Summit
shows and sideline talks
By Our Political Editor
- President takes embarrassingly
overloaded delegation to Havana and New York
- Apollo Harry goes with CBK for
Clinton summit
- JVP to wait and see as SLFP-UNP
talks make progress despite Moragoda mischief
It was a well-known fact that when
military dictators, often from poor countries, wanted
to attend the United Nations General Assembly, or go
abroad, they would take a huge delegation of government
ministers, officials and hangers-on. He would probably
hire an entire aircraft and several wings of a hotel
for the retinue. Most certainly the Defence Minister,
the Police Chief and the like were always included.
The reason: the dictator-President did not trust them
to be at home, giving them the temptation of ousting
him in a coup d'état.
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The SLFP and
UNP delegations holding their first round of talks. |
Sri Lanka's popularly elected President
Mahinda Rajapaksa has given stiff competition to these
military dictators, but for different reasons. His official
delegation was not officially announced, obviously due
to the embarrassment it would have caused, if blushes
mean anything to government leaders anyway. They number
over half a century, and at least one of them is said
to be a businessman from Singapore.
President Rajapaksa's first stop was
London, but that was en route to Havana for the Non-Aligned
Summit. Few people in Sri Lanka even knew that the Movement
(NAM) still existed. He arrives from Havana today in
the Big Apple, the pet name for New York City, which
only last week marked the fifth anniversary of the infamous
9/11 attacks on the US.
In New York, President Rajapaksa is
billed to address the General Assembly next Wednesday
morning. Sri Lanka, for years, used to get to speak
on Day 1 soon after the curtain has been raised by the
traditional speech of the US President. This time too,
President George Bush will be speaking on Tuesday, the
opening day, followed by his arch rival, the Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But Sri Lanka's turn
comes now only on Day 2.
On this day, President Rajapaksa will
make a second speech at the Asia Society where he is
due to speak in Sinhala, with A.H.M. Azver, the former
UNP MP as his interpreter. A wag once told Azver, a
professional interpreter of yesteryear, that after his
entry into Parliament, where he used to constantly intervene,
disturbing proceedings, he had turned his skills from
interpreter to interrupter.
Tonight though, Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the UN, Prasad
Kariyawasam, would be hosting a star-studded dinner
-- the count now is something like 65 delegates, almost
a world record -- some of them not even on the official
list. One Sri Lankan expatriate in the city had, tongue-
in-cheek, advised the Sri Lanka Mission in New York
to hire Madison Square Garden or Radio City Music Hall
(New York's answer to the Grand Canyon) for the gala
dinner.
While the incumbent President outdoes
all his predecessors, one of them will also be in the
same city at the same time, but will almost certainly
not be one of those present to break with him at the
gala dinner, nor to listen to his speech on behalf of
his countrymen.
Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike
Kumaratunga will be among the has-beens; the Summit
of former Heads of Government hosted by former US President
Bill Clinton at the Waldorf Astoria where at US dollars
6,400 (Rs. 640,000) per ticket, other wanna-bees can
also attend.
The only Sri Lankan who can afford
these expensive tickets, in fact, four of them, is business
tycoon Harry Jayawardene, celebrating the purchase of
yet another private institution, Apollo Hospital only
this Thursday. Jayawardene is a friend of the Clintons
through a Pakistani financier living in the US, and
his arrival in London yesterday, was reported to be
to accompany his good friend, and benefactor, the former
President Kumaratunga, now living in self-exile in Britain
to New York for the Clinton Summit.
Just before he left, he had met his
other friend from the same family, Anura Bandaranaike
at the latter's official residence, Ackland House. This
was only hours after he had clinched Apollo.
Jayawardene was in a buoyant mood,
naturally. Another feather had been added to his cap.
But Bandaranaike was in a foul mood. His main grouse
was that President Rajapaksa had shackled him at home,
while he was jetting all over the world.
Various ministers were being taken
as part of his entourage, while he was grounded and
gated. "He does not let my sister come back to
Sri Lanka, and does not let me leave Sri Lanka,"
was his lament.
Such was Bandaranaike's mood, he vented
his feelings in writing letters to the media that made
any critical comment about him. He wrote to an Indian
journalist asking if he ever sat on the great Indian
icon Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's lap as he did. He even
wrote to this newspaper challenging anyone to write
to him asking if he had violated collective Cabinet
responsibility by criticising Bush, Blair and Nirupama
Rao.
His argument was that as Cabinet had
never taken a decision not to criticise Bush, Blair
and Rao, he was perfectly entitled to do what he did
in his speech to Parliament a fortnight ago.
Students of politics were not certain
if Bandaranaike's interpretation was entirely correct.
There is a school that says that collective Cabinet
responsibility extends to matters beyond decision taken
in Cabinet, to general important policy directions of
the Government, and certainly foreign affairs is one
area of such importance.
If every minister says what he wants
to say about a foreign leader, then what would be the
position of the Government's foreign policy save having
to make statements the next day distancing itself from
that minister's individual point-of-view?
There's an interesting passage in
Sir Ivor Jennings classic "Cabinet Government"
(1947) on page 225, where he quotes a correspondence,
in 1883 between William Gladstone, the then British
prime minister, and the Queen over the right of a minister
to have greater liberty to speak on issues. The PM cautioned
the Minister on speaking "on subjects of high politics,
or otherwise delicate, should be made as rarely and
reservedly and, if I may say so, as reluctantly as possible".
The next year the Queen complained
about Cabinet Ministers making such speeches, and Gladstone
wrote; "I have no general jurisdiction over the
speeches of my colleagues, and no right to prescribe
their tone and colour. When they offend against an assurance
which with their authority I have given to the Queen,
they then afford me a title to interfere upon which
I have been, I hope, not unduly slow to act". To
this the Queen replied; "The Queen thinks, and
maintains that the Prime Minister has and ought to have
that power, and that former Prime Ministers did exercise
it." Gladstone's answer was, in substance, an acceptance
of that obligation.
In other words, the minister had the
right to say what he wanted, but the Prime Minister
had the right to act against the minister. President
Rajapaksa, however, left all these headaches behind
as he jetted to Havana, the run-down capital of Communist
Cuba, the role model of left-oriented politicians of
Sri Lanka of yesteryear, including himself.
Back at home, his military had done
him proud by taming the Tiger rebels in both, the northern
and eastern theatres, and on the political front, he
had set in motion discussions for a national consensus
among southern political parties by having the ruling
SLFP talk separately to the JVP and the UNP.
The JVP talks were progressing well,
with only three, though crucial, issues to be resolved,
all dealing with the on-going separatist insurgency.
Interesting enough, President Rajapaksa
had a breakfast meeting with a three-member JVP delegation
led by its leader, Somawansa Amerasinghe. Others in
the JVP delegation were General Secretary Tilvin Silva
and Parliamentary Group leader Wimal Weerawansa. Only
Rajapaksa confidant Dullas Allahapperuma was on hand.
If any decisions on the Government-JVP
merger was expected, that was not to be. Rajapaksa made
clear he had broken rest the previous night. That was
on Tuesday keeping tabs on what would be the outcome
of the meeting of donor co chairs in Brussels. Both
the Foreign Ministry and the Secretariat Co-ordinating
the Peace Proces (SCOPP) were keeping him briefed.
Rajapakasa did not hide his feelings.
Over string hoppers and kiribath, Rajapaksa explained
what had happened. He lamented that Norway's Minister
for International Development Erik Solheim had declared
after the donor co-chairs meeting that the LTTE had
made an offer to resume unconditional peace talks and
the Government had accepted it. This was factually wrong.
He had asked defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella
to deny that claim since the Government had not been
consulted on the LTTE offer, the Norwegian capital of
Oslo being the venue or on whether it should be held
next month. The SCOPP website had in fact posted a strongly-worded
statement. That was to be followed later by a second
one, which was softer in tone and content.
Rajapaksa urged the JVP to join his
Government without raising issues on conditions. He
pointed out that the JVP had in fact entered into a
similar agreement with his predecessor, former President
Kumaratunga. However, provisions of even that agreement
had not been effectively enforced. Therefore, he said,
the JVP should not insist on conditions but join hands
with the Government to forge a close alliance to serve
the country.
Amerasinghe said his party was giving
the fullest support to the government even without joining
it. What was necessary, therefore, was for it to concede
the conditions the JVP has placed in the national interest.
Rajapaksa reiterated his stand saying what was required
was for them to join the government for the common good
of the people and think of conditions later.
At one stage Rajapaksa excused himself
from the meeting. He had to meet the visiting Indian
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram who had come to take
part in the Commonwealth Finance Ministers meeting in
Colombo. The media had also been invited to cover the
event.
When he returned to the breakfast
table, Rajapaksa was told by confidant Dulles Allahapperuma
that the media was already at Temple Trees and it would
be a good idea to get them to take pictures of the JVP
meeting.
Amerasinghe agreed. In front of the
cameramen, Rajapaksa shook Amersinghe's hand. He said
he should really be hugging him. An awkward in between
picture was the result. Later he shook hands with Tilvin
Silva and Wimal Weerawansa as well. They agreed they
would meet again since Rajapaksa had another important
meeting before he left Colombo for Havana. Amerasinghe
and party had gone for the Temple Trees meeting without
their Politburo or the Central Committee discussing
these issues.
Amerasinghe had been away in South
Korea taking part in a seminar and had arrived in Colombo
only on Tuesday night. Now the JVP wants to summon both
its Politburo and the Central Committee to discuss matters
further. Thereafter, they will await Rajapaksa's return
to talk further.
President Rajapaksa ended the meeting
with the JVP rather inconclusively to chair another
top level meeting. In attendance at that meeting were
his brother and senior advisor, Basil Rajapaksa, Minister
Nimal Siripala de Silva, Foreign Secretary H.M.G.S.
Palihakkara and Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera.
There, they discussed the outcome of developments arising
from the donor co-chairs meeting. It was decided to
issue a second statement. In that Rajapaksa welcomed
the call by the donor co-chairs for the resumption of
talks but made clear the Government's disappointment
over the remarks made about Government's agreement and
the meeting being held in Oslo.
Later, Norwegian Ambasssador Hans
Brattskar was summoned to the Foreign Ministry. It was
Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva who expressed the Government's
concerns as Foreign Minister Samraweera was away in
Russia canvassing Jayantha Dhanapala’s UN Candidature.
Also on hand was Foreign Secreraty Palihakkara. Now,
the Government will further elaborate its position when
Norway's special envoy Jon Hanssen Bauer visits Colombo
next month. Meanwhile, Government talks with the UNP
began on Friday, but amidst some fresh turmoil within
that beleaguered party. Once again, it was that MP from
Colombo Central, Milinda Moragoda, who was in the eye
of the storm. He had just arrived from a trip to Europe
when he had set up a meeting with President Rajapaksa
on the footing that he was to set the "framework"
for the talks already agreed to between UNP leader Ranil
Wickremesinghe and deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya.
President Rajapaksa believing this
to be a messenger from the party hierarchy, given the
perceived notion that he is indeed close to the party
hierarchy, gave him an appointment for Monday this week,
the day before the heavyweights are to meet, but Moragoda
said he was to go to India, and therefore asked for
an advanced date. He got covering approval for the meeting
with the President by informing Wickremesinghe.
Sensing urgency on the part of Moragoda,
the President gave him an appointment for Friday, the
day Moragoda landed in Colombo. Moragoda and the President
discussed everything but any "framework" for
the Wickremesinghe-Jayasuriya-Rajapaksa talks.
Not only were Wickremesinghe-Jayasuriya
and Rajapaksa taken for a ride, but so too was the media
when Moragoda's camp leaked the story about a meeting
with the President to work out this so-called "framework".
Seeing this in the local press, UNP MPs came down like
a ton of bricks on their party leader asking him what
this "duplicitous" role he was playing, telling
them one thing, and getting Moragoda to do things they
were never told about.
This forced Wickremesinghe to set
the record straight by briefing these same journalists
saying Moragoda had no mandate to talk to the President
about any such framework. This was published in the
media as a "UNP statement", but Moragoda's
camp then issued a statement saying the UNP never issued
such a statement. What would normally look like a storm
in a tea cup over some nonsensical theatrics on the
part of Moragoda, got further compounded by a story
that seemed to have come again from the Moragoda camp
saying he was going to New Delhi to discuss major issues
with Indian Government leaders on behalf of Wickremesinghe
when in fact Moragoda only went to Kochin on family
business.
Coming in the wake of the already
murky waters of a party inquiry into Moragoda's (and
others) conduct in the recent Colombo Muncipal fiasco
when the UNP list got disqualified, it seemed the party
was getting bogged down in some crazy happenings over
the conduct of one or two MPs rather than engaging in
mass mobilisation which is their bigger task in Opposition.
The UNP going for talks with the SLFP to discuss modalities
for a national consensus on several key issues ranging
from the peace process, to the economy, election reforms,
good governance etc., seems to be an outlet for their
members, restless with inaction within the UNP, and
seduced by tempting offers of perks and privileges of
ministerial office in the Government. Deputy Leader
Karu Jayasuriya shows keenness in this exercise of national
consensus on the basis that the 'country comes first',
while other advocates may have different agendas. But
even here, the UNP leadership kept doing things where
the party's loyal workers were asking "what's going
on here?"
In the midst of Moragoda's antics
claiming to work out a framework for the Wickremesinghe-
Jayasuriya-Rajapaksa talks when none had cared to ask
him to do so, even brazenly challenging the party leadership,
he is included in the UNP delegation to meet the SLFP
leadership.
His name was not on the original list
of five members that the W-J- R talks had decided on
for further discussions. The UNP nominated four -- Jayasuriya,
G.L. Peiris, John Amaratunga and Rukman Senanayake,
with debate on the fifth. Moragoda was not automatically
on the list despite him being the original peace process
negotiator with Peiris.
Then, suddenly, Wickremesinghe tells
the SLFP secretary Maithripala Sirisena that they should
include Ministers John Seneviratne and Athauda Seneviratne
whom they named as substitutes for Ministers Mangala
Samaraweera and Jeyeraj Fernandopulle to make the delegation
seven from each side.
The UNP then adds the names of Moragoda
into the list, and for good measure Malik Samarawickrama
and Ravi Karunanayake, to make the UNP's seven.
The fact that Moragoda can get away
with whatever he does, or says is what intrigues UNPers,
while others shrug their shoulders saying that he is
Wickremesinghe's hatchet man in foreign relations and
contacts, and therefore he knows he can survive. At
Friday's discussions, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake
told the UNPers that "the Government was very serious
about a working partnership with the UNP", and
asked that the process extend to more areas than the
peace process. The discussions revolved around five
years of such cohabitation.
A sub-committee has now been appointed
to go further into this cohabitation, and they are scheduled
to meet on Tuesday. The UNP has appointed Peiris, who
has served both the UNP and the SLFP, to be its man
in the sub-committee, though his zeal at working on
a Norwegian-backed deal with the Tiger rebels will not
sit well with the JVP which is having talks with the
SLFP on the same issue.
Jayasuriya was happy with the outcome
of the first round saying to the media later that night
that he was "cautiously optimistic", ruling
out further talks on a national consensus if the Government
continued what he said were the "dirty tricks"
of winning over its members with portfolios.
But others asked what the role of
the UNP would be as an opposition party. "Would
we see a Parliament without an Opposition?", they
asked, and pointed out that the next parliamentary elections
are due in 3 1/2 years, while the Government was asking
for 5 years cohabitation.
At least for now, the UNP probably
feels it can arrest the crossovers of its impatient
members by talking to the Government, keeping them 'occupied'
as it were. They cannot also be seen in the 'southern'
electorate as being uncooperative in the battle against
terrorism. While the UNP is in this quagmire, the Government
probably feels it has the UNP by the groin. How to wriggle
out of the situation, to cooperate without losing its
identity and being dissolved in the process, would be
the main concern of the Grand Old Party as it celebrates
60 tumultous years in Sri Lankan politics.
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