No-confidence against Marapana turns out to be 'no-confidence' on opposition

The 42 vote defeat of the no-confidence motion brought against Defence Minister Tilak Marapana was seen by party insiders and various others as a vote of no confidence against the opposition, on its ability to muster forces and launch any credible and organised attack against the government.

Key players in the PA side of the parliamentary divide however had warned of the government's pre -emptive strike in bringing this motion against the Minister of Defence. One such was Jeyaraj Fernandopulle who has been involved in many a drama this week (…refer Political sketchbook below.) Fernandopulle met PA heavyweight Anura Bandaranaike (without whom anything important in the PA does not seem to happen these days) on the morning of the vote, and said this pre emptive strike would make the opposition look rather small, when the final votes are counted. This in fact was what happened.

Not only did the opposition lose badly and thereby let slip the real strength in parliament in terms of numbers -- but also, the opposition showed its slip by portraying itself as an outfit that could not even get its key players together for a key vote.

Former Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was late, and therefore could not vote. Lakshman Kadirgamar was at a meeting with the President, discussing SAARC.
Jeyaraj Fernandopulle was not only left hanging onto his own theories -- which of course turned out to be correct -- but he was earlier in the week told that he is not in a new pruned list of party organisers and candidates for any forthcoming election. He and other senior party members had been left out of this list, it was said.

It was clearly Fernandopulle's winter of discontent and he was heard to complain that he had held Katana in the most trying circumstances when even stalwarts such as Vijaya Kumaratunge had failed to win Katana in the past.

Eventually Anura Bandaranaike himself convened a meeting and informed various aggrieved organisers of the PA that there was no truth to the story being spread that eleven key names had been left out of a prospective list of party candidates.

The Jaffna meeting and that birthday bash

Minister of Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Jayalath Jayewardene has never been having the press and the kind of reception that Minister Moragoda has had -- and even though the Minister had never shown that he has been cheesed off about this fact, it has been a fact. Both Ministers have been in the forefront of the peace initiatives, but Minister Moragoda has been getting patted on the back, while on occasion even the LTTE has more or less boycotted Jayewardene.

This week there was an escalation of this picture, but Minister Jayewardene was getting along in his own way. While Minister Moragoda was appointed to the Chair of the Foreign Aid Committee, and was due to emplane shortly for India to organise the visit of the Prime Minister, soon to follow, Minister Jayewardene was visiting Jaffna with the French Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. Minister Moragoda, never the one to be outdone, was meeting a World Bank delegation and the Norwegian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, concerning future investments and aid to this country.

However, Jayewardene seemed to have scored one better this time than anyone around -- he held the meeting of the Ja Ela district UNP Working Committee in Jaffna last Sunday, because he had taken his Working Committee members on a tour of that city and its environs. But business of his electoral district could not wait he said, and held the Working Committee meeting in a public assembly hall in Jaffna.

Was Minister Ravi Krunanayake's birthday bash in the meantime becoming a springboard or a staging point for PA discontent? This was one of the hush hush rumours that seemed to be going around after this bash which was well attended with the Gypsies serenading the assembled Ministers, Members of Parliament and other assorted people in politically connected circles.

One reason for this rumour was that ex-Minister Fowzie was having a conversation with the Prime Minister - -and it was known that Fowzie was one of those who had vociferously voiced his opinion about the so called list of party candidates which turned out however to be a canard. However, Fowzie was heard to say (not at the party though) that he is in a party of ingrates, and that he has been blocked on various previous occasions when he wanted to contest for various posts on the PA ticket. Minister Fernandopulle was also among the large gathering present, and of course Minister Moragoda, Ravi Karunanayake's longstanding friend in politics and close confidante (not by a long shot) was also among the honoured guests.

Jeyaraj Fernandopulle came for some snide comments about the so called candidate's list at the party, but he took it in good spirit, probably because there was an abundance of good spirits around.

But talking of good spirits, at another spirited party thrown by SriLankan Airlines for global BBC sales representatives, Chairman Daya Pelpola with the UNP lawyer credentials, eyed the Beeb men and women ( and the young women of SriLankan of course…) and made a political speech. "We have a peace dividend' he bellowed, and in his overtly political tone about peace and its unexpected surplus and bounty, he said "let's party.'' Well he might not have said 'let's party' in exactly those words - but party he did. SriLankan CEO Hill called others to party but said he will not join in this exercise of 'letting the hair down.'' One comment from the sidelines: "Is that because he doesn't have any hair left to let down?'

John, Karu and the electric chair

There was some comic relief that enlivened the UNP parliamentary group meeting, especially after certain issues when Interior Minister Johhn Amaratunga figured as the man of the moment.

John Amaratunga was all agog at the fact that the decentralised budget for MP's had been raised, considerably, from 80 to 100 million. Minister Amaratunga said that this was to be appreciated by all, and that the World Bank initiative was something that all MPs will be happy about.

The Prime Minister cut in at this point to say that this was not a World Bank idea, and that this was in fact due to concerted efforts by him due to the fact that from his experience he had figured that the decentralised budget was never adequate. The Prime Minister was not about to give the World Bank the credit for something that he felt was achieved through his good offices.

But, soon, Minister Amaratunga was to figure again in the thrust and parry, when he said that he will very soon seek to concretise his plans to reintroduce the death penalty in this country. He said that the death penalty is a good way of curbing crime, and said that it will be a way of ensuring that hoodlums are directly held accountable. By death penalty what he meant was the re-introduction of a specific means of carrying out the death sentence - - that of hanging.

But when he said that he wants to reintroduce the practice of hanging, Minister of Power and Energy Karu Jayasuriya intervened to say that the electric chair should replace the gallows, as it was a kinder and gentler means of carrying out capital punishment. The Prime Minister then cracked up all those present by quipping that that's all well and good as long as Karu Jayasuriya provides the electricity to see that the electric chair works. Karu Jayasuriya though a little red in the face then said that there will never be another power crisis in the country.

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