Columns

• As parties prepare for local polls, possibly on January 20, President rules out any rapprochement with rival faction
• UNP also finalises list for 335 local councils while Basil claims new party confident of winning a majority
• Cabinet dispute over expressway project, Ranawaka and other ministers critical of high cost, but Kiriella flares back

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.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was in Finland this week for talks with that country’s leaders to finalise agreements on Finnish assistance for digital, health and education projects. He is seen here with Finland’s Speaker Maria Lohela

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 fielding candidates to almost all 335 local councils. UNP leaders are busy making plans for an elaborate polls campaign. They will contest under the United National Front (UNF) banner with the smaller parties supporting them.

In the light of this, Sirisena and his new SLFP-led UPFA has to contend with the UNP-led UNF and the alliance of opposition political parties. Thus, to stay on top, his party would have to defeat two formidable opponents. That is the challenge before Sirisena. Coming a second or a third would come as political defeat that could affect him as well as his party’s future electoral prospects. That would include the Provincial Council elections which the coalition says would be held sometime next year.

On Thursday night, Sirisena met some senior SLFP members and ministers supporting him. Some said that it would be wiser to conduct the local council elections in March next year. Shrugging off the move was Local Government and Provincial Councils Minister Faiszer Musthapha. He refused to initiate any action towards this. Musthapha appears to have realised that as Minister he had been at the receiving end of blame for polls delays whether for better or for worse. The rationale offered by those who wanted a postponement was the November 9 budget. One minister opined that it would take some time before the benefits of the budget would be felt by the public. However, Sirisena chose to go ahead and as a first step appointed new electoral organisers to some areas. A manifesto is to be formulated and an elaborate campaign is being planned.

It is now certain that elections to the 335 local councils –Pradeshiya Sabhas 271, Urban Councils 41 and Municipal Councils 23) will take place on January 20. M.M. Mohamed, Additional Commissioner (Legal and Investigation Branch) of the Elections Commission, said yesterday that the draft of the Gazette notification containing the number of members to be elected to the local councils was handed over to Election Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya on Friday by Local Government and Provincial Councils Minister Musthapha.

“However, until this Gazette notification is published, the Elections Commission cannot call for elections,” he said. “After the Gazette is issued, nominations will be called for within 14 to 17 days. After nominations close, the election date will be announced. It has to be a Saturday which is not less than five weeks and not more than seven weeks after close of nominations, he said.

Mohamed added: “The training process for the main staff members has been completed and the awareness programmes for political parties are continuing.” He said independent candidates would have to pay Rs 5,000 each while the candidates of recognised political parties have to pay only Rs 2,000.

Minister Musthapha told journalists outside the Election Commission office that there was a dispute over the borders of the Ambagamuwa area and he would be meeting with minority party leaders over the weekend before finalising the gazette notification. Some members of these parties were concerned whether the move could lead to a further delay.

Basil confident
Sri Lanka Podu Jana Pakshaya (SLPJP) convenor Basil Rajapaksa, told the Sunday Times: “We are yet to decide on what form of alliance we will form to field candidates. However, they will all come under the leadership of Mahinda Rajapaksa, leader of the Sri Lanka Podu Jana Pakshaya (SLPJP).”
He said the party was now looking at three options – (1) For all like-minded political parties to contest under the SLPJP. This is like how the SLMC, JHU and others contested under the UNP. (2) Form a joint alliance, find a new symbol and field candidates, and (3) To allow different constituent parties that will support us to contest different councils under different symbols. This has happened in 1970, 1977 and 1991, said Rajapaksa. However, they will accept one Manifesto, he added.

“We hope to win at least 200 of the 335 local councils,” Basil Rajapaksa said adding that the removal of SLFP organisers “is not an issue for us.” He said, “We are confident people are with us and they want a change.” Noting that there had been no local government elections in the past three years, Basil Rajapaksa said “we are ready to face one now.”

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was on a private visit to Japan, was due to return to Colombo yesterday. He is expected to lead the opposition polls campaign. Also due to join in is former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He is also expected in Colombo this week after a visit to the United States.
There were also indications this week that the coalition is stepping up efforts to ensure court action in some of the high profile cases investigated so far. This is to obviate criticism against the Government that the pledges in this regard during both the presidential and parliamentary elections have not been fulfilled.

Row over expressway

But that is not going to be an easy task. At last week’s weekly ministerial meeting, Megapolis and Western Province Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka dropped a bombshell that triggered a lengthy discussion. It came after Highways Minister Lakshman Kiriella sought approval “to pay the cost of environmental and social due diligence to be carried out by the lending agency from the local funds allocated” for the construction of the “Pothuhera to Galagedera” section under the Central Expressway Project. The distance involved in this project is a mere 32.5 kilometres.

Minister Ranawaka said that the previous Mahinda Rajapaksa government was criticised for spending colossal amounts of money on road projects. Then it was over the construction of 175 kilometres of highways. This criticism was on the basis that the costs were high and fears that there would be no funds left for other development activities. And now, from 2015 to 2017, an extent of 189 kilometres of highway is being built. The project in question is being implemented without due consideration for the National Physical Plan which expressly sought to discourage urbanisation of hill areas to prevent natural disasters. He complained that there were 50 to 100 percent deviation in costs for Japanese projects. The RDA had extended Rs 123 million (20 percent of the cost). It could end up between Rs 200 billion to Rs 250 billion, he warned. Pointing out that “we are under IMF medication,” he said a four lane highway from Kurunegala to Galagedera would have been less expensive. He questioned the basis on which the selections were made.

Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera joined in the tirade with other colleagues including Susil Premjayantha and Mahinda Amaraweera. An incensed Kiriella shoulted back: “Oyagollo okkama parajithayo.” (You all are losers). President Sirisena who intervened said that any decision they would take had to bear in mind the good relations Sri Lanka had with Japan. He said the matter would be discussed at another ministerial meeting, putting off the confrontation for another day.
In his memorandum dated September 28, Minister Kiriella said, “The Civil Works for the construction of Section 3 of the Central Expressway from Potuhera to Galagedera (32.50 km) are to be financed through a credit facility amounting to JPY 100 billion from the Bank of Tokyo – Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. (BTMU) – Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXT). The discussions with BTMU – NEXT are in progress. The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval for the award of civil works on July 11 2017.”

Kiriella sought ministerial approval “to make a payment of JPY 30 million to Bank of Tokyo – Mitsubishi UFJ Lrts. (BTMU)” and said this was “for carrying out Environmental and Social due diligence and to send them the consent letter immediately.”

On July 11, 2017 the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval for a recommendation by Minister Kiriella to award a tender amounting to more than Rs 147.7 billion to construct the 32.5 kilometre road from Potuhera to Galagedera under the Central Expressway Project.

Giving the background to this deal, Minister Kiriella said in a memorandum dated July 6, 2017: “The government of Japan has given its consent for providing the financing the construction of Section 3 of the Central Expressway Project (Potuhera to Galagedera) through the Bank of Tokyo – Mitsubishi (BTMU) of Japan. Accordingly, the government of Japan through the Embassy of Japan has originally nominated the under mentioned 03 companies to participate in the process for inviting bids for the implementation of construction. The Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval dated August 15 2016.

1. Taisei Corporation (2) Penta Ocean Construction Co. Ltd. (3) Wakachiku Construction Co. Ltd. “However, process for inviting bids had to be annulled in the initial round due to the reasons that Taisei Corporation did not submit the bid security and other two companies did not participate in the bidding process.
“In view of the above, in order to increase the competition resulting in the government of Sri Lanka to secure better negotiated terms, the Government of Japan introduced a fourth bidder M/s Fujita Corporation, to the ongoing tender process.”

Minister Kiriella sought approval to award the contract to the Tasei Corporation for the Pothuhera–Galagedera section at a contract sum of Rs 134,905,155,000 (or over Rs 134 billion). On an average, this cost worked out to more than Rs 3.88 billion per kilometre. Kiriella added “Considering the recommendations of the government of Japan and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management, to provide an opportunity for M/S Taisei Corporation and M/s Fujita Corporation to form a Consortium on agreeable terms to both parties and to operate depending on the necessities during the implementation of this project.”

The minutes of the Cabinet of ministers meeting dated July 11, 2017 noted “…along with further clarifications made by the Minister of Highways and the views expressed by the Hon. Prime Minister and the concurrence given by the Minister of Finance and Mass Media for the proposals in the Memorandum, it was decided to:

• Grant approval to the recommendations.
• That, the Consortium proposed to be established should be on terms and conditions agreeable to both M/s Taisei Corporation and M/s Fujita Corporation of Japan and the Government of Sri Lanka.

Interesting enough, the enormity of funds utilised for projects has generated a controversy within the Government itself. This is at a time when there have been no checks and balances.

In this backdrop, the coming weeks ahead of the local council elections are no doubt a challenge for the two main contestants – the SLFP and the UNP. Who will come first among them, no doubt, would be an indicator of the public support they now enjoy. As for the Opposition parties, a win that will place them above the two main contenders would be a huge bonus in their efforts to weaken the Government, they wish to replace.