• Personal CBK letters to pros
• Urgent pay hike for police
• Muslim groups hit out at Ashraff
• There has to be a change, says Chandrasekeran
• Playing booruwa with Batalanda
• CMEV tally tops 600
• Main parties fly for their final fling
• Counting 1, 2, 3
• Journalists brought under false pretext
• Monitors to arrive this week
• Anura's cut out warning
• CBK means business
• Rising up against rigging

Personal CBK letters to pros

The Presidential Secretariat has ventured on a campaign to woo the votes of professionals for President Kumaratunga.

Copies of a letter signed by President Kumaratunga were delivered by mail in envelopes carrying the seal of Presidential Secretary Kusumsiri Balapatabendi.

The letter said the President was seeking the support to complete the tasks set upon by the government.

"I deeply appreciate the contributions you and your colleagues have made over a long period of time, both as individuals and as members of professional bodies, towards ensuring our nation's medium and long-term prosperity. And I share with you common concerns regarding peace and freedom from tyranny in the future," the letter said.

"As a professional you belong to a select group that is endowed with a matchless blessing that of the capacity for rational and scientific analysis and for envisioning the future," she said. "I seek your support now to complete the tasks that we have set ourselves, and others that your Associations will propose to me in the morrow. I invite you to seize this opportunity to join me in shaping our nation's destiny," she said.

Urgent pay hike for police

By Farrah Mihlar

The Government is making hurried moves to increase the salaries of police officers from next month.

The Treasury has informed Police Chief Lucky Kodithuwakku that in response to a request made on February 6, 1998 the salary increases have now been approved. It has called for an estimate from the IGP to make the payments from next month.

The Treasury said salary anomalies and the risk factor, especially in the battle against terrorists, had been taken into consideration in approving the increases.

From next month, the salary of a DIG will go up by about Rs. 6,000 while the salary of a constable will go up by about Rs. 130.

Muslim groups hit out at Ashraff

Though Minister and SLMC leader M. H. M. Ashraff has apologised for any pain of mind his poem on the Lord Buddha might have caused to Buddhists, he is coming under more fire and this time from Muslim groups.

All Ceylon Jummiyyathul Ulama (Council of Muslim Theologians), Secretary General M.J. M. Riyal, in a letter to Minister M. H. M. Ashraff has requested him to not to disturb peace and harmony among all communities living in Sri Lanka.

"As a Muslim you are fully aware that the teachings of our Holy Prophet very clearly require every Muslim to respect the other religions and the other communities.

Hence, we are very disturbed to note the situation," Mr. Riyal said referring to the controversy over Mr. Ashraff's book containing a poem on a dialogue with the Lord Buddha.

All Ceylon Muslim League President A.L.M. Hashim has also criticised Mr. Ashraff for creating and unwanted and unprovoked dispute.

The Islamic Services Organisation also has also accused Mr. Ashraff of disrupting Sinhala-Muslim harmony which had existed for centuries.

The Young Mens' Muslim Association (YMMA) has also critics Minister Ashraff for writing about leaders of other religions.

Meanwhile, the Sinhala Veera Vidahana group has rejected Mr. Ashraff's apology saying it is qualified and not sincere.

It has demanded that the book be banned with the 4,000 copies being burned and the minister be fired from the cabinet.

There has to be a change, says Chandrasekeran

By Shelani de Silva

Up-country People's Front leader P. Chnadrasekeran says there are many things in common between his party and the UNP and they have got a written pledge from the UNP that their demands would be met once Ranil Wickremesinghe is elected.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Mr. Chandrasekeran who quit the government last week, said the estate people had confidence in his party while they were disgruntled with the UNP. Excerpts:

Q: Why did you quit the Peoples' Alliance?

A: As a party representing the estate population, we have to take decisions in their interest alone. Based on the problems the estate people are facing, we put forward a few demands. We demanded that the up country youth who are in custody be released and wanted Tamil be made the official language in the estate sector. When we realised the President was not showing much interest in meeting our demands, we decided to quit the PA. But we now understand that the President is making plans to meet our demands, but we will not come back to the PA. This could be just another election ploy. The estate sector will never believe her. The timing is such the government will do everything possible to win the estate votes. It is very clear that she has lost the support of the estate sector.

Q: If you say the PA had not done much for the estate people for the past five years, then why did your party remain within the PA?

A: We always fought for the estate people, we always voted against the emergency. But during the past five years it was not practicable to walk away from the PA simply because our demands were not met. The timing was not right. If we left the PA a hue and cry will be made for a day or two and then they will forget about it. But we can't do it because we represent the people. They have placed their confidence in us. We decided to put forward our demands at this time of elections, so that we have something to take to the people and show them. That we left the PA because it failed to serve them.

Q: What is your vote bank in the estate sector?

A: Our vote bank has not dropped. It will not change after we quit the PA. We explained to the rank and file why were leaving. They are with us all the way.

Q: Are you hoping to woo the CWC votes?

A: We are not trying to do anything. We will only work for the welfare of the people. If a party is committed to the people they will always be with the party. As for the CWC, they have lost their voters. Even when they were with the UNP, the CWC members did not do much for the people. It was the same during the past five years. It was our party that looked into their welfare. We initiated housing schemes for the estate sector, gave electricity. But there was no progress, the government was not interested.

Q: On what condition did you join the UNP, was there any agreement?

A: We got our demands in writing. But more than this, we agree on several policy matters with the UNP. We feel that at the moment there has to be a change in the country's leadership and it is the UNP which can achieve this.

Q: What is the party's stand on the general elections?

A: We are yet to take a decision but we will certainly try to work something with the UNP. We hope to study the UNP manifesto which will be put for the general elections. We will then ask them to include whatever we want. We will compromise.

Q : How do you view the approach taken by President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Ranil Wickremesinghe towards solving the ethnic issue?

A: Having being apart of the PA for five years we were all waiting for the government to either solve the problem or come to a settlement. But what happened? The government kept saying that they were weakening the LTTE and allocated large sums for defence. But what really happened was that though money was spent for defence, the government did not win the war. The end result is the collapse of the economy.

We agree with the UNP's approach to the crisis. We have always wanted third party mediation and the UNP is keen on this. The UNP on many occasions have pointed out that mediation is the key to solve the problem.

Playing booruwa with Batalanda

Cabinet Ministers were told recently by the numero uno that come December 10 she will play her trump card and it will be curtains for her main opponent.

December 10 came and went and the ace has not been played. What could it have been, Ministers seem to ask. The details now seem to come from Opposition quarters. Apparently the trump card was to get an ex-Superintendent of Police, one Peiris, to come public implicating the Opposition rival in a torture chamber down Batalanda way.

Nothing happened. The broker is a Muslim lookalike but of Sinhalese ancestors with liberal ways, and one prepared to cut his best friend for a mess of pottage .

The Government, unable to play the ace ended playing the Joker in the form of an effort at creative journalism in the state media that December 10.

But how did the Opposition hear of yet another conspiracy theory? Well, blood is thicker than water they say.

CMEV tally tops 600

The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence said yesterday it had recorded more than 600 cases of election violence with five deaths and 267 being classified as 'serious incidents.'

The two latest deaths were reported from Bible where alleged PA supporters had fired at a UNP rally on Thursday.

Minister Mangala Samaraweera has expressed regret over the incident and said five suspects had been arrested.

Main parties fly for their final fling

The PA and the UNP are spending Rs. 120,000 an hour on helicopter rides during the election campaign, but questions are being raised as to whether President Kumaratunga is using state helicopters in her capacity as head of state or presidential candidate.

The Elections Commissioner has informed all candidates that Air Force helicopters were available to them at Rs. 120,000 an hour if they wanted to campaign in the north and east or other parts of the country.

The 'poorer' candidates have given up the idea of using of a helicopter but they have protests against President Kumaratunga using the helicopter as head of state.

JVP Spokesperson Wimal Weerawansa told The Sunday Times the President was taking undue advantage of her position.

"The system was introduced by President J. R. Jayewardene. The UNP misused the privileges and now President Kumaratunga is repeating it. It is unfair for the President to use a chopper at no cost not only to visit the North and East but to her other meetings," he said.

Mr. Weerawansa said the JVP had begun campaigning in the eastern province and the party saw no necessity in hiring helicopters .

Presidential candidate Harischandra Wijetunge also protested against President using helicopters as head of state and said their campaign style required no helicopters. A UNP spokesperson told The Sunday Times their candidate was using helicopters not only to tour the North but also for election meetings in the South.

Counting 1, 2, 3

With the presidential elections just nine days away, many still wonder how the votes will be counted and the winner declared after a complex voting procedure.

In the first round, the votes each of the thirteen candidates received will be counted. If any one of them obtains one vote more than 50 percent of total valid votes, he or she will become Sri Lanka's next President. If not, a second count will be done.

In such an event, exempting the two candidates who have polled the highest number of votes, the second preference of all other candidates will be counted, if they are for the two exempted candidates. These figures will then be added on to the aggregate of the two leading candidates.

If the second preference is marked to any other candidate other than the top two candidates, the third preference for any of these two main candidates will be taken into account.

Journalists brought under false pretext

By Ayesha R. Rafiq

Media personnel who were invited by the Information Department for the weekly post-Cabinet news briefing were confused when turned out to be a PA propaganda meeting.

Journalists who gathered at the Galadari Hotel were told that due to an error they had been misinformed and the meeting would be one of a series of political news conferences conducted by the Media Monitoring and Publicity Division of the PA.

Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera told the journalists at the beginning of the one and a half hour press conference that "the first letter that was sent to you said this was a Cabinet press briefing. I think this is some sort of an error. This is in fact another meeting like the one we had on Tuesday. I am here on behalf of the People's Alliance and the Convenor of the Media and Publicity Unit."

Some of the journalists present however expressed the view that this was done as a new strategy being used by the PA to attract media attention to their Presidential campaign.

Presenting a sub-manifesto on PA Presidential candidate and President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's solution to the ethnic conflict, Minister Samaraweera challenged the UNP presidential candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe to come up with a concrete set of solutions to the conflict before campaign ended on December 18 instead of making 'mad, crazy statements'.

Monitors to arrive this week

Foreign election monitors invited by the Elections Department and the independent bodies are expected to arrive in the country on Thursday, a Foreign Ministry official said.

The Elections Department has invited 30 foreign observers from the SAARC countries and the Commonwealth — while the two independent bodies PAFFREL and CMEV will get down 60 observers.

PAFFREL Executive Director Kingsley Rodrigo told The Sunday Times that they expect all 60 observers to be in Sri Lanka by Thursday.

"The first batch will arrive over the weekend. We will be sending more than 30 observers to the North and East.

The rest will be deployed in the other parts of the country," he said.

Anura's cut out warning

UNP stalwart Anura Bandaranaike has warned he would personally burn the cut-out of his sister and presidential candidate, President Kumaratunga, if one more UNP cut-out is damaged. Mr. Bandaranaike was reacting to the destruction caused to the cut-out of UNP presidential candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe at Araliya Uyana, in Attanagalle.

This week Mr. Bandaranaike erected a new and better cut-out of Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe with electric jets and all, and placed it in the Horagolla Walauwwa gardens facing the Colombo-Kandy road.

The walauwwa built in 1875 by Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, had been handed down to S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike and now to Anura Bandaranaike.

Mr. Bandaranaike told the Sunday Times that he had reminded the policemen that he had reported the then IGP to the Supreme Court in a fundamental rights case when his Colombo residence was raided under the pretext of searching for Mr. Punchinilame, and the IGP had to pay damages, personally.

He said that he warned them that if the new cut-out in his private property was damaged, he would personally burn the President's cut-out erected at her Attanagalla office.

CBK means business

By Nilika de Silva

President Chandrika Kumaratunga yesterday proposed the setting up of a high-powered Business Council with representation from the private sector.

The proposal was part of the new vision for business and action plan she hopes to implement with the dawn of the new millennium.

The President addressing the business community on the PA's new vision for business at the BMICH last evening, said her aim was to further accelerate private sector-led economic development in the country.

In its vision for the future, the most important priority for the PA administration would be to promote a national consensus to end the ongoing conflict as soon as possible and undertaking a process to establish peace, the President said.

On the economic front, the government hopes to raise the economic growth rate to 8% and the per capita income level to US$ 2, 500 and establish Sri Lanka as the leading emerging market in South Asia. The government also intends to contain annual inflation to around 3% and also significantly reduce unemployment by 2005, she said.

Ministers G.L. Peiris and C.V. Gooneratne also addressed the business community.

The highlights of the new Vision for Business are:

* A high powered Business Council will be established under the Ministry of Finance and Planning with representation from the private sector. The Council's primary objective would be to foster consultation and consensus between the public and private sectors on trade, investment and other policy issues affecting the private sector and to ensure important decisions taken are carried out expeditiously.

* Increasing investments in quality infrastructure facilities in power, ports, roads, water etc., and resolving implementation bottlenecks to accelerate national priority projects. Increased investments in large-scale infrastructure projects are expected to stimulate the construction industry and provide more jobs.

* New investments in information technology and training for youth to develop skills to meet emerging global needs in IT. This would also include establishing Sri Lanka as the strategically placed 'Cyber Island' of the Indian Subcontinent.

* Institutional constraints at the Port, Customs, Inland Revenue, BOI, UDA and the Central Environmental Authority will be removed through adoption of simplified procedures and by moving towards a computerised clearance process.

* Promotion of Sri Lanka as a hub in the Indian subcontinent, through further investments in telecommunications, air and sea transport, insurance and financial services etc.

* Increasing productivity levels in agriculture through, research and development activities, better storage and marketing infrastructure, development of irrigation facilities, use of modern agricultural practices and increased private sector participation.

* Modernisation of fisheries, livestock and the dairy industry with more private sector participation to increase exports from these sectors.

From Our Election Desk

Rising up against rigging

By Nilika de Silva, Faraza Farook and Tania Fernando

Election malpractice is not a new phenomenon in Sri Lankan political landscape. In the past, both the UNP and the SLFP had been accused of rigging and other malpractices. The issue was spoken about and then forgotten.

But this year's Wayamba polls was a turning point. It is alleged that rigging, impersonation and other malpractices took place crudely and blatantly.

Will the December 21 election for the highest office in Sri Lanka also see such malpractices?

Fears are being expressed and entertained.

These fears have gained currency in the light of PA's initial reluctance to invite foreign observers. Many believe this is because the PA had an ulterior motive.

Can the mere presence of these observers at the polling booths for a short period actually stop the irregularities that will take place?

With statistics showing a high number of incidents of campaign violence, most of them against the PA, the question of elections being free and fair is being raised in every circle.

Though the independent polls monitoring groups have come up with reform proposals to control election malpractice, how effective they will prove to be, is still to be seen. If the existing laws are fully implemented, a difference could be seen, monitors say.

The monitoring groups have begun a public awareness campaign on how rigging could be avoided. The three local monitoring groups have decided that international monitors should work in coordination with them with thirty foreign observers working with one group.

Asked how they intend to avoid a repetition of the Wayamba fiasco, Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu of the Centre for Monitoring Eelection Violence, said: "We are not the police, we are not a political party or an arm of the judiciary. What we can do is to be able to galvanize public opinion, raise public awareness and consciousness and place the information before the public to make an intelligent choice." Though they were doing their best to ensure a free and fair election, he added that it was not humanely possible to do it with the many loopholes in the system.

Though the two main contenders are busy pointing fingers at each other with regard to election violence, the question is who will resort to the worst to win this race. As the monitors are looking at all available avenues to ensure a free and fair election, the persons who are looking at rigging the elections seem to be getting more sophisticated too.

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