Thoughts from London

Falling off the edge of doom
One year or so ago Tyronne Fernando came to London to launch his book titled "The Edge of Doom." Whether it was a sense of prescience that made him choose such a title for his piece of science fiction one can only speculate. In his novelette, an asteroid from outer space comes hurtling towards earth at such speed that we would hardly have had time to enjoy such absorbing reading, let alone save the denizens of Moratuwa from the catastrophic predictions of one of their favourite sons and a clansman of the heroic Puran Appu.

Fortunately for the inhabitants of Planet Earth, not to mention several dozens of citizens from the aforementioned seaside town now leading arduous lives in numerous foreign capitals all in the cause of Mother Lanka, the said asteroid changed course.

Perhaps influenced by the erratic behaviour of such heavenly bodies, the creator of the disastrous asteroid recently decided to change course himself and take a precipitous plunge from the edge of doom.

Whether author Tyronne Fernando derived some masochistic delight in tipping over the edge to commit political hara kiri, as some claim, or whether he sees delectable fruits of yet unspecified office dangling ahead of him, only time will tell.

But doom or boom, Fernando's recent outbursts against his former party and then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe have bewitched, bothered and bewildered the public, to judge by the spate of letters and comments appearing in different sections of the media, and electronic mail speeding across cyberspace.

What appears to have led to Tyronne Fernando's tirade and political course change is his non-selection from the UNP's national list to serve as an MP. It is true that he was on the party's national list. It is equally true that for reasons best known to the party leadership they did not want Fernando sitting in the opposition benches. But then he was not the only one dropped from the national list.

At least two other former ministers are said to have suffered the same fate. But, to their credit, they did not behave like petulant Fernando. In his letter of resignation the former foreign minister reportedly accused Ranil Wickremesinghe of not lifting a finger against corrupt ministers in his cabinet.

It is not stated when he first drew Ranil Wickremesinghe's attention to the issue of corruption. But he did cite an interview he gave the Lankadeepa newspaper where he says he did speak of corruption in government ranks. But this was only in September last year.

Had Tyronne Fernando mentioned when he first raised the issue with Ranil Wickremesinghe we would have known when his conscience first started troubling him. Since he does not, one is left wondering whether last September was the first occasion.

The public grapevine has been agog with stories of corruption not only in the Wickremesinghe administration but before that in the Chandrika Kumaratunga government too.

In fact more than two years ago when the UNF was in power this column once again drew attention to corruption in government. We wrote: "There were many occasions in parliament when the UNP threatened to appoint commissions and hold inquiries into various acts of commission and omission, when officials in high positions abused their power and were doubtless involved in corruption and making money hand over fist."

"Those in the defence establishment, those involved in the sale of Air Lanka and numerous other deals that have left a foul smell in the civic nostril must be investigated without delay and the culprits, if any, brought to book."

That is not all. It drew attention to an important issue and went on to say: "This should be stated with all possible emphasis because this is not the UNP's boodelay that has been wasted, it is not the Bandaranaike family silver or the heirloom of some dubious General with more chips than pips on his shoulders. What has gone into the pockets of some of our pocket Napoleons and self-appointed Robespierres is the national wealth of Sri Lanka."

Fernando is right that there was corruption and in Colombo's open-mouthed circles where low life in high society is discussed with genuine relish, the deeds and misdeeds of politicians and officials are spoken of in stage whispers.

Fernando is also correct when he says that under the premiership of Ranil Wickremesinghe the government pursued an "extremely conservative and pro-American policy that changed the previous policies of the party of non-alignment in foreign policies which usually sided with the Third World countries," as one news report said.

The question is what was Fernando doing when all around him corruption was flourishing and traditional policies were being discarded like last week's parippu and the country inexorably turning into a Washington lackey?

As foreign minister why did he not try to assert his authority in the sphere of foreign policy?
Did he even protest when his authority in the making and implementation of foreign policy was being so blatantly undermined?

If he did not acquiesce in all this even when his brief was being stolen under his nose by pro-Washington elements in government, did he simply go along because he was then left to pursue his life's ambition.

As everybody and his second cousin knows, Fernando had set his eyes on the UN's top job. As Mark Antony was to say of the slain Julius Caesar, "ambition should be made of sterner stuff." He had as much chance of succeeding Kofi Annan as Sri Lanka has of becoming a super power.

Would Fernando have made all these accusations if he had been selected as a UNP member of parliament?

Tyronne Fernando's genuineness in airing all these charges must be judged on only one premise. Would these accusations, and some valid ones too, ever have reached the public domain had Wickremesinghe and the party decided to make Tyronne Fernando one of their MPs?

Surely the weight of opinion must tilt against the former foreign minister who only decided to go public when he was rejected by his party leadership.

His pique and ranting is only because the ground has been cut firmly from under his feet and his vaulting ambition of becoming UN Secretary General is gone forever.

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