Congratulations on your 70th birthday
to form a government again.
“They are trying to form a party to topple (overthrow) us. We will wait and see. As we disclosed their corrupt acts during the January 8 presidential election, we will disclose all their secrets, if they form a new party. They will not be able to form a new government, but only be walking along roads…….”
As is clear, within just two weeks, there has been a marked shift in President Sirisena’s approach towards dissidents within his own party. At first he threatened to expose their secrets. If there were any, they did not surface. Then he offered the olive branch with two significant declarations – one that the party would contest the local elections under the hand symbol. The other is that the next Government would be from the SLFP. Significantly, ahead of those remarks some prominent pro-Sirisena SLFP ministers have declared there would be no disciplinary action against those not attending the Kurunegala sessions. This was in marked contrast to their May Day celebrations in Galle where members who did not attend were threatened with disciplinary action. Both approaches seem to have not worked.
The first, contesting under the hand symbol, no doubt, is intended to woo a large number of local councillors including chairmen who are disillusioned. They lost their positions as a result of their councils or sabhas being dissolved at end of term. In most cases, no extensions were granted. Will the SLFP dissidents accept Sirisena’s peace offer? Will they agree to contest under the hand symbol?
The answer came from their leader and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa when he spoke to the Sunday Times. “Local councillors may go their own way since they have been neglected. They have no choice but to form a new party and contest.” This is the first formal confirmation from the former President himself that a new political party is being formed as exclusively revealed in the Sunday Times of August 28. Rajapaksa said incompetent persons who were new comers were being groomed (by the current SLFP leadership) to become candidates at the local polls. “What do you expect those who have worked hard for the party to do?” he asked, and added that “they will be exposed. People will reject them.”
What about President Sirisena’s declaration to form an SLFP Government next and his appeal to the dissidents to unite, I asked Rajapaksa. He replied, “What has he done about it? He is in power. If those words were true, it is he who has to take the initiative. Who is going to join? The whole approach is wrong. They are making us unhappy. Just making statements will not help. He said one thing in Matara and now another in Kurunegala.” Rajapaksa is now embarking on a campaign to address rallies in areas where serving electoral or district organisers have been removed. The first such meeting took place in Homagama yesterday.
Yet, Sirisena’s conciliatory note has received some welcome response from SLFP intellectuals like lawyers, professionals and members of the clergy. They say his emphasis on the party for the next Government and contesting on the hand symbol was salutary. One of them said, “he has made clear he is not in the clutches of the UNP though he said their alliance would last the entire duration of the Government. We will have to see whether he sticks by this or will change.”
Another aspect of Sirisena’s remarks in Kurunegala is that it serves as a message to the UNP. However, the party appears conscious that it should consolidate its power base at the grassroots level. The UNP has launched a membership drive. At its largely attended annual convention at Campbell Park yesterday, Prime Minister and party leader Wickremesinghe emphasised the need to become stronger.
Last week’s reference in these columns to a meeting between former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and President Maithripala Sirisena, a meet- ing facilitated by a one-time minister Milinda Moragoda, has drawn a response. Gotabaya Rajapaksa telephoned the Sunday Times to say he had not had such a meeting. Though Moragoda did not respond to this newspaper, he also told editors of other newspapers that he had not facilitated such a meeting.
The backdrop to these developments was a Progress Review Committee meeting held on July 12. This Committee is briefed periodically by different state investigation agencies like the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) and the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) at Police Headquarters on the state of investigations in respect of alleged bribery, corruption and other malpractices. Chairing the Committee is President Sirisena. Its members include Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayake, Regional Development Minister Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka and Megapolis and Western Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka. Also included is the Attorney General and his officials.
At the July 12 meeting, the Attorney General briefed the participants on the broad outcome of investigations into Avant Garde Maritime Services (Pvt) Ltd. This probe has been conducted by the Commission to Probe Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC). The Attorney General was to point out that they were, in respect of one case, proposing to file indictments against those concerned for alleged bribery. This was to see Minister Ranawaka raising issue. He argued that he had reason to believe they should face criminal charges since the case involved the unlawful issue of firearms. The Attorney General was to then make a startling revelation. Though not known by many, a senior official in the Ministry of Defence serving the current administration, had renewed an agreement for Avant Garde Maritime Services (Pvt.) Ltd to continue to function thus conferring a legal status on it.
That was the reason why, the Attorney General said, that he had recommended bribery charges against Gotabaya Rajapaksa, former Defence Secretary, and three former Commanders of the Navy – Admiral Somatilleke Dissanayake, Jayanath Kolombage and Jayantha Perera. Others included Nissanka Senadipathi, Chairman of AGMSL, Sujatha Damayanthi, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Palitha Fernando, a one-time Military Liaison Officer in the MoD and Karunaratne Banda Adhikari. The AG has said that the accused had given permission to Avant Garde Maritime Services Ltd. to operate a floating armoury between August 7, 2012 and January 8, 2015 in violation of laws by providing unlawful income amounting to Rs. 11.4 billion to this private company.
It was in this context that a high ranking source, whose credibility has never been in doubt in the past, revealed that Gotabaya Rajapaksa had met President Sirisena. “I don’t need Moragoda’s help to meet the President. I know him (the President) well enough to meet him without anyone’s help. And the president can call me direct. But I have not seen him for over a year,” said Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The Sunday Times also checked with sources close to President Sirisena. They said he did not meet Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa went on to tell the Sunday Times that he believed President Sirisena was interested in bringing the Rajapaksas into the SLFP he leads because in the villages SLFP supporters are split -- one section unhappy that the Sirisena-led SLFP is in alliance with the UNP in Government. However, which Rajapaksas was the issue. Mahinda Rajapaksa was a problem for Sirisena. Gotabaya himself was not a viable option because Sirisena feels the entry of Gotabaya would antagonise the minority vote base that Sirisena has acquired, and also not be welcome with the Western countries that are supporting the SirisenaWickremesinghe administration. Eldest brother Chamal was an option, but how far Chamal would want to go with the Sirisena group was a question unless Mahinda was included in the rapprochement.
The new draft Bill to give effect to the increase in VAT rates will no doubt draw public attention in the coming weeks. Even the opposition political parties will begin to raise issue. However, this time, it has won the approval of SLFP ministers who said they wanted to protect small time wholesalers and retailers. For the Government, the enforcement of the new VAT rates will be sine qua non to obtain the next tranche of the Extended Fund Facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and move forward with the budget proposals. There are challenges both on the political and economic front. My dear Green Man, I thought of congratulating you because you are celebrating the 70th birthday of the Green Party. There are reasons for you to celebrate because you are now in power after being in the opposition for almost twenty years. That was when you became the world’s longest serving Opposition Leader!
I know that many people were surprised when you invited Maithri to be the Chief Guest for the celebrations because he is, after all, the leader of your arch rivals, the Blue Party. Some did not take too kindly to the idea, even though he was the chief guest at your celebrations last year too.
I can’t see anything wrong with an invitation being extended to Maithri. I think it would be correct to say that if not for Maithri, Mahinda maama would still be in power, the Greens would still be in the opposition and you would be extending your record as the longest serving Opposition Leader!
I suppose you are not one to be surprised about the highs and lows of politics, having been in it for over forty years now but even you would marvel at the change of fortunes the Greens have had. Why, around this time just two years ago, your job as the leader of the Green Party was on the line, wasn’t it?
Had you lost one more presidential or general election, I am sure you would have had to hand over the leadership of the Greens to someone else because public pressure was mounting following repeated failures. After all, only Dilshan can manage a retirement on his own terms, despite not doing his job!
Then there was that agonising search for a so-called ‘common’ candidate. At that time, there was no one who seemed able enough to take on Mahinda maama and win and we all thought you would be the eventual candidate. Even the Greens wanted you to contest but you were much smarter than that.
You asked Maithri to run against Mahinda maama, knowing that you had nothing to lose, just as you sat back and watched the General take on Mahinda maama five years earlier. If he won, you would still be the second in command and if he had lost, it would be Maithri who would have gone to jail.
As it turned out, Maithri won unexpectedly and here you are, taking on the job of being second in command for the fourth time. What’s more, your former rivals in the Green Party are not even thinking of challenging you now: Karu is happy as Speaker and Sajith has learnt to bide his time.
Although that sounds like a fairy tale ending, I am sure there are times when you are frustrated with the present arrangement, Green Man. That is because it is a bit of an ‘achcharu’ with the government consisting of not just the Greens but also numerous Blues and quite a few from the other parties too.
Do you remember, Green Man, that the slogan you were elected on was ‘Yahapaalanaya’ or good governance? I am not saying that nothing has changed since Maithri and you took over but I must also say that many are disappointed because they feel that things haven’t changed that much since then.
We still see the same people in the Cabinet - people who were voted out, only for Maithri to take them back just because they now support him and not Mahinda maama. Some of your Green chaps - such as Wattala John or Justice Wije, for instance, are being as arrogant as the ministers who got the sack.
The Cabinet has almost the same number of ministers as there were during Mahinda maama’s time. You are now telling us that the Chinese Port City was not a bad idea after all, even though you told us Mahinda maama was making us a Chinese colony. And yes, MPs still get their vehicles duty free!
We don’t grudge the Greens celebrating their birthday, Green Man, but you must realise that in a few years’ time, when you have to go before the people again, you can’t be still blaming Mahinda maama saying that the rising cost of living is because of all the loans he took and all the money he wasted.
So, Green Man, as you celebrate the Green party’s biblical life span, I hope you will think not only of the next election but of the next generation as well. We do not care if the next government is Green or Blue or a mix of both Blue and Green, so long as the citizens of Paradise do not get marooned! Yours truly, Punchi Putha PS: Much has been said about how independent the judiciary has become after the verdict was delivered on Bharatha’s murder. It is indeed true that such a verdict may not have been reached during Mahinda maama’s time. I hope the same sense of justice and fairplay will prevail when young Hirunika - who contested from the Greens despite being from the Blue party - goes on trial for allegedly abducting someone. If it does, then ‘Yahapaalanaya’ would have truly come of age!