Stop personal attacks, Anura tells CBK akka

By Hiranthi Fernando

Parliamentarian, Anura Bandaranaike, at the centre of much political speculation and controversy during the past two weeks, has again denied any move to join the PA Government, but also reiterated his defence of President Kumaratunga against any charge of personal corruption. He said he would never attack the President personally and he hoped she would not attack him personally.

On his reported dispute with UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, Mr. Bandaranaike again denied any move to form a dissident group and said that though he had some differences of opinion, he would never stab Mr. Wickremesinghe in the back.

Mr. Bandaranaike has recently been at the centre of various unconfirmed rumours concerning his political and personal life. He has been attacked by members of both the SLFP and UNP.

When The Sunday Times spoke to him at his residence in Rosmead Place he was very relaxed and appeared quite unruffled. He responded to our questions frankly, and with his usual humour, deducing that a politician must be in the news.

Excerpts:

Q: You are back in the news. This time, over reports that you may join the Government and that your sister, President Chandrika Bandaranike Kumaratunga was going to appoint you as Prime Minister in place of your mother. What is the basis for these reports?

A:This was started by some reporters in the Sinhala media and it was then given publicity in all the other newspapers. It all started with ten of us declining to vote on the Wijeyapala Mendis motion. However, I met Ranil Wickremesinghe, the UNP Leader, that morning and told him I was doing so. I am totally against the concept of taking away people's civic rights. Reports that I am joining the government are incorrect. I have said so publicly at Mirigama. I have no intention of leaving the UNP at this moment.

Q: Some say you 'engineered' these reports yourself. Is there any basis for this?

A: It is totally and absolutely incorrect. In fact I was informed of this by two reporters from the Divaina and Lankadeepa. I asked them from where they got this information and they said it was given by senior Government Ministers.

Q: Is there any truth in the report that you were being worked on by a group of dissidents in the UNP-those against the leadership of Ranil Wickremesinghe-to lead a UNP dissidents faction?

A: There is no truth in this at all. As far as I know, there are no dissidents in the UNP. There may be differences of opinion, as for example in the matter concerning Wijeyapala Mendis. Such differences of opinion are necessary in a healthy democratic party. I think it is an extremely good thing. However, once the party takes a decision, we will follow that decision.

Q: Maybe some younger elements and some elders in the party who feel insecure?

A:I am not aware of who is secure and who is insecure.

Q: It is said that these reports about you joining the Government were aimed at exciting Mr. Wickremesinghe.

A:I am not aware of this, nor do I think that Ranil Wickremesinghe is excited by it. He is a longstanding friend of mine. We have been in the Kindergarten together at Royal College since we were six. I do not think these stories excite him at all, although some others may be excited.

Q: Some believe that Satya Sri Sai Baba, whom you met recently at his Ashram in Bangalore, advised you to make up with your sister. Is this so?

A: He did advise me that the family should get together. It is advice that anyone would give. I have nothing personal against the President, only political differences.

Q: Your sister is reported to have criticised you at a recent special Cabinet Meeting and later at another meeting in Mirigama. Some UNP MPs criticised you for defending your sister, especially on corruption charges levelled at her by the Opposition. You are like the nut caught in the nut-cracker?

A: I defended my sister because I know that although both my father and my mother may have made many mistakes politically, no one can level charges of corruption against them. I cannot believe that any member of my family can be guilty of personal acts of corruption. I have said so publicly and will do so in any forum. Unless I see it in black and white, I will not believe that the President would do so. That is my personal belief.

As to her attacking me, I am the only Bandaranaike carrying the name, and it is up to me to defend my family's honour. It is extremely unfortunate that she should attack me in the very same electorate that I defended her.

My sister has said that I keep changing electorates. I would like to clarify this. I undertook to contest Nuwara Eliya/Maskeliya in 1977, at the request of my mother, the Leader of the Party of which I was a member I contested Nuwara Eliya/ Maskeliya at a time the SLFP got wiped out and was left with only seven Members of Parliament. I fought against Gamini Dissanayake, Thondaman, the entire left, of 18 candidates. I came second polling 49,000 votes, against all odds.

In 1989, the move to Dompe was again at my mother's request. I won again, securing the third highest preferential vote in the entire country, Lalith Athulathmudali being the highest and my mother the second. This was after my mother lost the Presidential election to Mr. Premadasa.

I never moved to the Attanagalla electorate. As long as my mother is there as the SLFP organizer for the electorate, I will not be the UNP organizer for Attanagalla. I have explained this and the UNP appreciates it. As for Mirigama, Mr. Wickremesinghe personally asked me to take on Mirigama. Therefore, I feel this criticism is very unfair and totally irrational.

Q:So, you are not part of a conspiracy to oust Ranil Wickremesinghe?

A: I will never be a part of any conspiracy to oust anybody. It is not in me. Ranil knows that better than anybody else. I supported Ranil against Gamini Dissanayake as the UNP's nominee for the post of Leader of the Opposition. I may not agree with some of the actions Mr. Wickremesinghe takes, but I will never stab him in the back. If it comes to a situation that I have serious difficulties with him, I will tell him so and honourably leave the party as I left the SLFP. I will never betray him. It is not my style.

Q: And you will continue to attack your sister politically?

A: As long as I remain in politics, and I am in the UNP and she is in the Government and Head of Government, I will criticise whatever wrong the Government does. I have criticized many issues as for instance the Galle Port and the Thavakkal issue. I will continue to do so when the need arises. I will not however attack my sister personally. I hope that she too will not attack me personally at least for my mother's sake.

Q: Aren't you a little unhappy that the UNP leadership has sidelined you somewhat?

A: I do not think there has been any deliberate sidelining in that sense. I was a little surprised that I was not on the Nomination Board. However, I did not make a fuss about it. It is the leader's wish. Whatever problem I have with Ranil, I can talk to him one to one. I have known him for 42 years. He has been very nice and courteous to me and I like to keep it that way.

Q: Have you talked to him lately on all these developments?

A: No, not yet.

Q: Which came first, your disillusionment for being side-lined or the leadership's disillusionment with you over these conspiracy theories?

A: I do not think that Ranil is disillusioned with me. He has not told me so. Nor am I with him. We had a difference of opinion regarding the Wijeyapala Mendis matter but that is all over now.

We are travelling together in September to Los Angeles, New York and Washington on a fund raiser campaign for the UNP. Already 1100 tickets have been sold. It is unique in that no other political party has had such a fund raiser in the history of Sri Lanka.

Q: Are you saying that your difference of opinion with your friend and party leader is only over the Wijeyapala Mendis issue?

A: Yes. There has been no other issues where we have had a difference.

Q: What basically is the role you see for yourself in the politics of Sri Lanka in the coming months?

A: As Harold Wilson, the former British Prime Minister said, two weeks is a long time in politics. One does not know what will happen. In a Third World country which has a major civil war raging in the North with a murderous terrorist organization, which politician can predict what will happen in the next months, weeks or even twenty four hours for that matter.

Q: Would you support a National Government - if not now-under the UNP?

A: In my view, the UNP and the SLFP, the two major parties should unite to solve the ethnic and economic problems of the country. Divisive politics is not suitable when the country is fighting a massive war. I have said this many times and continue to say it.

If I can play a role in bringing the two parties together, I will do so gladly. There are many SLFP back benchers who are still loyal to me. I have brought many of them into politics, including many Cabinet Ministers. The question of my joining the Government at this time however, does not arise.

Q: There have been all manner of wild rumours being circulated about you recently, ranging from your supposed alcoholism, to drug abuse to ill-health. Any comments on this?

A: Since of late there has been a vicious campaign orchestrated to malign my character in the lowest possible manner. This started about a month ago. I am convinced that it has a connection with the rumours that I will join the Government and succeed my mother as Prime Minister. Interested parties from both sides have joined together in this malicious disinformation service. I am aware of who is behind this but I choose to remain silent. I will not respond to these vicious attacks since I do not wish to descend to their levels.

My mother, father, sister and I have been maligned as no other political family in South Asia. I turn a blind eye and carry on with my life.

My father always told me a politician must always be in the news, be it good or bad. My father enjoyed Collette's cartoons which constantly attacked him. If he was not featured in his cartoon he would get very upset. So I follow his dictum that a politician must be in the news. The fact that so many people are talking of a Member of Parliament in the Opposition, just shows how important I am.

Close shave for India at SAARC

By Our Special Correspondent

It was a close shave for India at this week's SAARC summit. Pakistan, its long-standing and only rival, had come within striking distance to threaten its pre-eminent position in the South Asian region in general and in the organisation in particular.

The Pakistanis had come to Colombo with a single point agenda - to make SAARC change from being a purely technical body discussing socio-economic matters to being a vibrant political forum where contentious regional issues could be aired and resolved. Pakistan's case was that unless the political decks were cleared, there could no economic co-operation.

More specifically, the aim was to get the assembled heads of government to formally and collectively discuss the pressing question of South Asian security, which Pakistan argued, SAARC would ignore only at its own peril, given the recent nuclearisation of the sub-continent.

It wasn't that Pakistan was not aware that the SAARC charter prohibited the taking up of contentious regional/bilateral issues. It was reasonably sure that the members would not see the nuclear issues as a bilateral one.

It was hopeful of getting the forum to discuss the Kashmir issue also, as the nuclear race between India and Pakistan had been triggered by the Kashmir dispute.

For Pakistan, the SAARC conclave had not been arranged a day too soon, as it was ideally placed internationally to take a swipe at India and grab Kashmir. US and China were backing Pakistan on Kashmir, and these countries had clout in South Asia, barring India.

Moreover, Pakistan was hoping to exploit an innate fear of India among the smaller SAARC countries, a fear perhaps compounded by the nuclear muscle.

However, even before the start of the summit, it was apparent that Pakistan had an uphill task ahead. Briefing the media before the summit, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, made it clear that the SAARC charter gave no scope for formal discussion of divisive political issues. At any rate, he said, the Colombo meeting was an economic summit.

This had made Pakistan despondent. Its foreign office spokesman, Tariq Altaf, said that there was no future for SAARC.

"What kind of economic co-operation can there be when two of the key members are not even on talking terms? Economic cooperation is bound to remain an unrealizable dream," he said.

But the despondency was clearly feigned as succeeding events showed. A smug India got a rude jolt at the inaugural session when Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, made a startling proposal for a South Asian Initiative for Regional Peace and Security, along with a mechanism for regional mediation to settle festering political disputes.

It might have been a little disconcerting for India when the chairperson and Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, described Mr. Sharif's proposal as being "worthy of serious consideration".

Later, at a press conference on the concluding day of the summit, Mrs. Kumaratunga said that SAARC was getting into a phase of taking up political issues too.

"We are now in the periphery," she said. "India and Pakistan have been having a conflict for 50 years and this is a long time," she said.

On whether, SAARC could one day discuss such issues formally and collectively, she said: "I don't know".. She had thus kept the door open for a paradigm shift in SAARC's concerns.

But India emerged unbruised from the ordeal, as the Colombo Declaration was a total endorsement of its line on all issues.

The India - Pakistan informal bilateral went along the beaten track, with each side sticking to its known and rigid position. But the difference is that the two Prime Ministers agreed to resume the dialogue at the Foreign Minister's level (perhaps due to US pressure), and talks on the modalities of the dialogue were begun.

Pakistan, which was out to besmear India's image and get it some adverse publicity, circulated a 'non-paper' in which it demanded the total withdrawal of Indian troops from Kashmir and the posting of UN Human Rights groups there.

India promptly rejected this as an unwarranted interference in its sovereign rights over an inalienable part of India.

It is too early to speculate on the impact of Paksitan's attempt to give a new direction to SAARC. But considering the Sri Lankan President's response to Mr.. Sharif's proposals, SAARC could well end up considering political issues sooner than India might like. There is wide support of such a reorientation among the intelligentsia in the region.

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