The Political Column

24th October 1999

Cake & Wine follow super secret

By our Political Correspondent

President Chandrika Kumaratunga after having completed five years in office has decided to seek a fresh mandate from the people for a second term.

The president after a careful evaluation of the current political trends in the country issued a proclamation on Wednesday, several hours before her ministers gathered at Temple Trees for weekly deliberations on governmental affairs.

Her proclamation took most of the ministers by surprise but they pretended that they were aware of it.

At the cabinet meeting, she told the ministers she recorded her address to the nation around five in the evening.

Thereafter she moved to treat them with cake and wine, a magnanimous gesture on her part after having decided to go for elections one year before her term expired.

But when the ministers were served with wine it was found that Minister Mahinda Rajapakse was without a glass. At once the minister remarked jokingly "You have cut me even before the race started."

Minister Dharmasiri Senanayake who is general secretary of the SLFP and Minister Batty Weerakoon who leads the LSSP endorsed her candidature for the next Presidential Poll.

When, Mr. Senanayake said she was the most suitable person to stand for the election, Mr. Weerakoon seconded it in a similar tone, saying, "There is no one else." Others looked on with amusement and silence but of course they were mindful of the travails and tribulations of a presidential election.

Mr. Weerakoon has apparently forgotten what he told the media exactly a year ago. The Minister in an interview with our sister newspaper Sunday Lankadeepa said the LSSP would launch an agitational campaign if the President decided to go for a Presidential election before a Parliamentary election.

The minister after one year has realized the actual ground situation, that the masses have not rallied round the LSSP, but are more with President Kumaratunga who has a mass appeal, and eventually he decided to go along with the President despite the differences.

Some ministers were wondering as to whether her decision was timely. Whatever it may be, they have realized that there is a huge task ahead for them, especially when a government which has done only a little for the welfare of the people decides to seek a fresh mandate before the expiry of its term.

However, the President feels she had acted on time to save her government from a possible disaster.

She told ministers that by calling for fresh election she could surmount certain obstacles, which would otherwise have hindered her progress or political career.

The president said she had uncovered an attempt by the opposition and several interested parties in the government to force her to hold a Parliamentary general election before Presidential election, by defeating her government at the 1999 budget.

"I have learnt about these conspiracies", she said.

By seeking a fresh mandate from the people before her term of office ended, the President had relied upon the Third Amendment to the constitution which enables the incumbent President to seek a fresh mandate after four years in office.

Under normal circumstances and according to the original 1978 constitution the President cannot go for election until he or she completes the full term in office which is six years.

The amendment had been introduced by President J.R. Jayewardene, architect of the 1978 constitution,

President Jayewardene after having completed five years in office went before the people seeking a fresh mandate in 1982.

The political situation and internal bickering in the SLFP in early eighties prompted him to make this decision.

One would recall how Anura Bandaranaike had a protracted battle with his mother, Sirima Bandaranaike, after the J.R. Jayewardene regime stripped her of civic rights following recommendations by a Presidential Commission of Inquiry.

The SLFP at that stage was split into two fractions — one headed by Ms. Bandaranaike and the other by Maithripala Senanayake.

Mr. Bandaranaike was a key player in the SLFP (M) headed by Maithripala Senanayake who was involved in a dispute with Ms. Bandaranaike for the party's hand symbol as well as the headquarters at Darley Road.

However, Ms. Bandaranaike won the battle in the end when the Elections Commissioner decided in her favour and allocated the hand symbol to her faction.

Taking due advantage from the deteriorating situation in the opposition SLFP, President Jayewardene summoned the then Attorney General Siva Pasupati and directed him to draft a new amendment to the constitution.

President Jayewardene was successful in his endeavour and got himself elected for a second term as the executive President of Sri Lanka.

President Kumaratunga has done exactly the same as President Jayewardene but the paradoxical difference is that she condemns the very constitution, she is relying upon to seek a second term.

The irony in the whole episode is that she had also sought the help of the very abnormal provisions in the constitution to achieve her ends.

Under the normal procedure the President should have completed her full term before going for an election, but now she feels that the present political climate is rife for her to take a plunge expecting dividends.

President Kumaratunga speaking to her cabinet soon after she declared her intentions to call for fresh elections said that it was their responsibility to see that they emerge victorious in their respective constituencies.

"Whether I win or loose it would be a victory for me, but it would be different in your case," the President said.

She also indicated she was aware of the undercurrents in her party and warned her partymen against any mischievous act. The President made this point clear during her address to the nation too.

She said that all SLFP governments had faced enormous threats that came from the UNP since 1956. She elaborated on various elements who from time to time tried to undermine successive SLFP regimes. It ranged from Buddharakkitha to CP de Silva and even at present the UNP is trying to find C. P de Silvas from within, indicating that the opposition is indulging in political manoeuvring with the help of the insiders to bring her government down.

The address to the nation on Wednesday appeared to be aimed at winning the hearts of the people.

She lamented that she had become a prisoner at Temple Trees because of politics and she worked nearly 15 hours a day without proper sleep and rest.

She put the blame on the UNP for her failure to solve the ethnic crisis and abolish the Executive Presidency. She said the UNP did not give her the required two thirds majority.

If these are the reasons for her to call for a fresh mandate, does she think that she would get the required two thirds majority at the next Parliamentary General Election? Analysts describe this as an over estimation of her popularity, saying no party under the PR system would get a two thirds majority in parliament.

On the contrary, the UNP sees the Presidential election as a big joke since the President herself promised to abolish it in 1994.

"After promising to abolish the executive Presidency, does she have the right to campaign for that very post," UNP General Secretary Gamini Atukorale queried in a statement to the media.

"Normally the decision to have the Presidential Election is made in consultation with all members of the party. But even the cabinet was not consulted on her decision. So we believe the PA is facing internal problems," Mr. Atukorale said.

As Mr. Atukorale pointed out none of the cabinet Ministers was aware of her decision. Minister Dharmasiri Senanayake was away from Colombo with several other UNP members attending a function when the President made the declaration. Mr. Senanayake first came to know about it from UNP parliamentarian Mano Wijeratne who was informed by another person.

The President kept everyone in the dark. A very senior and an important cabinet minister did not know of the decision until a well-known diplomat whom he was meeting at the time the president made this proclamation brought the same to his notice.

The minister was explaining to the diplomat the reason why a snap poll is not possible at this juncture. Such are the affairs of the Kumaratunga government.

But some say that only three ministers and a few bureaucrats knew about the move. They are Ministers Anuruddha Ratwatte, Mangala Samaraweera and S. B. Dissanayake with the bureaucrats being Chandrananda de Silva and Kusumsiri Balapatabendi.

No sooner the President proclaimed her desire to go for elections, SLMC leader and Minister M.H.M. Ashraff announced conditional support for President Kumaratunga at the Presidential elections.

Mr. Ashraff said first of all President Kumaratunga should ensure a free and fair election.

Asked whether he had any doubts about the President's integrity, Mr. Ashraff told this column that he promised the people a free and fair elections on which he was returned to Parliament in 1994.

"It is an attempt to remind the President that she should not forget that the PA made this promise."

Mr. Ashraff said the voters went through a bad experience during the North Western Provincial Council election which the President too had admitted without any reservation. "It is therefore important at this moment to hold a free and fair election for a healthy democracy."

The other conditions laid down by Mr. Ashraff were the removal of Presidential immunity and that President should be present in Parliament to answer relevant questions.

Mr. Ashraff also wants his party to contest the next Parliamentary election as an independent political party and not under a common symbol.

He at the same time appealed to the President to act in the capacity of President of the country and not as the President of a particular political party.

But contrary to this, reports indicate that with the announcement of the date of the presidential election, the government is also planning to dissolve parliament in a bid to make things difficult for the UNP.

The purpose behind this exercise is to reduce all UNP parliamentarians to ordinary citizens while the ruling PA would be at an advantage with a caretaker cabinet and provincial councils with them.

Besides these, another important matter that came up for discussion among PA political circles is the on going battle between the President and Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle.

Though Minister S.B. Dissanayake took some steps to make amends, President Kumaratunga had said she could not spare her time for that at this crucial juncture when she had much more important matters to attend to. However, she delegated authority to Mr. Dissanayake to talk to Mr. Fernandopulle. Mr. Dissanayake in turn had spoken to another senior minister who is now moving in the matter.

At the time of the proclamation calling for fresh elections, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was at his office at Cambridge Place. After hearing of the new development he sat down to carefully plan what he should do.

Having decided to summon the working committee the following day Mr. Wickremesinghe contacted his party seniors to discuss the matter.

On Thursday, a special session of the UNP working committee unanimously decided to nominate Mr. Wickremesinghe as the candidate for the next Presidential election.

Mr. Wickremesinghe presiding over the working committee read out the relevent provisions in the UNP constitution which empowers the working committee to appoint a nomination board to decide on the candidate.

Party Chairman Karu Jayasuriya was assigned to chair the nomination board. Thereafter other members were appointed. Mr. Jayasuriya immediately proposed the name of M. H. Mohamed.

The other members were Imtiaz Bakeer Marker, Anura Bandranaike, Mrs. Pulendran, V. Puthirasigamani, D. M. Swaminathan, Ronnie de Mel, P. Dayaratne, John Amaratunga, Joseph Michael Perera, Jayawickrama Perera and W. J. M. Lokubandara while Daya Pelpola acted as the secretary.

The UNP nomination board which met separately while the working committee sessions were on, unanimously decided that Mr. Wickremesinghe be made its candidate. The decision was conveyed to the working committee by Mr. Jayasuriya.

Soon after the responsibility of contesting the presidency was bestowed on him, Mr. Wickremesinghe making an acceptance speech thanked the working committee for placing trust and confidence on him.

He pledged to take his party to victory to end what he described as "the rule of ruin" of President Kumaratunga and to usher in a new era.

Mr. Wickremesinghe will have three main themes for the manifesto. They are:

I. To create an environment to have a lasting peace in the country

II. To improve the income level of the people and to

III. Restore democracy and the rule of law

Beside these, broadbasing the right of expression and freedom of the media takes a prominent place.

Mr. Wickremesinghe said he would make use of the opportunity as the president to seek a greater consensus among all sectors of the people.

"There will be education development in the country to usher in an era of opportunities to the youth against the policies of the present government whose educational reforms will eventually make it a muddle," Mr. Wickremesinghe said.

He said he had plans to create a society which could read and write in English as a second language.

Soon after Anura Bandaranaike made a scintillating speech endorsing the candidature of Mr. Wickremesinghe. Later he hugged the UNP leader wishing him good luck at the elections.

Thereafter, Mr. Bandaranaike moving a resolution said the party should solicit the support of all the UNPers who had for some reason drifted away from the party. This was seconded by Mr. Jayasuriya and the working committee endorsed it fully.

Even before the endorsement of the working committee was known, several key players of the UNP, approached the former strongman of the UNP, Sirisena Cooray.

Many of them tried their best to persuade Mr. Cooray to join the UNP campaign in support of Mr. Wickremesinghe.

Some said that Mr. Wickremesinghe was willing to have a dialogue with Mr. Cooray, but Mr. Cooray remained non committal.

It is highly unlikely that he would do anything detrimental to the UNP's interest at this juncture, but at the same time it is doubtful that he would agree to work for the UNP.

But with time Mr. Cooray is likely to come under heavy pressure from his friends in the party to re-join and work towards a common goal.

Not only Mr. Cooray, the UNP is also now trying to make overtures to former Minister Wijeyapala Mendis who was virtually on a collison course with the party leadership.

Mr. Bandaranaike has been assigned with the task, and political circles are buzzing with the news that the UNP had offered Mr. Mendis his position in the working committee and a top diplomatic post if it returns to office.

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