Seniors bother MR and juniors plague Ranil

• Media the biggest challenge for the President as floods and cost of living erode support for Govt.
• Wickremesinghe continues being Party leader as Premadasa holds back leadership challenge

Barely ten weeks after he was sworn in for a second term, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, appears to have embarked on a charm offensive on many fronts.

On Thursday he met with publishers and editors of national newspapers. He followed the same ritual on Friday with Colombo-based foreign correspondents and other accredited journalists. Over Kiribath (milk rice), hoppers and string hoppers, he spoke informally. Both events were informal and did not assume the air of a news conference. Yet, Rajapaksa answered some thorny questions deftly.

Ravaya newspaper EditorVictor Ivan, who had written only weeks earlier that the honeymoon between the Rajapaksa administration and the public was over after their inability to control skyrocketing living costs, asked what he sees as the biggest challenge ("Lokuma Abhiyogaya"). The President replied "it will be all of you." Though the witty remark was light hearted, it did reflect Rajapaksa's concerns over upcoming events casting their shadows.’Because there is no other opposition’ he quickly added.

When asked to comment on recent remarks by Rahul Gandhi, son of slain Indian Premier, Rajiv Gandhi and ruling Congress President Sonia Gandhi, about the plight of the Tamils, he replied that India was one of Sri Lanka's strongest allies. India had been very helpful during the government's war on terror to militarily defeat the Tiger guerrillas. He said he was open to any useful ideas.

Devolution

At the breakfast meeting with foreign correspondents, he was asked about the proposed visit by the United Nations panel probing accountability issues in Sri Lanka. He replied it was up to them. However, he declared that there was a domestic investigatory process in motion and the panel could appear before that body. Then came a thorny question on his stance on the subject of devolution. "I am for the 13th Amendment (to the Constitution) plus," he replied. However, he said he could not describe his position on the "plus." He would discuss with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and other Tamil groups the outlines of what that "plus" should contain.

Asked whether he was still keen to establish a Senate (a second chamber), he replied, "I am still thinking about it." He said the concept would have to be marketed both to the North and the South. However, he warned he was not going to give what Velupillai Prabhakaran had wanted or what any of his replacements would demand.

Another question centred on the national anthem. Rajapaksa said as far as he was concerned, there was no issue. Hence, he did not wish to talk about it. Though he did not say it, administratively government officials and departments have been told that the national anthem would be sung only in Sinhala. Special arrangements have already got underway both in the North and East to train school children on the use of the anthem.

Jobs for the boys : Interviews being conducted to select SLFP candidates for the upcoming local council polls

Ahead of his meetings with the media, Rajapaksa found a new assignment for his erstwhile Prime Minister, Ratnasiri Wickramanayake who has been making some noises about the relegation of senior party stalwarts to mere cabinet ornaments in the form of 'senior ministers'. Wickremanayake was called upon to chair a regular dialogue with members of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) on behalf of the UPFA. Together with Ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva and G.L. Peiris, Wickremanayake held talks with a TNA team. It comprised Mavai Senathirajah and Suresh Premachandran. Sajin Vass Gunawardena, Co-ordinating Secretary to the President and Monitor of the Ministry of External Affairs, is the secretary to the dialogue. A joint statement said its aim was to "initiate a structured discussion directed towards reconciliation through a political settlement and to address the urgent humanitarian needs and reconstruction concerns."

Since he was highly critical about being "kicked upstairs" or appointed a Senior Minister, Wickremanayake has not hidden his feelings of deep disappointment. At the opening of a secretariat to house the ten Senior Ministers in Kollupitiya last week, he exhorted that not even the President could remove him since he was an elected MP. In what seemed a conciliatory move, Rajapaksa sent Wickremanayake as his special envoy to Brazil for the inauguration of Dilma Roussef as President. Tasking him now to head the dialogue with the TNA on Tamil issues appears to be another move to appease the one-time premier.

Yet, the ten Senior Ministers seemed unhappy not only about their appointments but also the secretariat assigned to them. Here are highlights from a proclamation issued by President Rajapaksa and published in a Gazette Extraordinary dated December 2, 2010:

"ESTABLISHMENT of a Special Agency by His Excellency the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, in the exercise of the powers vested in him by Article 33 of the Constitution of the said Republic to continue with Government Business in a more co-ordinated cost effective and expeditious manner.

To:
1. Hon. Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, Minister (Senior) for Good Governance & Infrastructure
2. Hon. D.E.W. Gunasekara, Minister (Senior) for Human Resources
3. Hon. Athauda Seneviratne, Minister (Senior) for Rural Affairs
4. Hon. P. Dayaratne, Minister (Senior) for Food Security
5. Hon. A. H. M. Fowzie, Minister (Senior) for Urban Affairs
6. Hon. W. Milroy Sergias Fernando, Minister (Senior) for Social Welfare
7. Hon. R. M. S. B. Navinne, Minister (Senior) for Consumer Welfare
8. Hon. I. M. Piyasena Gamage, Minister (Senior) for National Resources
9. Hon. Prof. Tissa Vitarana, Minister (Senior) for Scientific Affairs
10. Hon. Dr. Sarath L. B. Amunugama, Minister (Senior) for International Monetary Co-operation.

Greetings:

"WHEREAS it appears to me to be necessary to establish a special agency to facilitate the carrying out of the functions assigned to each of you, by me under Article 44 of the Constitution of the Republic and published in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 1681/3 of 22nd November 2010;

"NOW therefore, I, Mahinda Rajapaksa, President, in pursuance of the provisions of the article 33 (f) of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, hereby establish the Senior Ministers' Secretariat to assist you the said;" (the Senior Ministers are named again)

And I do hereby declare that for the purposes of Establishments Code and Financial Regulations, the Senior Ministers' Secretariat shall be considered as a government department not specifically assigned to any Minister.

Given at Colombo under the seal of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka on this Twenty Ninth day of December, Two Thousand and Ten.

By His Excellency's command,
LALITH WEERATUNGA,
Secretary to the President."

As is clear from the above proclamation, technically the ten Senior Ministers belong to a "special agency" to "continue with Government business in a more co-ordinated cost effective and expeditious manner." The Senior Ministers' Secretariat is being considered "as a Government Department not specifically assigned to any Minister." This is for the purpose of the Establishments Code and Financial Regulations. This contradicts with an earlier Gazette Notification issued on November 22, 2010.

In that notification "duties and functions" of the Senior Ministers are specifically listed. For example, Wickremanayake's "duties and functions" are for "good governance and infrastructure." Other examples include Senior Ministers D.E.W, Gunasekera who has been tasked with 'Human Resources', and Athauda Seneviratne 'Rural Affairs.' The technical question that arises is how a Senior Minister in charge of only a 'Government Department' plays a supervisory role as a senior over other departments that are assigned to different ministers? Needless to say that the proclamation has been prompted by legal considerations and to ward off any attempts to challenge these appointments in the Supreme Court. This is on the grounds that they violated the Constitution.

UNP inaction

Though it would have been the responsibility of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) to challenge this move, leave alone going to courts, the subject has not even figured in its Working Committee or the Parliamentary Group meetings.

Opposition UNP Leader Ranil Wickrmesinghe raised the issue in Parliament, but the matter was deftly dismissed as being a proper exercise. Certainly not to a point where members felt that the issue should be raised in the national interest. However, there were concerns that civil society groups which have actively taken on the role of a parliamentary opposition in Sri Lanka would still challenge the appointments.

Another disturbing aspect is the colossal waste of public expenditure to sustain this 'Special Agency' comprising senior ministers. Sections of the government argue that the positions of Senior Ministers have been created to accommodate senior UPFA loyalists who were over 65 years with the exception of only one. With that, Cabinet positions have been given to those relatively younger so that a new generation of leadership could be built. President Rajapaksa explained to his close confidants that if he was to contest the Presidential election again in 2016 some of these Senior Ministers would be in their mid-70s, some even in their 80s. He would have to carry them on his shoulders onto the stage. Some may be with walking sticks by then. On the other hand, he needed to have the younger lot in place for the next race. The President, of course, will be 71 himself by then.

However, in the public eye, such extravagant measures are being made to keep a set of ageing politicians 'alive' at public expense at a time when prices of electricity, gas, bread, coconuts and onions to mention a few have shot up. For the first time in Sri Lanka's history, not only were coconuts imported but grated coconut was sold in the streets in 100 gram packets. The snowballing effect of these price rises on other sectors could be debilitating. Examples are transport, laundry services, eating houses and restaurants.

With little or no signs of relief measures visible, President Rajapaksa only last Wednesday warned his ministers to gird themselves for an impending food crisis. He told the ministerial committee on Food Protection and Cost of Living that by April, this year, the government may have to confront a food shortage. April, the month of the National New Year, is the most significant month in the calendar for most Sri Lankans.

State intelligence arms have also warned that the heavy gloss of the government after the military defeat of Tiger guerrillas in May 2009 was slowly going away. The main reason was the hardships caused to the people by soaring price rises in essential items. Though perhaps a world phenomenon, the trend in Sri Lanka appears to be more disturbing due to what seems a duplicitous approach to the issue. Whilst some ministers and officials tried to tinker with import duties or reduce cess levies, no macro level approach was being made to cut down on extravagant and wasteful expenditure. This is both abroad and at home.

Unlike in past decades, the conduct of Sri Lanka's diplomacy in some western capitals was being done not only by the country's diplomatic missions abroad. Part of the conduct of the foreign policy has been outsourced to public relations firms at the cost of millions of US dollars. This is particularly so in the case of countries like the United States, Britain and those in the European Union. Despite such heavy investments, the returns, as recent developments reveal, have been virtually nil. One such case is the Oxford fiasco where President Rajapaksa was forced to leave Britain hastily without making a scheduled address at the Oxford Union.

Several state agencies whose task it is to provide the consumer with essentials have become top heavy as a result of them being packed with nominees of politicians. They include the Co-operative Wholesale Establishment (CWE), the Marketing Department, the Agrarian Services Department and the Paddy Marketing Board.

Whilst these and other institutions existed at enormous cost to the exchequer, Sri Lanka made post independence history last week by moving Army soldiers and officers in uniform to sell vegetable from makeshift outlets and trucks. That members of a national institution that won their country's honour and respect for militarily defeating Tiger guerrillas were called upon to serve as vegetable vendors, to say the least, was not well received by those within the Army as well as those outside.

"That move was a big stab on the pride of our men," declared a retired Major General who counts considerable battle experience. "It is different when it comes to national calamities like floods or fighting an epidemic. They have been pushed to do a job which others had failed or were not doing," he told the Sunday Times speaking on grounds of anonymity.

One of the negative aspects of the exercise was that soldiers in uniform were handling money from the public. Designated Army and Navy Stores in some countries for instance dealt with the public selling merchandise, but never vegetables. "What if they are asked to sell meat or arrack next", asked another. In the past year, particularly during food shortages, ministers used the respective state agencies and the government declared them essential services, but the military was used sparingly. One cabinet minister, a new comer from the opposition, tasked with dealing with the consumers, complained that he had to fight with a senior official who had refused to give him money to import poultry from India.

The official in turn had been reticent on the grounds that the process for the imports was not transparent enough. He had even met with some Pettah traders to ascertain whether imports at lower prices were possible. The Minister in question told his officials that he managed to obtain the money for the imports only after raising issue with President Rajapaksa. The fact that such cat-and-mouse games are being played behind the backs of the suffering consumer has gone largely unnoticed by those in the higher echelons in power.

UN Panel: Countermeasures

President Rajapaksa is also readying his government to prepare for a possible major fallout from the ongoing UN panel investigating accountability issues in Sri Lanka. He has literally brought from the cold Mahinda Samarasinghe, who was handling human rights matters. The one time Minister of Human Rights and Disaster Management had been sworn in as the new Minister of Plantation Industries during the cabinet re-shuffle in November last year, a move that was viewed as sidelining the ex-UNPer. The subject of human rights was not assigned to any Minister but some of the matters arising out of the subject were dealt with by the Ministry of External Affairs.

Last week, President Rajapaksa told Samarasinghe that the subject of Human Rights was being assigned to him. Though no formal Gazette notification has yet been issued, he has already taken over the task. Interestingly, it would be the first time Sri Lanka would have a Minister of Human Rights and Plantation Industries. This was how Samarasinghe was present at President Rajapaksa's two different media encounters this week.

The main focus of the Government on the field of human rights is the upcoming United Nations sessions on human rights in Geneva from February 28 to March 25. The high-level contacts take place during the first week of the sessions. This is in the backdrop of the panel's mandate being extended until February this year, according to UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky.

He made the announcement at Friday's noon UN news conference. This is how Inner City Press Editor Mathew Lee, who specialises on developments in Sri Lanka, reported the event:

"UNITED NATIONS, January 14 -- For the four weeks since UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on December 17 announced his Panel of Experts would visit Sri Lanka and praised the "flexibility" of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, his Spokesperson's office has refused to answer questions about Rajapaksa officials' statements that they were unable to make any trip, that Ban's Panel would get only "conditional visas," not to investigate but only "make representations" to Rajapaksa's Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Commission.

When Ban held his next monthly press conference on January 14, Inner City Press sought to ask, as it has in writing without a responsible answer, when and under what conditions the Panel might travel, given that it was supposed to issue a report by January 15.

But despite Inner City Press signing up to ask a question, and keeping hand raised throughout Ban's 45 minute press conference, Inner City Press was not called on to ask any question. This was something new.

While other reporters shouted out questions about Ban administration corruption and if Ban will seek a second term -- no comment -- Inner City Press chose not to get into shouting. Rather, Inner City Press waited by the exit of the Dag Hammarskjöld Library where Ban would pass.

"Mister Secretary General, you said your Panel is going to Sri Lanka," Inner City Press asked, "what happened?"

" Ban Ki-moon replied, "They are now working very seriously on finalizing the dates of visiting Sri Lanka."
"Inner City Press asked: "the government has said they can only talk to the LLRC, that they can't investigate anything."

" Ban Ki-moon replied, "They will be able to... They are now discussing that."

"This again is contradictory to what the Sri Lankan government has said, and even to what Ban's spokespeople have said. Ban's acting Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq, bypassing Inner City Press' outstanding questions, told BBC's Sinhala service that the Panel might only meet the LLRC outside Sri Lanka.

Then, when Inner City Press asked questions on it day after day, Haq said that Ban's Panel's mandate is broader than the LLRC. Haq refused to answer if the Panel or its staff would travel to Sri Lanka.

"The Sri Lanka government immediately said that to the contrary, it would only be with the LLRC, that no investigation or other discussion would be possible, and visas would be limited to this effect.

"Inner City Press asked Ban Spokesman Nesirky with whom Ban spoke before making his December 17 announcement and praising Mahinda Rajapaksa. Nesirky refused to answer, just as he has refused any answer to the question of Ban's prior relations and meetings with Rajapaksa, and Ban's close family members' dealings and presence in Sri Lanka: all factual questions refused."

The Government has learnt that the UN panel's report would be handed over to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon towards late February. Current plans by the United Nations is to forward this report to the UN Human Rights High Commissioner Navaneethan Pillai. She is expected to table it during her inaugural address to the sessions on human rights, a point at which the report will enter the public domain.

Colombo-based foreign diplomats say such a move would become a tough issue for Sri Lanka. "Based on the findings of the UN panel, the High Commissioner may call upon the participating countries for follow-up action. It is too early to say how this will pan out," he said.

President Rajapaksa is giving high priority to this matter and is learnt to have discussed it with Minister Samarasinghe and other senior officials. Tomorrow, Samarasinghe, accompanied by Attorney General Mohan Peiris, will fly to Geneva to make a first hand assessment of the ground situation. They plan to have bi-lateral exchanges with member countries taking part in next month's sessions, return to Colombo and brief President Rajapaksa. Samarasinghe has also been busy this week dusting off a National Action Plan for human rights that has remained in cold storage for years now. It is to be introduced in Parliament soon. A new initiative is also under way to win over western nations which have been the strongest critics of human rights issues in Sri Lanka.

Besides the other issues, nature's wrath has also added to the government's problems. The unprecedented floods in the central, north central and eastern provinces have caused havoc. President Rajapaksa said on Friday the exact extent of damage would be known only when the flood waters recede. This week, Rajapaksa summoned the Army's newly appointed Eastern Commander, Major General Boniface Perera, to 'Temple Trees' to assess relief efforts and other measures necessary.

Also on hand was Army Commander Lt. Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya. Rajapaksa placed the resources of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Police under Maj. Gen. Perera's charge and urged that relief efforts be speeded up.

More than a million people (1,055,262) have been affected according to the Disaster Management Centre in Colombo. Its situation report yesterday said that the number of camps to house the displaced had risen to 598. There were 362,646 people in those camps and 2,898 houses had been completely damaged. The death toll remained yesterday at 27 whilst the number injured rose to 49 with 12 more reported missing. More than 400,000 acres of paddy cultivation have been badly affected raising fears that there would be a rice shortage in the coming weeks and months.

The floods in the east where the districts of Batticaloa and Ampara were the worst affected, prompted calls for the postponement of the impending local government elections. This is on the grounds that the Divisional Secretariats would be busy in the weeks ahead with reconstruction and rehabilitation work. A TNA three-member delegation comprising Suresh Premachandran, M.A. Sumanthiran and Mavai Senathirajah met the Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake and appealed to him to postpone local polls in the east. They claimed that Tamils who once lived in Sampur (area overlooking Trincomalee Port) and now in IDP camps in Kilivedi area have not been able to have their names on the latest voters list. They have been rejected after the IDPs listed their Sampur addresses in the electoral registration forms.

The main opposition United National Party, however, is not in favour of any moves to postpone local polls. Its leaders say that since the announcement has already been made, the Government should go through with it. President Rajapaksa said that the issue was not for him to decide. It was a matter for the Commissioner of Elections.

However, there were more important pre occupations for the UNP. A joint meeting of the Working Committee and the Parliamentary Group was held at the party headquarters, Siri Kotha, on Thursday. While it was earlier expected that a tussle for the party leadership would ensue with the much touted Sajith Premadasa staking his claims to be the new leader, this column said last week that with the announcement of the Local Government elections, young Premadasa was going to put 'on hold' his quest for the party leadership.

He had earlier been reticent in challenging the incumbent leader Ranil Wickremesinghe on the grounds that Wickremesinghe had supported his late father President R. Premadasa during the impeachment revolt by his partymen. After the party convention last month saw a surge of support from party workers and pressurized by young MPs in the party, Premadasa renewed his quest for the leadership. Now, he was backing off from the challenge again citing the LG elections and the need for party unity.

Needless to say, some of his strong loyalists were livid that their candidate had done an about turn. Some said it was based on astrological considerations. Others believed there were strong pressures from quarters that were high and mighty. Yet others felt he simply did not have the majority in the electoral colleges comprising the Working Committee and the parliamentary group (from 87 and now reduced to 86 with the death of Sarathchandra Rajakaruna).

Premadasa meeting

The pro-Premadasa faction met at 2 pm last Thursday at the residence of Bodhi Ranasinghe, onetime Chairman of Hotels Corporation and organizer for Colombo East. The meeting was where Premadasa was to tell his backers for the leadership that he will back down, for the moment at least.

The meeting was not without its heated moments when some of those present told him that the LG elections and the challenge to the party leadership are two different things and asked him not to 'chicken out'. The group of MPs present included Dayasiri Jayasekera (Kurunegala), Ranjit Madduma Bandara (Moneragala), Rosy Senanayake and Sujeeva Senasinghe (Colombo), Thalatha Atukorale (Ratnapura) and Buddhika Pathirana (Matara).

Premadasa had made up his mind, however, and then it was for the group to decide what he was going to say at the joint Working Committee-Parliamentary Group meeting later in the afternoon. He was to raise three issues. All three related to the forthcoming LG elections.

Firstly, he was to ask why when every District Leader who was to be the chairman of the Nomination Board for that District was the senior-most MP of that District, there was an exception in the case of Moneragala. Chief Oppsoiton Whip John Amaratunga has been made chairman bypassing Ranjit Madduma Bandara an open critic of the Wickremesinghe leadership.

Secondly, MPs like Buddhika Pathirana, had been left out of Nomination Boards for their districts when all MPs were supposed to be on these boards, and thirdly, why electoral organisers like Bandarigoda and Maithree Gunaratne, two critics of the Wickremesinghe leadership were not asked to send nominees for selection as candidates.

The joint meeting began later that afternoon on a tame note and ended on a tamer, somber note. Beleaguered leader Wickremesinghe, whom President Rajapaksa described as a master manipulator this week, carried the day, eventually. The buoyant mood he exuded in the past two weeks remained, as he jubilantly told close associates, "Didn't I tell you this was going to happen." He had evidently forecast that he would continue to remain the leader of the UNP, officially at least until the local polls are over. When that is done, there are UNP stalwarts who say Premadasa would have run out of steam to pursue another vigorous and even virulent campaign to oust Wickremesinghe.

Ahead of the Working Committee-Parliamentary Group meeting on Thursday afternoon, a group of party seniors met with Premadasa and his backers at Siri Kotha. The seniors were part of the Steering Committee that was to spearhead the LG campaign for the UNP. It is headed by deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya and includes Gamini Jayawickrema Perera (UNP Chairman), Tissa Attanayake (General Secretary), John Ameratunga and Jayalath Jayawardena. Premadasa was accompanied by Ranjit Madduma Bandara, Dayasiri Jayasekera and Talatha Atukorale.

Jayasuriya made an appeal to Premadasa that there should be party unity if the party is to contest the polls and win. He said party members should not display differences but work in harmony. Though the new Constitution of the party has come into effect, there was time till April 12 for the selection or election of office bearers. The Premadasa faction nodded their heads at Jayasuriya's appeal.

Premadasa told the joint meeting of the Working Committee and the Parliamentary Group that the leader Wickremesinghe, should get involved in the election campaign. He said that both Wickremesinghe and Jayasuriya must grab the opportunity to tour as many electorates as possible. His backers say that this was a sarcastic jibe at the two party leaders, especially Wickremesinghe who was scheduled to leave on yet another overseas visit this time on assignment for the International Democratic Union (IDU), a right-wing conservative grouping of past and present world leaders of which he himself is an office-bearer. It was only a fortnight back that Wickremesinghe was in India.

Needless to say, Premadasa's sudden volte-face baffled both factions within the UNP. A top runger in the Wickremesinghe faction from the Colombo District said "Sajith knew for many months now that local polls were coming. He claimed he had the majority backing of the UNP membership and wanted to give leadership to them. If he was so confident, why should he worry now.

The call for party unity is an excuse." There was time at the joint meeting for other diversions. Ravi Samaraweera (ex-MP Badulla District) complained that he was being treated shabbily by the party leadership. Some of the new MPs in the district had no respect for elders. He alleged that leader Wickremesinghe was only heeding requests to attend meetings of a new member of the District (Harin Fernando) and ignoring him (Samaraweera). He spoke for 22 minutes of how Wickremesinghe treated loyal supporters only to find them ditch him and join the government and related name after name and incident after incident.

Range Bandara (MP-Puttalam District) complained that the action taken against a party member who assaulted him (North Western province Opposition Leader Shantha Bandara) was inadequate. He had only been suspended from the party for an year and severely warned. The complaints led to the appointment of another committee to review the matter. It comprises Wijedasa Rajapaksa, Lakshman Kirella and D.M. Swaminathan. He referred to how he had asked the Legal Secretary of the party for a copy of the complaint made by Shantha Bandara. He was told that he is not entitled to it. Being an ex policeman he knew that if a lawyer asked for the document he was entitled to it. However because it was refused he had paid Rs. 1,500 to a clerk at Siri Kotha and had the entire file photocopied and given to him. He said that any document can be obtained from Siri Kotha on the payment of a bribe amidst embarrassed faces of the party office bearers and hoots of laughter from the rank and file.

Party frontliner Ravi Karunanayake (MP-Colombo) referred to a judgment by the late Justice Mark Fernando where he is reported to have ruled that LG elections could not be held on a staggered basis. Wickremesinghe asked the party lawyers to look into the matter and Dayasiri Jayasekera then asked for a committee to organise relief measures for flood victims.

On Friday morning, the UNP's National Campaign Committee met at Siri Kotha. Mangala Samaraweera, briefed members on the outlines of the party's propaganda campaign during the local polls. He said he proposed to make a detailed presentation at a later meeting. Wickremesinghe, Jayasuriya and Premadasa also attended a lunch arranged by the Muslim wing of the party at the Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya (JSS) headquarters located next to Siri Kotha. It had been arranged by Abdul Haleem and Imtiaz Bakeer Markar.

Whilst preparing for the local polls, the UNP has given notice of a motion of no-confidence against Local Government Minister A.L.M. Athaullah. It says:

Whereas Hon. A L M Athaulla, Minister of Local Government and Provincial Councils assured the House on the 4th of January 2011 that the Elections of Local Authorities will be held in March 2011 since the new term of the Local Authorities is due to commence on 1st April 2011, when he said:

Whereas Elections to Municipal Councils of Colombo, Sri Jayawardenepura-Kotte and Dehiwela-Mount Lavinia and Urban Council of Kolonnawa have been now postponed and it is also reported that elections to some other Municipal Councils, Urban Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas are also due to be postponed, and

"The Minister lied making a deliberate false statement and thereby misled the House. "This House resolves that it has lost confidence in the ability of the Minister to continue to discharge his functions as Minister of Local Government and Provincial Councils and is no longer a fit and proper person to hold office in the Cabinet of Ministers."

The motion has been signed by Karu Jayasuriya, John Ameratunga, Joseph Michael Perera, Harin Fernando, Kabir Hashim, D M Swaminathan, Ruwan Wijewardene, R Yogarajan, Tissa Attanayake, Jayalath Jayawardana, and Champika Premadasa.

The internecine problems have divided the UNP so much it has found little or no time to raise issues that are of serious concern to the public. In this backdrop, the question is whether the charm offensive of President Rajapaksa, a public relations maestro, no doubt, would still work with an increasingly disgruntled electorate. That is what his admirers and adversaries are asking. They also ask whether the UNP stands out as a credible alternative to his rule as far as the masses are concerned.