Crackdown on MR a
President says ‘JO’ members jubilant over Karunanayake resignation, but its leaders will soon know what awaits them; quips of appointing even 10 Commissions Another blow to UNP a not be postponed; 20th
It was like the old Sinhala adage of falling from the tree only to be gored by a bull or a double whammy as they say in the West. The United National Party (UNP), battered and bruised by the Ravi Karunanayake saga, was in for more embarrassment. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Central Committee decided unanimously Thursday night that elections be conducted to Provincial Councils (PCs) in Sabaragamuwa (term ends on September 26), the Eastern Province (term ends on September 30) and the North Central Province (term ends on October 1) this year.
It was at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday (August 1), just nine days ago, that ministers gave approval to a recommendation by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to put off Provincial Council elections on the grounds that “an undesirable socio-political environment has emerged in the country.” He won approval to introduce an amendment to the Constitution -the 20th Amendment -- to make provision to enable elections to all PCs to be conducted in one day. Such a move, it was clear even then, would not pass muster since a two thirds majority vote was required. There were rumblings among members on both sides.
Moreover, the ‘Joint Opposition’ and public interest groups were making preparations to challenge the draft constitutional amendments in the Supreme Court. “We will not vote for amendments to put off PC elections. In fact, we are awaiting the tabling of these amendments in Parliament on August 22 to seek the intervention of the Supreme Court”, Dinesh Gunawardena, leader of the ‘JO’ in Parliament, said yesterday. “Any move to put off elections is anti-democratic and goes against the will of the people, their right to franchise. We will totally oppose it,” he added.
The Sunday Times learnt that Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya has also written to President Sirisena not to put off the PC polls. He has said that such a move would be in violation of the Constitution.
Now that the SLFP Central Committee has decided unanimously that the PC polls should be conducted as scheduled, the Cabinet of Ministers is expected to rescind its earlier decision. The matter is expected to come up on Tuesday. This will mean the Elections Commission will be able to go ahead with its originally planned date for nominations for these three PCs to be held on October 3. It is likely the elections will be on a date in November.
The justification for holding PC polls in one day, according to Premier Wickremesinghe, was “more logical, reasonable and appropriate” for four reasons: (1) Efficient utilisation of state resources on
elections (2) Elimination of undue disruptions to day-today life of the general public and state service deliveries. (3) Dissipation of energies and resources of Political Parties throughout the Country, minimising election-related violence and state resources utilisation by some candidates, and (4) Accurate using of public perception as a barometer to evaluate the conduct of the incumbent government, enabling it to take corrective measures, if needed. However, SLFP Central Committee members, including ministers who were present at the Cabinet meeting, were highly critical. Among the most outspoken was Disaster Management Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, a Kurunegala District MP. Others who were strong in their opinion were Ministers Susil Premjayantha and John Seneviratne. Yapa said for no reason should elections be postponed -- a view that was endorsed by many of his colleagues including other SLFP ministers. Some speakers threatened to vote against the Constitutional amendments if their appeal is not accepted. It was ironic that they did a volteface within just three days of a collective Cabinet decision.
President Sirisena, who declared he would heed their request made a disclosure that became the talking point among those present at the CC meeting. He noted ‘Joint Opposition’ members were jubilant over the events related to Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake’s resignation. He warned that their euphoria would be short lived. Speaking in Sinhala, he said, “I know what is going to happen to them by next week.” Sources close to the Presidency said Sirisena had hinted about the investigations that had gone on in high profile cases -- those relating to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and members of his family. Since admonishing the UNP leadership at a Cabinet meeting last month for colluding with those concerned to stall the probes, Sirisena has personally taken initiatives to expedite some important probes. Further impetus came when the UNP leaders, under pressure after the Karunanayake episode, began to make public comparisons about the bigger volume of bribery and corruption under the previous regime. Some even said so in Parliament, notwithstanding the fact that the UNP was accused of delaying them.
Those remarks only drew sarcastic retorts from former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Referring to the Karunanayake saga, he declared, it was nothing but divine retribution for the accusations made against him and his family. Yet, he was conscious that a crackdown against him and the family was imminent. Commenting to a group of ‘JO’ members on the Karunanayake episode (before his resignation and statement in Parliament), he said the Foreign Minister quitting the Cabinet would lead to other developments. To ‘make things equal,’ Rajapaksa told them the Government could arrest him or his family members and urged that the ‘JO’ should be mindful of this. They would produce them in Courts and launch a propaganda drive, he said.
Adding to the unease of the UNP was another development. Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe in different public comments and in newspaper interviews, strongly criticised the Concession Agreement between the Government and the Chinese company for the Hambantota Port project. Rajapakshe, known for wallowing in controversy, said it was his commitment to take back the Hambantota Port one day from Chinese hands. If it was clearly a violation of collective responsibility since the Cabinet of Ministers had approved the Concession Agreement, which is a legally binding document, it was to spark anger amongst UNP backbenchers. On Thursday, they began a signature campaign for a Vote of No Confidence on Rajapakshe. The thrust of their accusations was on violating collective cabinet responsibility.
However, the identities of most backers to the motion also laid bare another possibility. They were closely associated with then Minister Karunanayake and believed the Justice Minister was the cause for some uncomfortable moments when he appeared before the Commission of Inquiry – an accusation which Rajapakshe has dismissed. They felt this was again retaliation for Karunanayake raising issue at a Cabinet meeting over Rajapakshe’s close association with Avant Garde Maritime Services Ltd., a company which is under several probes now for allegedly amassing enormous wealth providing private security for cargo vessels from sea pirates active in the seas off Sri Lanka. Premier Wickremesinghe was to summon key movers and direct that no such motion should be forwarded. He had said that such a step would require discussion and approval at the Working Committee, the main policy making body of the party and from him as the leader. Eka deng kunu koodeyta daanna oney or we must dump it in the waste paper basket, declared a Deputy Minister who was one of the movers.
Nevertheless, a UNP minister and one of four Government official spokespersons Rajitha Senaratne chastised Rajapakshe. Speaking at the briefing that follows weekly ministerial meetings, he said his colleague had breached the Cabinet’s collective responsibility principle. His (Rajapakshe’s) utterances, Senaratne said, will be taken up for discussion at the next ministerial meeting on Tuesday. Whether Senaratne should publicly accuse a ministerial colleague of misconduct is debatable, but he was quite clearly using his position as official spokesperson to express personal views creating the public impression that the remarks were coming from the Government. Another instance was over the conduct of officials of the Attorney General’s Department, particularly senior counsel assisting the Commission of Inquiry probing the Central Bank bond scam. Senaratne charged that they had ignored files related to Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family members and were concentrating on “smaller cases” like the one related to Karunanayake.
Senaratne also told a news conference that followed the ministerial meeting that “My question was, what the Commission is investigating here? This incident involves the house and phones of a party suspected of involvement in the Treasury bond issue and their friends. Even if all phones had been obtained, I asked if this could prove whether a fraud took place during the bond auction. They also keep asking for three month extensions. My question was, is the Commission asking for extensions to probe the bond scam or things like this? What we want is for the Commission to get to the truth of the bond issue and submit a report to us. That report should be of an advisory nature.” It is clear even to the most dim witted that Senaratne is uttering those words as the official Spokesperson of the Government, an abuse of his position and an affront to President Sirisena who has appointed the Commission. That he uses the weekly media briefing as a platform to air his own views, creating the feeling that they were official, thus causing embarrassment to the Government, is all too well known. That was why the SLFP put in its own official spokesperson in Dayasiri Jayasekera to offset Senaratne’s solo flights on behalf of the Government. This signalled that the SLFP was not necessarily on the same page as Senaratne.
Similar sentiments were also expressed by UNP backbenchers who rushed to make personal accusations. Collectively, they were giving a strong message -- it was to intimidate counsel in the AG’s Department and thus force them into the graveyard of silence. Aggressive questioning to elicit the truth from any accused or witness has remained the prerogative of a counsel either from the state or the private bar. Advocacy is adversarial. What was now being sought, it appears, is for the state prosecutors to be nice to those in the Government and hostile to others who are opposed to them. To replace such a time honoured practice with a process akin to how a Montessori teacher would ask questions from a child is not only condemnable but goes against the very spirit of good governance or yahapalanaya which the coalition leaders boast of pursuing. UNP MPs used parliamentary privilege to attack the state counsel who grilled Ravi Karunanayake while claiming the minister’s