Columns

• As Speaker endorses new law at the speed of summer lightning, former presidents are stripped of privileges
• Rajapaksa decries what he calls ‘political terrorism’, but NPP says it’s the fulfilment of a campaign promise
• SJB plans petition against Speaker after he refuses to entertain No-Confidence Motion against deputy minister; Parliament in uproar
• Powerful political message behind Chinese ambassador’s meeting with Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe; did instructions come from Beijing

By our Political Desk

The adoring crowd of supporters, journalists eager for a quote, and television crews and photographers looking for that perfect shot surged around the car carrying former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his wife Shiranthi as they left their official residence on Wijerama Road, Colombo 7, on Thursday afternoon. “What is there to say? They asked us to leave, so we are leaving,” said Mr Rajapaksa in reply to a question from a journalist as to what he had to say to the media as he departed for Carlton House in Tangalle.

Beginning in January this year, the National People’s Power (NPP) Government had issued repeated public calls for him to vacate his official residence. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had been the first to issue that call, claiming that the monthly rent for the Wijerama Road residence had been calculated at Rs. 4.6 million. The President had suggested that his predecessor in office either pay the assessed rent or leave. During several Cabinet briefings held over the following months, Cabinet Spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa also repeatedly called on the former President to leave rather than be forced out. Mr Rajapaksa, though, stayed put, challenging the Government to send him an official letter first, knowing full well he could not be legally forced out as long as the Presidents’ Entitlements Act No. 04 of 1986 remained in force.

Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong greets former President Mahinda Rajapaksa at his official residence on Wijerama Road, Colombo before Rajapaksa vacated the premises.

Abolishing special privileges given to retired presidents and their families had been an oft-cited pledge in the NPP’s manifesto, ‘A Thriving Nation, A Beautiful Life’. As such, in a scenario where Mr Rajapaksa especially was daring the Government to essentially throw him out of a residence granted to him by law, it obviously had to walk the talk and introduce legislation to do just that. In came the Presidents’ Entitlements (Repeal) Bill, which was gazetted at the end of July. Aside from a residence provided at taxpayer expense, the bill sought to do away with the monthly secretarial allowance and official transport and other such facilities provided to a former president or the widow of a former president. It also sought to abolish the monthly pension paid to the widow of a former president.

Supreme Court determination

Renuka Perera, the Administrative Secretary of the Rajapaksa-led Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), was one of those who filed fundamental rights petitions in the Supreme Court challenging the bill. The determination of the three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena and Justices Achala Wengappuli and Sampath B. Abayakoon was announced in Parliament on Tuesday by Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne. He announced that the Court had determined that no provision in the bill was inconsistent with the Constitution and that it can be passed with a simple parliamentary majority.

In arriving at its decision, the court held that the framers of the 1978 Constitution had only wanted to confer salary, allowances and pension on any person who holds office as president. It is only those three items that the framers of the Constitution had wanted to jealously guard against being taken away by any subsequent amendment, repeal or replacement, the Court noted in its determination. “We therefore proceed to hold that Act No. 04 of 1986 is a stand-alone piece of legislation passed in 1986, i.e., eight years after the promulgation of the 1978 Constitution. Thus, it is clear that Act No. 04 of 1986 has only introduced some additional benefits which the Constitution had never contemplated to grant to a person who holds office as President,” the Justices state in their determination.

The Justices have further observed that the SC had previously held that the benefits conferred by the Presidents’ Entitlements Act are only to the former presidents and their widows, and that such conferment is an exception to the concept of equality before the law. “In other words, what the impugned bill seeks to achieve is to remove the said exception to the concept of equality before the law. That could be done only by repealing Act No. 04 of 1986.”

The bill was debated on Wednesday and passed with 151 votes in favour and just one against, with the Speaker certifying it and thus endorsing it into law that same evening at the speed of summer lightning. Mr Rajapaksa, who would surely have been preparing for the outcome in the event the Supreme Court found the bill not to be inconsistent with the Constitution, accordingly vacated the residence the following day.

Calculated political theatre

Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong meeting former President Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo to extend an invitation for China's national day event.

In many ways, his departure from Wijerama Road was a piece of calculated political theatre. Politicians and activists from the SLPP and other opposition parties, as well as members of the Buddhist clergy, flocked to his residence from Thursday morning to see off the former president and wish him well. Many took the opportunity to speak to media personnel waiting outside, blasting the Government for what they claimed was yet another act of political revenge directed against the man who ended the country’s destructive separatist war by giving political leadership to defeat the LTTE.

Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong was also among those who came to call on Mr Rajapaksa just before he left for Carlton House in Tangalle. This was the final diplomatic meeting the former president held at the Wijerama residence. Posting images of the meeting on social media, Mr Rajapaksa said they “exchanged views on the present situation and the way forward” during the brief meeting. The ambassador also personally handed over an invitation to Mr Rajapaksa to attend the embassy reception for the Chinese National Day, which falls on October 1. On Friday, the Chinese Ambassador called on former President Ranil Wickremesinghe at his political office on Flower Road to hand over Mr Wickremesinghe’s invitation to the same National Day reception.

Political observers saw this as no normal courtesy call. The Ambassador would not have dropped in his official vehicle, with his country’s flag, and dropped in to see the former President before the eyes of all his supporters without the nod of consent from Beijing. Or did Beijing specifically ask him to make a statement by going to see Mr Rajapaksa, a long-time friend of China? It is said in political circles that Ambassador Qi had, on instructions from Beijing, even messaged the President not to harass Mr Rajapaksa. Piqued that they were not listened to, the Ambassador did the next best thing of visiting the former President as he was preparing to leave his official residence.

Ambassador Qi did not stop there. He then went to see former President Ranil Wickremesinghe—with a bouquet of flowers. Diplomatic circles were abuzz with the twin visits. Recent government foreign policy decisions, they argued, may have added to the Chinese decision. This government avoided attending the BRICS summit late last year, citing electioneering as reasons for Sri Lanka’s non-participation despite requesting partnership status at the emerging world grouping headed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. More recently, it did not attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in China. Despite it having Dialogue Partner status, its seat was empty. There is still no definitive explanation if Sri Lanka was not invited for the summit or if it ignored the invitation. On the other hand, it attended the pro-West ASEAN Foreign Ministers meeting in Malaysia in July.

The former president’s son and SLPP National Organiser Namal Rajapaksa was not among the gathering at Mr Rajapaksa’s official residence on Thursday, as he was overseas. He later took to X to post images of his father leaving Wijerama Road, saying that his father was leaving for Tangalle, “the place where it all began.”

A few hours after Mr Rajapaksa and his wife left Wijerama Mawatha to shouts of ‘Jaya Wewa’ and pledges by his supporters to bring him back to the very same residence in the near future, the couple arrived at Carlton House, where an even bigger crowd was waiting to receive them. The former president’s supporters had organised a reception to welcome him back.

Several houses in Colombo had already been offered to Mr Rajapaksa for his use, SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam said. However, there are certain aspects to consider when selecting a house for him to occupy in Colombo, he said. Firstly, it has to be a fairly large house in order to accommodate the many visitors he receives. Security is also a top priority given the continued threats to the former president’s life. “We aren’t in a hurry. Mr Rajapaksa will only return to Colombo if a house that meets these key requirements is found,” the SLPP General Secretary said.

Mahinda responds from “the place where it all began”

On Friday, the former president took to Facebook to post a lengthy statement, his first since leaving Colombo. The following are excerpts from the statement:

“Previously, I had seen various orders given before the media by certain individuals demanding that I leave the Wijerama residence. I did not see any need to bow down to such statements made before the media by those who, unable to deliver anything meaningful for the people, were day by day falling into public disfavour and seeking to cover up their failures. Yet, following their own passage of new legislation, I departed from the Wijerama residence within 24 hours. That was because the law must be respected. I, Mahinda Rajapaksa, bow only before the law and before my people.

“We have all had to face a form of political terrorism aimed at personal revenge, devoid of both discipline and professionalism. Moreover, having been the one to end the cruel scourge of terrorism, I myself have become the target of a series of incidents that arose as a consequence of that victory. Yet I have never once regretted bringing terrorism to an end. I fought that war for the right to breathe freely in this motherland. Breath is common to all. It knows no race, no religion. The sons from the armed forces sacrificed their own breath for ours. In gratitude and to symbolise the freedom of the proud nation they secured for us, we built the Sandahiru Seya at Anuradhapura’s sacred city. As long as the Sandahiru Seya stands, it signifies that our motherland shall remain one country, under one flag.

“As my eldest son Namal has said, I have now returned to the village where it all began for me. I travelled here along the Southern Expressway, which we ourselves built. Today I can enjoy the taste of a village ambarella curry without needing it brought from Colombo. For it was here that it all began. It was as the young Mahinda Rajapaksa that I contested from Giruwapattuwa in the 1970 General Election. That opportunity was given to me by Mrs Bandaranaike. As a young MP, she showed me the path I should follow. To say she was both a leader and a mother to us would not be wrong. Correct guidance in politics is most important. Behind Mr SWRD Bandaranaike, who steered the suffering masses of this country towards socialism, I always saw my beloved late father, the Ruhunu MP. He represented the aspirations of the people of Beliatta in Ruhuna. As the youngest MP of the 1970 People’s Government, it was I who moved the vote of thanks on the inaugural Throne Speech. I still remember speaking of the aspirations of the people of Beliatta, Ruhuna.”

Mr Rajapaksa also recalled that it was from Tangalle that he went before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to speak on behalf of the disappeared. He reminded all concerned that the address given at that time for legal assistance concerning disappearances and human rights violations was: ‘Attorney-at-Law Mahinda Rajapaksa, Chairman – Human Rights and Legal Aid Centre, Carlton, Tangalle’.

“Whether in Wijerama or in Tangalle, Mahinda Rajapaksa is still Mahinda Rajapaksa,” the former president emphasised. He also warned the Government that wherever he was, as long as he lived and no matter the suffering, he would not hesitate to stand up against any attempt to betray the unitary motherland. “For Mahinda Rajapaksa of Giruwapattuwa, political threats and roars of intimidation are nothing unfamiliar.”

Others affected by new Act

Aside from Mahinda Rajapaksa, others who are affected by the new law are former presidents Chandrika Kumaratunga, Maithripala Sirisena, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe, along with Hema Premadasa, widow of the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa. Of these, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe were already residing in their private residences, while Ms Premadasa too had moved to a private residence before the new law came into effect.

Former president Maithripala Sirisena is to vacate his official residence on Hector Kobbekaduwa Mawatha, Colombo 7, within the next two days. Former president Chandrika Kumaratunga, meanwhile, has requested the Government to give her ‘about two months’ time to vacate her official residence. Ms Kumaratunga is still recovering from hip replacement surgery after a fall suffered several weeks ago.

Speaker refuses to accept NCM

While the Presidents’ Entitlements (Repeal) Bill was passed by Parliament without incident, Wednesday’s announcement by Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne that he could not entertain the No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against Deputy Defence Minister Major General (Rtd.) Aruna Jayasekera was met with disbelief and anger by opposition MPs. Their frustration led to several heated moments over the remainder of the sitting week, which included the Speaker having to briefly suspend sittings for 10 minutes on Thursday amid protests by opposition MPs on the floor of the House.

The NCM was handed over to the Speaker on August 12. It cited serious concerns over a potential conflict of interest regarding the investigation into the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, given the deputy minister was Commander Security Forces (East) during key incidents linked to the attacks, including the Vavunathivu police killings and the Sainthamaruthu explosion. A question, however, arose as to whether an NCM could be submitted against a deputy minister given that he is not a member of the Cabinet. As such, the Speaker had earlier conveyed to Parliament that he would study the matter and announce his decision.

In announcing his decision, the Speaker said that the Constitution “clearly recognises that no-confidence motions may be brought against the Government as a whole, while the precedent recognises no-confidence motions against the Prime Minister, or an individual Cabinet Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. But there is no provision for such a motion against a deputy minister.”

Therefore, if he were to accept such a motion against Deputy Minister Jayasekara, it would establish an undesirable precedent contrary to constitutional and parliamentary precedents, the Speaker asserted. As such, he said the NCM “is not in order and cannot be accepted in its present form.”

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, however, argued that a deputy minister is part of the executive branch of the Government. “When the Deputy Minister is part of the executive, you can’t refuse to entertain an NCM against him on the grounds that it is not mentioned in the Standing Orders,” Mr Premadasa said.

Following the Speaker’s decision, the main opposition, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), is now preparing a No-Confidence Motion against Speaker Wickramaratne.

SLPP vows legal action against those levelling false allegations

Meanwhile, SLPP National Organiser Namal Rajapaksa this week sent a letter of demand through his lawyers to Deputy Public Security Minister Sunil Watagala demanding Rs. 1 billion as compensation for reputational damage incurred by him following remarks the deputy minister made at a Homagama media briefing, where he allegedly implied that Mr Rajapaksa was linked to the country’s drug trafficking network. The media briefing was held in the wake of the discovery of two containers in Middeniya filled with raw material police suspect can be used in the production of crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as ‘Ice’. Police are currently hunting for Sampath Manamperi, a former police intelligence officer who was also a former Pradeshiya Sabha member of the SLPP, over the discovery of the two containers. Manamperi is a relative of ‘Backhoe Saman’, one of the five underworld figures who was recently arrested in Indonesia and brought to Sri Lanka to face trial.

SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam said his party had already suspended the membership of Sampath Manamperi following the allegations but pointed to recent revelations by Sri Lanka Customs that the two containers in question had been inspected and released at the end of January, when the NPP Government was already in power. “This was a failure on the part of the Government, but they are now trying to cover up that failure by blaming Namal Rajapaksa for this. He said the SLPP had paid the price for remaining quiet in the past in the face of multiple “lies” uttered by the NPP.

“So many allegations made against us by the NPP, whether it was about funds hidden in Uganda or Chi-Chi’s rocket, have been proved false, but the damage was already done. As such, we have decided we will no longer sit back and let them hurl false allegations against us. We will definitely take legal action, and the letter of demand against Sunil Watagala is part of these efforts,” Mr Kariyawasam said.

Govt. under pressure to conduct PC elections

One year into its first term in office, the Government is under pressure to conduct the long-delayed Provincial Council elections.  While the newly elected National People’s Power (NPP) was gung-ho over conducting the Local Authorities election in May with the expectation that it would have a clean sweep of local councils, its poor performance may have  dampened enthusiasm at conducting early PC elections but delaying it for too long may not be an option.

While Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said in his response to the Report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk that the PC polls will only be held at the end of the delimitation process, the Government is considering proposal to hold the election under the old system for this time so that the polls would not have to be delayed till the delimitation  process is completed.

The United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Volker Turk in his report on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka noted that Provincial Council elections under the thirteenth constitutional amendment have not been held in the country since 2014 thus underscoring the importance of the holding of the PC polls as early as possible while India too has called for early PC elections.

The delimitation process for the provincial councils has been marred with disagreement between parties, with the last report of the Delimitation Commission presented to Parliament in 2018 being overwhelmingly rejected. There were allegations that the Commission had not looked into the interests of minorities when compiling the report which demarcated 222 PC electorates within 25 administrative districts to elect 50% of the members based on the simple majority system to the nine PCs.

The Delimitation Commission was set up following the passing of the Provincial Council Elections Amendment Bill in 2017, which changed the manner of electing members to PCs, but since the enactment of the new law, failure to come to an agreement on how the demarcation of boundaries within a province should take place has resulted in the PC polls being delayed for over ten years by now.

In 2019, a Private Members Bill was introduced by then TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran to repeal the Provincial Councils Elections (Amendment) Act No. 17 of 2017 and bring into force the provisions of the Provincial Councils Elections Act, No. 2 of 1988, to enable the elections to be held under the old system.

However, there was no support for it from the then Government and the wrangling over delimitation is likely to continue, leading to a further delay in holding the elections.

National Election Commission Chairman R.M.A.L. Rathnayake, when asked about the conduct of the PC polls under the old system, said that the Government can consult the Attorney General and get an opinion on the matter, and if clearance is given, the PC polls can be held.

Meanwhile, JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva was in Jaffna last Sunday—a day ahead of the UN sessions in Geneva where Sri Lanka was listed on the agenda. He was to declare open a library at the district party office. The library will be open for public use as well.

The hastily set-up library consists mostly of Tamil translations of Soviet-era publications seemingly from the JVP library.

Responding to a question related to the much-delayed PC elections, which are over a decade overdue since 2014, the General Secretary of the main constituent party of the NPP said elections would be held “soon”.

He also said the reason for the delay in conducting the elections is the bill that was passed to demarcate the provincial boundaries under the previous government. “In future, we will make amendments to that Act, inform the people about it, and then go for polls.”

ITAK expresses disappointment over Govt. stance

On Monday, hours after Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath’s statement at the UN Human Rights Session in Geneva, the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) issued a statement expressing its disappointment over several issues. One of them was on pending PC elections.

The ITAK alleged the Government’s position, as per the written response, that PC elections will be held after the delimitation process is completed, is “a recipe to delay the Provincial Council elections by at least several years.”

“The government is breaching its promise to the Tamil-speaking peoples of the North and East by unduly denying their franchise. The government must immediately give its assent to the private member’s bill moved by our Member of Parliament Shanakiyan Rasamanickam and facilitate the holding of the provincial council elections immediately,” said the statement signed by both Secretary of the party M.A. Sumanthiran and Acting Leader C.V.K. Sivagnanam.

The party also noted and thanked the government of India for reiterating the call for meaningful devolution and its support for the aspirations of the Tamil community for equality, justice, dignity and peace in its oral statement when the OHCHR report was being discussed. “India has also called for the early conduct of PC elections and meaningful devolution of power.”

In her remarks on the OHCHR report on Sri Lanka, First Secretary of the Permanent Mission of India to the UN, Anupama Singh, stressed India’s vital “financial and technical support to ensure Sri Lanka’s economic recovery and long-term stability after the unprecedented economic crisis in 2022”.

“India believes that meaningful devolution and genuine reconciliation, through an inclusive approach, would contribute to nation-building and a durable peace. Progress in these areas will not only benefit all communities in Sri Lanka but also reinforce the strong foundation of friendship and trust between our two nations,” reads the written statement read out by the Indian diplomat to the UN in Geneva.

On Wednesday, ITAK MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam met with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at his office in Parliament, where he raised the issue of PC polls and the confusion emerging from conflicting messages coming from JVP leadership and the NPP government.

“President Dissanayake assured us that PC polls would be held very soon. Under what electoral system the polls will be held has to be decided following discussions with other party leaders. I understand that no decision has been taken either to conduct under the previous system or after the delimitation process is completed as of now,” Mr Rasamanickam says.

The Batticaloa district MP also pointed out to the President that he had already submitted a private member bill—if passed in the House, it would facilitate holding the polls under the Proportional Representation (PR).

The MP also wanted to know the progress of an initiative the ITAK has been pushing in recent years to set up a “Development Fund” with a seed grant of USD 250 million from donor agencies to meet the disparities of development in the former war-torn areas of the two provinces where the ITAK holds the highest number of seats. President Dissanayake assured to look into the progress stage of the proposal.

Thereafter, the MP also raised administrative issues in Batticaloa, where he alleged that the ITAK is left out of being part of local governance despite the party holding three parliamentary seats.

Referring to a recent meeting where World Bank (WB)-funded initiatives for the district in the upcoming years were being finalised, Mr Rasamanickam said that neither MPs nor local government officials were invited to take part in the meeting called by the District Development Committee (DDC), headed by Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Sunil Handunnetti.

“When I raised the issue with the minister, I was told WB officials did not want the participation of local elected representatives. Thereafter, I checked with WB Colombo, and it turned out to be false. I don’t understand why we, elected representatives of people, are being sidelined in the local development projects,” the MP asked.

New draft resolution on Sri Lanka tabled at UNHRC

Meanwhile, a new draft resolution to extend the mandate of the UNHRC on Sri Lanka was tabled on Tuesday at the 60th session of the UNHRC in Geneva. The main sponsors of the resolution are the Core Group, comprising the United Kingdom, Canada, Malawi, Montenegro, and North Macedonia, with Germany and the U.S.A., which, along with these five nations, co-sponsored the 2022 resolution but are not part of it this year. The US withdrew from the UNHRC in February this year.

The new resolution welcomed the Government’s acknowledgement of the harms and sufferings resulting from decades of divisive racist politics and ethnic conflicts, its recognition of the shared pain and grief of individuals from all communities and its commitment to guarantee democracy, to restore the rule of law and to create a society free from discrimination while calling for concerted measures to address credible human rights allegations.

The resolution calls upon the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure the prompt, thorough and impartial investigation and, if warranted, prosecution of all alleged crimes relating to human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law, including for long-standing emblematic cases, with the full participation of victims and their representatives, and calls for an end to all forms of harassment of and reprisals against representatives of civil society, human rights defenders, journalists, victims, survivors and their families, especially women.

The resolution also reiterates the call for the Government to seek international assistance to strengthen capacities and to ensure the full participation of victims, survivors and their representatives, as well as victim and witness protection, while addressing accountability issues.

The Government on its part has reiterated that it is committed to advancing accountability through credible domestic processes, and to further enhance the delivery of justice, a decision has been taken to establish an independent public prosecutor’s office. Views have been sought from the general public and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka.