With the death, last week of former President J. R. Jayewardene, a long and stormy chapter in recent Sri Lankan political history came to an end.
Mr. Jayewardene's whole political life was studded with controversy, as many people tried to dub him as an authoritarian ruler who denied the rights of the people on many occasions.
At the same time, some portray him as the local Machiavelli, but whatever is said about Mr. Jayewardene, he propelled Sri Lanka into a modern era after his landslide victory in 1977.
There are many things to the credit of this man who revolutionised the economy by introducing the free market concept.
In a span of sixty long years J.R. has brought credit to the country globally and put Sri Lanka on a firm footing in the eyes of the world community.
J.R. who was the last surviving member of the first Cabinet of Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake had his faults but devised his own political strategy to outwit his political opponents.
Many political analysts have criticised Mr. Jayewardene for stripping the civic rights of Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike in 1980, for his inaction during the past few days of the 1983 July holocaust, conducting a referendum to extend the life of Parliament in 1982, the incarceration of Vijaya Kumaratunga soon after the 1982 Presidential elections and the introduction of the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution in 1983 to shut out Tamil parties from Parliament.
When one weighs the good and bad of the late J.R. the alleged political blunders mentioned alone did not permit one from denying him a fitting funeral with full state and military honours.
It was unfortunate he was denied of honours that should have been accorded to a former President and a former Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.
At a special Cabinet meeting held soon after JR's death, the according of a state funeral was discussed at length.
Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake who was present at the Nawaloka Hospital soon after Mr. Jayewardene's death was informed of the UNP's design to accord a fitting funeral to the late leader. When asked about a day of national mourning, a holiday on the day of the cremation and military honours, Mr. Wickramanayake indicated that they were not matters, that he could decide on his own, and he would have to consult the Cabinet.
At the Cabinet meeting held on that Friday President Chandrika Kumaratunga did not speak in favour of according a state funeral to the late President.
But several ministers including Bernard Soysa and Dharmasiri Senanayake persuaded the President to agree to a state funeral.
However at the previous Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday October 30, prior to the death of JR, President Kumaratunga told the Cabinet that an important person from the UNP had contacted the government and wanted to know as to whether the government would accord a state funeral or a state-sponsored funeral for Mr. Jayewardene in the event of his death.
The President also told the Cabinet that this person in question wanted to know whether the government would allocate the Independence Square for the funeral.
After having said this the President looked at the Ministers who wanted a clarification.
"Is he dead?", one Minister asked.
"No he is very much alive."
"This is the UNP way. They want to kill him before he dies".
At this stage Minister Ashraff said "Please don't proceed any further with this discussion, because the person 'is alive'. This is what I am trying to say, that we should not speak about it."
"We are ready to give any thing".
Again Minister Ashraff said the government should sue the persons who had talked about this matter.
"They should be charged with attempted murder" he added. But at the Cabinet meeting held soon after the death of JR, things appeared to have changed.
The President reminded the Cabinet as to how Jayewardene harassed her late husband Vijaya Kumaratunga, having jailed him on a naxalite charge soon after the 1982 Presidential election. She indicated she was not in favour of a state funeral for JR.
But it is evident that soon after the naxalite controversy and the Mahara by-elections which was hotly contested by the UNP to prevent Vijaya Kumaratunga from getting into Parliament, the relationship between Mr. Jayewardene and Vijaya Kumaratunga improved.
In fact President Jayewardene asked him to contest Habaraduwa by-elections if he wished to from the SLFP, and said the UNP would field a weak candidate to enable him to be returned to Parliament.
But there had been numerous problems in the SLFP over the Habaraduwa constituency which was later contested by Ossie Abeygunasekera an erstwhile lieutenant of Vijaya Kumaratunga.
Ultimately the seat was once again secured by UNP's G.V.S. de Silva.
So improved were the relations between J.R. and Vijaya Kumaratunga, who at a later stage supported Mr. Jayewardene's efforts to solve the ethnic crisis.
When Mr. Kumaratunga was incarcerated on a naxalite charge Ranil Wickremesinghe and Gamini Dissanayake also intervened.
Mr. Jayewardene, after listening to Mr. Wickremesinghe softened his stand and agreed to discuss the matter further. Subsequently after a meeting with Chandrika Kumaratunga, the President released Vijaya.
But all these events came into play in the final moments of JR's life last week, when the UNP requested for a state funeral with full military honours.
The request was made by the chief funeral organiser and former Minister John Amaratunge.
He requested the Home Ministry that President Jayewardene be given full military honours as he had been Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces for twelve years.
Home Ministry officials who were in touch with Mr. Amaratunge regarding the funeral arrangements, claimed they forwarded the necessary papers to the Defence Ministry, but there was no response.
All efforts by the UNP to contact Defence Ministry officials failed. Defence Secretary Chandananda de Silva was not contactable and the UNP felt he was dodging.
However, the UNP found that the military was ready with artillery to accord a gun salute to the late President but there were no instructions from the hierarchy to go ahead.
Even some of the messages of condolence received from various parts of the world had allegedly not been passed on to members of the Jayewardene family.
In the absence of the government sponsorship on many matters, Mr. Jayewardene's electorate responded in its own fashion. The people came in their thousands to pay homage to a leader who led the country from an economic quagmire to prosperity and to salute the man who dominated the Sri Lankan political arena for nearly six decades.
The farewell given by the people to Mr. Jayewardene was more fitting than any thing the state could accord. Eventually it is the people that matter more than artillery gun fire or gun carriages. Finally, he ended life's journey from where he started his political life - the ancient Kelani City, on the banks of the river Kelani which is sacred to Buddhists as a place where Lord Buddha had set foot.
Apart from the controversy over Mr. Jayewardene's funeral, the most significant event of the week was the third Budget of the PA Government.
The UNP Parliamentary group which met before the Budget decided it should vote against the Budget in view of the ever increasing cost of living.
UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at this meeting thanked all MPs and others who participated and took an active role in Mr. Jayewardene's funeral arrangements. He also thanked the Cabinet Ministers of the PA Government who co-operated with the UNP in making the arrangements. Another significant move was the directive sent out to the UNP MPs to come in white to Parliament as a mark of respect to their late leader.
They also did not attend the traditional Budget tea party accorded by the Deputy Finance Minister G. L. Pieris in Parliament.
The PA Government group also met on Monday, to discuss matters relating to the Budget, but the response was poor and only a few members participated.
The meeting was addressed by some officials, including BOI chief Tilan Wijesinghe. Leader of the House Ratnasiri Wickramanayake who addressed the gathering went off early to attend the funeral of Mr. Jayewardene.
Thereafter Minister G. L. Pieris was to address the meeting, but he had to put off his address since only a few members were present.
President Chandrika Kumaratunga also addressed the meeting and spoke about delegating some of the powers of the Cabinet Ministers to the Deputy Ministers.
She said there were allegations that powers had not been delegated to Deputy Ministers. She said she had done this successfully in her Ministries with Jeyaraj Fernandopulle being delegated with powers to handle matters as her Deputy Minister.
The President said there were widespread allegations that she was not working enough. People in the villages were not making such allegations and those were being levelled against her by a handful of people in urban areas.
"I could have gone everywhere with a project similar to Gam Udawa, like Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva's 'Jana Udawa' she said. However she was not interested in glamorous functions and ceremonies to promote herself by spending millions in public funds.
As far as the delegation of powers is concerned she called upon the Ministers to give more serious thought to it and get their deputies also to work as one team.
"I can see that Minister Dharmasiri Senanayake had done that," she said with a smile.
The President also expressed her concern over the growing protest over the sky-rocketing cost of living. She said the prices of rice and coconuts were high.
At this stage Minister Kingsley Wickremaratne said a kilo of rice was sold at Rs. 18 in the open market.
"Madam it is only Rs.18 a kilo".
"You will say that, when I checked, it was Rs. 28 a kilo and a coconut is sold at Rs. 12. I don't mind these prices but the poor people do," she said.
Several Ministers posed questions directed at PERC Chief Rajan Asirwatham regarding the arbitrary decision taken by the Shell Company to increase the price of cooking gas.
Mr. Asirwatham agreed it was a violation of one of the conditions agreed upon by the two parties when Ceylon Oxygen was privatised.
At this stage Minister Mahinda Rajapakse pointed out that if one party has violated the agreement, the agreement doesn't exist and the Government also could break the agreement.
In short Minister Rajapakse wanted to end the monopoly enjoyed by the Shell Company, but Mr. Asirwatham said they were to come in with more investments for the benefit of the country.
Many questions were also raised on the privatised Kotagala Plantations and the Oruwela Steel Corporation.
There are allegations that the Steel Corporation deal has gone well below the estimated value. It is revealed that the total assets are valued at around Rs. 3370 million. However, the government valuer has valued the factory at Rs.1250 million. But the sale price was Rs. 400 million much below the estimated value.
Officials however put the total value at Rs. 3370 million.
(i) Total value of the equipment and other accessories Rs 600 million.
(ii) Total value of the factory land and other assets Rs 2350 million.
(iii) Fixed deposits Rs. 300 million.
(iv) Other savings around Rs. 120 million.
PERC and the Government hold a different view. They believe that the Korean Company Hanjan will invest more and set up another plant in Sri Lanka. But there is no room at Oruwala for future expansion since the people in the area are already protesting over the hardships they have to undergo due to pollution.
From the government point of view it may have been a good idea to sell it even at a lesser price since they anticipate more investments from the Korean company, but from the workers' point of view it is a disaster for them though the new owners had assured them of continuity.
The Steel Corporation affair however has taken a back seat with the PA Government's third Budget presentation. The business community hailed the Budget as an investment-oriented one, while former Finance Minister Ronnie de Mel described it as a capitalist Budget.
The Budget however had not brought much relief to workers. In fact it has put the middle income earner in a difficult position by pruning over time hours and removing the flour subsidy which means that a loaf of bread will cost at least Rs. 12.
In a separate development the Speaker had written to the Inspector General of Police that the Police need not obtain prior approval from him to question MPs in connection with Police investigations. That means the Police will have a free hand now to investigate various allegations against MPs.
But the Government has apparently used this to gain political ends by questioning the leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe for nearly five hours on issues involving the Batalanda Commission.
Former Attorney General, President's Counsel Tilak Marapone was present with Mr. Wickremesinghe when the Police questioned him.
In the UNP, there appears to be a misunderstanding between General Secretary Gamini Athukorale and former Minister Nanda Mathew. It was over an interview given by Mr. Athukorale on the Jana Handa programme on TNL.
Mr. Athukorale while being interviewed on youth matters had allegedly said his predecessor had completely ignored the youth in the country.
Fortunately or unfortunately former Minister Mathew was also watching the programme on the TNL and being the former Minister in charge of youth affairs, thought that Mr. Athukorale's comments were unreasonable and damaging to him.
Mr. Mathew immediately telephoned UNP Chairman Karu Jayasuriya to complain about the matter. Mr. Jayasuriya who listened to Mr. Mathew told him not to get excited and that he would inform party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Thereafter Mr. Mathew called a director at the TNL and asked whether it was possible for him to be interviewed on the same programme to reply Mr. Athukorale.
The director told Mr. Mathew that it would not be possible next week since they had already decided on another programme. Mr. Mathew then said he was not in a hurry, but he would like to reply Mr. Athukorale through the same programme.
When Mr. Athukorale made his comments, many UNP MPs called Mr. Mathew and asked him whether it was an attack on him.
On Wednesday, UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe also called him and asked him not to rush into anything and that he would settle matters. But Mr. Mathew asked Mr. Athukorale about his interview in Parliament and Mr. Athukorale politely denied that he referred to Mr. Mathew, but at tea at the Opposition Leader's office he had some swipes at Mr. Athukorale.
At a post-Budget dinner hosted by Minister G.L. Pereis at Visumpaya, several journalists had an opportunity to talk to the President.
At this friendly chat, journalists pointed out some errors in the government press communique denying that the Board of the BOI was dissolved.
Referring to another para in the communique which says the newly appointed Board of directors.... the journalists asked as to how the government could appoint or re-appoint directors, if the earlier board was not asked to resign or had resigned on their own accord.
They also discussed matters relating to legal action filed by the government accusing newspaper editors of criminally defaming the President.
The President had said she was directly involved in the case against the Editor of The Sunday Times and Editor of the Lakbima.
She told another journalist how her son and daughter acted on a news item published in The Sunday Times on sexual abuse of children and asked her as to why the government was not taking action.
She said she promptly acted after her children alerted her on the matter.
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