| Political Column | ||||||
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| Subtle
tussle over SLFP The story refers to how Minister de Silva, is known to have conceded 40 seats to the JVP when the party asked for only 25 at the 2004 General Elections, and the fear was whether he would do the same with the LTTE. The frolic of course was because he was a Minister who was near and dear to the JVP. But even a joke can be a serious thing, and this one centred on a true event. During former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's tenure, Mr.de Silva was tasked with the responsibility of negotiating how many parliamentary seats should be allotted to the JVP at the April 2004 parliamentary elections. The JVP had asked for 25. Mr. de Silva found that in some areas, like in the Trincomalee and Ampara districts, for example, there were no known Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) candidates to field. Hence, he ended up offering 15 more seats to the JVP than what they requested. The result - the JVP won 39 of the 40 they contested, and became a potent force in Parliament, and the United Peoples Freedom Alliance of President Kumaratunga. President Rajapaksa's choice of Mr. de Silva was not arbitrary. As the Head of State and Government he could not name himself. The second was Prime Minister, Ratnasiri Wickremanayake. The third in the line of protocol was the Leader of the House and that was Nimal Siripala de Silva. So he became the automatic choice though in some quarters there was widespread criticism and even apprehension, especially given his inability to deal with striking doctors, nurses and attendants. In the aftermath of that, there were other embarrassing moments that did not help Mr. de Silva. Last Tuesday and Wednesday were allotted for a workshop at the Presidential Secretariat to create a "knowledge base" for the Government delegation and their supporting staff. JVP's Wimal Weerawansa was on his feet when President Rajapaksa walked in to the auditorium, once the well of Parliament that has seen the high and mighty, the low and humble among others waxing eloquent on many a national issue. Perhaps too fatigued, mentally and physically, Mr. de Silva was seen nodding off on a number of occasions. At the tea break that followed, someone whispered this in the ears of President Rajapaksa. He tackled the issue diplomatically by advising those present not to fall asleep during daytime but listen intently. There was no reference to Mr. de Silva. It seemed he took the advice in all humility for he made a speech that made references to the contributions made by some of the speakers. Besides members of the Government delegation and supporting staff, Ministry Secretaries, Armed Forces commanders, Police officials, officials of the Peace Secretariat were on hand. There were also two Americans described as experts on conflict resolution. One of them turned to Sripathi Sooriyaratchchi and asked "who are the JVP people." He was to introduce them to Somawansa Amerasinghe and Wimal Weerawansa. The sessions began with an introductory speech by the Secretary to the Ministry of Plan Implementation, Nivaard Cabral. Thereafter, Jathika Hela Urumaya's (JHU) Champika Ranawaka went on to highlight provisions in the Mahinda Chinthanaya (Mahinda's Vision), President Rajapaksa's presidential election 'manifesto', with regard to the peace process. He then went on to identify issues related to the CFA. JVP leader Somawansa Amerasinghe said the JVP was happy that a workshop had been arranged and a delegation from their party has been invited to speak. He pointed out that the agenda for the workshop was very wide though the Sri Lanka delegation was travelling to Geneva for a restricted issue -- the Ceasefire Agreement. He said there was a need to concentrate more on this issue -- the Ceasefire Agreement -- so that the CFA could be made more effective. "We must stick to our positions. Don't forget the Mahinda Chinthanaya and the mandate voters have given President Rajapaksa," he pointed out. He went on to identify some of the clauses of the CFA and their ill effects. He probably meant, we must stick to our guns, wise-cracked one of the participants. Later at a meeting of the JVP Politburo on Thursday, Mr. Amerasinghe briefed his policy making body on what he told the workshop. "We have to make sure the Government delegation articulates its position correctly, If they don't do it, then it will become necessary for us to oppose them." He made clear that the JVP should not keep away from the peace process but equally it must point out to the Government whenever there were shortcomings or lapses so they could be rectified. Douglas Devananda, leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), did not hide his feelings. He said the LTTE was not coming for talks with the intention of achieving peace or reaching settlements. They were doing so purely to put the Government into more difficulty. However, Devananda said he was fully supportive of President Rajapaksa's sincerity and commitment to achieve peace. Therefore he was extending his fullest co-operation. Ferial Ashraff, leader of NUA (National Unity Alliance) said that the CFA had not taken into consideration the Muslims of the East. She said the Sri Lanka delegation should be mindful about the aspirations of the Muslims and ensure their concerns are addressed too. This was particularly in view of the inability for a Muslim delegation to participate directly. Minister Sripathi Sooriyaratchchi was of the view that amendments to the CFA were necessary if it was to be strengthened. He said that the LTTE had strengthened itself during the CFA. In the past the armed forces had to pay heavily due to lapses. "Let us hope it does not happen this time," he said. JVP's Wimal Weerawansa made an analysis of why the LTTE was coming to Geneva for talks. He said they were doing so only to weaken the Government politically. Even if one is to argue they were militarily strong at present, he said, in political terms they were weak. Hence, it was a demonstration in the eyes of the international community with the intention of politically weakening the Government. He said that besides the oft-repeated demand to disarm the so-called Karuna faction, the LTTE may also demand the dismantling of the High Security Zones (HSZ) in Jaffna encompassing the security establishments. This was ostensibly on the grounds that 'paramilitary' groups found sanctuary in these zones. "Our delegation should think of the nation. They should not react like persons who have been accused. We should not be on the defensive, but on the offensive, and state our case forcefully," he added. Lawyer S.L. Gunasekera was to endorse Mr. Weerawansa's remarks. "We should be able to present our own problems regarding the non-implementation of the CFA by the LTTE and discuss them," he argued. On
Wednesday morning, Superintendent of Police Mahil Dole of the Directorate
of Internal Intelligence (DII) was to give a briefing on the LTTE
and its leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran. Responding to a question
on a book titled "Inside an Elusive Mind - Velupillai Prabhakaran,"
by an Indian journalist, he said it contained several inaccuracies.
Copies of the book had been distributed to all members. Many more
are lying around at Temple Trees for anyone to pick up. The author
M.R. Narayan Swamy, was even invited to brief the Government delegation
but, he's in a dither over references to him in the Sri Lankan media,
and had not turned up. Later, the United National Party's former Cabinet Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris and former Defence Secretary Austin Fernando gave their inputs. Barely 24 hours after the event, UNP Assistant General Secretary Tissa Attanayake was to make clear that Prof. Peiris did not take part in the workshop as a representative of the UNP but only in his personal capacity. Sripathi Sooriyaratchchi posed a question to Prof. Peiris. "Do you think the LTTE is genuine in coming for talks?" The team leader for peace talks during the tenure of then UNP Government, Prof. Peiris, not surprisingly, did not provide a direct answer. He went into a lengthy explanation which failed to explain whether the LTTE was genuine, or not. There was also an unexpected event on Wednesday -- a summit between President Rajapaksa and his predecessor Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. Earlier in the day they met at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH). The occasion was to felicitate veteran trade unionist and Governor of Western Province, Syed Alavi Mowlana. Later in the afternoon, Ms Kumaratunga drove in to 'Temple Trees'. She had arrived there with a catalogue of grievances and to have a one-on-one with President Rajapaksa to resolve them. Unlike in those days when she had the State run media at her finger tips, Ms. Kumaratunga was worried. She said she would like to chat frankly with Rajapaksa but such matters were ending up with the media. Particular mention was made about The Sunday Times. President Rajapaksa explained he had no time to go on dealing personally with the media. "I will brief some on my side about my talks much the same way you do so with your people. What can I do if some of them go on talking? I cannot stop them," he pointed out. But that did not deter Kumaratunga from pouring her heart out. So much so, the discussion went on for nearly four long and winding hours and President Rajapaksa had to skip last Wednesday's cabinet meeting. It was chaired by Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, instead. Ms. Kumaratunga made an appeal to President Rajapaksa to validate cheques amounting to Rs 600 million or more he had stopped payment. These cheques were those the incumbent President had stopped when it was discovered that the outgoing President Kumaratunga had approved the transfer of funds from the President's Fund, which was under her charge, to a hastily set-up private trust, of which she was the founder - and this on the eve of the November 17 Presidential elections last year. (Please see separate page 1 story on this.) Then she repeated an appeal she had earlier made during a phone call to Mr. Rajapaksa whilst on holiday in the United Kingdom. She wanted to be named as head of the management body for the BMICH. When the matter was first raised, Government officials pointed out that the BMICH had huge cash resources. Ms. Kumaratunga's argument was that the BMICH management was rightfully due to the Bandaranaike family and it was the late J.R. Jayewardene who had denied it to them. Mr Rajapaksa was non committal and said he would consider the matter.
President Rajapaksa was unruffled. He smiled for a while. Then he told Ms. Kumaratunga, "Madam, although you appointed me Prime Minister, you did your best to defeat me at the Presidential elections. Despite that I won." Undeterred, Ms. Kumaratunga continued to go to the next point on her agenda. She then dropped a bombshell. She said her ambition now was to contest the Attanagalla electorate and enter Parliament. Needless to say she would have to wait until another general election to do so. But her future plans began to unravel further when Ms. Kumaratunga raised issue with President Rajapaksa about his wanting the leadership of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). The President said "I don't know. I have not made an effort so far." He said it was becoming difficult to maintain discipline in the party, and in the government. When he dealt with a party member, if that was a Ms. Kumaratunga supporter, they ran to her and complained. Likewise, if she dealt with someone as the party leader, they came running to him and complained that they were being punished for being loyal to the President. He said such a problem does not exist in the UNP. Their constitution says that where the Head of Government is a member of the party, he shall be the leader of the party. Ms. Kumaratunga's plans became clearer the next day, Thursday. She had turned up at the SLFP Headquarters at Colombo's Darley Road and was scrutinising the background of possible candidates for the local government elections. SLFP sources said she was also in touch on a regular basis with UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. She told a party member she was among those who persuaded Mr. Wickremesinghe not to quit politics after he lost the presidential elections. Ms. Kumaratunga was particularly happy that the JVP had decided to field its own candidates at the forthcoming local polls. Her aides said, that the JVP decision made President Rajapaksa more dependent on her. But on Thursday night several confidants were at a meeting with President Rajapaksa. They included brother Basil, Susil Premjayantha, Maithripala Sirisena and Dulles Allahaperuma. The President said they should send a message to the JVP suggesting a further proposal so that it could review its decision to go it alone at the local polls. A letter was delivered to the JVP on Friday. It was also a sort of proportionate representation issue. The JVP was told they could have 28 local bodies, each to represent parliamentary seats in the districts they contested. For example, in one district if two JVP MPs had won, they would be given control of two local bodies in that district. This worked out to 28 local bodies in which the JVP could field a majority of candidates under the UPFA common platform. The JVP has not yet given its response to the proposal officially. But indications are that it will not accept the offer but go its own way. So, while the SLFP is having its share of problems with having to probably contest alone, with a formidable grassroots level organisation available to the JVP, the opposition UNP is also not without its own share of internal haemorrhaging on the selection of local council candidates, especially their choices to head these bodies. The most significant battle is for the crown -- the post of Mayor of Colombo, which the UNP believes it can still win, despite their dropping vote base with each passing election -- and the fact that thousands of their voters may not be registered to vote at these elections. UNP
leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya (who
will be in charge of the campaign) have shown their opposition to
one-time Mayor Sirisena Cooray being appointed the Mayoral candidate. Mr. Cooray arrived in the meantime from Adelaide to take up the responsibilities as the Moragoda-Maharoof combine, backed by big business houses and a considerable vote bank ganged up to blackmail the party leadership by threatening to withdraw their support. The party fears that a sizeable Tamil vote in the city will go elsewhere because of Mr. Moragoda's ill-timed remarks on the eve of the Presidential elections, which they feel cost the UNP of certain victory. And there was no assurance that the majority Sinhalese would vote for the UNP because of its stance, many of them having left the party because of Mr. Wickremesinghe's line of apparent appeasement with the Tigers, which in fact, was not the case judging by the way the LTTE opted for Mr. Rajapaksa over Mr. Wickremesinghe. In Colombo, there were others who also threw in their hats into the ring, among them, the incumbent Mayor Prasanna Gunawardene and deputy Azad Sally, former Airport chief Hemasiri Fernando, businessman Thilanga Sumathipala, and dark-horse Bodhi Ranasinghe, who played a major part in keeping the party intact in the immediate aftermath of the Presidential election debacle. Elsewhere, too, there were difficulties for the UNP, and they have decided that whatever they may decide on about the Colombo Mayoralty, they would not appoint their choices for the No.1 post in other councils, while in the east, where they had considerable support still, they were working out which councils they should not contest (they have already abandoned the Batticaloa Municipality), while trying to contest some councils like Eravur under their own flag, and enter into no-contest pacts with the Muslim Congress elsewhere. The CWC was also, as usual seeking which party would give them the best deal, or whether to go it alone, and bargain from the sidelines. It's the same old story of elections and power politics at play, and the voter will be asked to go and vote for this bunch come election day. |
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