• Court order bowls out all division one cricket matches
• UNP revamping: PA for early polls
• Sirima not quitting
• PA losing minority support — SLMC
• All-out bid for top UNESCO post

Court order bowls out all division one cricket matches

By Marlon Fernandopulle

Sri Lanka's preparations for the defence of the World Cup received a major blow yesterday when all premier league matches were indefinitely postponed in the wake of a legal battle over the cricket board.

The teams that came to various grounds for scheduled matches yesterday were shocked when the officiating umpires told them that all matches had been postponed by the tournament committee due to the enjoining order which effectively suspended all activity of the board till the case is taken up in a fortnight.

The Umpires Committee Assignment Secretary Fitzroy de Mel had earlier informed officiating umpires about the postponement of all games after he was instructed to do so by the BCCSL tournament committee.

An official of the tournament committee told The Sunday Times the enjoining order issued by the Colombo's district court prevented the committee from performing its functions and thus a postponement of games was required.

With the court hearing scheduled for April 19, next weekend's premier league games are also likely to be postponed. This effectively means that Sri Lanka's 15 member world cup squad will leave the country on April 24 with little or no match practice.

The enjoining order was issued by the court on a petition filed by Clifford Ratwatte who has charged that Cricket Board President Thilanga Sumathipala and his group had rigged the March 28 elections through thuggery and violence. Mr. Ratwatte had contested Mr. Sumathipala for the presidency of the board and lost by 79 votes to 11.

A coach of a leading club told The Sunday Times yesterday the postponement of premier league matches could have a serious effect on Sri Lankan cricket and cricketers in the final weeks before the World Cup.

A cricket board lawyer yesterday defended the legality of the move by the Tournament Committee.

"As a result of the enjoining order restraining the newly appointed committee from carrying out its functions, the TC in effect had no ExCo to report to, and as such any problems coming with regard to matches could not be resolved..

The Sunday Times learns that soon after the Sports Minister authorises the former ExCo to carry out its duties as before, the dates for the tournaments would be scheduled.

Sports Ministry Secretary R. M. K. Ratnayake however said this position was not correct.

He said that while the ExCo could not function, the chief executive who is in effect the Managing Director of the Board and a member of the ExCo, to whom the Tournament Committee could address in the absence of the ExCo, could direct affairs of the board.

He said the Sports Ministry would not take any decision regarding formally reappointing the former Exco, until the court gives a ruling on April 19.

UNP revamping: PA for early polls

In the aftermath of losing five provinces at last Tuesday's provincial elections, Opposition UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is to launch a major restructuring of the party while at least three PA ministers have called for early presidential elections.

At a meeting of its management committee on Friday, the UNP asked its leader to enforce major structural changes that could turn the party into a what is called "radical, futuristic and innovative political force for the next millennium".

Amidst speculation about possible coalitions with smaller parties in provinces where the balance of power is fragile, Mr. Wickremesinghe said the UNP had set up administrations on its own and did not need to go into alliances.

He also assured that no links with other parties would be established to topple or scuttle the work of a provincial administration.

Meanwhile the People's Alliance is to decide next week about the possibility of holding early Presidential and Parliamentary elections, General Secretary D.M. Jayaratna said yesterday.

Minister Jayaratna told The Sunday Times the matter would be discussed at a meeting of the PA executive committee where the strategy for any future elections would be worked out.

In the wake of PA victories in all five provinces, several ministers and MPs have called for early presidential elections, saying the time was favourable for the PA.

Minister Jeyaraj Fernando-pulle told The Sunday Times he had requested the president to hold the presidential election as soon as possible — with Minister A.H.M Fowzie also making a similar call.

Minister Alavi Moulana said the decision on the presidential election would probably be taken after the Southern provincial council elections in June.

The UNP has decided to hold its May Day rally in the southern capital of Galle, apparently hoping it would boost the party's chances in the election.

At a UNP parliamentary group meeting on Friday, Mr. Wickremesinghe shot down a proposal by Lakshman Seneviratne to withdraw from the all-party election monitoring committee.

He said he had evaluated the merits and the demerits of the monitoring committee and believed that democracy was all about taking chances. Without the necessary legal framework it was not possible to have all its decisions implemented, he said.

Sirima not quitting

By Roshan Peiris

Rumours are again afloat that the ailing Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, who will be 83 next week, is to resign, but sources close to the world's oldest premier say she has no intention of stepping down.

Speculation in political circles is that if Ms. Bandaranaike steps down after some 40 years in frontline politics and 17 years as premier, the frontrunners for the post would be Ministers Ratnasiri Wickremananayake or Lakshman Jayakody.

PA losing minority support — SLMC

By Ayesha R. Rafiq

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress yesterday described the poor performance of its candidates in Tuesday's Provincial Council elections as a sign of the PA losing the support of its minority voters.

SLMC Secretary Rauf Hakeem told The Sunday Times the party could have won more seats and more votes had it contested the elections on its own.

The party contested the Kalutara district on its own and succeeded in getting one member elected to the Western Provincial Council.

"The only prudent and logical thing to do is to go it alone in future elections, in keeping with an earlier working committee decision. In any event the SLMC voters prefer that the party maintain its own identity," he said.

Mr. Hakeem said the results indicated the PA had lost a fair share of its minority vote bank, while the SLMC retaining its Kalutara seat showed it had retained its vote bank.

"In the North Central Province our candidate got a large number of votes, but was 13th on the PA list of preferential votes, and only 12 candidates were elected to the PC. If we had gone on our own, we could have got a seat there," he said.

He said that many of their voters were blaming them for not contesting on their own, and thereby failing to have the Muslims represented, especially in the NCP where not a single Muslim had been elected.

All-out bid for top UNESCO post

By Our Diplomatic Editor

President Chandrika Kumaratunga has ordered a massive, and costly lobbying mission to have Sri Lanka's new Ambassador to Paris, Prof. Senaka Bandaranayake, elected as the director-general of UNESCO, The Sunday Times learns.

At least three Cabinet Ministers and several others have been picked to travel to several countries to lobby votes for the archaeological expert turned diplomat. Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera is to visit the African continent, Cultural Affairs Minister Lakshman Jayakody North America and Latin America while Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar has been placed in charge of Asia and Europe.

SLMC Secretary Rauf Hakeem and former ambassador Javid Yusuf among others have also been co-opted for this high-profile campaign to have Prof. Bandaranayake elected to the top post of the Paris based UN agency at elections due in November this year.

Prof. Bandaranayake who was involved in the cultural triangle project till recently replaced Sumithra Peiris only last month as Sri Lanka's envoy to France.

UNESCO, the UN's Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation, has never had an Asian Director-General. The US pulled out of UNESCO in the 1980s over its alleged anti-US stance virtually leaving the UN agency bankrupt.

A Foreign Office official confirmed the Government had launched what she called was an "intense" campaign on behalf of Prof. Bandaranayake.

The senior official who declined to be identified said that this campaign "surpasses" the last such major international campaign launched by the Sri Lankan Government when it unsuccessfully lobbied to have Dr. H.W. Jayewardene elected to the International Court of Justice (World Court).

She refused to divulge the cost involved but a remark "we may have to go to Parliament for extra money" revealed the cost would be above what the Ministries have been allocated so far.

Meanwhile, the World Press Freedom Committee, a coordination group of national and international news media organisations in a report published last week states that among possible candidates to succeed Federico Mayor, the current Director General of UNESCO are:

Ismail Serageldin of Egypt, World Bank Vice President for Special Programs since March 1998. In active pursuit of the UNESCO post, he has launched his own Web site.Ghazi Algosaibi, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Great Britain.

Rosario Manalo, Philippines deputy minister for foreign affairs and sister of former President Fidel Ramos.

Koichi Matsuura, Japan's ambassador to France since 1994.

Others mentioned include: Daniel Janicot of France, Mayor's chief executive aide; Andrei Gabriel Plesu, Romania's foreign affairs minister and candidates from Indonesia or Sri Lanka and Hungary.

Under the regional rotation system practised by UN agencies, it is unlikely that another European would be selected to succeed Mayor. According to Freedom House, the press is not free in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia; only partly free in Sri Lanka and fully free in Japan, the Philippines and Hungary.