The Political Column

1st March 1998

CID turns gun on Lake House

By our Political Correspondent

Harassing journalists appears to have become a disturbing trend these days.

It started with the attack on 'The Sunday Times' Consultant Editor Iqbal Athas and now seems to be trickling down to other newspapers.

The latest victims are from Lake House, the flagship of the state media.

Two of its journalists, Keerthi Mendis and Prasanna Fonseka, were grilled by the CID over an article published in the Silumina a week ago.

The two journalists who toured the plantations had investigated LTTE infiltration there and wrote a story in the Silumina warning of an extension of Eelam.

The story was based on information obtained by the journalists but it seems to have infuriated a government politico.

Deputy Minister P. Chandrasekaran, who leads the Up Country People's Front, had raised objections to the story, leading to the CID inquiry.

The two journalists were questioned for three days even after the Silumina 's Associate Editor Daya Lankapura had told the CID that he was taking full responsibility for the report.

The grilling by the CID has raised eyebrows and caused concern among the Lake House journalists. They feel the CID is seeking sources of information in violation of a cardinal precept in journalism. The two Silumina journalists in line with their principle, are refusing to disclose their sources.

Then the CID allegedly questioned the driver of the vehicle in which the journalists travelled to get at the source. Journalists say this is a blatant violation of ethics and an infringement on their fundamental rights.

The Editors' Guild which met on Wednesday discussed the issue and expressed grave concern.

The editors are seeking more details before taking further steps to protect the journalists.

Some Lake House employees are also organising a protest this week to coincide with the annual general meeting of the group, and some employees say the Lake House Board is not properly constituted since the government has not appointed a Finance Director.

Meanwhile, other reports say the government may seek to re-constitute it.

Besides this, the President is also said to have been perturbed over an article written in our sister newspaper Lankadeepa by Columnist "Rasin".

The article analyses about the talents of President Kumaratunga and UNP Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The columnist claimed management skills were more with the Opposition leader who had inherited it from his family. It went on to say that the President on the other hand had courage and determination which were better suited to a leader in the Opposition. The President is reported to have gone as far as getting a translation done to study the article closely.

Soon after a tirade followed and the wrath of Lake House leader writer fell on "Rasin". In another development President Kumaratunga made use of the private and state electronic media to launch an attack on the Opposition and its key figures.

Minutes before the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, the electronic media were invited by Temple Trees to be present there with necessary equipment.

Accordingly, the Rupavahini, MTV, ITN and the Swarnavahini crews were seen at the Temple Trees lawn, close to the main entrance. The President who was about to go for the Cabinet meeting chose the location and asked the Rupavahini crew leader Chandrasekara to pose a question.

When Mr. Chandrasekara asked the question she said it was not the exact thing she wanted and coined the question herself. She then told Mr. Chandrasekara to go ahead with the question and he did.

The question related to the Time Magazine interview where she said she was prepared to give 5-10 years of administration in the North to the LTTE if it laid down arms and joined the mainstream.

The President replied the question with a scathing attack on the UNP, referring specifically to Mr. Wickremesinghe, General Secretary Gamini Atukorale and former Minister Ronnie de Mel.

She explained that she had made the offer when the PA government was holding talks with LTTE during their eight-month long ceasefire. Ms. Kumaratunga said the then President J.R. Jayewardene made a similar offer to the LTTE at the Bangalore talks with Rajiv Gandhi and asked where these UNP politicians were at that time.

Her attack was centered on Ranil Wickremesinghe who had accused the government of violating the British brokered bilateral agreement by not consulting the UNP on the ban on the LTTE.

The President's interview which went on for about seven minutes indicated she preferred the electronic media to the print media in putting the case to the people.

Another significant development is the talks US embassy political attache had with representatives of the Tamil parties in Jaffna.

The talks took place at the 512 Brigade Headquarters at Gnanam Hotel, Jaffna in the presence of Brigadier Susantha Mendis. There, a PLOTE spokesman Jegan told the US diplomats that the US ban on the LTTE had retarded the process of negotiating a political settlement to the current problem.

The diplomat said the US had found the LTTE to be a terrorist organisation and criticism now could be of little use.

An EPRLF representative asked the US to use its good offices to bring about a negotiated settlement.

The US political attache said that it all depended on Tamil political parties and it would be easier if all the parties could arrive at some consensus. Then, the US government could use its good offices . During the discussion Tamil leaders also asked for funds to launch development projects.

The diplomat promised to consider the request. But some political parties are of the view that the US should not get directly involved in the development of the Jaffna peninsula and assistance should be channelled through the central government.

One politician warned that if large sums of money went directly to Jaffna, it might cause suspicion and concern among the majority community.

More than that, Tamil parties were hopeful the government would take steps to hold Provincial Council elections in the North and East. They are optimistic and have even set up election offices in the areas to launch their campaign.

PLOTE leader D. Siddharthan was busy over the week-end trying to form an alliance of Tamil parties for the elections to prevent the SLMC from sweeping the board in the East because of a split among Tamil parties.

However Mr. Siddharthan has not made much progress. EPDP leader Douglas Devananda is among those who have rejected the idea. Among other matters, Mr. Devananda says the PLOTE's Jaffna mayoral candidate Manickkadasan has been attacking the EPDP.

However, analysts say that whatever alliance the former militants form, the TULF is still likely to emerge as the largest single party at the PC elections.

The TULF is known to have a good vote bank in the East, specially because of the work done by Joseph Pararajasingham. The TULF is also strong in Mannar. Many analysts feel the TULF and the SLMC are likely to form the North-Eastern government if elections are held.

The SLMC is likely to join a moderate Tamil political party to form the government if it emerges strong in the East.

In contrast to this, the PLOTE and the EPDP are strong in Vavuniya and in the islands north of Jaffna respectively. But this may not give them a big say in the North-Eastern Provincial Council.

That's probably why Mr. Siddharthan is keen to forge an alliance and register it as a political party immediately. Provincial Councils Minister Alavi Moulana is reported to have told Tamil parties on Thursday that the election would not be held for the North and the East. But there has been no official communication still and the Tamil parties are still hopeful.

The government's problem appears to be more complicated. If elections are held in the north-east and if the provincial council functions effectively, then it poses a question mark over the devolution proposals.

It appears that the government has changed its timetable on the package and the proposed non-binding referendum on account of the present political climate and is trying to gauge its popularity in the South by holding elections to five PCs now held by the UNP.

Meanwhile the SLMC in a move seen as a hand of friendship to the TULF, recently honoured the TULF leader M. Sivasithamparam at events to mark the SLMC's 10th anniversary.

Mr. Sivasithamparam who participated in a special function, was conferred with the title of "Veerasingham" (brave lion) by SLMC leader M. H. M. Ashraff.

All this might pay dividends for Mr. Ashraff if and when the PC elections are held in the north and east.

However, Mr. Ashraff is under fire these days after threatening to burn the Thinakaran newspaper of the Lake House Group. The Editors Guild has expressed concern over this though Mr. Ashraff insists he has the democratic right to buy any newspaper and burn it so long as no force is used.

Meanwhile, the government is worried about the islanwide campaign launched by the UNP, starting with last week's meeting in Galle to collect a people's petition against the PA. Though UNP officials are jubilant about the turnout, most independent observers say it cannot be interpreted as a swing towards the main opposition party.

At the same time, others ask whether the UNP is losing touch with the common people, pointing out that a UNP leader at the Galle rally had spoken about the price of seer fish which is known to be a rich man's delicacy these days.

They say questions about Balaya or Kelawalla (Tuna) would have been more appropriate.

The UNP also ran into some political minefields at Eppawela, when thugs smashed up a stage where the party was to hold a meeting on Thursday to protest against the plan to hand over the area's rich phosphate deposits to a foreign company.

In the UNP itself there is discontent over the prevailing situation in the party, and at the same time there appears to be excitement over our last week's political column under the headline "Roma for India and Hema for Lanka".

Soon after, The Sunday Times hit the streets, the Premadasas came under pressure to deny the story from at least one well known personality.

He lobbied all round to have the story denied but failed. And he may try it again this week, when we mention about the desire of Milinda Moragoda to contest from the Colombo Central area of course in place of Hema Premadasa. Mr. Moragoda is confident he would be backed by former deputy mayor Maharoof in the multi ethnic area but he has to wait for the "greenlight" from the leader.

At the Cabinet meeting Thursday, a notable feature was a change in the seating arrangements. Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte appeared to be displeased. According to the new arrangement the head table could accommodate six senior Ministers including the Premier.

At the discussions that followed the Wijeyapala Mendis' civic rights issue surfaced again with Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Jeyaraj Fernandopulle urging the Cabinet to move fast on the matter.

The Ministers also discussed about the bumper paddy harvest expected from the Rajarata area and how buffer stocks could be preserved for the future.

While Agriculture Minister D. M. Jayaratne explained how he intended to do it, the President too was keen to find ways to keep the stocks for a longer period.

A team from the Presidential Secretariat is also working on this matter.

Minister Batty Weerakoon suggested that latest technical know-how should be used to preserve the paddy stocks and said it could be done by using x-rays, but the President said that it may have ill-effects.

The President also referred to the lead story in last Sunday's Lakbima.

Claiming it was a lie, she said the story regarding the plight of some 1.8 million farmers should be referred to the Press Council.

The Lakbima report said that the farmers were unable to sell their paddy and might have to take poison.

In another development, Speaker K. B. Ratnayake found himself without his belongings in a luxury hotel in a Malaysian Island.

The Speaker who travelled to Malaysia to attend a conference, was robbed by an intruder in the early hours one day when he was fast asleep.

Mr. Ratnayake's security officer was occupying the adjoining room at the time of the incident. The following morning the Speaker's brief case was found on the beach sans the travellers cheques.

Amidst all these, the SLFP group meeting too was held, but since the President was late most members left except for a few who waited till about 9.00 pm.

At the meeting, members discussed political victimisation during 1977-1984 period and Hambantota district member Mahinda Amaraweera made a strong appeal. The President told them to prepare a report but later a committee was appointed by the Cabinet to look into the problem. This meeting was only for SLFP MPs while a full PA group meeting has not been held for some time.

United Lalith Front MP Ravi Karunanayake has written to the Chief Whip Richard Pathirana in this regard.

Note: Tele Cine Limited has written to say it has no connection with the controversial documentary of the life of Upali Wijewardene as inadvertently referred to in these columns last Sunday. The documentary has been produced by another company with a similar name. The error is regretted.

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