President Chandrika Kumaratunga has ex pressed dissatisfaction over the work of certain Cabinet Ministers setting off speculation of another Cabinet re-shuffle in the New Year.
In an interview with state-run Rupavahini, the President came out strongly against the performance of some top officials, including Treasury Secretary B.C. Perera, and expressed dissatisfaction over the work done by some Ministers.
She referred to the locomotive tender, over which newspapers and other media had created some sensation in the country, and said that the officials involved in this matter were "corrupt".
The President said she had received complaints against these officials and inquired into the matter. She said that anybody with two cents worth of brains couldn't have given that report to the Cabinet.("kadala ata dekak tharamvath mole athnam")
The Cabinet subsequently took a decision contrary to that of the Cabinet Appointed Tender Board to rectify its grave mistake, the President said.
The onus is now on Treasury Secretary B.C. Perera to prove himself. The question that has arisen is as to whether he could continue as a responsible public officer.
Some Ministers feel the President had over stepped the limits in criticising public officers.
The Opposition UNP has taken up the position that B.C. Perera is an honest public officer whose name has been tarnished unfairly. Irrespective of what President Kumaratunga says, the UNP is planning to launch a barrage of attacks this year through a no-confidence motion and a people's petition to impeach the President.
Referring to the Commissions of Inquiries, the President was critical of the Attorney General too.
She said though she had written thrice to the Attorney General about the findings of the Vijaya Kumaratunga Assassination Commission, he had failed to reply.
But one should take into consideration that present Attorney General Sarath N. Silva headed the Vijaya Assassination Commission in his capacity as a judge of the Supreme Court.
Possibly Attorney General Sarath Silva found it difficult to act on his own report since it involved a question of ethics.
Apparently the Attorney General has referred these matters to Solicitor General Upawansa Yapa who has responded to each of these letters.
In all probability, the Presidential Secretariat may not have briefed her adequately on those matters, high officials of the Attorney General's Department, told this column.
They went on to say that little could be done as far as the Vijaya Kumaratunga assassination is concerned since almost all the key people mentioned in the report are dead. The AG could take some action only against several police officers for negligence of duty and that is being attended to by officials of the Department.
The AG's Department is also taking action on the report of the Lalith Athulathmudali Assassination Commission and police statements are recorded from several suspects against whom criminal charges are being contemplated.
On top of this, the AG's Department is inundated with reports submitted by Commissions dealing with disappearances and police reports under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
One senior officer said the department had filed more than 800 indictments in the High Court of Colombo under the PTA during 1997.
"All this involves a lot of work and we feel that the President's allegation has no basis. All what we can see is that the President is not properly briefed on the developments and the progress we have made," he said.
At the same time some feel that she had come out with these replies on the spur of the moment.
Soon after the interview, Rupavahini Chairman D.E.W. Gunasekara who was present throughout the two hour-long session at the Temple Trees conference hall, walked up to the President and said very mildly: "Madam you lost your temper''.
"That's true DEW. Otherwise people will think that I am not taking any action against those who were responsible for crimes. In Sinhala she said : "Mang miniha mara gaththa kiyala kiyay"
At the same time she came out strongly against Maharajas. "They are spreading stories that they meet me for lunch quite often. I have seen them only once.'' She alleged and told Mr. Gunasekara that these baseless stories should be refuted.
The President's interview with the state television which was titled ''Jana Mandali'' was scheduled to be telecast at 11.00 am but the President was 25 minutes behind schedule.
At the controls were Rupavahini Director General W.D. Jayasinghe and Information Director Ariya Rubesinghe monitoring the questions they receive over the phone.
They directed, it is said, only a few questions from outsiders. Many of the questions were posed by Mr Rubesinghe.
Though two telephone numbers were given to the general public to direct their questions, the people who manned the programme did not put them through to the President. Instead, they recorded the questions and re-phrased them to suit the requirement.
Subsequently the question was asked over the phone by Mr. Rubesinghe who at the end of the programme asked the President, "Madam could you recognise my voice?"
Interviewer Palitha Perera was stunned by what Mr. Rubesinghe said. But the interview was conducted in such a manner that the audience would not get the impression that it was not all what it was made out to be. To be fair by the government, the interviewer and the so called ''listeners'' asked some relevant questions and the President replied them with confidence.
In fact she answered the questions in a manner acceptable, even to all ordinary villagers.
She used the common man's language blended with coloquial phrases which are easily understood by villagers.
If one takes the interviewer at face value, the President achieved what she wanted. She put her message across to the people succinctly.
She appeared so satisfied with the interview and her answers that she told the organisers, "all went on well, isn't that so" ("Wade hondhata giya nedha?").
The President said, "we must have an English programme too. These questions are different".
The President had a number of post cards in her hand where people had written to her asking questions on various political and social issues. In order that the TV audience had the impression that many more than the actual number of questions had been received the organisers placed the letters in such a way that the viewers get the impression that there had been a very good response from the people.
At times during the interview, Palitha Perera, the TV presenter received specific instructions from the organisers to direct the attention of the President elsewhere if they felt that the President was straying into problem areas.
D.E.W. Gunasekara gave these instructions and during short breaks he told Mr. Perera what he should not ask the President.
However, independent observers say the President indirectly conceded that the government is corrupt, when she said that public officials were corrupt.
They say that the whole government machinery runs on the public service and it is the responsibility of the political authority to weed out corrupt officials.
They also say they see no justification in President coming out with this story, after three years in office.
However on this occasion the President did not refer to the number of files she has in her possession against the previous regime.
But she emphasized that the UNP was not supporting her endeavour to end the ethnic crisis through a political solution.
She also charged that the UNP was not behaving as a responsible opposition, in helping the government to sort out national issues.
But now, the latest reports indicate that the UNP is planning to put forward alternative proposals before the end of February.
The party has already called for views from various people, including Parliamentarians, as to what they should do.
Some MPs, including W. J. M. Loku Bandara and Sarath Kongahage, had sent in their proposals and the others are yet to do so.
Though the UNP is trying to put forward alternative proposals with the idea of dragging the Select Committee proceedings on constitutional reforms, the government is obviously not prepared to do so. Instead it will look at the UNP's proposals with an open mind and would try to accommodate them if they fall within the ambit of proper devolution.
Besides, submitting alternative proposals, the UNP's main thrust this year would be an anti-corruption drive.
In the process, it is likely to ask former Minister Wijeyapala Mendis to step down with a promise of giving him some post.
To counter the UNP's move, the government is planning to move the resolution to strip Mr. Mendis of his civic rights as early as possible.
The government also plans to take the vote by name to show the country those opposing action against corrupt elements.
Mr. Mendis was found guilty by the Special Presidential Commission appointed by the government to go into the malpractices by the previous regime.
Apart from this, the government also plans to bring in tough legislation to crack down on ragging in Universities.
Minister Richard Pathirana deeply concerned about the two deaths from ragging told Cabinet colleagues that stringent action was necessary to curb the menace.
President Kumaratunga also spoke of the need to bring in such legislation in the face of growing public anger over such incidents in universities and higher education institutions.
The Cabinet also discussed a problem over a consignment of urea in the Colombo Port, containing "Bi-urate", in excess of stipulated percentage.
After an investigation carried out by the Ceylon Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, it was found that this consignment of fertilizer does not meet the required technical specifications stipulated by the state and it could be harmful to the plantations.
At present the warehouses in which this fertilizer is stored had been sealed and the President had directed Minister D. M. Jayaratne to call in the CID to conduct further investigations.
The Minister also made various remarks on the Galle Port expansion project.
The President had said in Galle that she had directed Ports Minister M.H.M. Ashraff to cancel the tender already awarded to UK-China consortium if they fail to produce positive results within a month.
But Mr. Ashraff is likely to present a Cabinet paper asking for an extension of three months since he feels that some significant progress has been made in getting potential Ministers to make it a reality.
Meanwhile, another problem looms in the PA as a result of the death of Minister Bernard Soysa, the veteran LSSPer.
Many prominent members of the LSSP are of the opinion that they should not accept the ministerial portfolio allocated to them which fell vacant following the death of Minister Soysa.
LSSP General Secretary Batty Weerakoon had expressed this opinion when he met the PA General Secretary D. M. Jayaratne to finalise the funeral plans.
However stories doing the political beat in Colombo indicate that Athauda Seneviratne is tipped to be elevated to Cabinet rank to enable a closer rapport with the LSSP. But some LSSPers say the politburo is likely to take a decision against accepting ministerial portfolio and it would apply to all.
If this happens, some insiders believe that Mr. Seneviratne would cross over to the SLFP and probably contest the Provincial Council elections as the chief ministerial candidate of Sabaragamuwa, if and when elections are held.
While the PA is planning to spread its wings over the provinces at the PC elections, the Tamil parties are more concerned about the elections in the Jaffna peninsula.
The two prominent parties in the fray are the EPDP and the PLOTE, while the EPRLF is keeping a low profile.
At present, according to Army's Civilian Administration branch and the Jaffna Kachcheri, the population in Jaffna is close upon 500,000 of whom nearly 240,000 are eligible voters.
But according to the 1983 census, Jaffna has a voter population of really 500,000 and the government is keen to maintain this number for future purposes.
The actual population in 1983 was about 850,000 but considerable percentage of this population is either displaced or migrated due to the war.
Notwithstanding this ground situation the government is trying to maintain the voter population figure as close as possible to 500,000.
Though the government is trying to use this as the official figure, many public officials in Jaffna had expressed opposition on the ground that the actual number of voters is much less than the number the government projects.
The other problem faced by election officials in Jaffna is to find the required number of officials and vehicles to conduct the elections.
If the elections are to be held in one day the Election Commissioner's Department would need at least 500 vehicles and 2,000 officials. This appears to be a difficult task as things stand.
A top US delegation comprising three advisers serving the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are due here this week.
The objective of the delegation is to assist the government to find a just and fair solution to the ethnic crisis.
As a part of this programme the new US Ambassador Shaun Donnelly will spend more time encouraging a closer dialogue between the two major parties in Sri Lanka, the UNP and the SLFP.
This is the third US delegation arriving in Sri Lanka within two months. The first was headed by US Assistant Secretary of State for South-Eastern Affairs who accompanied one time Deputy Chief of Mission in Colombo Steve Mann.
This was followed by a visit by a US Senator on December 5.
The delegation arriving here this week will hold talks with major political parties and minority Tamil parties including the TULF, EPDP, PLOTE, EROS, EPRLF and the TELO.
The delegation will also meet Ministers G.L. Peiris, Lakshman Kadirgamar and UNP leaders.
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