Columns

• In answers to social media questions, Tilvin defends China’s one-party rule but is quick to clarify that in Sri Lanka, the party wants to stay in office through the ballot box
• In a long parliamentary speech on economy, President points to conspiracies to topple the government and says he will not let conspirators succeed in destabilising the country
• Ranil’s secretaries questioned by the CID, as the former president is perceived to be planning to snatch power in NPP-administered local councils
• Senior DIG Weerasuriya likely to be confirmed as Police Chief by Constitutional Council, amid ramblings within ruling party over CC’s civil society members

By our Political Desk

It may have started off with some gentle humour at the Opposition’s expense, but there was no mistaking the message President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had for opposition parties when he addressed Parliament on Thursday—”Do not destabilise the government’s efforts.”

Parliament on Thursday debated an adjournment motion on the ‘Current Economy of the Country’. President Dissanayake, as he has done on several previous occasions during such debates on the country’s economic situation, made a lengthy statement in his capacity as Minister of Finance, outlining the current state of the economy. During a speech lasting more than 90 minutes and which forced proceedings to continue without breaking for the usual lunch interval, the President spoke on a wide range of matters, including electricity tariffs, foreign investments, the current state of foreign reserves, importation of vehicles, and where Sri Lanka stood regarding its negotiations with the US after a 20% tariff on Sri Lankan exports came into effect.

President attacks Opposition’s “cruel, destructive dream”

During his speech, the President repeatedly criticised the Opposition, which he accused of hoping that the country’s economy would collapse due to recent domestic and international developments, paving the way for them to come back to power. Some expected “bombs” to fall on Colombo following the recent conflict situation between India and Pakistan. Later, when conflict erupted between Israel and Iran, they again anticipated an opportunity would arise for them. That too did not happen, the President added. “Then came their greatest hope, that the country’s economy would collapse due to the new tax policies imposed by the United States. Just two days ago, I saw someone claim that US taxes were rising not just to 30%, but to 44%. That’s merely wishful thinking. They claimed India’s rate would fall by 15–20%. The Opposition is constantly trapped in a cruel, destructive dream that the country’s economy will fail. But such a collapse will never happen.”

The President also accused Opposition elements of attempting to create instability in the country with the aim of preventing law enforcement investigations into them and warned such elements that the government would not fall victim to their “Kumantrana” (conspiracies), a word kept oft-repeating throughout.

Youths take to the streets to protest over what they see as politicisation of youth clubs by the government. Pic by M A Pushpa Kumara

He said that criminals were aware that the law was behind them. “When a personal secretary is summoned to testify, they know exactly what is happening. Before the law reaches them, some attempt to create instability in the country, a pattern we’ve seen in the past. This leads to intimidation of law enforcement officers. There have been times in history when officials were even imprisoned for simply conducting fair investigations. There are efforts underway to instil fear among officials.”

“You are free to engage in politics,” he said, wagging his index finger, “but if anyone tries to create chaos in the country as a means to evade justice, we will not allow it. If any group, from anywhere, whether underworld elements or defeated factions, attempts to engage in political conspiracies, we will not allow those plots to derail this journey toward rebuilding our nation.”

He went on to say, “If the current legal framework is insufficient, we will create the necessary laws. This country must be rebuilt. No one should drag the nation into turmoil simply because they lost their privileges or fear the consequences of justice. Previous governments may have fallen victim to such conspiracies.

“However, we have already identified these actions. Therefore, if anyone, whether within or outside the state, attempts to sabotage the journey to rebuild this country through conspiratorial means, we will take every possible step to defeat such efforts. Today, various distorted claims are being made.

“But we recognise both the sound at the door and the beating of the drum; we can distinguish truth from deception. So, if anyone is even contemplating a ‘kumantranaya’, we will not allow it. You may continue with your politics. But we have now brought the country to a much better path. We are rescuing both the nation and its people from disgrace and hardship. That is our determination, and we are working toward it. We request sincere support from the opposition for this cause.”

Probe on Ranil’s alleged private UK visit

The President’s reference in his speech about a “personal secretary” being summoned to testify was a clear hint at the Criminal Investigation Department’s (CID) summoning former President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Personal Secretary Sandra Perera on Monday. She was questioned for over six hours by detectives in relation to an investigation which focuses on what is alleged to be a private visit to the UK undertaken by then President Wickremesinghe in 2023, where public funds amounting to nearly Rs. 17 million are alleged to have been misused. The CID also questioned the former president’s secretary, Saman Ekanayake, about the same matter for five hours. As secretary to the then president, Mr. Ekanayake was questioned about procedures followed in the government sector on foreign travel. Members of the Presidential Security Division (PSD) who had been part of President Wickremesinghe’s security detail during the visit have also been questioned by the CID.

Sagala Ratnayake, the Chief of Staff to then President Wickremesinghe, was also questioned by the Police Financial Crime Investigation Division this week with regard to a separate investigation into Mr Ratnayake’s alleged undeclared assets.

A senior government source, meanwhile, claimed Mr. Wickremesinghe has quietly initiated efforts to expand on the arrangement that had been reached between several Opposition parties to work together to take control of local councils where the combined seats won by those parties outnumbered seats obtained by the ruling National People’s Power (NPP). The goal is to bring all the parties together eventually to form a broader anti-government alliance, the source said.

Thus, the targeting of President Wickremesinghe cannot be unrelated even though President Dissanayake kept insisting that the Police and the Bribery Commission have dusted and are investigating old files now that they have ‘political independence’.

Tilvin, inspired by China visit, says meaningful change requires years in power

When one considers all that the NPP’s main constituent party, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), has been through over the past 60 years since its founding, there is no doubt that its rise to the pinnacle of state power has been remarkable. It is a party that led two failed insurrections to overthrow democratically elected governments and seize power. Most of its senior leadership and hundreds of its members were killed or imprisoned by the state. The JVP too committed numerous mass atrocities. The party was banned for many years, and even after re-entering the democratic fold in 1994, over the course of the next 30 years, it failed to seriously challenge the dominance that the two main political parties, or their offshoots, exercised over the country’s electoral politics.

Sri Lanka’s unprecedented economic crisis and the ‘Aragalaya’ that erupted from it changed all that. The post-Aragalaya period saw a majority of voters throwing their support behind the JVP-led NPP, which positioned itself as the only alternative to the two main parties and their offshoots that had ruled Sri Lanka since Independence. The NPP marketed itself as the only party that could bring about the ‘system change’ that became a slogan of the massive street protests that ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from power. It was a strategy that brought spectacular results when elections arrived, leading to the elevation of Anura Kumara Dissanayake to the presidency in September last year and giving the NPP, which had just three MPs in the last Parliament, a two-thirds Parliamentary majority less than two months later. While the government’s popularity has since taken a hit, as evidenced by the results from May’s local government election, it still won control of far more local councils than any other party.

With President Dissanayake set to complete one year in office next month, attention is beginning to focus on the progress, or lack thereof, in implementing his manifesto, ‘A Thriving Nation, A Beautiful Life’. Certain pledges made in the manifesto, such as amending the PAYE tax, have already been met. There has also been some movement in fulfilling other pledges, such as amending the Online Safety Act, while a committee has been appointed to look into abolishing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). A majority of pledges in the manifesto, though, remain limited to just words on paper.

The NPP and the JVP have both stressed that they are in this for the long haul, noting that the main goal outlined in President Dissanayake’s manifesto is a complete “social transformation” of Sri Lanka. Such an ambitious transformation will obviously take longer than five years. Perhaps JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva had this in mind when he sat down for a discussion to explain the recent visit to China that a party delegation led by him undertook.

In the discussion hosted on his Facebook page, the JVP General Secretary spoke about the visit, undertaken at the invitation of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The visit followed a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the JVP and the CPC during President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s official visit to China in January. Accordingly, a delegation led by Mr. Silva undertook a “study tour” to China in June. The tour was fully sponsored by the CPC. The 29-member JVP delegation included two deputy ministers, several MPs and party officials. Senior CPC officials they met during the visit included Zhejiang Province Governor Liu Jie, Deputy Governor Lu Shen, the CPC’s International Department’s South Asian Region Director General Pan Xiu Bin and Shi Taifeng, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC’s Central Committee.

In a nearly hour-long discussion, the JVP General Secretary explained about what the delegation experienced during their visit to China. He also disputed accusations of there being no democracy in China, telling the interviewer that the country had a form of governance where people are being heard, their welfare is being looked into and information is being collected from the grassroots level to take action regarding their issues. “As such, we feel there is a form of democracy there. True, it is a one-party system, but there is a positive side to that also because it helps to work towards one direction, one plan,” the JVP General Secretary added. The comment by the JVP General Secretary seeing a positive side to a one-party system must surely raise ‘red flags’.

“We have now started to change this country. But, if our government changes in the next five years while we are in the process of making this change, then everything we started would be ruined. The next group would do something different. That is why we think that if a government can stay in power for 15, 20 or 25 years. Only then would it be able to take the country forward under one vision, one policy framework. That is the advantage that China has, and they have utilised it. I believe that is one of the reasons for their rise,” Mr. Silva further said.

During discussions they held with CPC officials, they expressed clear happiness at the JVP coming to power, according to Mr. Silva. “They were very pleased that we had reached the point of gaining power, amidst all the difficulties, without giving up and bearing everything. They also emphasised that if we are to enact the changes we have envisaged, we need to be in power for at least 15 to 20 years. We have to win another three to four elections. Otherwise, real change isn’t possible. Even in China, it took 30 to 40 years to make real changes. You can’t make such changes in five years. You need to be in power for a long period for that. That’s what they told us.”

While the comment by the JVP General Secretary about remaining in power for 15, 20 or 25 years and seeing the “positive side” of a one-party system like in China must surely raise ‘red flags’, he was careful enough to add the rider that he was not advocating one-party rule in Sri Lanka. He clearly stresses that while the goal is to stay in power for anywhere between 15 and 25 years, they must do so at the ballot box, receiving a mandate from the people during the elections to come. Nevertheless, the comments come from the powerful General Secretary of the same party which had publicly mocked then President Ranil Wickremesinghe when he presented a “National Transformation Roadmap” two years ago, which was aimed at transforming Sri Lanka into a fully developed nation by 2048. It is also the same party that has repeatedly referred to the “76-year curse” that it claimed had ravaged Sri Lanka under the rule of the older, traditional political parties. Clearly, the JVP now has designs on cementing a political legacy of its own similar to the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), which ruled Sri Lanka for decades. It is yet another recent example of how the JVP/NPP government is increasingly starting to resemble the very parties it has long criticised.

Wasantha ‘corrects’ Harini on ‘Chichi’s Rocket’

While the government continually insists that the NPP and the JVP are both on the same page, they have not been able to shake off rumours of internal tension between the old hard-line revolutionary JVP and its ‘human face’, the NPP, ever since coming to power—as the NPP. An incident which happened in Parliament this week has only added fuel to that fire, despite frantic attempts by the government at damage control.

It began when Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, considered more NPP than JVP, read out a set of figures regarding a question posed by Hambantota District Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP D.V. Chanaka on foreign direct investment, specifically on the controversial ‘SupremeSAT’ satellite project undertaken during the Mahinda Rajapaksa government. For more than a decade, the satellite has been linked to Mahinda Rajapaksa’s youngest son, Rohitha, nicknamed ‘Chichi’. The project has long been lampooned as a prime example of the extravagance and wastage of the Rajapaksa family’s rule, with opposition parties claiming it was a failed project that cost millions of rupees in public funds for a satellite which ultimately disappeared. Those in the JVP/NPP were among the politicians who mercilessly mocked the project.

As such, it was no small embarrassment for the NPP government when the country’s Prime Minister herself had to read out statistics acknowledging that no public funds had been spent on the project. Moreover, details provided to the Premier by the Board of Investment (BoI), which she read out to the House, indicated that the project actually brought in millions of rupees in revenue to the country.

Reading from data provided by the BoI, the Premier noted that Supreme SAT Pvt. Ltd. had signed an agreement with the BoI to establish a satellite system and provide telecommunication services on May 23, 2012, with the project beginning commercial operations on July 28, 2015. Citing BoI data, PM Amarasuriya said the SupremeSAT company brought in the following revenue to the country: 2015/16 – Rs. 19,617 million; 2016/17 – Rs. 28,133 million; 2017/18 – Rs. 29,106 million; 2018/19 – Rs. 34,169 million; 2019/20 – Rs. 42,960 million; 2020/21 – Rs. 62,545 million; 2021/22 – Rs. 87,789 million; first half of 2023 – Rs. 39,590 million.

A clearly gleeful Mr. Chanaka thanked the PM for answering what he claimed was a major allegation levelled against investors in Sri Lanka. He pointed out that most people in the country knew the project as “Chichi’s Rocket”, noting that the allegation was that a US$300 million investment made for the project had subsequently gone missing. “Even when I posed the question, Minister Bimal Rathnayake, who was seated next to you, claimed the project had disappeared,” he quipped.

Even supporters of the government, however, severely criticised the Premier for her response, claiming they were clearly incorrect and accusing her of attempting to whitewash the Rajapaksas.

The government did a U-turn the following day, with Trade Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe, of the JVP old guard, claiming that the PM had been provided with “wrong figures” regarding the SupremeSAT project. He blamed government officials for providing the PM with wrong statistics, a regular feature now of government ministers blaming public servants for mistakes and absolving themselves from responsibility. He claimed that when the correct figures were put together, it revealed that the SupremeSAT company had generated revenue only amounting to Rs. 342 million.

He stressed that it was SupremeSAT that had generated the revenue, and not the satellite project itself. Minister Samarasinghe further claimed that the satellite, also known as “Chichi’s rocket”, is still unaccounted for. He added several discrepancies had been found regarding the satellite project and that investigations into the matter were ongoing, including a probe into who had paid a reported US$320 million as the satellite’s cost. However, he did not claim that state funds had been spent on the project, unlike what the NPP claimed during its election campaign.

The fact that it was Wasantha Samarasinghe who ‘corrected’ what he claimed were erroneous figures read out by the PM was not lost on many observers. Surely, if the PM had been given wrong statistics, she should have been the one to correct her own error, pointed out political analysts. Why bring in Minister Samarasinghe? Was it because he was one of those who had been the most vocal critic of the SupremeSAT project? Whatever the reason, it seemed a diktat by the party High Command amounting to a public humiliation of the PM.

SupremeSAT, meanwhile, issued a statement on Friday insisting the satellite in question remains in orbit at 87.5° East, “precisely where it was positioned upon launch.” The statement added that the company welcomes the long-awaited public acknowledgement, after 13 years, that the SupremeSAT satellite was successfully launched and that no government funds had been used for the project. A wag was to comment that the government must appoint a task force, given the increasing numbers of them being appointed, to go find out if the satellite is actually at 87.5 degrees East in space.

NPP/JVP accused of politicising youth clubs

The government has also been facing protests in recent weeks over allegations it is trying to politicise youth clubs by installing party activists in senior posts. Elections of several district Youth Club Federations have been disrupted over the past week by protests against alleged attempts at politicising the clubs and appointing NPP/JVP activists to head the clubs. Members of the Sri Lanka Youth Club Federation held a protest in front of the National Youth Services Council (NYSC) premises in Maharagama on Wednesday (6) to protest against the alleged politicisation of the youth clubs. Even the organisers acknowledged that far fewer protesters had turned up than they had anticipated but claimed this was down to “intimidation tactics” employed by NPP/JVP activists.

A former Youth Club member, Dilan Dunumalage, who was at the protest, claimed that while officials of the NYSC had been appointed by the political authority, no government had tried to politicise the youth clubs in this manner before. “No matter which political party you supported, there was always room for you to rise through the ranks to senior positions at club level if you worked hard. You had to gain years of experience working in the clubs to be eligible to be elected to leadership positions, but this has been done away with now. We are seeing people who are completely inexperienced being elected to leadership positions simply because they work for the NPP and because the government wants them in those positions,” he claimed.

Mr. Dunumalage added that the current situation has split youth clubs and caused friction between young people at village level. “All this will lead to is division among young people, especially in the villages, where youth clubs are strong,” he claimed. What they are asking for is a return to the previous position and an end to politicisation of the youth clubs, he stressed.

Deputy Youth Affairs Minister Eranga Gunasekara, however, said the government was working according to pledges made in President Dissanayake’s manifesto, ‘A Thriving Nation, A Beautiful Life’. The manifesto states that an NPP government will restructure the National Youth Services Council and related institutions such as the National Youth Corps and youth clubs to develop knowledgeable, skilled young leaders.

There had been no continuity in the youth clubs from 2020 onwards due to the pandemic and economic crisis, Deputy Minister Gunasekara said, adding that youth club district conventions had not even been held in six districts for five years. No national youth club convention had also been held in 32 years, he added.

“It is clear that we had to restructure the youth clubs in this situation. This is not something that is being done secretly. We have already either restructured or re-established youth clubs at about 12,700 Grama Niladhari Divisions in the country. Divisional and district conventions have now been held, and new leadership appointed. More space has been opened up for people to join these clubs, and more females have been elected to national leadership positions than at any other time in history,” he said.

Deputy Minister Gunasekara said if the government is installing its own activists to leadership positions, anyone can complain to the relevant authorities and take legal action against it but noted nothing had been done so far. “We have to acknowledge that the entire country has undergone a social transformation, and young people too have become part of this process of rebuilding the country. Opposition parties clearly did not expect young people to participate so enthusiastically in these restructured and re-established youth clubs. They are realising now that we are giving an opportunity to young people who had so far been excluded from these clubs. They are trying to prevent this from happening,” he claimed.

The Deputy Minister pointed out that the NYSC began the establishment of youth clubs across 14,033 Grama Niladhari divisions starting from May 23 to mark National Youth Day, and that it will culminate in the National Board of the Sri Lanka Youth Society Conference at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium on August 12, in celebration of International Youth Day. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake will be the chief guest at the event.

CC to meet on nomination of IGP

The Constitutional Council (CC) will meet on Tuesday to appraise the name of Senior DIG Priyantha Weerasooriya for the post of the new Inspector General of Police (IGP). His name was sent to the CC by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Thursday after the ouster of Deshabandu Tennakoon by a parliamentary resolution this week.

The resolution to remove Mr. Tennakoon from the office of the IGP was passed by 177 votes in favour and none against on Tuesday. Both government and opposition MPs who were in the chamber at the time of the vote chose to vote in favour of the resolution, with only Jaffna District Independent Group MP Ramanathan Archchuna choosing to abstain. Mr. Tennakoon thus became the first IGP in history to have been removed from office by a parliamentary resolution.

On Thursday, Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne, who chairs the CC, had sought clarification on some information relating to the application of Mr Weerasooriya, which had been submitted to the CC.

Priyantha Weerasooriya was appointed Acting IGP soon after President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn in as the President last September. He is taking on the post at a time the country is gripped with rising gun violence linked to gang warfare as well as drug-related crimes. More than 70 shootings have been reported so far this year, with close to 40 deaths.

While it seems likely that he will be confirmed in the post, he faces many challenges, mainly tackling corruption within the force as well as instilling public confidence in the police. In the past few months, more than 300 policemen have been interdicted or sacked for misconduct, and this seems only the tip of the iceberg of deep-seated problems within the department.

While the confirmation of Mr Weerasooriya to the post by the CC seems a foregone conclusion, there are rumblings within the government over the role of the civil society members of the council. These are the three people appointed from civil society to the ten-member council. They were appointed in January 2024, and their term will lapse in January 2026.

The rumblings began with their rejection of President Dissanayake’s nominee for the post of Auditor General in May this year. The man he picked was from outside the national audit service, and trade unions within it opposed the appointment and wrote to the CC. This led to a majority of members on the Council rejecting his name. In the meantime, the President appointed as Acting AG the most senior official in the service, but his acting appointment will end in October, and it is likely the President will want his nominee confirmed by then.

Government sources said they are looking at ‘structural changes’ to the CC which would align with its needs. These could come in the way of a constitutional amendment.

Meanwhile, a group of Opposition MPs are also planning to hand over a no-confidence motion against Deputy Defence Minister Aruna Jayasekara to the Speaker tomorrow. The motion against Mr. Jayasekara, a retired Major General of the Sri Lanka Army, cites serious concerns over a potential conflict of interest regarding the investigation into the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, given he was Commander Security Forces (East) during key incidents linked to the attacks, including the Vavunathivu police killings and the Sainthamaruthu explosion.