‘Loyalty is the best policy’

His maverick nature and his obsequious acts towards the party leadership of the day; be it Chandrika Kumaratunga or Mahinda Rajapaksa were tolerated by an amused public Minister Silva has survived through a two-pronged strategy: absolute loyalty to his political masters and a reputation for getting a job done

Like him or loathe him, he is back in the news. Public Relations Minister Mervyn Silva who had maintained an uncharacteristic silence for many months, this week triumphantly announced that he had been reappointed as Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) organiser for his electorate, Kelaniya.

Silva had been stripped of his organiser-post following the murder of Hasitha Madawela one year ago. Madawela, a Kelaniya Pradeshiya Sabha member who was a vociferous opponent of the minister was shot dead outside his home. Silva has vehemently denied any involvement in the killing.

Silva was compelled to keep a low-profile after the incident. Many believed that he would be relieved of his ministerial responsibilities but instead the SLFP conducted a disciplinary inquiry against him. Although the findings of the probe have not been publicised, it is clear that Silva has escaped censure.

He marked his return to his maverick role this week saying that President Mahinda Rajapaksa “loves” him. Then he was to say that, as Minister of Public Relations, his powers are unlimited and that he could implement development programmes “anywhere in the country”.

“Great teachers like t he Buddha, Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohamed did not have a specific subject assigned to them. They had limitless responsibilities,” Silva said and noted that in neighbouring India, his portfolio of Public Relations was a subject assigned to the Prime Minister.

Few remember that Hewa Coparage Mervyn Silva is a creation of the United National Party (UNP) because he now proudly proclaims allegiance to the Rajapaksa family. However, it was the UNP that first thrust Silva into national politics, as a candidate for the Hambantota district in 1994.

That was a time when he had crossed over to the UNP from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), with his political mentor, Anura Bandaranaike. Two of his opponents were Mahinda Rajapaksa and Chamal Rajapaksa. Silva, along with Ananda Kularatne was one of two UNP MPs who were elected.

However, Silva soon changed his loyalties and returned to the SLFP, where he has stayed since. For a while, his maverick nature and his obsequious acts towards the party leadership of the day; be it Chandrika Kumaratunga or Mahinda Rajapaksa-were tolerated by an amused public.

Silva kept a relatively low-pro- file and at the general elections in 2004, contesting from the Colombo district, he emerged last in his party’s list of candidates polling just over 2,000 votes and failing to get elected when the United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance received over 400,000 votes

Nevertheless, he was still able to make it to parliament because he enjoyed enough clout with the then party high command to have his wife, Mary Lucida, nominated on the much sought after National List. With his spouse resigning, Mervyn was back in the legislature

Despite a series of petty incidents, it was in December 2007 that he hit the national headlines when he walked into the offices of the state broadcaster, Rupavahini, and assaulted an official. Angry employees held him hostage and assaulted him, the melee being broadcast live on television.

This was followed by the assault on a television cameraman at Kelaniya in August 2008 and the infamous incident where he tied a government official to a tree for not being present at a meeting summoned by him in August 2010.

Though Silva has earned the wrath of the general public and brought the government, the cabinet and the SLFP into needless disrepute he has escaped consequences, earning only mild reprimands. It was after all these incidents that Silva was elevated to cabinet rank after the 2010 general elections.

Even after the infamous 'tree' incident, Silva was briefly stripped of his post as SLFP organiser for Kelaniya but later exonerated following a disciplinary inquiry by the party and his privileges were restored. No charges were pressed against him, despite the event being witnessed by the public.

Minister Silva's son Malaka Silva has compounded the notoriety of his father by being involved in a series of incidents at night clubs and also allegedly assaulting an army officer at an incident in a car park at an apartment complex in Colombo in September 2012.

In a case that made a mockery of the justice system, Malaka Silva was exonerated of any wrongdoing while the officer concerned was subjected to a disciplinary inquiry and asked to explain his presence at the location of the incident.

Through all his escapades, Minister Silva has survived through a two-pronged strategy: absolute loyalty to his political masters of the day and a reputation of getting a job done; be it building a road or admitting a child to a school, his modus operandi notwithstanding.

Despite his abrasive manner and the vituperative style of public speaking, Silva is also smart at hogging the spotlight. He has appeared as a judge in a reality television show and whether the public loved him or loathed him, Silva made certain that they watched him, week after week.

All these factors undoubtedly contributed to his apparent 'popularity' because he polled over 150,000 preference votes in the Gampaha district at the last election coming third in a list riddled with political heavyweights, less than only Basil Rajapaksa and Sudarshani Fernandopulle. It has long been rumoured that

Minister Silva's son Malaka Silva has compounded the notoriety of his father by being involved in a series of incidents at night clubs and also allegedly assaulting an army officer at an incident in a car park at an apartment complex in Colombo in September 2012.

Silva derives his power not only from his links with the masses at the grassroots level, but also because of his links to the underworld, organised crime and drugs but they have remained just asrumours-never being substantiated or properly scrutinised.

Silva has in the past been behaving like a ruler in his 'kingdom' of Kelaniya, controlling the electorate with an iron fist and enforcing his writ through a series of local 'laws' such as banning the sale of certain vegetables, and ordering that all meat stalls should have his sanction. There is opposition to Silva in Kelaniya from within the SLFP itself in the form of the Pradeshiya Sabha, but for the moment, he seems to have gained the upper hand and it can be safely said that more will be heard from Mervyn Silva in the months to come.