Columns

• Ranil reorganises UNP, frontliners given different tasks, but he will come as a Grand Alliance candidate
• SJB leader Sajith recruits ex-police and military personnel as party members, prompting war of words with Sarath Fonseka
• Indian visit boosts chances of JVP-NPP leader Anura Kumara; Champika also eyes presidential stakes
• ITAK stance on presidential poll uncertain as legal battles erupt over election of officials

By Our Political Editor

There is a message underlying the government’s reiteration periodically that presidential elections will be held this year.

It is the reality that the government is sensitive to the issue. The latest buildup of a likely postponement came in the wake of President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s policy statement after the ceremonial opening of Parliament. The absence of any reference to polls in the statement prompted the main opposition to raise the issue. Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella convened a news conference where he expressed fears that polls would not take place. Exposure to these developments both in Sri Lanka and abroad did cause ripples.

So much so, last Tuesday President Wickremesinghe had to direct his Media Division to promptly issue a statement.

This is what it said: “Presidential Election to Proceed Within Mandated Period – General Election Scheduled for Next Year

“Presidential Secretariat issuing a notice stated (sic) that the Presidential Election will be held within the mandated period. According to the current timeline, the General Election will be held next year. Accordingly, financial provisions for the General Election will be provided for in the 2025 Budget. The responsibility of conducting elections lies with the Election Commission of Sri Lanka and the Government will be communicating with the Commission as and when required.”

President Wickremesinghe was elected by Parliament on July 20, 2022 after the ignominious exit of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was elected with 6.8 million votes at the presidential election in November 2019. He fled Sri Lanka in a military aircraft to the Maldives and later to Singapore from where he sent in his letter of resignation. In terms of the Constitution, the presidential election is due on a date between September 17 and October 17, this year. Such a mechanism will be initiated by the Election Commission with the announcement of a date for nominations. When it is concluded, the polls date would be announced by the commission.

As for the parliamentary elections, the PMD statement said it would be slated for next year. At present, the President is empowered to dissolve Parliament at any time to pave the way for it. However, no financial allocation has been made. According to the statement, such an allocation would have to be made in the budget for 2025 to be presented later this year. Unless advanced, it would most likely come after a presidential poll. Whilst who will emerge victor remains to be seen, at least hypothetically any winner other than the present incumbent, Ranil Wickremesinghe, would have to focus more on a parliamentary general election. This is required particularly for cabinet formation. On the other hand, interim caretaker arrangements cannot be ruled out.

SJB leader Sajith Premadasa and party stalwarts greeting the crowd at a farmers' meeting in Polpithigama

President holds party meetings

Just hours after the official statement on the conduct of the presidential election, President Wickremesinghe chaired a meeting of the Management Committee of the United National Party (UNP). There, his senior advisor on national security, Sagala Ratnaytake, was tasked with dealing with the social media. Ravi Karunanayake will liaise with political parties that seek to forge the ‘grand alliance’ for President Wickremesinghe’s candidature.

On Thursday, President Wickremesinghe chaired meetings of UNP frontliners on matters relating to the presidential election. At a meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat, he said all district organisers of the UNP would be appointed by the end of March. Nine of them were given specific tasks that included responsibility for different areas. They included Sagala Ratnayake, Harin Fernando, Naveen Dissanayake, Manusha Nanayakkara, Vajira Abeywardena, Ruwan Wijewardene, Ravi Karunanayake and Akila Viraj Kariyawasam.

An adjunct to the UNP campaign is the one that has been launched by the New Alliance—a group led by Gampaha district former Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna parliamentarian Nimal Lanza. The outfit was originally set up to wean away SLPP MPs to their group to support President Wickremesinghe. However, they have not been able to wean away parliamentarians to their ranks so far. It is headed by onetime minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa. The New Alliance will hold its first meeting in Colombo at Hyde Park on February 24. What role the New Alliance would play at the presidential election remains unclear. This is particularly in the light of its originally intended task—to wean away support from sections of the SLPP—not being achieved. Added to that, it has become increasingly clear that SLPP backing would be available for President Wickremesinghe with the prospects of the party not nominating a candidate. Eventually, the furthest the New Alliance could go is become a partner in the “grand alliance” supporting Wickremesinghe.

Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, a former UNP minister, said yesterday, “President Wickremesinghe also spoke with Colombo district organisers.” In which “there were discussions related to organisational activities of the party for the upcoming presidential election. Enlisting of new members to the party was also discussed. “It was also decided that the first of the district meetings will be held in Kuliyapitiya on March 10 and will be addressed by President Wickremesinghe. Thereafter for three months there will be meetings at the district level, before the launch of further campaigns. Furthermore, there was also discussions on accommodating members of other political parties.”

The lineup of candidates for the presidential election is now taking shape. As is now known, the main opposition Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) candidate is its leader, Sajith Premadasa. In the recent weeks, he has been busy recruiting retired military and police personnel as well as provincial level politicians as SJB members. That included those who previously maintained close relations with former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The recruitment of the two former categories is being viewed as a move to have a substantial number of one-time security forces personnel under Premadasa’s fold. This particularly in the wake of tensions between him and former military strongman, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka. In the recent weeks, the two have been exchanging strong words, prompting sections within the party to call for disciplinary action against the man who led troops to military victory against Tiger guerrillas. This is in marked contrast to when FM Fonseka joined the SJB after it was formed in February 2020. He then praised him as a war hero and declared that he would be the Defence Minister at a future SJB government. Moreover, as reported in these columns last week, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) has already formed a wing comprising retired military personnel on a district-to-district level. Their candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake has received a boost after he received an official invitation from the Indian government and visited that country just a week earlier. He had meetings with key players there.

Another candidate will be Patali Champika Ranawaka, leader of the newly formed United Republic Front (URF). He is forming what he calls a “humanitarian alliance” and launched his formal campaign this week. This is with the introduction of his party’s “common minimum programme” at an event held at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute this week. Representatives from different political parties were invited to take part (See box story on this page). Though Ranawaka strongly criticized the SJB leader, the event was attended by their General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara.

A prospective candidate who has launched his campaign is businessman, publisher cum lawyer Dilith Jayaweera. Recently he invited NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake for a debate on key issues. He assured him that no personal references would be made. However, the latter dismissed the call saying he would not indulge in a debate with someone who had not even won a local council election. A group led by Wimal Weerawansa, who broke away from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), and now heads the Supreme Lanka Coalition (Uttara Lanka Sabhagaya), is also now lobbying to form an alliance for the presidential polls. They have approached other like-minded parties in the opposition towards this.

ITAK crisis continues

What political parties in the north and east would react in terms of a presidential candidate is now enmeshed in a legal tangle. The Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi, formally known as the Federal Party, was crowned with a new hardline leadership in January this year. Last week, two district courts, one in Trincomalee and the other in Jaffna, have issued stay orders on  decisions made in January and on the planned party convention that was to take place on February 19. This means until the legal wrangles are sorted out, the party is unable to take decisions and enforce them. The status quo as at January 20, of the party will remain.

The Trincomalee District Court’s proceedings on Thursday, February 15, were held under Judge Ganesharajah Manickavasagar. The Plaintiff is Santhirasekaram Para of Samabaltivu.  Defendants are listed as Sivagnanam Shritharan, Mavai Senathirajah, Xavier Kulanayagam, P Sathiyalingam, M A Sumanthiran, S Kuhathasan and S Yogeswaran.

The plea of the petitioners is that the proceedings of meetings held on January 21 and January 27 did not follow the ITAK constitution. The number of voters who voted at the election of the new President, it is claimed, was not the correct or appropriate number.  The District Judge issued a stay order for 14 days.

The plaintiff at the Jaffna District Court hearing was Peter Ilancheliyan, an ITAK member. His plea was that the proposed national convention date of February 19 is illegal as the notice period stipulated in the ITAK constitution has not been served on members. The Jaffna District Judge also issued a stay order against the proposed national convention on February 19.

As reported previously, the ITAK also had its working committee meeting and the general council meeting on January 27, again in Trincomalee, to elect the office bearers of the party. With various scuffles and shouting, the party managed to elect the required office bearers including the powerful General Secretary position through a vote by raising hands. Shanmugam Kuhathasan was selected and then elected by a show of hands as the General Secretary.

By March, the identities of not only more candidates but the activities of those in the fray for the presidential election were to become more intense. Other than this, the government’s focus will be on the 55th United Nations Human Rights Council sessions which will begin on Monday, February 26 and will close on April 5. In terms of the Council Resolution 51/1 of October 2022, the High Commissioner for Human Rights is expected to give an oral update on the situation in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka Accountability Project (SLAP).

With various international crises on the boil, High Commissioner Volker Türk will be making oral updates on six different countries including Sri Lanka, most likely on Monday, March 4 or Tuesday March 5 according to reports from Geneva. With that many countries to be covered, the pressure on Sri Lanka would be less. However, it is the same High Commissioner Turk who in his written update in September 2023, wrote, “Sri Lanka suffers from a continuing accountability deficit—be it for war crime atrocities, more recent human rights violations, corruption, or abuse of power—which must be addressed for the country to move forward”.

He noted that “More than a year ago mass protests demanded better governance and an inclusive vision for Sri Lanka—in short, a renewal of the social contract. But the potential for a historic transformation that would address long-standing challenges is far from being realised; Truth-seeking alone will not suffice. It must also be accompanied by a clear commitment to accountability and the political will to implement far-reaching change.”

He added: “I urge the Government and Sri Lankan political parties to strive for and deliver on the urgent need for renewal, deeper institutional reforms and tangible progress on accountability, reconciliation and human rights.”

CC controversy goes to SC

In another development, a fundamental rights petition has been filed in the Supreme Court by B.P.S.M. Pathirana, an attorney-at-law, challenging the decision of the Constitutional Council (CC) to reject President Wickremesinghe’s recommendation to appoint Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne, as a Judge of the Supreme Court. He is now President of the Court of Appeal. Among those who have been named as respondents are Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena who is the Chairman of the CC, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, and Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam. The petition urges the Supreme Court to declare the CC decision as unlawful.

On February 4, the Sunday Times reported in these columns that, “For a second time, the Constitutional Council (CC) has “decided not to approve the recommendation” by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to appoint “Hon. N.B.P.D.S. Karunaratne, President of the Court of Appeal as a Judge of the Supreme Court.”

This recommendation came in a letter President Wickremesinghe wrote to Speaker and CC chairman Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on January 9. This is after the Council had late last November failed to approve the same request. A fresh one was made after a prolonged issue over the introduction of rules governing the CC was resolved. It was published in the gazette on December 31, last year thus resolving an impasse.

A letter to President Wickremesinghe from Speaker Abeywardena, Chairman of the CC said, “Having discussed at length, the Constitutional Council by a majority decision decided not to approve the recommendation to appoint Hon. N.B.P.D.S. Karunarathne, President of the Court of Appeal as a Judge of the Supreme Court in keeping with the provisions of Article 41C(1) of the Constitution. In disapproving the recommendation, the following reasons were given:-

“Under Article 41C the Constitutional Council has been vested with the discretion to approve/disapprove nominations made by the President to several constitutional offices including the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. When performing this function, the Council should act impartially and reasonably. In the exercise of the discretion vested in the Council, it must apply its mind to the decision, consider relevant factors, not consider irrelevant factors and exercise its discretion for the purpose for which it has been vested with the Council.

This discretion has been vested with the Council to protect the independence and integrity of several constitutional institutions, including that of the judiciary. Public confidence in the independence and integrity of the justice system requires that judges are, and are also perceived to be, impartial and beyond reproach. Ensuring the independence of the judiciary and public confidence in the judiciary is a primary responsibility of the Council.

“In CA Writ 377/2023 (decided 17 November 2023), oral and written submissions were made by the Attorney General’s Department on behalf of the Respondents, which suggest/allege attempts by the petitioner to “bench fix” (to have matters taken up before the nominee) and thereby abuse the judicial process. The attention of the members of the Council was drawn to this serious suggestion/allegation due to the public reporting and debate on the matter. These submissions have since been verified. We took note of the fact that these oral and written submissions were made by the Attorney General’s Department, a constitutional institution that is required to act with independence. The Attorney General is recognised as the chief law officer of the State. The submissions are therefore to be taken serious note of. We further note that these submissions are not dealt with or refuted in the judgment of the Court of Appeal in the said writ matter.”

The lineup of more candidates will be known now that the government has reiterated that the presidential election will be held this year. This has led to talks of alliances and those seeking membership in political parties, largely for a quid pro quo, are on the rise.

Ranawaka blasts Premadasa; alleges party is controlled by two secret people Onetime cabinet minister and now leader of the newly formed United Republic Front (URF), Patali Champika Ranawaka, yesterday slammed Sajith Premadasa,  leader of the main opposition Samagi Jana Balavegaya  (SJB), “for driving away the party’s supporters” and “weakening it by the day.” “This is the reason why,” he declared, that “the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) led National People’s Front (NFF) has recorded a surge in public support. “I am constrained to say that the SJB is being run by two others besides Opposition Leader, Premadasa,” he told the Sunday Times. Asked who they were, he replied “I will reveal their real identities when the time comes. It is now a family centered business and there is heavy discontent within. There is nothing called democracy in the party.” There was no response from Sajith Premadasa despite a string of telephone calls and SMS messages. Speaking at a URF rally in Bandaragama this week, Ranawaka castigated Premadasa for denying him the opportunity of a speech when Parliament debated the policy statement of President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Times for such speeches are slotted by Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella in consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. Ranawaka said, “It is true that I contested on the SJB ticket. However, I am now an independent MP in Parliament. When I asked Kiriella when my speaking slot would be, he revealed that it had been struck off at the request of Premadasa. Asked why, Kirella had replied that I did not join him to stage a walk out when President Wickremesinghe was to deliver the statement. That was the first time I learnt of such a walkout. It is nothing more than childish and irresponsible behaviour. All he expects from us is sycophancy. I cannot be subservient that way.” Ranawaka said he had not been informed of either “a walk out or that my speech will not be allowed if I did not join.” The same forces were responsible, Ranawaka said, for him being deprived of being the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. “Through various action I took, I made sure that state revenue was enhanced during the period I served,” he declared. “He (Premadasa) simply thinks he is going to win the presidential election. He does not realise the enormous damage he is causing. There are key members who are not happy but are patient. His late father, President Ranasinghe Premadasa, was more understanding and did not talk from a high pedestal. He mingled with all,” he pointed out. United Republic Front (URF) leader, Champika Ranawaka receives political party representatives at the launch of his “common minimum programme of his humanitarian alliance” at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Centre. Among those seen in the photo are Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Ferial Ashraff This week was significant for the United Republic Front (URF). Representatives of all political parties took part in an event at the Lakshman Kadigamar Centre where a 32-page programme of work was released. Ranawaka described it as “our common minimum programme” and said it would be the basis of the URF’s “humanitarian alliance.” Twelve different chapters dealing with various aspects including the economy and development related issues have been spelt out, some in flowery language. “The antidote to our present afflictions lies in confiding the vital task for national reconstruction to a coalition of political forces, that has unequivocally showcased the prowess, competence, and effectiveness in implementing modern and intricate development strategies in times gone by,” notes the document, which is under Ranawaka, the party leader’s name. A noteworthy feature of this “common minimum programme” is a pledge to auction super luxury vehicles assigned to public representatives and officers. It is to be replaced with vehicles that are sustainable, affordable, and align with the specific requirements of their service. It also offers to establish a fully empowered “Judicial Commission for Economic Crimes” promptly to investigate and prosecute those responsible for economic crimes leading to the current bankruptcy and economic downturn. Swift and just punishment is to be administered. Other pledges worth a mention are: Confiscate concealed money within and outside the country by enacting necessary legislative amendments to the relevant acts. This decisive action ensures accountability and curtails illicit financial activities. Ensure the immediate appointment of an Inspector General of Police (IGP), through the police commission, who has not been found guilty by a court of law. This upholds the integrity of law enforcement leadership. Addressing the alarming erosion in health services, particularly concerning low-quality and counterfeit drugs, is imperative.