Sirisena gets tough, pr cases against Rajapak
As parties prepare for local polls, possibly on January 20, President rules out any rapprochement with rival faction UNP also finalises list for claims new party confiden
By Our Political Editor
President Maithripala Sirisena threw the gauntlet at his detractors in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) just weeks ahead of elections to local government institutions. The politically significant move, where he replaced senior, long-standing feuding SLFPers as electoral organisers, laid to rest any immediate rapprochement with the dissident group supporting former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. As SLFP leader, he will now field the highest number of candidates under the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) banner thus severing all ties with the ‘old guard.’ Instead, he has opted for an incoming band of relatively young newcomers including even UNPers. If there was a prohibition of ‘poaching’ the latter, it is no more. The Memorandum of Understanding between the two coalition partners has ended. Moreover, Sirisena is on record saying they would consider what next in December, just a few weeks away.
For good measure and to market the now SLFP as an acceptable brand name, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has also been appointed as the “organiser” of her ancestral Attanagalla electorate. In an interview just last year, she said “I am not greedy for power” and that she’s never been in politics for power, and didn’t want to be “pinned down”. Now, she returns to active politics.
She replaces former Deputy Minister Sarana Gunawardena, a Rajapaksa backer who is currently in remand custody for alleged fraud and misappropriation. Whether Kumaratunga would only be a political matriarch for the entire Gampaha district or merely do a holding operation for someone else later remains to be seen. The Rajapaksa faction’s Gampaha leader Prasanna Ranatunga is also facing criminal cases in courts. Yet, the move to re-deploy Kumaratunga could be a reminder to Mahinda Rajapaksa, who once removed her as leader of the SLFP. The warning was that his action would not go unchallenged.
A list of those replaced as SLFP organisers is to be released next week for the local polls now certain to be held on January 20 next year. Kumara Welgama, a long standing Kalutara District SLFPer who had served the party from the days of the late Sirimavo Bandaranaike has been removed. Replacing him is Samitha Priyangani Abeydheera. Also replaced is former Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage as organises for Nawalapitiya. He is succeeded by H.A. Ranasinghe who backed the United National Party (UNP) at the last parliamentary elections. Both, Welgama and Aluthgamage face court cases too.
Among the other changes, yet to be formally confirmed, is Udith Anuradha (Matale). He had begun political work with the late Vijaya Kumaratunga. He later worked with the SLFP and then joined the UNP to contest the last parliamentary elections. He replaces Rohana Dissanayake. Anuradha resigned in protest over the removal of former Minister Janaka Bandara Tennekoon as SLFP organiser for Dambulla.
National List MP Malith Jayatillake replaces Nimal Chandraratna as the SLFP organiser for Bandaragama. He was earlier associated closely with the Mahinda Rajapaksa faction and was an advisor to Dulles Allahapperuma.
Chinthana Ekanayake, son of former Minister Nandamithra Ekanayake, has been appointed organiser for Rattota. The elder Ekanayake is tipped for a diplomatic posting. Southern Provincial Councillor Manoj Sirisena, son of Minister H.G. Sirisena, is to be appointed organiser for Akuressa. Just weeks earlier, Mahinda Rajapaksa visited the Akuressa home of Sirisena (senior) who was ailing. Ananda Sarath Kumara, a Provincial Councillor who once ordered a teacher to kneel before him in a classroom has been named organiser for Anamaduwa. He replaces Priyankara Jayaratne, a former SLFP minister. The latter is the son of a former SLFP stalwart from Chilaw, S.D.R. Jayaratne, who served in the late Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s Cabinet as the Minister of Fisheries.
This is clearly a ‘stand-alone’ approach by Sirisena, the leader of one of the country’s main political parties now splintered. That it came after months and months of informal manoeuvring by different groups to get the two sides together makes it a decisive step. That the detractors will offer formidable opposition at an election has remained a cause for worry for Sirisena is all too well known. The number of occasions when both the Provincial Councils and Local Government elections have been put off bear testimony. Of course, coalition leaders argue, though not convincingly, that such postponements were necessary to introduce long awaited electoral reforms and to avoid conflict among partners until constitutional changes were effected. The claim does not hold water now since these constitutional changes are yet to come. President’s trump card
However, some senior SLFPers conceded that a delay was caused by fears of a UNP victory in the face of the SLFP split. They felt that would weaken Sirisena’s position making him a lame-duck President. Yet, the President does have a trump card in the form of bribery or corruption charges against some of those in the Rajapaksa camp, not least members of the Rajapaksa family themselves. Investigations are complete and court action is only a matter of time. Those out of step are therefore on notice. Yet, that would be a gamble, however well calibrated it is. It could misfire, for those under a cloud feel their salvation lay in defeating the coalition. They have redoubled their efforts at fund raising and want to throw their weight behind the Rajapaksa faction.
There is also another factor that could influence the course of events in their (SLFP – Rajapaksa) favour. That is Sirisena’s partner in governance, the United National Party (UNP). It is no secret that the warm cordiality that existed in the early days when they formed their “rainbow coalition” no longer remains at that level. Sirisena has been in an unenviable position. His SLFP colleagues have been unhappy over their perception that their leader is leaning more towards the UNP and has not had enough time for them. Sirisena addressed this concern when he met his MPs in one-on-one talks during an overnight meeting in Galle just two weeks ago. He continued the exercise when he returned to Colombo.
On the other hand, UNP parliamentarians have been unhappy over what they perceive is a campaign against their leaders over charges of bribery and corruption. The matter came to the fore just last week when a group met at a southern resort arranged by former Minister Ravi Karunanayake. Among the UNP parliamentarians who took part were Ashu Marasinghe, Hector Appuhamy, Kavinda Jayawardena, Ishara Indunil, Ashoka Priyantha, Chaminda Wijesiri, Wijepala Hettiaratchchi, Suresh Vadival, Sujith Perera and Sandith Samarasinghe. The subject at a session where spirits were high centred on these issues. Just weeks earlier, most of the group members had also met at a Colombo seafood restaurant where the same issues figured. For some of them, a thorn in the flesh was Sirisena’s appointment of a Commission of Inquiry to probe the bond issue in the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL). The revelations before the Commission have not only caused considerable embarrassment to the UNP but has also proved wrong their strong public assertions, both in Parliament and outside, of no wrong doings by the party High Command.
However, a thaw of sorts in their relationship came when Parliament approved the Provincial Council Elections (Amendment) law. The manner in which it was passed has generated a controversy. The advice of the Attorney General who said it only required a two third vote for passage and the Speaker’s ruling that the Bill was “duly passed” are being contested before the Supreme Court. However, this new law put paid to efforts by the Elections Commission to conduct elections to the Sabaragamuwa, North Central and Eastern Provincial Councils. They are now under Governor’s (Presidential) rule. President Sirisena, who was in New York to attend the 72nd sessions of the UN General Assembly, pressed on Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to move for the amendments that in effect delayed the polls. Sirisena also spoke on the telephone to Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauff Hakeem, Sri Lanka Makkal Katchi (People’s Party) leader Rishad Bathiuddin and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader Rajavarothayam Sampanthan. That Wickremesinghe delivered what Sirisena wished has had some soothing effect though tensions remain between the SLFP and the UNP.
Those initiatives by Wickremesinghe, senior members both in the SLFP and the UNP, believe had brought about a closer working relationship between the two coalition partners. Nevertheless, how far this would last and could go to mend fences remains a critical issue, says a UNP cabinet minister who did not wish to be identified. “As a partner, we have contributed our own might to see that the present government was voted to power. We have had more than our share of problems. We would naturally have to see how outstanding issues are sorted out by dialogue,” he declared. Yet, the impending campaign for polls to local councils will lead to an inevitable heightening of differences between the coalition partners. If it does reach acrimonious levels, putting the clock back would be a difficult exercise for both sides. One of the key issues in focus is sure to be the subject of corruption. UNP to contest all councils
UNP leader Premier Wickremesinghe returned to Sri Lanka at dawn on Thursday after a private visit to Germany and an official visit to Finland. He wrapped up a deal for Finnish help for digitalisation and renewable energy. A Memorandum of Understanding is to be signed with Helsinki after their 100th year Independence Day celebrations conclude on December 6 this year. Finland is also to help Sri Lanka in the field of education and health.
One of the premier’s immediate tasks in Colombo upon his return was to focus on the local government elections. Wickremesinghe has summoned a meeting of the Working Committee, the party’s main policy making body, for Thursday (October 19). This is to make preparations for the local government elections where the party is