As Princess Diana - the English rose bid farewell among millions of mourners in Britain and elsewhere, we heard about the sad demise of Mother Teresa. The saint of the untouchables. Mother Teresa's total and lifelong commitment to the poor was unparalleled in our time. What Mahathma Gandhi did in the first half of the century, she magnified in the second.
The Indian government gave the 87-year-old nun an exceptional honour yesterday. She was given a state funeral which is normally reserved for serving heads of states or prime ministers.
If Princess Diana was a queen of hearts, then, Mother Teresa was the queen of broken hearts and the down-trodden.
As Sri Lanka joined millions in the world yesterday in a final act of thanksgiving for the life and work of Mother Teresa, many were aware that the country needs such vision and self-sacrifice in finding solutions for our ethnic and other crises.
The visit of two top US foreign affairs officials to Sri Lanka was one of the significant political events of the week.
The US Assistant Secretary of State Carl and State Department South Asia - Desk chief Steve Mann had met government and other political leaders.
Among others, they met Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at a dinner hosted by former BOI chief Rohitha Bogollagama at his Longden Place residence. Acting US ambassador Richard Smythe and embassy political desk chief Steve Craft were also at the dinner.
They spoke about the proposed political package and the US officials were apparently trying to find the reasons for the delay in implementing the proposals.
Mr. Wickremesinghe outlined the UNP's stand, especially the areas where his party has not reached consensus with the government.
The unit of devolution, land policy and a separate council for the Muslims are among the problem areas.
On Sunday the US delegation had a dinner meeting with Minister G.L. Peiris. The host was Mr. Smythe.
The US team also met President Chandrika Kumaratunga and the key topic at all these meetings were obviously the ethnic conflict. According to informed sources, the US delegation was not impressed with explanations given by government leaders on why both the military and political thrust in the North-East conflict is not making much headway. The US delegation also had talks with military top brass at an operational centre in the border town of Vavuniya, from where the latest 'Jaya Sikurui Operation' was launched.
Eventually, it seems that matters became not clearer but more confused for the US officials with one diplomatic source saying "the govt. is giving wrong signals all the time".
Indeed the govt. is in a dilemma over the package. The anti-package stance of the DUNF and the LSSP's insistence, that the constitution and parliament must not be by-passed seem to have thrown the govt. into disarray.
In such a situation, it would be quite difficult for the govt. to take steps in convening a constituent assembly, especially when there is opposition from within. In this situation, the 'Thavalama' which set off to give a message of peace has turned out to be a political circus with little or no response from the people. It is now more like a comedy of errors.
Members of the PA-controlled Beliatta Pradeshiya Sabha sent a fax to the President saying they would not be able to mobilise people for the Thavalama Campaign there. Amidst UNP allegations that PA supporters were responsible for recent killings, PA people are now saying they are being hunted and harassed by the CID investigators.
Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, a leading political figure from the area is believed to have raised this issue with Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte.
Mr. Rajapakse said some of the suspects in the Beliatta Pradeshiya Sabha opposition leader's murder case, were taken into custody under the Prevention of Terrorism Act which is normally used against terrorism.
He charged that the suspects were held by the CID without being produced before a court within 24 hours as required by law.
Gen. Ratwatte has promised to look into the matter.
Minutes before the government group meeting on Monday, Mr. Rajapakse told SLFP MPs that he felt the CID was being used to harass SLFP supporters in Beliatta. He said he had no objection if the CID arrested the suspects, without harassing others. But he was totally against the use of the PTA which did not give suspects the rights they had under the normal law.
Minister Rajapakse also referred to this issue at the weekly meeting of Ministers on Wednesday after Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle made some observations on the matter.
Mr. Fernandopulle said several UNP MPs told him as to how the Police are using the provisions of the PTA to arrest people.
In this instance also Mr. Fernandopulle said that SLFP supporters had been taken under the PTA which is meant for terrorists.
Minister John Seneviratne also agreed that people should not be taken into custody under the PTA as promised in the PA manifesto.
Minister Rajapakse also expressed his views, saying he was against the use of PTA under normal circumstances. He pointed out he had opposed the PTA from the very beginning, even in the recent TNL case.
As for the Beliatta matter, Mr. Rajapakse said his hands were tied since the opposition was pointing a finger at him.
He said that while in the opposition he had taken great pains to defend the people's rights, but regretted his inability to defend the people of Beliatta when they were being arrested under harsh laws.
President Kumaratunga said she was unaware of what was going on and promised to take immediate steps to bring the matter under the normal law.
Thereafter, Minister Maithiripala Sirisena complained of a newspaper report which said he was checked at the guardpoint at Temple Trees.
Minister Indika Gunawardene and A.H.M. Fowzie also complained that what they spoke about the marine drive had appeared in newspapers.
The President said she had made several attempts to stop Cabinet discussions being leaked out to the media but she said some persons who did not respect ethics were responsible for the leak and it's beyond her control.
Several ministers including John Seneviratne and Mahinda Rajapakse emphasised the need to stop such Cabinet leaks.
On Wednesday the President also met the Business Community who praised the new Labour Minister John Seneviratne.
However, the President was late for the luncheon meeting arriving around 2.30 p.m.
One business magnate later commented that the President was nice and charming, she gave a fair hearing and referred most of the matters to P.B. Jayasundera of the Treasury who spoke more on theory.
However, there was no proper plan how to implement what the business community wanted, afterall he said "though the President is good, charming and fair we cannot go hungry", probably he was referring to the late arrival of the President.
At the government group meeting on Tuesday, President Kumaratunga took NDUNLF member Ravi Karunanayake to task over a speech he made in Parliament on Unfair Contracts.
While giving commercial examples to the bill before Parliament, Mr. Karunanayake also gave a political interpretation when he referred to the agreement between the DUNF (Lalith Front) and the PA.
From there he referred to the abolition of the executive presidency and the false promises given by the government.
An angry Minister Alavi Moulana raised this matter at the group meeting and asked Mr. Karunanayake why he gave a political twist to his speech embarrassing the government. Mr. Karunanayake replied that all what he said was part of the PA manifesto. He said his party became an ally of the PA with the fervent hope that the PA would abolish the executive presidency as promised.
At this stage the President intervened. She fired a salvo pointing out that DUNF leader Lalith Athulathmudali was a godfather of the 1978 constitution and the executive presidency.
Mr. Karunanayake agreed but said when Mr. Athulathmudali found that the executive presidency was misused and abused for dictatorial purposes, he led a campaign for its abolition. That was nothing. People always learn from mistakes.
The President also stood her ground accusing the UNP and Mr. Athulathmudali of creating a "Frankenstein's monster" through the 1978 constitution.
She then called upon Mr. Karunanayake to support the new constitution if he was so keen on abolishing the executive presidency.
Mr. Karunanayake was equally tough. He said Mr. Athulathmudali is dead and could not defend himself. So he felt duty-bound to defend his late leader. He said the abolition of the executive presidency was one thing and constitutional reforms as a whole was another.
He stressed though the Lalith Front supported the abolition of the executive presidency, the party could not support a package which it felt contain provisions which it felt were not in the best interests of the people.
Chief Whip Richard Pathirana then chipped in. He said they could not run a govt. on the whims and fancies of the DUN(L)F. Mr. Karunanayake agreed.
Mr. Pathirana went further and said that Mr. Karunanayake was given time to speak after repeated pleas, reminiscent of the days of Lalith and Gamini when they were expelled from the UNP.
"These are contracts undertaken by them, to fulfil their obligations to Ranil", the President said.
At one stage Minister Alavi Moulana who raised the issue said he lost even his brother as a result of the 17-year authoritarian rule of the UNP.
Mr. Karunanayake also had a fitting reply when he said "nobody should forget that Lalith Athulathmudali too sacrificed his life having tried to restore justice and fairplay in the country".
But now the President and some ministers seemed to be angry over Mr. Karunanayake's utterances which they feel, are detrimental to the PA. It is likely Mr. Karunanayake would be targeted in other forums too, maybe until he falls in line with the government thinking.
After the Ravi Karunanayake controversy came to an end, Minister Amarasiri Dodangoda raised an interesting question about the constitutional reforms.
He told the group that was a view among the people that the constitution could not be changed without a 2/3 majority.
He said it was imperative to educate the masses as to how we could do it.
The reply came from Minister Mangala Samaraweera. "We have already started it. People will soon realize how we are going to do it."
"If Cromwell's constitution could be changed why can't we", the President queried citing an example from the British history.
The members also asked the President questions about the recent Customs raid on the offices of a big time businessman who is known as an ardent PA supporter.
The matter came up when SLMC MP M.M. Zuhair launched a scathing attack on the Customs Department and some corrupt officials.
President Kumaratunga managed to calm down her members assuring that nobody was above the law.
Minister Bertie Premalal Dissanayake's complaint against the President was that she was not using the executive arm amply to demonstrate the power of the government.
The potential of the executive presidency is not used adequately to crush the opposition was the main complaint of many members of the government.
Kandy district MP Vincent Kuruppuarachchi took the lead in giving the message besides Minister Dissanayake.
He said the UNP had a fairly successful meeting at Getambe in Peradeniya and expressed his dissatisfaction over the role of the Police.
Their view was that the Police should come under effective control of the executive.
In other words, some political analysts query as to whether the PA is depending on terror tactics to keep the UNP and the opposition parties at bay.
Soon after the group meeting the President had a friendly chat with ministers about her visit to Malaysia to boost investments here.
Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Malaysia Dr. Warnasena Rasaputra by this time had accomplished all the preparatory work for the President's visit to Malaysia.
Dr. Rasaputra was in Sri Lanka last week and appeared before the High Posts Committee on Tuesday prior to his departure to Washington as Sri Lanka's Ambassador to fill the vacancy created by Jayantha Dhanapala.
One time governer of the Central Bank, Dr. Rasaputra had served the country for a long time as an experienced ambassador having been appointed as Sri Lanka's representative in Paris by the UNP regime.
It is a requirement that all those who are appointed to high office should be screened and given the greenlight by the High Posts Committee. Usually the screening is gentle and friendly. It is rarely that the High Posts Committee becomes aggressive. Appointees appear before the committee after the appointment and some after a year in office. But the last meeting turned out to be something unusual. Minister M.H.M. Ashraff who has himself had bitter experiences with the Foreign Ministry quizzed Dr. Rasaputra. Dr. Rasaputra's last station was Malaysia and Mr. Ashraff queried about the manner in which the Embassy handled Minister G.L. Peiris' controversial visit to Malaysia. Dr. Rasaputra explained that the problem was that the Malaysian Prime Minister did not meet visiting Ministers. Former Minister Srimani Athulathmudali said Ambassadors would not be held responsible for the private visits of the Ministers.
Dr. Rasaputra also had some explanation to offer when he said that Minister Peiris' trip to Malaysia was arranged by the Malaysian High Commission in Colombo.
Minister Ashraff said this was a very serious state of affairs and wanted the Prime Minister to sort it out.
Mr. Ashraff's questioning did not end there. He was also critical of Rodney Vandergert, former Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who is to head our Mission in China. Mr. Vandergert explained the charges made against him by a Sri Lankan businessman in Tokyo, were not justifiable. A notable absentee in the High Posts Committee was former Foreign Minister, A.C.S. Hameed. Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar is not present normally when ambassadors are screened.
Mr. Ashraff's observations of the two appointees also reflect the spilt and the line up in the Lakshman Kadirgamar-Lakshman Peiris episode. It is no secret that the relationship between the two Lakshmans is strained and has deep roots. Though a member of the Select Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar's attendance, it is said, during the last two years does not come up to 10 meetings. When Srimani Athulathmudali left the government, her seat in the front row was vacant. Both Mr. Kadirgamar and Dr. Peiris were accommodated in the second row because senior members had to be accommodated in the front bench. The President decided on the alphabetical order and Lakshman Kadirgamar was pushed to the front row. It is rumoured that the application of the alphabetical order criteria helped the President to wriggle out of a delicate situation in a diplomatic manner. It would have been certainly more helpful to the government to have accommodated Dr. Peiris in the front row since Mr. Kadirgamar's appearances in the House are limited and few and Dr. Pieris has become the leading spokesman for the government in Parliament, and is able to debate with a high degree of flexibility in Sinhala and English.
PLOTE leader D. Siddharthan also raised questions about the visit of Dr. Peiris to Malaysia.
When Dr. Rasaputra was at the receiving end, Minister Ashraff said, of course, Dr. Rasaputra was good enough to receive him at the airport when he made a private visit to Malaysia.
Amidst all this, Minister D.M. Jayaratne complained to the Prime Minister about the conduct of our ambassadors in general.
He said the ambassadors in many countries did not care for the Ministers and did not attend to their requirements while on a visit.
"They do not even arrange the VIP lounge for the ministers in some cases. When they come to the airport they shake hands and vanish. Some even don't do that", he complained.
Not only the government, the opposition UNP is also facing a dilemma over the Wijeyapala Mendis issue.
Though the matter was not taken up at the Group meeting and the Working Committee meeting, UNP frontliner Stanley Kalpage raised the issue under any other business during the Working Committee meeting.
Dr. Kalpage said the UNP should not fall in line with the government in its move to strip Mr. Wijeyapala Mendis of his civic rights, saying that it could create a precedent.
However, this did not stir the Working Committee members and Dr. Kalpage could not muster adequate support from others.
The question that is raised in political circles is whether Mr. Mendis could get adequate sympathy from the UNP Parliamentary group.
At present there are diverse views on the matter. While the old guard wants the UNP to ignore the government resolution, others say Mr. Mendis should quit Parliament without embarrassing the party.
But at the moment there are no signs of Mr. Mendis quitting the UNP, though he at one stage had an idea of retiring from politics.
Even if Mr. Mendis quits Parliament, could the UNP ignore the resolution before Parliament and vote against it?
Some UNP sources pointed out the findings have been made by judges who were appointed during the UNP era. Thus if the UNP fails to respect these findings it might amount to a lack of confidence in the judges who were appointed by a UNP President. The only way to get over the dilemma is to examine and see whether the findings could be quashed by way of writ from the Supreme Court. But Mr. Mendis by his own admission had offered to exchange the land he acquired during the UNP regime and this will put the UNP into a further crisis if they vote against the resolution. One analyst asked if the UNP opposes this resolution, does it mean that any Minister in power could acquire land and enjoy the benefits during the period he holds office?
This is the vital question the UNP would have to address before taking any decision on the Mendis issue.
Many UNP top-rungers have also expressed their views over the findings of the Commission of Inquiry appointed to probe disappearances.
It is said that at least six top UNPers could face charges on the findings of this Commission, creating further problems for the UNP.
Former Minister Gamini Jayawickrema Perera said this clearly at a meeting in Kurunegala recently.
So with the period of the PA passing its half way mark, it is adopting new tactics to crush the UNP by way of the findings of various Commissions of Inquiry.
Nowadays controversies are a common phenomenon and are not confined to politics. The latest controversy we have is from the cricketing world, concerning the eligibility of top cricket officials in the country.
The matter came to the limelight when journalists put questions to the Sports Minister about the eligibility of top Cricket Board officials.
Minister S.B. Dissanayake admitted that two top officials had not played in an any top class local cricket tournament recognized by the BCCSL.
But the Minister said he was helpless since they would challenge their removal in Courts with the help of best lawyers.
The Minister also lashed out at the Attorney General's Department when he said that the state lawyers were no match to the ones in the unofficial bar.
The Minister said "we have to face all these challenges with those sleepy characters who are yawning in the Attorney General's Department".
By this time the Attorney General's Department had received the files of the top Board officials from the Ministry of Sports which sought advice from the AG as to what action it would take on the findings of the Tory Jayawardena Committee which was appointed after representations made by the Colombo Cricket Club.
In a dramatic move, the AG's Department acted promptly by sending the files back to the Ministry of Sports to protest against the remarks made by the Minister.
Attorney General, Sarath N. Silva has reportedly written to the Minister asking as to whether the comments made by him were true and if that is the case they would not appear in any of his (Minister Dissanayake's) cases.
He had also told the Minister to let him know whether he was making alternative arrangements to retain new counsel for the two fundamental rights applications filed by the Teleshan Network Limited against the Ministry sometime ago.
Another source from the Attorney General's Department said that there was no single adverse order in any of Minister Dissanayake's cases.
However, the Cricket Board story goes back to March 2 when the BCCSL held its Annual General Meeting. At this meeting, ACTC leader and Attorney Kumar Ponnambalam on behalf of CCC took up the position that the AGM was not conducted properly and raised queries about the eligibility of officials too.
After CCC took up their position, the Sports Ministry appointed the Tory Jayawardena Commitee to inquire into the queries regarding the eligibility of BCCSL President Upali Dharmadasa and the other officials.
The C.C.C. however agreed to drop the original charge made against the BCCSL on its alleged failure to conduct the AGM properly but maintained the second charge on the eligibility of the officials.
Accordingly, Surath Wickramasinghe, Abu Fuard, Kumar Ponnambalam and Michael Sproule represented the C.C.C. at the inqury while Upali Dharmadasa appeared with Jayantha Paranathala alone with Attorney Dinal Phillips.
At the first instance the Cricket Board members were asked to produce letters from their respective Clubs, substantiating their claims that they played for a cricket tournament recognized by the BCCSL.
Mr. Dharmadasa had apparently submitted a letter to the Committee claiming he had played cricket for Bloomfield. When the letter was read out, Mr. Fuard took objections while Mr. Ponnambalam said it was self-serving.
Mr. Jayawardena also said that he was not satisfied with Mr. Dharmadasa's letter.
Mr. Fuard took up the position that Mr. Dharmadasa had not played in tournaments accepted by the BCCSL and he went to the extent of mentioning the name of Bloomfield president to prove his point. Thereafter, the C.C.C. moved for another date to pursue the authenticity of the document. This was agreed, but no such meeting took place before the report was submitted to the Ministry.
Later Mr. Fuard along with Surath Wickramasinghe and Michael Sproule made an un-announced visit to the Bloomfield Chief, Shelley Wickramasinghe to clarify this matter.
Mr. Wickramasinghe said Mr. Dharmadasa had been a very useful member of Bloomfield but he could not recall him playing cricket for Bloomfield except for one occasion where he played a Saturday afternoon friendly match representing the Bloomfield.
However, the sports law specifies that any member of the BCCSL Executive Committee should have played two matches in a recognized tournament. So they decided to write to the Ministry.
However, Shelley Wickramasinghe had refused to issue a letter stating the actual position concerning Mr. Dharmadasa.
He had maintained the position that the Ministry could call him and clarify the situation if it wished to do so.
After all these things took place, the C.C.C. sent another letter to the Minister on August 21 inquiring about the delay to publicise the Tory Jayawardena Committee Report.
In response to this, the Ministry had written to the Chairman of C.C.C. giving details of the committee report.
The letter signed by Ministry Secretary R.M.K. Ratnayake said the Committee had recommended that legal advice should be obtained on the documents submitted on the eligibility and the files have now gone to the Attorney General for the purpose.
Minister G.L. Peiris told this column that steps were being taken to settle this matter amicably.
At present the pertinent question is as to whether the Minister would allow the Cricket Board to continue as it is or take appropriate action to remove the members who are not qualified after perusing these documents thoroughly. But now that the Attorney General had opted to send the papers back to the Ministry, the Minister is facing a new problem on top of all the others.
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