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CBK
on save-SLFP campaign Like the monsoonal weather where thundershowers obscured sunshine every day, that Kumaratunga has been blowing hot and cold towards her Prime Minister is not a highly classified secret. Even if she wanted to hide it, making lofty claims from political platforms or through press releases, even the less discerning among the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) were observing it. Barely a week passed without one thing being said and another done. Having mounted the stage that day, she chose to sit away from Rajapakse. She invited Minister John Seneviratne to sit next to her. He did but was forced to leave the meeting early to take part in another event. Finishing his speech, Rajapakse walked up to the chair next to Kumaratunga and sat there. This was only after saying if he did not do that, people would think relations between the President and Premier were so bad that one did not want to sit next to the other. Kumaratunga laughed at the remarks and nodded her approval. In the course of her speech she said "I am appealing to you to give all assistance to the Prime Minister. English papers are carrying various lies. When we come to the stage and sit they publish some picture and say that we are quarrelling. They tell all types of lies. Even The Sunday Times has carried something and I sent a reply to them. I have no time to waste explaining this to you……" As for the picture, as someone said, they speak a thousand words. The Sunday Times readers will be able to see the pictures published on Page 2 today and discern whether the President and Premier were engaged in sober social niceties or in subtle sabre-rattling on a public podium. The camera does not lie. That was why last Wednesday security men were looking for The Sunday Times cameraman to prevent him from taking any more pictures. The reply she refers to came in the form of a letter from Eric Fernando, one of her media wizards, Director General, Policy Research and Information/Media. Complaining that "certain private media institutions constantly indulge in the dissemination of falsehoods without any basis of truth," Fernando declared in a letter that "these publications in the guise of political commentaries are most often fabrications without any basis of truth." Referring to this commentary in The Sunday Times of October 16, Fernando took exception to two matters. One - Kumaratunga on her return from Paris on October 8 did not invite her Prime Minister for a chat. It was the Prime Minister who sought the appointment with the President. Two - Kumaratunga was not at a family event with sister Sunethra and brother Anura. He
insists Kumaratunga had met Anura for the last time in New York
on September 18 and Sunethra in the morning of September 30. Remarks critical and embarrassing to Rajapakse had come from the Prime Ministerial aspirant Anura, as Fernando insists, only after Kumaratunga met him in New York. If that is the position, there is another question that begs answer. Anura vowed in a statement sent from New York that upon return to Colombo that he had agreed with Kumaratunga that the SLFP should closely examine the recent agreements (with JVP and JHU) entered by Rajapakse. "If it does accept the interest of our party…… I will extend my full support and campaign for Mr. Rajapakse on my return," he said. Well, the sister has now supported Rajapakse. As for the brother, it now seems he is going his own way apparently without the sister's concurrence. Or is it? After a month long absence from Sri Lanka, Anura the Foreign Minister was in the politically troubled Maldives this week. He was guest of the Government for two days and the guest of a Colombo businessman who owned hotels in the archipelago for another two days. Fernando prays "We hope respected newspapers such as The Sunday Times would refrain from writing such make-believe stories." Whilst thanking him for acknowledging, though unsolicited, the respectability of The Sunday Times, Fernando as well as all those who have a fundamental knowledge of Sri Lankan politics knows only too well that any media reportage or commentary shorn of praise and platitude for political leaders are often frowned upon. The country's political history is replete with such occasions. Instead of digging into the past, I will start with the same Ratnapura election rally. An English newspaper belonging to the state reported in their main front page story on Wednesday that pro-UNP media were trying to create differences between Kumaratunga and Rajapakse. It seemed no such differences existed or this is what they wanted Sri Lankans to believe in. The same newspaper quoted Kumaratunga as saying "She told the mammoth crowd gathered to felicitate her and in support of Premier Rajapakse's candidature that she had given full freedom to her candidate to conduct his campaign." That would have been really good news for Rajapakse. Since being named the party's candidate, his immediate problem was to win the battles with Kumaratunga as periodically revealed in these columns. There was the infamous letter of explanation called from Rajapakse. He was castigated for his deals with the JVP and the JHU. Then the Central Committee of the SLFP was summoned. It appointed a Drafting Committee for a Rajapakse's manifesto. But none of them went the Kumaratunga way. She was forced to fall in line. But now she has revived a new campaign to go parallel with Rajapakse's own. That is to safeguard the identity of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. She dealt a few blows to the JVP when she addressed All Island Local Government Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen at the Janadipathi Mandiraya on Thursday. She said according to the five lessons of the JVP during their campaign in the 1970s, one was to destroy the SLFP. But long thereafter in 2004 she gave leadership to the Sandhanaya and formed the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government. They had also said that the Bandaranaikes should be destroyed. "But I do not hold the view that the Bandaranaikes should hold on the power forever," she declared. The report of her speech appears elsewhere in this newspaper. If Kumaratunga had earlier declared she would step down from the SLFP leadership after ceasing to be President, she has changed her mind. She declared she would remain the leader of the party and protect it. But she would not allow her children to enter politics. She could not allow them to suffer. Interesting enough, her save-the-SLFP campaign targeting the JVP will run concurrently whilst Rajapakse directs his campaign, together with his JVP ally, to become President. Amidst hoarse claims of unity, there seems a plethora of disunity. Kumaratunga's lament is that the private media are not talking about the great unity but the "small" disunity. Barely an hour before Kumaratunga arrived at the Ratnapura rally; Presidential security men were screening those mounting the main stage. Harischandra Wijetunga of the Sinhalaye Maha Sammatha Bhumiputra Party was stopped. He was told his name was among those in a list who could not be allowed on the stage where Kumaratunga was going to sit. The security men were very polite and explained these were their "orders from the top." The list included several other names including those from the JVP. Organisers moved him to an adjoining stage where provincial politicians were accommodated. When Rajapakse arrived, his advisors gave him the news. He said he was helpless. As a prelude to last Tuesday's "Mahinda Chintana" (or Mahinda's Vision), his manifesto for the presidential elections, Rajapakse had taken steps to obviate any criticism. This is by showing the draft manifesto and obtaining the signatures of approval from members of a drafting team named by the party's Central Committee. This was at a meeting at the Janadipathi Mandiraya chaired by Kumaratunga. He wanted to make sure Kumaratunga saw it before the release. Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva was given the task. With the help of his Cabinet colleague Mangala Samaraweera, a copy was flown to London four days before the official release. Confirmation that Kumaratunga had read "Mahinda Chintana" came when Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva's mobile phone rang. He was at an election rally in the Badulla district. Bad signals interrupted the conversation periodically. At one point Kumaratunga asked de Silva, perhaps jokingly, whether he was trying to cut the line off saying the signal strength was not good. She noted that the manifesto had elements of her Rata Perata programme. Minister De Silva was thereafter at the butt end of jokes when he arrived late for the BMICH ceremony to mark the release of the manifesto. He was forced to take a seat at the back after all seats in the front rows were occupied. It was Deputy Minister Sripathi Sooriyaratchchi who told de Silva though he was in the back row; he was still in good company. He was referring to the presence of film actress Gita Kumarasinghe who was seated next to de Silva. The latter took it humorously by saying "I always keep good company." Rajapakse's campaign team was peeved at a front page report in the state run Sinhala media on Thursday. It had expressed appreciation (prasada) over reported remarks by UNP leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe at an election rally that there would be no political victimisation if he was elected President. By evening, the news had been reported by the national television network Rupavahini. Deputy Minister Sripathi Sooriyaratchi brought this to the attention of his political mentor, Minister Mangala Samaraweera. The latter, now ultra sensitive to any adverse media criticism, was unhappy. He began checking. At state run media organisation the buck passing ended with someone saying they were acting on "orders from the top." At the Rupavahini, it was not one of the items listed for that evening's news bulletin. A staunch political type had used his computer to print that paragraph and attach it to the original text. Samaraweera asked SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena. He was unaware. Then
a bigger shock followed for all of them. A state-run Sinhala daily
had prepared to publish several articles, compiled by its Editor,
on the "Mahinda Chinthana." Suddenly orders arrived to
pull them out. Here again the campaign staff were told they were
acting on "orders from the top." That may not be true. In Ratnapura, like in Wariyapola, Kumaratunga asked voters to back her Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapakse for the presidency. But Kumaratunga, who is politically savvy enough, should know there is something wrong somewhere. Her slip is showing when she blames it all on the private media. |
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