When President and PM clashed, Secretaries took President’s side; afraid to take orders from PM
“They didn’t care about the economy”
Differences between the President and PM -Personal problems at the beginning
“Someone” teamed up with the President then to introduce political differences
Personal problems between President Maithripala Sirisena and his Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe started as early as the latter part of 2015 --the very year they formed the Government together -- and was rooted in class issues as well as a language barrier, said Saman Ekanayake, who was the Premier’s Secretary at the time.
“What I believe was it was a personal problem at the beginning,” said Mr. Ekanayake. “There were two different classes represented. The former President was from Polonnaruwa and the former Prime Minister was from Colombo 7, educated at Royal College. There was a mismatch.”
The first issue Mr Ekananayake noticed while attending to duties was the language problem. Then, someone who did not like Mr Wickremesinghe teamed up with Mr Sirisena and made matters worse by introducing political differences.
“What appeared to be a personal issue was intensified by these groups,” he said, refusing to elaborate further.
There were other shortcomings. The UNP backed Mr Sirisena as the common candidate and propelled him to power but they did not involve him (in running the government). Mr Ekanayake says he pointed this out to the PM and other Ministers.
“They left him out,” he reflected. “This helped other forces to (negatively) influence the President.”
But before the Presidential election of 2015, things had been vastly different. Former president Chandrika Kumaratunga once told
Mr Ekanayake that one of Mr Sirisena’s requests was to be a l l owed to address Mr Wickremesinghe as “Sir”. Upon his election, President Sirisena publicly said he would be doing just that. But it is clear this relationship was not built upon such early niceties and respect, and the language barrier widened the gap between the two leaders.
Mr Ekanayake joined the public service in 1985. Four years later, when the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa gave Ranil Wickremesinghe the Industries portfolio, the young minister invited Mr Ekanayake to serve in the ministry. He declined. But when Mr Wickremesinghe became Prime Minister in 1993 upon President Premadasa’s death and the elevation of then Prime Minister D.B. Wijetunege to the Presidency, he joined the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) as Assistant Secretary.
Subsequently, when Mrs Kumaratunga was elected PM in 1994, Mr Ekanayake was shifted to the Samurdhi Ministry. He would meet Mr Wickremesinghe, who was Opposition Leader.
In 2008, Mr Ekanayake was attached to the Sri Lankan High Commission in London when Mr Wickremesinghe visited. As Opposition Leader, he enjoyed the privileges of a Cabinet Minister. So he was picked up from the airport and provided with accommodation. Mr Ekanayake was assigned the task of arranging the visiting Opposition Leader’s itinerary and handled those duties whenever he visited thereafter.
Having maintained contact with him, Mr
Ekanayake received a phone call from Mr Wickremesinghe on January 9, 2015, after he was sworn is a Prime Minister of the Yahapalana National Unity Government. “You will have to come as my Secretary,” he said. And this time, he said he agreed without any hesitation, accepted the invitation and assumed duties the following day.
Mr Ekanayake had no difficulty working with the PM, whom he said was “a thorough gentleman who never gets angry and is very good to and respects officials”. While some targets were challenging, he managed it all. When officials, on occasion, didn’t cooperate, he spoke to Ministers and got the job done.
The problems between Mr Sirisena and Mr Wickremesinghe, in Mr Ekanayake’s belief, did not stem from the bond scam. The Government started off with the 100-day programme and wanted to hold elections at the end of it. That was delayed. There were political issues. The President didn’t dissolve Parliament immediately. He wanted to strengthen himself and took time.
Meanwhile, the bond scam broke and was used by the Opposition during the election campaign to attack the government. It had an impact on the UNP. Differences continued although the PM didn’t show it. He would call the President, go and meet him and continue with work. The working relationship was not affected. But many wanted to create a rift between the two.
“Although I wasn’t involved in politics, I believe, as a citizen, that the President announcing he would contest for a second term also had an impact on the relationship between the two sides,” Mr Ekanayake said. And the differences (between the UNP and the SLFP) sharpened towards the latter part of 2015.
Mr Wickremesinghe never referred to the President by his name. It was always as President or HE ( His Excellency), Mr Ekanayake maintains. He didn’t say a word that eroded the respect of the President, personally or his office. When someone told him what the President has said about him in a negative sense, the PM would shrug it off or smile slightly-not worry, sulk or lose his temper.
But the split was not too visible on the outside and there were no major hiccups (in the administration of government). Work continued till October 26, 2018, when all- of- a- sudden Mahinda Rajapaksa was appointed PM.
Just the day before, on October 25, Mr. Austin Fernando, Secretary to the President had hosted Mr Ekanayake and other officials to lunch. There was no indication of what would transpire the next day: “Nobody knew what was impending.”
The following day, Mr Ekanayake was going out when the PM’s chief of staff Sagala Ratnayake called him. He had heard that Mr Rajapaksa had been swornin as the Prime Minister and wanted him to check it. He confirmed it with a friend and notified Mr Ratnayake. This is how Mr Wickremesinghe, who was in Galle at the time, came to know (of his dismissal from his job).
“Not even police officers knew this,” Mr Ekanayake related. “When we gathered at Temple Trees that night, Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara was waiting in the conference room. Even he didn’t know. He suddenly disappeared and had gone to see Mr Rajapaksa. Not even intelligence officers knew.”
A personal relations issue had turned into a high stakes political issue. The United National Party (UNP) is known to be market-oriented. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) is more Leftist oriented. With no agreement on policies, there is bound to be conflict during governance. Other persons aggravated the differences. And when the President said he would contest for a second term, it meant a challenge to those in the same Government.
“Until Sajith (Premadasa) became the (Presidential) candidate at the last moment, Ranil Wickremesinghe had not given up the idea of contesting,” Mr Ekanayake said. But he didn’t push for it, he says, and did not make it an issue or go on to destroy his rival (Mr Sirisena).
This turned out to be a disadvantage to him. Had he established himself as the contestant at the next presidential election, the incumbent President Sirisena couldn’t have said he would contest. But Mr Wickremesinghe thought the issue would get resolved with time. Eventually, however, the pressure built up against him.
When a section of the media criticised the PM, some Ministers proposed that the Government stops advertising with them, particularly by institutions under his purview. He did not agree. As the son of media stalwart Esmond Wickremesinghe, he held a different opinion and did not wish to interfere with media freedom.
Some pledges in the manifesto could not be implemented. They include the proposed Special Land Provisions Act under which land was to be given to the landless. It was opposed for, among others, political reasons. “Because of his ambition of becoming President, things that were favourable to Mr Wickremesinghe may have been left out,” Mr Ekanayake opined.
When a Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) was set up, the President was influenced into thinking it was taking all the important decisions. It was eventually disbanded, and the President started the National Economic Council (NEC). That body thereafter took all decisions. But this, too, was disbanded after a while with Mr Sirisena himself calling what he had created a “white elephant”.
With the CCEM gone, important decisions regarding the economy couldn’t be taken, Mr Ekanayake said. “It was about power,” he asserted. “They did not care about the economy.”
With the situation deteriorating and bipartisanship crumbling, Ministers Malik Samarawickrema and Mangala Samaraweera tried to resolve disputes between the UNP and the SLFP leadership. The PM would also, sometimes, send delegations to meet the President. Once, President Sirisena wanted to prorogue Parliament but the two Ministers negotiated with him and kept the Yahapalana Government going.
There were “a couple” of officials who contributed to the rift by aggravating the differences. Others were scared to work under the existing system, particularly reading that the President would object to anything they did.
“Since they are appointed by the President, the tendency was to listen to the President,” Mr Ekanayake recalled. “Some Secretaries did not respond to our telephone calls. Their loyalty was towards the President as they were appointed by him. But 95 percent of them cooperated. As for some, we spoke through Ministers to get the work done.”
Among the positives of the last Government was the passing of the 19th Amendment under which independent commissions were appointed. The Right to Information Act was another. The Moragahakanda project, commencement of the Port City project and several other development initiatives, too, were achievements, along with the start of highway projects.