Minister and Ceylon Workers’ Congress leader Saumyamoorthy Thondaman is once again in focus this time over his proposal to increase the cess levied from tea by fifty cents to facilitate the Plantation Housing and Social Welfare Scheme for estate workers.
Mr. Thondaman probably feels that through this proposal he could get plantation workers to rally round him again. But the government is not ready to play ball. Originally it was Plantations Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake who proposed a fifty cents levy on every kilo of tea exported, and for the money to be used for research and development of the industry. On Mr. Thondaman’s recommendation, the Cabinet last November decided on a one rupee levy - 50 cents for research and 50 cents for the welfare of estate workers. But earlier this month, the President wrote to Mr. Thondaman saying it would not be fair to tax tea producers, including small holders for the welfare of workers. Instead it was suggested that some foreign funds be raised for estate welfare.
The Cabinet had agreed to increase the cess by one rupee on November 20, 1996 of which 50 cents was to be directed to the Plantation Housing and Social Welfare Trust to implement an accelerate programme of housing improvement for estate workers. It was later deferred at the Cabinet meeting on January 15, on a note submitted by Minister Wickramanayake.
Minister Thondaman objected and urged the Cabinet to reconsider the matter.
But President Kumaratunga in a letter to him has said implementation of his proposal could trigger widespread anti- Thondaman sentiment and also hurt the interests of the government.
In reply Mr. Thondaman has said criticism is nothing new to him. But some CWC officials believe the letter from the President is a warning that he must fall in with government policy.
More than anything the government seems to be perturbed over the manner in which plantation workers voted at the local elections in March. This was evident when Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte told two CWC Parliamentarians of the government’s concern over voting pattern on the estates in the March 21 elections.
When the two MPs related this at the CWC head office an estate leader told them that they should have had the courage to tell Mr. Ratwatte that if the government failed to meet the aspirations of estate workers, there would be a bigger protest vote at the next election.
Now the CWC is mapping out strategy on how to respond to the crisis over the cess.
While all this took place largely, backstage, the national spotlight for the week was on the PA meeting held at the Tangerine Beach Hotel in Kalutara to all MPs and organisers a full awareness of the draft constitution including devolution package.
Originally, the seminar was scheduled to be held at Dolphin Beach Hotel in Waikkal but it was shifted to Tangerine for security reasons.
Among the main organisers were Ministers Jeyaraj Fernandopulle and Mangala Samaraweera. On the surface, the seminar was successful in that all PA MPs endorsed the draft constitution. None opposed when the President told the audience categorically that anyone who opposed it should get up and speak now.
One Parliamentarian told this column we all got up when we were asked to get up and sat down when we were asked to do so. But some MPs were evidently not happy with some proposals, he said.
The MP said he knew that some members had reservations about ambiguous provisions in the land policy - what could be under the regions and the role of the centre.
He said though the draft was endorsed unanimously, there were many reservations which were not expressed. However he acknowledged that the President was smart in getting the package approved without any opposition. Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake who initially opposed the devolution package presided over the inaugural sessions. When President Chandrika Kumaratunga arrived at the venue around 10.00 a.m. he invited her to speak on the package.
The President spoke for nearly 90 minutes outlining the package and the circumstances that led to it.
President Kumaratunga recalled the long history of devolution and how she witnessed her father (late Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike) tear up the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact because of political pressure with some monks shouting outside their home.
The President traced the long history of the Dravidians and the Aryans and expressed the view that Dravidian history in Sri Lanka could be as long as the Aryans, if not before.
She said that there was historical evidence for this. Spelling out her solution to the ethnic crisis, the President said there was no other way than by implementing the package.
She said, “We can’t go on like this without solving this burning question”.
The only way is devolution, she said, to correct decades of injustices caused to Tamils.
They are a committed lot, she said and added that her intention was to find a fair and just solution where Tamils also could live in this country with dignity.
The President said when her party the SLFP leaned towards communal politics in this country she fought against those elements in the party. She recalled that at one stage she had to leave the party because of her progressive ideas that communal politics could only bring about disaster to this country.
She said that with the help of some left oriented politicians she managed to defeat the communal members in the SLFP and started talking about finding a just solution to the ethnic conflict.
At the Presidential Election campaign, she said she directly told the country of the need for a permanent solution to the ethnic problem.
After the President’s speech, Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte spoke on the theme of war and peace, outlining the government’s military effort to restore normalcy in the country. Gen. Ratwatte said war and peace efforts should go concurrently, so that the country could see peace in a short time.
He said the political solution was essential but emphasised they should continue the war against the LTTE which was not willing to come to the negotiating table.
“We can win this war,” Gen. Ratwatte declared amidst applause.
Parliamentarian Felix Perera suggested the country be put on a war footing and all resources channelled towards the war effort even temporarily stopping development projects in the south.
But Maithripala Sirisena was among those who opposed such a move.
If we create such a situation the whole country would be compelled to think on communal terms which could bring in severe repercussions, he warned. President Kumaratunga replying said that this was not a war with another country but a civil war.
She reminded the MPs that they all were sitting on a volcano covered with sand. “The peaceful atmosphere which we are in today is fragile and it might burst at any moment,” she said. “Our sincere effort is to prevent such a disaster.”
The President told the MPs how she monitered the situation and prevented looting and other acts of vandalism when the Dehiwala bomb went off about one year ago. The President also took some monks to task referring to a sermon made by the Ven. Sobitha Thera on the occasion of the birthday of Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte. The President’s complaint was that the monk had apparently expressed his sentiments which could be classified as communal.
A Muslim parliamentarian however told the gathering that obtaining the greenlight of the Maha Sangha is of paramount importance and reminded the audience that they could not go ahead with this solution without the blessings of the Maha Sangha.
At this stage, Ediriweera Premaratne said that with the package they should not sideline the Sangha and found fault with the people who took the Maha Sangha to task while thanking the Muslim MP for his views on the Sangha.
Minister Richard Pathirana who interjected, challenged Mr. Premaratne to name the person who blamed the Sangha for their alleged communal attitude. Minister Mahinda Rajapakse said that it was not necessary to do so since everybody there knew who made those remarks.
Mr. Premaratne who threatened to divulge the name however held back after the intervention of Minister Rajapakse but Minister Mangala Samaraweera said that while a section of the Buddhist monks were supporting the package, some others were opposing it.
This drew some criticism from the audience but the matter came to an end when attention was directed to another subject.
Many Parliamentarians including the Lands Minister D. M Jayaratne posed questions regarding land alienation. These were not sufficiently dealt with by the chair. Mr. Jayaratne’s argument was that the disability imposed on the centre to acquire land from other regions would virtually lead to a cessation of regions.
Minister Rajapakse also posed similar questions but some Parliamentarians felt that the responses were too vague and ambiguous.
When the seminar was in progress Minister Kingsley Wickramaratne asked as to whether someone could explain what this devolution package was all about. This angered many since the Minister posed this question after Minister G. L. Peiris took pains to explain what it was all about.
In another development Jayasena Rajakaruna, the MP who has been taken to task for not falling in line with the government policy on devolution spoke of the Sinhalese rights but some MPs got round him and managed to stop him. He said that he did not have any problem with the package with the merger of the North and the East. This was explained by Minister G. L. Peiris at length. He said that these proposals would avoid such amalgamation.
The President also made a significant remark during the lively debate. She said, there are number of reporters here and they could report back to the newspapers what happened here?
Finally the members sat in five committees to discuss various issues but most of them including area organisers opposed the new electoral system devised by the government whereby the number of elected representatives would be reduced to 96 while the rest of the Parliamentarians could be appointed on a national PR basis. Minister Peiris promised to discuss this matter when the Parliamentary Select Committee meets again on September 22.
On the evening of the second day of the seminar the President was present once again to monitor the progress. She got the House to approve the devolution package. Nobody opposed it and no questions were raised. Everybody approved the package without a hum. The government has taken this as a victory. But it is uncertain what is in store when the package comes to Parliament.
What is strange however is that the package has been okayed by the group without even discussing one of the most sensitive issues - the size of the unit. The group was not told whether there could be one council or two councils for the North East, or whether part of the Ampara electorate would be exercised and attached to Sinhala areas. Therefore, what happened in Kalutara shows the command and control that President Kumaratunga has over the Parliamentary Group. Indeed it is felt in certain quarters that after the recent Cabinet reshuffle she has been able to silence a lot of dissenting voices.
Now the question is “What next?” Would the government go for a non-binding referendum? The idea of a non-binding referendum has been in the air for quite a long time, and now perhaps, it is taking some concrete shape. There is no doubt that a non-binding referendum would be a success because as some political observers point out it is almost certain that the UNP will not enter the fray, and this means a walkover for the government. It is unlikely that the MEP and the JVP could muster any effective opposition without the active participation of the UNP. But as a government Minister pointed out, the government has only one serious reservation - whether a non-binding referendum might give a section of the Sangha who are opposed to the package an opening. None could guess or gauge at this moment what shape and form such a move will finally take. The government is convinced that a non-binding referendum would be a thumping success, but to what extent would the MEP and the Sangha who are opposed to the package be able to whip up sufficient opposition is anybody’s guess.
The idea of a non-binding referendum is to demonstrate possibly, to the UNP and the international community that the people, by far and large, are for the package.
It is interesting to note that the endorsement for the proposals is only from the SLFP MPs and organisers. UNP’s A.C.S. Hameed inquired when Minister G. L. Peiris announced to the Select Committee the government’s intention to release the second instalment of the proposals, whether the proposals had the approval of the constituent parties or whether they would be released as proposals of the SLFP.
Dr. Peiris replied that it would be the proposals of the government and would have Cabinet endorsement.
But the endorsement has come now from the SLFP, because the two hundred persons who filled the hall at the Tangerine Hotel and gave the greenlight were SLFP MPs and organisers.
It is already announced that Minister Ashraff and Minister Thondaman are not for the electoral changes that have been announced an even when some SLFP organisers made some moves about the envisaged electoral system knocking them out of the running, the President tried to downplay the issue by saying not to worry, it could be changed. Mr. Ashraff was meanwhile organising the Holy Prophet Mohammed’s Birthday Celebrations in Addalaichchenai on a national scale. These celebrations, it was hoped, would also help arrest the gradual decline of the Muslim Congress’ influence in the Eastern Province. President Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike were to grace the occasion. The celebrations no doubt would be a success but it is very unlikely that it would be like the first Muslim Congress Conference which Mr. Ashraff had immediately after this government came into office.
Mr. Ashraff faces stiff opposition in certain quarters with regard to his proposal - for a separate council for the Muslims in the predominantly Muslim areas in the Ampara District. It will be difficult for Mr. Ashraff now to retract. The proposed council is a trimmed version of his original proposal which provided some sort of accommodation for Muslims in the Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Mannar and Jaffna Districts. Mr. Thondaman, it is said, would call for maximum powers to the proposed Regional Councils. Therefore the situation still is not quite clear and many important questions still remain to be resolved after the presentation of the package in Parliament.
Within the UNP circles there appears to be a certain amount of discontent over the “Prathiba Pranama” ceremony organised to felicitate Anura Bandaranaike.
Many have expressed their views over the matter. Some think that Mr. Bandaranaike is too junior in the UNP to be felicitated in this manner. But the UNP has no movement in the felicitation ceremony other than the UNP leader being billed to speak at the main function at the BMICH.
UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe’s views on the felicitation are not known but certainly would not wish to make it another “Premadasa Centre” affair or to hurt his good friend Anura Bandaranaike. Others have expressed their views privately on the matter including General Secretary Gamini Atukorale.
However, Mr. Bandaranaike had overcome these problems and is going ahead with the ceremony. The ceremony which is likely to be the launching pad for his future political activities, has been planned by a special committee comprising Mr. Bandaranaike’s friends, who have no political affiliation either to the UNP or the PA.
Mr. Bandaranaike will also release a book on the day of the felicitation on his political career spanning twenty years.
At the end of the felicitation ceremony, Mr. Bandaranaike is scheduled to launch a Lalith Athulathmudali style campaign where he will attend district level seminars, obviously to raise himself to the status of a national level leader. But the fear among some UNPers is as to whether Mr. Bandaranaike is trying to overtake the present leadership with his swift take off.
However others think that Mr. Wickremesinghe is well established and could face minor tremors such as this, at least until the next year’s Provincial Council elections.
At the same time it is unlikely that Mr. Bandaranaike would pose a threat to Mr. Wickremesinghe’s leadership though some of Mr. Bandaranaike’s followers are obviously waiting for such a scenario.
Meanwhile when some top politicians in the government had expressed their doubts about the arrival of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto for the felicitation ceremony through their official organ the Ceylon Daily News, Mr. Bandaranaike has moved to invite his sister, President Kumaratunga for the ceremony.
The invitation which was handed over to Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike was immediately despatched to Temple Trees through a special Police messenger, but the President has so far not responded favourably to it. Instead the President took off to London with her two children on a private trip.
At the same time it is likely that most of the PA Ministers will keep away from the ceremonies connected with Mr. Bandaranaike’s felicitation.
In fact when Ms. Bandaranaike asked some Ministers to attend a lunch she would be hosting for Benazir Bhutto, most of them, it is reported, have backed out giving various excuses. But Minister G.L. Peiris is likely to attend if he gets permission from President Kumaratunga.
Besides these, talking point among the UNP Working Committee members is the verbal clash between former Minister A.M.S. Adikari and Charitha Ratwatte which took place at the previous Working Committee meeting at Sirikotha.
Many believe that Mr. Adikari was set up by another powerful personality in the UNP who did not want to see Mr. Ratwatte emerging as general secretary or chairman of the party.
At the same time members pose the question as to how Mr. Adikari was allowed to move a resolution proposing that the UNP should open three bank accounts for party funds when he is not a full member of the Working Committee.
According to members of the UNP Working Committee, Mr. Adikari is only an adviser to the Working Committee and is not entitled to full privileges. They believe Mr. Adikari had obtained the prior consent of the General Secretary to move this resolution.
In any event it will not be an easy path for Mr. Ratwatte in finding his way to the higher echelons of the UNP. He will have to improve his PR techniques and change his attitude towards the older members if he wishes to move up in the party’s administration.
With all these internal upheavals in the present quickening of political tempo the UNP must get its act together quickly, if it is not provide a clear passage and smooth sailing for President Kumaratunga and her government.
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