamentarian tried to influence him, let alone abduct him. The thera denied that he gave an undated resignation letter but said he had heard from others that they had signed a "piece of paper".

The monk, who said he would always remain a JHU member, warned that if the leadership sacked him, he would challenge the decision in courts.

He said that if the JHU leadership was genuine in its commitment to building a Dhama Rajjya, it should not stop him from doing the right thing. Ven. Rathnaseeha Thera was earlier closely associated with Ven. Kolonnawe Siri Sumangala Thera, National Organizer of the JHU.

Monks undeterred by abuse
Jathika Hela Urumaya leader Ven. Ellawela Medhananda Thera said yesterday that though the monks had been abused in filth by some MPs, they were determined to go ahead with their vision of reforming the country and parliament.

The Thera said the very MPs who worshipped them before the election of the Speaker, had turned abusive after the results were announced and even abused them in filth.

Ven. Medhananda Thera told The Sunday Times that they knew quite well what kind of a place Parliament would be and that they were ready to face any situation.

He said the actions of Thursday's Parliament made the people realise how indecent some of their representatives were. The Thera said they would make the MPs realise their folly and lead parliament towards the establishment of a "Dharma Rajjya" as pledged by their party.

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