It was near midnight last Monday when Opposition United National Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe boarded his car to return home after attending an oaths party of young lawyer at a Kirulapone residence. His mobile phone rang. A security officer answered and handed it over to him. It was a staffer in his secretariat. He said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa would like to meet Wickremesinghe the next morning at Janadipathi Mandiraya (President's House).
Ahead of the meeting on Tuesday morning, Wickremesinghe telephoned his deputy, Karu Jayasuriya. He told him of the invitation he had received. A high-ranking UNP source close to Jayasuriya said this was the first time Wickremesinghe had informed him, though Wickremesinghe had earlier maintained that he had informed Jayasuriya prior to a previous meeting with Rajapaksa. Jayasuriya had advised against going for the meeting. This was because Rajapaksa had reportedly breached an undertaking not to enrol UNP parliamentarians whilst a dialogue is under way. However, Wickremesinghe had rejected it because he cannot ignore when the President wishes to meet him, the source said.
Wickremesinghe had met Rajapaksa for the first time in his latest dialogue over impending constitutional amendments on July 10. Paving the way for this was an intermediary, Gamini Abeyratne, head of Lanka Airport and Aviation Services during the last UNP government. He approached the party's former Chairman and Wickremesinghe confidant, Malik Samarawickrema. Their back channel negotiations facilitated the move. Abeyratne, now a staunch backer of the UPFA and Minister Johnston Fernando in particular, is a Director of the crisis-ridden Mihin Air airline. Two weeks ago, Samarawickrema was a guest at a dinner hosted by President Rajapaksa at the President's House in Kandy. It came after a rugger match between the Navy and the Kandy Sports Club earlier that evening.
According to the source, Jayasuriya had learnt of that first meeting only through an SMS news alert he received on his mobile phone. The source revealed that Jayasuriya "did not believe the alert. He was in Kandy and telephoned Wickremesinghe. It was only then he received confirmation" Thus, Wickremesinghe chose to go for the first meeting on his own without any consultation or approval from his party seniors. On the second occasion, he however, told Jayasuriya but ignored his advice not to attend the meeting. "I will not confirm or deny. These are internal party matters, which I cannot discuss in public. I am sorry," Jayasuriya responded when asked by the Sunday Times.
UNPers incensed
Even if Jayasuriya, who portrays himself as a strict disciplinarian and one devoutly loyal to his leader, chose not to speak, the fact that the others in the UNP hierarchy were incensed over Wickremesinghe's meeting with Rajapaksa, was no secret. In doing so, he had not only rejected his deputy's advice. He had undermined his own party chairman, Gamini Jayawickrema Perera. It was a week ago that Jayawickrema Perera told Parliament, "We don't need to have any future discussions with him (President Rajapaksa)" He added, "He promised us this time that he would not take any MPs from the UNP hereafter. But today, he has taken two from our side. He has broken his promise."
Compounding the situation for Wickremesinghe was his own remarks. On August 6, just three days before he met Rajapaksa, he declared, "We have to ask again from the Mahinda Rajapaksa government whether it will follow the road to dictatorship or opt for independence and people-friendly governance. I like to emphasise that we will act according to the reply we receive."
As reported in these columns last week, those remarks came at a ceremony where Mangala Samaraweera, leader of the SLFP-Mahajana faction dissolved his party and joined the UNP.
Though he boldly asked, Wickremesinghe received no such 'reply' from Rajapaksa. It was only a call for a meeting, just a few hours ahead of the scheduled time of 9 a.m. on Tuesday. No assurances were offered to him. As revealed exclusively last week, Rajapaksa had cancelled such a meeting on August 4 on astrological advice. On that day, however, he had also enrolled to the ruling UPFA ranks two opposition UNF parliamentarians, Prabha Ganeshan (Colombo District) and Palani Digambaram (Nuwara Eliya District).
Since this had a parallel in 2006, when 17 UNP parliamentarians joined the Rajapaksa government whilst Wickremesinghe was having a dialogue with him, most UNP leaders were sceptical about continuing talks with the government. Disregarding the views of his own deputy, without consulting his party seniors and worse enough, going against his own assertions, Wickremesinghe lost no time in rushing to meet Rajapaksa. In just three days, he had forgotten what he told his party leadership.
He sought a 'reply' from the Rajapakasa government, to use his own words, on "whether it will follow the road to dictatorship or opt for independence and people-friendly governance." Now he has taken up the position that when the President calls, he will have to go, and go even against the advice of his deputy or without consulting his senior colleagues.
There was more embarrassment for him when it turned out that it was not a one-on-one meeting with Rajapaksa. Also present for the talks was Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa. That prompted senior UNPers to ask why Wickremesinghe chose always to go alone for meetings with Rajapaksa and did not think it fit to ask other senior UNP members to accompany him, at least his deputy Jayasuriya. That is besides consulting the party when such invitations are received. They point out he was going there as the leader of the UNP and not in his personal capacity.
Ranil's defence
However, Wickremesinghe strongly defended his action. "I believe that our party should talk to the President. Not engaging him is disadvantageous to the UNP. I told him (the President) that the government should let us know its position with regard to the proposed constitutional changes. I have no authority to discuss the matter. The party will have to talk and take decisions," he told the Sunday Times. He said such a process would begin soon.
Like on the previous occasion, Wickremesinghe's 55-minute talks with the President and Basil Rajapaksa centred mainly on the impending constitutional changes. The latter withdrew after some issues were taken up leaving the duo to talk things over. Rajapaksa was to ask Wickremesinghe whether the UNP planned to enrol Democratic National Alliance (DNA) leader, retired General Sarath Fonseka, as a member. The word had spread after a speech deputy leader Jayasuriya made at a ceremony where Mangala Samaraweera joined the UNP.
He said others including Gen. (retd.) Fonseka should follow suit. Wickremesinghe was to explain that the remarks were off the cuff and did not portend any coming events.
However, though a co-incidence, cracks had begun to develop in the DNA. Indications emerged this week when its constituent partners sans the major player, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), held a meeting with its leader. They were Nawa Sihala Urumaya, the Democratic United National Front, the People's Tamil Congress and the Eksath Janatha Pakshaya. The four together with the JVP formed the Alliance.
"The JVP was not invited to the meeting. That is because it changed the theme of a protest campaign. At first, it was to seek the release of Gen. (retd.) Fonseka. Then the JVP changed it to be one against the proposed constitutional amendments," Sanath Manamendra, leader of the Nawa Sihala Urumaya told the Sunday Times. He said at the four-party meeting, chaired by retired Gen. Fonseka and held in the Parliament complex on August 6, he had proposed that the retired Army Commander should join the UNP since he had no future in the JVP.
Manamendra said, "Even if all the constituent parties get together with the JVP, they could get a maximum of only a million votes. This is not enough for the alliance to come to power. Tiran Alles, who was present at the meeting, said if Gen. (retd.) Fonseka could be offered the deputy leadership of the UNP that could be considered. Gen. (retd.) Fonseka who was present did not respond. I also pointed out that if Gen. Fonseka is to seek his release from custody, the best option would be to join the UNP."
Manamendra said he had also proposed that DNA's National List MP positions should be rotated every year so all constituents could be represented in Parliament for a limited period of time. He was strongly critical of JVP's Anura Kumara Dissanayake. He had sought a slot in the DNA National List only because he could not win in the Kurunegala District, Manamendra claimed.
Following the meeting, Anura Kumara Dissanayake called a news conference together with Anoma Fonseka last Wednesday to declare that Gen. (retd.) Fonseka had no plans to join the UNP.
The JVP also staged a demonstration in Galle on Thursday to seek the release of Gen. Fonseka. Millionaire businessman Tiran Alles, who bankrolls most of the DNA activity, was conspicuous by his absence at both these events.
In a scuffle that broke out at the Galle Police, JVP parliamentarians Vijitha Herath, Ajith Kumara and Provincial Councillor Nalin Hewage were arrested. They were produced before the Galle Magistrate who remanded them until tomorrow. The incident, no doubt, has increased JVP's hold on both Gen. (retd.) Fonseka and his wife, Anoma. One of the visitors to see the two parliamentarians and the provincial councillor on Friday at the Galle Remand Prison was Karu Jayasuriya.
On Friday evening, the three-member General Court Martial (GCM) that probed alleged involvement in political activity against retired General Fonseka recommended to the President (who is Commander in Chief) that he be cashiered. That same evening, President Rajapaksa, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces endorsed the decision of the GCM and issued the proclamation stripping General Fonseka, the one-time "world's best Army Commander" of his rank and all decorative medals. All military installations will also be out of bounds for him. Details of this appear elsewhere in this newspaper.
Constitutional talks
Our front-page report today deals with one of the aspects, the new difficulties that have arisen over the creation of an office of Executive Prime Minister. As reported earlier, the government and the UNP have reached broad agreement on the electoral process, particularly those relating to the local government elections. Talks between the UPFA and the UNP delegations on matters relating to the 17th Amendment to the Constitution are to take place next week.
This time, the UNP wants to ensure that that its delegation speaks with a fuller UPFA delegation than just Minister G.L. Peiris. On the last occasion, Jayasuriya led a UNP delegation that talked only to Peiris. Though his Ministry Secretary, Romesh Jayasinghe, was present, he had no role in matters relating to constitutional reforms. The UNP delegation will have serious difficulties in reconciling its position with that of the UPFA with regard to the 17th Amendment.
The UPFA's (or more, the President's) stance is that powers vested with the independent commissions (police, elections, bribery and corruption etc.,) should be abolished and those powers be vested in the President. On the other hand, the UNP wants the existing provisions retained with minor changes. This remains a highly contentious issue. Any disagreement over this matter would only mean the talks would end in failure. The only area of agreement so far is the proposed change in the electoral process for the upcoming local government polls. There was general agreement between the two sides on bringing back the ward system so that there will be blend of the old first-past-the-post system and the proportional representation system.
Yet, President Rajapaksa would emerge winner because he had consulted the opposition before deciding on the proposed constitutional changes, a move that will receive acceptance internationally. Political analysts say that the UNP made a tactical error in jumping headlong into the talks without first determining what the government proposed to do. If it did, it could have ensured a healthy public debate on the issues involved by making out a case for the UNP's own stance. However, the internecine rivalry has torn the party apart to a point where the competition to earn the blessings of government leaders has become more important than issues that affect the public. This is in the backdrop of some key UNPers becoming backers of their party during the day and UPFA during the night.
Beruwala get-together
Both President Rajapaksa and Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, spoke to Wickremesinghe on Tuesday after a clear understanding of the thinking of government Ministers and MPs only a day earlier. They had ended a workshop and get-together in Beruwala.
It began on Friday (August 6) evening when President Rajapaksa, Ministers and MPs checked into three different resort hotels. President Rajapaksa was at Eden Hotel, the Ministers at Lanka Princess and the parliamentarians at Palm Garden. A fourth, the Riverina was used as the workshop venue. On Friday night, participants were entertained to a Sinhala film, Bambara Wallala. Thereafter, a group of younger MPs led by Namal Rajapaksa and Mahindananda Aluthgamage played floodlit beach volleyball. The referee was Dilan Perera, whilst President Rajapaksa mingled with his MPs. It went on until 1 a.m. on Saturday.
Saturday morning, those who turned up for morning exercises were a handful. This is despite Deputy Minister Rohita Abeygunasekera going from room to room shortly after 6 a.m. to tell MPs that the President was out doing his morning exercises. The President, an early riser, had his morning walk and revelled in what he most enjoyed - having friendly conversations with people. He chose to take a dip in the sea. Accompanying him, among others, were Ministers Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Wimal Weerawansa and Rohita Abeygunasekera. They caught the attention of a group of Lebanese tourists who were sea bathing. After one of them said, "we are very happy to see you," the President was seen engaging them in a friendly conversation.
The workshop began on Saturday morning. A political science lecturer was to speak on Apey Deshapalanaya (our politics). External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris gave a briefing on the proposed constitutional amendments. His speech drew several responses. Mahindananda Aluthgamage (Kandy District) and Vijithamuni de Soysa (Moneragala District) spoke on the need to retain the Executive Presidency and make changes in the Constitution to enable President Rajapaksa to continue.
Ministers Rajitha Senaratne and Wimal Weerawansa chipped in to say this should not only be done but other steps would also have to be taken to ensure the President continues to remain popular with the people. There were moves to put to vote the continuation of the Executive Presidency with provision to allow a candidate to contest any number of times. However, it was decided that a vote was not necessary. Lunch was delayed and the tea break was called off due to the keen interest shown in the discussion by the participants.
Talking on the subject of Apey Arthikeya (Our Economy) were Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabral and Peradeniya University Economist Sumanasiri Liyanage. Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa gave a detailed brief on proposed changes in the electoral laws for the local government elections. Saturday night was again party time and gave the President an opportunity to mingle closely with those present.
He was thrilled and said he could not believe the event had generated such a lot of enthusiasm. He said it would be held every six months. That was not only to ensure camaraderie among parliamentarians but also to keep them updated on government policies so they could speak with one voice. The President made the concluding speech on Sunday afternoon.
Camaraderie was exactly what was lacking at the UNP Working Committee's three hours and forty-five minute meeting last Wednesday. |
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