The Political Column

15th March 1998

Clean-up begins at home

By our Political Correspondent

During the next few weeks the UNP will be pushed to take a crucial decision with regard to the motion in Parliament to strip Wijeyapala Mendis of his civic rights. This issue has been in the air for several months and there has been a debate or dispute inside the party as to what it should do. Opinions differ. Some MPs feel the UNP should vote for the motion, whilst some others maintain that to do so will be suicidal because the government could then be able to tell the country that the UNP has admitted that its regime was corrupt. The same group argues that such a development would help the government at a time when an increasing number of stories are emerging about corruption in the government.

A small group of MPs are of the view there should be a free voice. A decision to this effect, if taken, would be significant because the party has never allowed a free vote in its history. Some feel that this may be a risky precedent because members might ask for a free vote on other crucial issues also.

The UNP has not taken a public position on the Commissions appointed by the government, unlike the SLFP when it condemned the Commissions appointed by the UNP government, saying the party would not honour the findings of what it saw as a political exercise.

Those who are close to the leadership say each case must be judged according to its merits and demerits, but some do not seem to agree with this argument. They maintain that the party should take a decision and stand by it - either to support or to oppose - but to take case by case would be unfair. They point out that it is the principle that is involved, and Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle has pointed out that there are others who are guilty of the same offence that Wijeyapala Mendis is alleged to have committed. Therefore, things may not end with Mr. Mendis.

At the same time yet some others feel that the party should take a definite stand and vote against the resolution as a policy.

If the party chooses the option to vote against the resolution it would make a public statement that the Commissions appointed by the PA government are more of a political nature and not aimed at finding the truth.

However thereafter the UNP is planning to appoint a committee of its own comprising retired Supreme Court Judges acceptable to the country to go into the allegations made against Mr. Mendis.

Subsequently, the UNP Working Committee would be called upon to act accordingly depending on the findings of the committee.

But it is difficult to believe that Mr. Mendis would accept any of these options and step down. Mr. Mendis is rather adamant and would maintain his silence and challenge the party's decision at a later stage. Mr. Mendis' position is that he was a long standing member of the party and had made many sacrifices for it.

Mr. Mendis lost his only son Davindra recently after he was released on bail from the remand prison.

Davindra who was taken into custody following a shooting incident at Katunayake later committed suicide at his father's residence in Negombo.

The shocking incident took place when UNP supporters were decorating the Colombo-Negombo trunk road to hold a service at the Grand Street Church in Negombo to mark the Golden Jubilee of the UNP.

In a subsequent incident, several UNP supporters were shot dead by unidentified gunmen near the Negombo hospital. This preceded the death of Davindra.

After having suffered at the hands of his political supporters, Mr. Mendis is now trying to muster support from the party to defeat the resolution in Parliament and remain in the party as well.

He is already wielding some influence with the party's old guard who had helped bring the party back to office in 1965 and in 1977. Hence it would be difficult for the UNP to take a firm stand on the Mendis issue.

Apart from this, the UNP is facing a fresh problem with a member of UNP hardliners complaining that party information is being leaked out to government politicians, who in turn make use of it to sling mud.

They are demanding an immediate inquiry into the leaks.

In this context, the conduct of a young UNP MP who is moving closely with the government circles was the subject of a discussion among top UNPers.

Minister Richard Pathirana in a parliamentary speech had read out a full account of the UNP Working Committee proceedings to the shock of the UNP hardliners.

An inquiry is now underway to ascertain as to who had leaked out party information to government politicians.

On the plus side, the UNP has got a positive response on the Eppawala issue. The UNP committee appointed to brief foreign missions on the Eppawala attack and related issues, which led the UNP to boycott Parliament, received a good response from foreign missions.

The UNP handed over a memorandum to each foreign mission, giving details of violence unleased on opposition parties, by the government.

Though some missions have not taken the UNP seriously, others have expressed their concern over the matter.

The UNP team led by Mayor Karu Jayasuriya included Tyronne Fernando, Mahinda Samarasinghe and several others. They briefed heads of missions on various aspects.

When they met US diplomats they took up the Eppawala issue and said what they were demanding was a Select Committee to go into the issue. But they pointed out that they were not opposing the agreement between the government of Sri Lanka and the US Company.

The UNP delegation also promoted the idea of having election monitors for the forthcoming elections since they felt that the Police would not act independently on such occasions.

They also pointed out that a recent statement by the Elections Commissioner that he could not expect the Police to be 100% independent gave rise to this idea.

The UNPers also said moves were now underway to remove the Elections Commissioner and they were opposed to it.

The UNP also explained as to why it decided to boycott Parliament and said it was compelled to do so due to pressure from the rank and file who suffered at the hands of government thugs.

They pointed out they were under pressure to take some action and hence the boycott.

The UNP also talked of its alternative proposals and described them as best suited to the country.

It is likely that the UNP campaign to the diplomatic community will continue this week too.

At the same time UNP top rung member Charitha Ratwatte has summoned meetings of professional bodies to muster their support for the coming Provincial Council elections.

These meetings will be held at the official residence of the Colombo Mayor and are being conducted independently of the functions of the General Secretary Gamini Atukorale who will oversee the overall campaign.

As far as the Provincial elections are concerned the most pressing problem of the UNP is to find a suitable candidate to lead the Western Provincial Council list.

Though Colombo Mayor Karu Jayasuriya's name has been mentioned, it is yet to be finalised. But in any case, the UNP Chief Ministerial candidate for the WPC will face a hard time and a tough fight with the PA candidate since the Gampaha district is more inclined towards the People's Alliance. Will Mr. Jayasuriya take a plunge is a matter to ponder.

The PA, it appears, had already launched its campaign for the PC elections. The President's meeting in Kandy on March 6 could be described as a prelude to this.

She was in Kandy the whole day and made a visit to the Sri Dalada Maligawa where she met the Malwatte Mahanayake Thero in the Uda Maluwa.

The President then met some SLFP MPs at the President's Palace in Kandy (earlier known as the King's Pavilion).

She said the bungalow in Kandy, Temple Trees and the President's House in Colombo were in bad shape when she took office. These places are now renovated and anybody could now occupy them without a problem, she said.

The President also inquired about the facilities available to MPs in Kandy and about circuit bungalows.

Some members mentioned about shortcomings while others said that most of the places are well furnished.

Thereafter the government members spoke about the cost of living problem and the difficulties faced by the people.

The members appealed to the President to reduce the prices of essential food items such as dhal, sugar and dry fish.

President Kumaratunga asked, "don't you want the rice prices reduced?"

They said they were more concerned about the plight of the poor farmer, so they did not want the government to reduce the price of rice.

The President felt the cost of living could be reduced if not for the inefficiency of the CWE.

She said honest people who take over management of the institution become corrupt in a short period and then contribute heavily to the cost of living.

The President's main emphasis was to reduce corruption in government institutions so that the COL could be brought down considerably.

Eventually, a committee comprising several members was appointed to look into these problems.

The President then referred to the Paddy Marketing Board and said she was not satisfied with its work.

Several members who referred to the Mulberry group said they were forced to dissolve it since most of the ministers did not like the idea.

They said they could not get much from the ministers during that period and the ministers made it difficult for them even to obtain jobs in their ministries.

But the President said she had no problem with the Mulberry group and added that it helped keep the ministers under check.

The members then pointed out about corruption and bureaucratic bungling in state institutions.

Asked to identify them, the members said prominent among them were Port, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Insurance Corporation and the Department of the Registrar of Motor Vehicles.

The President said that the main problem involving these was the reluctance of ministers to delegate some of their powers to the Deputy Ministers.

She also said the MPs who had been entrusted with supervisory powers had not been allowed to carry out that work.

At this juncture, the members asked for President's permission to expose corrupt officials and clean up the system.

The President agreed and said they could start from her ministry.

Another committee was set up to go into public complaints, allegations and expose corrupt officials.

The members also requested the President to work out an employment policy so that job opportunities are distributed reasonably among areas.

President Kumaratunga once again blamed her ministers for not carrying out her policy properly and said some ministers had the habit of taking them all without distributing them among others also.

She said if there were vacancies in some government institutions which came under the area of a particular parliamentarian, he should be allowed to fill 50 percent of vacancies there.

She also said that she had to direct Ministry Secretaries to carry out her orders when she learnt that the ministers were not too keen to follow them.

"But later I found that the Secretaries too were unable to carry out their functions as directed since the ministers have started harassing them and giving direct orders to disregard the directions issued by the Presidential Secretariat," she said.

The President later promised to devise a fair system of distribution which will encompass almost everybody who represents the PA in Parliament.

During lunch time the President said she wanted to appoint six or seven more Deputy Ministers but was delaying it because she faced numerous problems with others on the previous occasion.

As a solution, the President told the members to propose a few names so that she could appoint them. But the members remained silent and the matter ended there.

The President arrived at the Bogambara amidst tight security in a van. While she was on the stage, Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle spoke at length causing anxieties to the President's security staff.

Several notes were sent by the organisers to the minister requesting him to cut short his speech and make way for the President. Many people could not enter the meeting premises due to heavy security and the sniffer dogs which were brought in became restless after some time since they were kept well past their meal time at 4 p.m.

A Senior Police officer who entered the rally with his official weapon was turned away by the President's security to remove his weapon at the entry point.

There was a crowd of about 2,000 at the meeting and the President made a vigorous speech attacking her political opponents.

One of them was Sarath Kongahage, her one-time lieutenant.

The President asked, "Who is he? Where did he come from?"

Having heard what the President said Mr. Kongahage has sent her a three-page letter, enlightening her as to who he was and where he came from.

He described himself as a close friend of the President's late husband Vijaya Kumaratunga and recalled how he and Chandrika had participated in many political activities after forming the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party (SLMP).

At the weekly meeting of the ministers the President told Minister Kingsley Wickramaratne to brief the Cabinet on the SAFTA.

However, some ministers said certain areas were not properly covered.

At this stage Minister Wickramaratne said he could deliver a long lecture on the aspects of the SAFTA if the ministers were willing to listen.

Eventually it was agreed that Minister Wickramaratne could come prepared for a lecture next Wednesday and the ministers were told to bring top officials to seek clarifications, if necessary.

At the Cabinet it was also observed that seating arrangements for the ministers had been changed once again.

This time it was to appease General Anuruddha Ratwatte who expressed his dissatisfaction over the earlier seating arrangements.

Some ministers observed that it was for the third time that the seating arrangements had been changed in as many weeks.

Besides this, the Cabinet took up the Eppawala controversy about which Science and Technology Minister Batty Weerakoon had allegedly violated the principle of collective responsibility of the Cabinet.

Minister Wickramaratne raised the issue backed by Minister C.V. Gooneratne.

Minister Weerakoon has apparently issued statements against the government's decision while organising a protest rally in the areas against the privatization of the Eppawala phosphate deposits.

Mr. Weerakoon said the collective responsibility was one thing and the B.C. Perera report on the matter is another.

He said when he spoke about the B.C. Perera report it had nothing to do with Cabinet responsibility.

However, Minister Wickramaratne said he should not disrespect the principle of collective responsibility.

Mr. Weerakoon snapped back saying the government had even gone beyond the Cabinet decision.

Minister Mahinda Rajapakse intervening said that Minister Weerakoon was speaking in this spirit because he appeared for the case involving the Eppawala controversy.

Minister Gooneratne said, "Once you become a minister it is important to abide by the Cabinet decision."

Finally Minister Mangala Samaraweera said he had already arranged a TV interview with Minister C.V. Gooneratne to clear grey areas in the Eppawala deal.

Mr. Samaraweera also said he had made arrangements to send cuttings of news items relating to each minister appearing in newspapers to get their responses.

On another front, Constitutional Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris is taking steps to counter UNP propaganda among the international community on the package.

The minister is to tell how the UNP delayed its proposals and failed to put forward anything concrete to the PSC for 1 1/2 years.

Dr. Peiris has met the British High Commissioner and is expected to meet heads of other missions soon.

In another development, TULF's Neelan Thiruchelvam is calling on the government to ensure that provincial elections are held in the North and East too.

It was also reported that a TULF delegation had a lengthy meeting with the President on the current political situation.

With all these developments taking place one could look forward to a politically eventful period in time to come.

Situation Report

Editorial/Opinion Contents