Political Column - The queen is dead; long live the king

* Gang of six creates panic with Galle Face explosions
* Immediate cabinet reshuffle or general election not likely

It happened on Thursday within Sri Lanka's top most High Security Zone or more precisely at the Galle Face Green.

Six persons arrived at the southern end, an RPG's (rocket-propelled grenade) range from the Army Headquarters on the Galle Face promenade side, in two jeeps. They hung rows of crackers on a railing near the pavement ahead of the shore and began lighting them. The loud explosions sounded like rapid gunfire and went on for more than 30 minutes triggering off panic and confusion to an already panic-stricken and confused public.

Fearing the worst, four armed soldiers on foot patrol rushed to the scene. A man who appeared to be the leader of the cracker group said something to them and they withdrew. Following the soldiers were a group of Urban Development Authority (UDA) workers whose job it is to keep the Galle Face Green clean and tidy. The toughest among them shouted it was not the right thing to do since 24 hours had not ended after the funeral of one of Sri Lanka's top military leaders, Lt. General Parami Kulatunga, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army. Moreover, he said, it was a high security area and the loud noise would create fear among the public. Just as he was saying it, guests who were at a wedding at the Galle Face Hotel, rushed out to see what the commotion was all about. Some wanted to get back to their homes fearing that gun battles had erupted. The UDA worker was subjected to a barrage of Mariakade - Billingsgate filth. Not wanting to hear his parents being insulted, he withdrew.

But that did not deter the gang of six. Their leader was now holding his mobile phone, switched on, towards the crackers that were exploding. Evidently he wanted his political bosses to know that the job was being done the way they had wanted it.

An irate UDA worker, in turn, telephoned the head office of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in Nugegoda and asked for their parliamentary group leader Wimal Weerawansa. An aide said he was taking part in a news conference. So he left a message about what was going on, holding his mobile so that the JVP aide can hear what was happening.

A free-lance photographer who had been covering the wedding then telephoned 119, the Police Emergency to tell them there was gunfire between the Army and Tiger guerrillas. He too held his mobile phone in the direction of where the crackers were exploding to make the point. He waited patiently for the Police to arrive. He was told they would be there any minute. No one came. Perhaps they knew what was going on.

With the news conference over, Weerawansa had heard of the caller's message. He telephoned Basil Rajapaksa, President's brother and General Factotum. He was angry at what the gang of six had done, an act in blatant disregard for all the security measures in place. But it was too late. Neither the politico nor his gang could be traced. No wonder. Investigators these days find it difficult to trace even those who cause devastating explosions like the one that killed Lt. Gen. Kulatunga. So their inability to track down a few miscreants lighting crackers in a high security zone is not a surprise. The Tiger guerrillas pay money and buy influence. The politicians use their influence and pay the gangs money to do what they want, no matter whether it affects security concerns or not. That is Sri Lanka today.

But there was a reason for those loud cracker explosions at the Galle Face Green. It was to mark the unanimous election of President Percy Mahinda Rajapaksa as the President of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). The two-day process ended on Thursday when the party's All Island Central Committee endorsed a decision by the Executive Committee to amend the SLFP constitution. That was to make provision for the President of Sri Lanka, if he or she is from the SLFP, to remain as leader of the party. It was bad news for the former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. She had resisted the mantle of party presidency being wrested from her. It no doubt was painful that such a move had to come when she turned 62. Thursday was her birthday and she had a bash in London where she has been in the past three months, supposedly in an apartment in the plush St. John's Wood residential area.

The process to amend the SLFP constitution began on Wednesday, soon after the weekly cabinet meeting had ended. There was hardly any excitement and the meeting was very brief. The proposal went through unanimously. The only exception was a walkout by Consumer Affairs Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle. Earlier, Anura Bandaranaike had written to President Rajapaksa explaining his inability to take part in the Executive Committee and the All Island Central Committee meetings. Though Bandaranaike said he was not seeking publicity for his letter, copies had found their way to the media, not so surreptitiously. In that he had catalogued his magnanimity by setting out what he had done for the Rajapaksas, both Mahinda and Basil, and declared "a friendship of 36 years cannot be erased" deftly ignoring the fact that he did nothing to see that Rajapaksa won the November 2005 presidential elections.

Also conspicuous by his absence was Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera. He was away on an official visit to the Maldives. It was Samaraweera who prevented the party's All Island Central Committee from deciding earlier about enthroning Rajapaksa as the party president. He said the time was not appropriate and wanted him to wait till former President Kumaratunga returned to Sri Lanka in May. The month of May came, but not Kumaratunga.

Thursday's meeting of the All Island Central Committee was a tame affair. No one raised any objections, not even the pro-Kumaratunga lobby, or what is left of it - what has come to be known as the 'P-TOMS' group. They were so named for their support to Kumaratunga's proposal to grant the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) the Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure. The group included Dilan Perera, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Lasantha Alagiyawanna, Wijedasa Rajapakse among others. They all voted in favour of the amendment, and were seen elbowing each other to warmly congratulate the new leader. For them, it was a case of 'The Queen is dead; Long Live the King'.

Taking over the leadership of the party, President Rajapaksa declared it to be a historic occasion. The constitutional amendment of the party meant any common man from any walk of life could become the leader of the party. It was no longer confined to a particular group. He reminisced about the days when Mervyn Silva took him to the late Sirimavo Bandaranaike and how he joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. He said unlike several others, he had never left his party and remained always loyal to it. He also praised his two immediate predecessors, the late Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Chandrika Kumaratunga.

President Rajapaksa went on till late Thursday night talking to senior Ministers and party stalwarts. The perennial question about a snap poll, now that he has become the party leader, came up for discussion. Some felt he was now in a position to nominate his own confidants and contest a parliamentary election. But Rajapaksa indicated he was not inclined to rush for a snap poll. It would have to wait.

The issue of a Cabinet reshuffle also cropped up. But indications emerged that the President was not in a hurry. Senior party stalwarts said astrological considerations did not favour such a move immediately. That seemed a safe bet to ward off an election that might cost them their seats and their jobs. Some even welcomed Rajapaksa undertaking a trip to Bangladesh next month due to astrological considerations. However, others said that this was a trip he had planned earlier. He wanted to visit SAARC member countries first. Rajapaksa is also slated to visit Cuba later this year and travel to New York thereafter to attend the United Nations General Assembly sessions.

Then, whilst last Wednesday's Cabinet meeting was under way, Rajapaksa sent word asking Sripathi Sooriyaarachchi, who was at Temple Trees to wait till the cabinet meeting was over. The President had wanted to speak to him on urgent matters, he was told. It turned out that Sooriyaarachchi was a contender for the post of president of Sri Lanka Cricket at elections due next week. Sooriyaarachchi had complained that the Sports Minister, Jeevan Kumaratunga had not given him a letter of consent, a mandatory requirement for contestants. He asked whether Rajapaksa wanted him not to contest. The President explained that he was not forcing him to do so. However, Rajapaksa made it clear he was supporting Jayantha Dharmadasa for the post.

With this in mind, a third party had conveyed to a senior Police official that President Rajapaksa wanted him to vote for Dharmadasa as president. The Police official was curt. He told the person who made the plea that he would obey any order the President gave in respect of the Police service. However, he would not take the order to support the President's candidate since he said he knew what was going on in the world of cricket. Now, Rajapaksa prefers if no Government Minister or deputy contests the post. This will pave the way for Dharmadasa, he believes.

Earlier this week, on Monday, President Rajapaksa was shocked by the news of the suicide bomb attack on Lt. Gen. Kulatunga. Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa, the President's brother had telephoned from the United States, where he is attending a small arms conference, while attending to some personal matters. Though he was due much later, he offered to cut short his visit and return. His absence was felt at the Ministry of Defence particularly with Admiral Daya Sandagiri, Deputy Defence Secretary, having to stay away from work following a Supreme Court order.

In this vacuum, a surprise development took place with the re-introduction of former Deputy Minister of Defence Anuruddha Ratwatte into the Defence establishment. He presided at a top level security conference at the Ministry of Defence on Friday. It focused on issues other than the ones tasked for him - looking after a civil defence force.

Also calling the President was Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka from his hospital bed in Singapore. He had telephoned a member of the President's Army security team and sought to speak to the President. Lt. Gen. Fonseka had told President Rajapaksa of how he had given instructions to senior officers of the Army in the wake of LTTE threats. It was his view that some of them had not followed such advice. He was alluding to the suicide bomb attack on Lt. Gen. Parami Kulatunga. But later President Rajapaksa had heard that the former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army had sought a quarter at Army Headquarters but had not been given it. Lt. Gen. Fonseka is also learnt to have told the President that he had taken necessary action - from his hospital bed in Singapore - to cope with the situation after speaking on the phone to those in control - in Colombo.

On Thursday a one time Deputy Minister, M.L.A.M. Hisbullah met President Rajapaksa at Temple Trees. He was to offer his good offices to establish contacts with the LTTE and thus avoid the outbreak of war. This time, Rajapaksa was not inclined. He pointed to the incident that day and said the time for it was now not conducive. Undoubtedly, Rajapaksa was embarrassed after a similar effort through Tamil media persons came a cropper. He had earlier sent a message through N. Vithyatharan, Editor of the Sudar Oli newspaper and his brother-in-law P. Saravanapavan, the publisher who also owns the Jaffna based Uthayan newspaper and the Colombo based Sudar Oli.

So, at last Wednesday's Cabinet meeting President Rajapaksa urged ministers to extend their fullest co-operation to ensure protection was granted to "threatened villages" or those located ahead of areas dominated by the LTTE. The move saw Basil Rajapaksa (representing the President) accompany a team in a Sri Lanka Air Force helicopter flight to Kebetigollewa and the adjoining areas. Others included Air Chief Marshal Donald Perera, Chief of Staff of the Army Nanda Mallawaratchchi, H.M.G.S. Kotakadeniya, Advisor to the Ministry of Defence, Wimal Weerawansa (JVP), Udaya Gammanpila (JHU) and Sripathi Sooriyaarachchi. Interesting enough, the team had to travel in an armoured troop carrier as they toured some of the areas. Among other tasks, they inspected housing facilities now coming up for civilians in Kebetigollewa.

Meanwhile, an event of political significance takes place on July 5 at the Town Hall in Colombo when an estimated 10,000 delegates attend a special all-island session of JVP organizations. This is to discuss the current political situation, particularly in the wake of threats from the LTTE. JVP leader Somawansa Amerasinghe currently on a tour of England, Germany, France and Italy is due in time for these sessions. One of the proposals due for discussion is the formation of a common front to defeat terrorism.

Mahinda Rajapaksa now wears two mantles. He is President of Sri Lanka and also president of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. He has entrenched himself politically so that he cannot be ousted from his job as President of the Republic, by a party revolt manipulated by a certain lady in a far away land. Also, with both crowns, out go any excuses he can trot out for his inaction to combat the menace of terrorism, and the chronic corruption, abuse of office by his own Ministers, and alleviate the mounting hardships on the ordinary masses his Government is heaping upon each passing week.