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15th August 1999

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From the Blue Corner

Cowboy approach and tapping toes won't do!

By Paakshikaya

I do not know what profession my learned friend, Viruddha Paakshikaya, belongs to but if he is a lawyer he is not a very clever one. This was demonstrated in ample measure by the arguments submitted by him in these pages last week. Viruddha Paakshikaya appears to believe that what happened at Town Hall on July 15 when a handful of media men and UNPers were allegedly assaulted, was the greatest affront to democracy since the Tianamen Square massacre in China some years ago! Surely, my friend, your memory cannot be that short. You must remember the numerous insults to democracy perpetrated by your 'dharmishta' UNP regime: the Abhayarama shooting at Narahenpita, the stoning of the houses of Supreme Court judges, the assault on Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra, to name just a few. And today, Viruddha Paakshikaya has the audacity to suggest that we in the Peoples' Alliance are violating democratic freedom!

Then, Viruddha Paakshikaya talks of privatisation and is critical of our government for privatising Air Lanka, Sri Lanka Telecom and the Colombo Port. Tell me, my friend, who started this business of selling state ventures to the private sector? It was J. R. Jayewardene who made that now famous remark, 'let the robber barons come' and began selling off state ventures with a vengeance. Remember, the Peoples' Alliance government appointed commissions to probe some of your privatisation deals and found that very valuable state assets were sold for a song. Fortunately, we have put an end to that and in each of the sales that you mentioned- Sri Lanka Telecom, Airlanka and the Colombo Port- the transactions were done publicly and the amounts for which shares were sold were publicised in the spirit of transparency because we have nothing to hide.

And you are wrong when you claim we have placed the masses at the mercy of these privatised organisations. Sri Lanka Telecom for instance, is governed by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRC) which has implemented many consumer friendly decisions and the privatised company has had to comply with them. So all your arguments about the Peoples' Alliance privatising state ventures for their own benefit are baseless, my friend. Viruddha Paakshikaya also laments the spate of strikes which he says have plagued the state sector in the recent past. Now, I will concede that there have been more than a fair share of strikes, protests and work-to-rule campaigns recently. But then, isn't that a natural a phenomenon when an election draws near?

On the one hand, we do not wield bicycle chains against strikers or dismiss them from work without any notice as your 'dharmishta' government did in July 1980. On the other hand, all these strikes have been settled sooner rather than later with the exception of the doctors' strike which I will concede dragged on a little longer than necessary. And, despite all these strikes the country has not come to a grinding halt as it did under UNP rule in 1989 when a chit from a schoolboy was sufficient for shops to put up shutters and strikes were the rule rather than the exception.

I am not holding a brief for the JVP here, Viruddha Paakshikaya, but such a situation developed only because of your authoritarian rule and such a situation will not arise today because the PA government tolerates democratic dissent. Then we have Viruddha Paakshikaya riding his favourite hobby horse- corruption. He makes some vague allegations and appears to claim that corruption is rife just because the Bribery and Corruption Commission is not functioning as it should. I will readily concede that the inefficiency of the Bribery and Corruption Commission has been a negative factor for our government and I have voiced my opinion within the party too. But that should not allow you the opportunity to cast aspersions on the President whose integrity is beyond doubt, Viruddha Paakshikaya.

And you are wrong when you say that the government is lethargic in acting on allegations of bribery and corruption. Why, only the other day the President announced that any complaints could be addressed to her directly and even publicized two contact numbers where complaints could be freely made. So, go ahead, Viruddha Paakshikaya, instead of making veiled allegations, if you have specific complaints lodge them with the President and I am sure those allegations will be inquired into! Then your parting shot, Viruddha Paakshikaya, I thought was below the belt. You quote a story written in the 'Raavaya' newspaper and say that there was a conspiracy to install Chandrika Kumaratunga as Prime Minister after the 1994 general elections even though Sirima Bandaranaike was the party leader. You seem to imply that President D. B. Wijetunge was influenced by Chandrika Kumaratunga into taking this decision saying that had Ms. Bandaranaike been appointed President, the position of J. R. Jayewardene would have been uncertain and therefore you did not want that to happen. This is a laughable allegation, my friend. We all know that even in 1994 Ms.Bandaranaike, for all her guts and courage, did not campaign actively in that election for reasons of ill-health. And the good lady herself knew more than anyone else the physical demands of being Prime Minister in a new government was beyond her and that was naturally communicated to President Dingiri Banda Wijetunge who decided to call upon Chandrika Kumaratunga to form a government.

If there was any conspiracy about all this it would have been by you in the UNP who would have thought that Ms. Bandaranaike would have been a weaker leader because of her health.

In any event, your assumption that Chandrika Kumaratunga would not be harsh on J. R. Jayewardene whereas Sirima Bandaranaike would be, is warped thinking. The bottom-line is that the PA government was not intent on extracting political revenge on someone who was then in his late eighties and I believe the least you could do is to give the PA and President Chandrika Kumaratunga credit for that. So, Viruddha Paakshikaya, my advice to you, with elections coming up is to let bygones be bygones and concentrate on the future if you want to make any kind of impact at the next national polls. We see your leader, dressed casually addressing gatherings in villages by twilight. But I'm afraid, my friend, that the performance was not convincing enough. He was in shirtsleeves and denims and when the others around him sang baila, all he could do was weakly tap his toes!

So, stop worrying about the Premier Stakes of 1994, Viruddha Paakshikaya. Worry about the Presidency Stakes in the year 2000 because you really have a lot of worrying to do because you will have many happy returns to the Opposition.

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