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The Political Column

5th September 1999

Polls before political package

By our Political Correspondent

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When it is time for elections, everything else takes a back seat. Since the time is ripe for elections now, all else, including constitutional reform, is relegated to a temporary limbo. It will not see the light of day before the next election, most likely to be held early next year.

The Government’s feeling is now that no political parties, including minority Tamil parties, would support the package openly even if they want to do so, after the warning given by the LTTE which resulted in the death of Neelan Tiruchelvam. Therefore, the package will only be political and restricted to keep the high spirits of the minorities with the Government. The opposition UNP is also exploiting the situation that they would be able to solve this problem more effectively than the PA.

It will be a mere hope of a solution for the Tamils and nothing more. As Minister G.L. Peiris has put it, there is no point in presenting it in Parliament if the Government is unable to implement the proposals therein, which should be harmful in the long run. If the minorities feel that it is the end of the road for them, it could bring about serious repercussions to the country as a whole. So it is important as far as the Government is concerned to keep this debate alive. The opposition is also treading on the same path and there is not much difference in the political strategy.

The most important matter at this juncture for both the Government and the Opposition is to prepare themselves for the forthcoming elections. The UNP favours a parliamentary election while the Government is pondering whether it should be a Presidential or Parliamentary election first.

PA advisers are of the view that it has to be a Presidential election if the Kumaratunga administration is to continue for one more term. Although this is accepted in principle, the constituent parties of the PA such as the Lanka Samasamaja Party are known to prefer a general election first. The main reason for this appears to be the fear of the LSSP that its bargaining power could be diminished if President Kumaratunga emerges as the victor at a Presidential election.

However, its position is favourable to the main opposition UNP which stakes its claim for a general election. But with the controversy of Ranil Wickremesinghe’s E-mail affair, Batty Weerakoon appears to be pre-occupied with this matter rather than becoming a problem to President Kumaratunga. The President is apparently happy over this development which keeps Mr. Weerakoon busy exchanging fire with the UNP.

The chances are that the President would go for a Presidential election whether the Opposition likes it or not. According to government’s calculations, the President still has a fair chance of being elected for a second term. For this they need a clear cut strategy to surmount all the problems and hurdles placed in their way by the UNP and the other opposition parties.

Broken promises such as the abolition of the executive presidency, granting a dole of Rs.1500 to the unemployed and generating one million jobs within a short period have to be faced by the government at the next election campaign. People need a fair and explicit explanation as to why the PA failed to accomplish those promises.

Is it the war that ran through almost the entire term of office of this government that impeded its progress in the sphere of development or is it the sheer incapability of the Kumaratunga administration? If the government is attributing its failure to solve problems to the war, then what has it done to end the war and find a political solution to the problem?

The direct talks with the LTTE came to an abrupt halt. The select committee proceedings had not seen its end and the government is now totally dependent on an initiative by the business community to solve the ethnic crisis.

One could ask the question as to whether the business community should be allowed to continue with this effort. On the other hand, some people will claim that they do this with ulterior motives and vested interest. As many politicians in the government and in the opposition had pointed out, it is important at this juncture, to examine this matter in detail. What is necessary, anyway, is for the PA and the UNP to have direct talks to explore areas where they could agree and disagree and arrive at a consensus.

At the meeting of the PA-UNP delegations last Wednesday at the BMICH under the chairmanship of the coordinating president of the business community, Lalith Kotelawala, both parties agreed to push the September 30th deadline further down to facilitate talks between the UNP and the Tamil parties and later arrive at some sort of agreement on the unit of devolution, nature of the state and many other matters.

The two parties are still to agree on these matters. Minister Peiris pointed out that there should be some sort of agreement on the unit of devolution before the draft constitution is brought to parliament. He said that efforts to bring this to parliament before reaching some measure of agreement on other key issues would be of no use.

UNP’s A. C. S. Hameed who died on Friday night had said earlier that though he had serious discussions with the Tamil parties, he had not been able to reach finality on the matter. He said that Tamil parties had expressed various viewpoints on the matter and needed more time to have detailed discussions on this issue.

The PA and the UNP also discussed in detail the unit of devolution and explored the need to have an island-wide referendum on the matter. All agreed that it should be restricted to the north and the east where it could be broken into two councils, the north-east and the south-east. The two delegations agreed that a referendum for the north and the east would suffice. Then, they discussed whether it should be held separately for each of these two provinces and, if so, in what order.

Beside this, the TV debate between the Ven. Gangodavila Soma Thera and Min ister M. H. M. Ashraff was a significant event of the week which attracted the attention of thousands of viewers. Many were glued to their TVs watching the debate with mixed feelings. At the end of the day, Minister Ashraff seemed to have vindicated his position that he was not instrumental in causing communal disharmony in this country as accused by many including a section of the SLFP Muslim politicians.

It appeared that Minister Ashraff was ready with his brief and had a proper knowledge of what he was going to say. He had spent at least two days doing research work on the subject before appearing on TV to debate with a dignified Buddhist monk respected by thousands, if not millions.

Mr. Ashraff who was on the sick bed for at least one week did not want to put off the debate as advised by others. He had to visit his family physician twice and received intravenous injections since he was feeling very weak. Notwithstanding this situation, he took time off to prepare for the debate.

At the debate, he showed his skill and talent and viewers thought that he has done his home work well. There was a lot of worry among his sympathisers at the beginning of the debate because of his poor knowledge of Sinhala and secondly because he was confronting a popular Buddhist monk.

His advisers thought that it could have been misinterpreted and misunderstood and a wrong impression created in the minds of the people about Mr. Ashraff and his party. The debate was cordial while Mr. Ashraff was respectful and held Ven. Soma Thera in high esteem. The monk, too, maintained his dignity by using soft words and choosing appropriate terms to express himself.

Minister Ashraff conducted himself excellently while giving due respect to the clergy. He also referred to the Kalama Sutra and other Buddhist scriptures to bring out his point of view to the people.

Ven. Thera was not able to sufficiently substantiate his claim that the ancient kings had donated more than 12,000 acres to the historical Digavapi Stupa .There was no inscription or historical documentary evidence to maintain it other than document produced by Minister Ashraff, a copy of an inscription by King Kirthisri Rajasinghe. He also produced gazette notifications published in 1845, 1940, 1959 and 1976 etc. They showed that the Digavapi had been in a land area in extent closer to 5000 acres.

At times, the moderator also played a secondary role to Ven. Soma Thera and Mr. Ashraff found himself answering two people. At the end of the day, Mr. Ashraff came out well. It was a relief to many of his friends and party stalwarts who were watching the debate with excitement.

Now the SLMC thinks that Ven. Soma Thera may have been misled by a section of the Muslim politicians. However, the SLMC was happy since it had been able to clear all misgivings created by its adversaries.

On Wednesday, Minister Ashraff was greeted by many people at a party held in a 5-Star hotel to mark the Libyan national day. All the three Muslim ministers were present. But the guests rallied round Mr. Ashraff because of his ability and skill.

When Mr. Ashraff was questioned on the south-eastern council at the TV debate, the Minister said that it was not his proposal, but of the Government headed by President Kumaratunga. However, it is a known fact that the SLMC pressed for a south-eastern council to veer the Muslims away from the majority north-eastern council where they would become a minority.

During the week, Mr. Ashraff also had an other problem in hand when opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was greeted with black flags in Kalmunai.

Ampara district UNP parliamentarian W. Dayaratne got in touch with Mr. Ashraff and said that no protest should be carried out since there was a security threat in the area. Mr. Ashraff assured that there would not be a problem for the UNP leader but the protest would be only against “Myown” Mustapha who had been the SLMC national organiser.

Mr. Dayaratne promptly informed Mr. Wickremesinghe of the development. They took precautions and took “Myown” Mustapha in Mr.Wickremesinghe’s car. He was in between the General Secretary Gamini Atukorala and Mr. Wickremesinghe.

When they reached Samanthurai, they saw the road had been blocked and was asked to go through Akkaraipattu which included a section of the uncleared area. However, Mr. Wickremesinghe did not want to take the Akkaraipattu road and went through the barricaded road with the help of the Special Task Force. On the way, the UNP leader faced some opposition by the Muslims. But on the same day, both Minister Ashraff and the UNP leader sat along with Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte on the same stage to celebrate fifty years of the Gal Oya Dam.

Mr. Wickremesinghe turned to U.L.M. Mohideen who was also present at the meeting and said that he identified him among the protestors.

Mr. Mohideen in turn said that he knew the Wijewardene family very well and Esmond Wickremesinghe and added that he would not do any harm to a leader like Mr. Wickremesinghe.

The UNP leader also spoke to Mr. Ashraff and asked the Minister about the protest. “My information is that it was only against “Myown” Mustapha.” But Mr. Ashraff said he was not aware of what happened and agreed to talk to Mr. Wickremesinghe when he arrived in Colombo.

“You are a national leader. There will not be any protest against you from our party,” Mr. Ashraff said.

Mr.Wickremesinghe also took this op portunity to thank Minister Ratwatte who was helpful in finding accommodation for him at a government circuit bungalow. The minister inquired about the facilities available and said he directed them to give the leader of the opposition all necessary facilities. Minister Ratwatte also offered Mr. Wickremesinghe a chopper ride to Colombo after the ceremony, but Mr. Wickremesinghe declined politely saying that he would have to go to Embilipitiya and spend the night there.

The 50th anniversary celebration of the Gal oya Dam project however caused immense problems to the ordinary people who tried to make their way to Ampara and Inginiyagala areas. The buses were stopped away from the usual places as a precautionary security measure to the leaders who were present in the area. Some of the villagers were stranded and had to walk long distances while these leaders participated in a public function to pay their tribute to the first Prime Minister D.S.Senanayake, the architect of the Gal Oya Dam.

Apart from touring the countryside as a part of the UNP political campaign, Mr. Wickremesinghe took time off last week to brief the new entrants who have been picked as party organisers. Among them were Milinda Moragoda, Rohitha Bogollagama, Sudath Wickremaratne and Sagala Ratnayake.

Party leader and the general secretary briefed them on the political stage while Irwin Weerakkody, a member of the UNP working committee, made a presentation on the media strategy for the UNP aimed at winning the next election. The UNP has also launched a programme to educate the people by talking to small gatherings on the weaknesses and ineffectiveness of the Government.

In the meantime, an internal clash has caused problems in the south-wing of the UNP headed by Ronnie de Mel who as the chairman of the Matara UNP coordinating committee, had summoned a meeting only to be objected to by a young lawyer that it was not according to procedure.

The young lawyer pointed out that a meeting should have been summoned by the secretary Laksham Yapa Abeywardene who is also a parliamentarian representing the Matara district. Mr. Abeywardene was not present at the meeting. Mr.de Mel in turn lashed out at the members and walked out.

The squabbles between Mr.de Mel and Mr. Abeywardene prevailed for some time and reached a climax during the southern provincial council elections. Mr. Abeywardene at times had his way while Mr. de Mel stressed the point that the campaign in the whole of the south was carried out by him as a UNP stalwart. The clashes between the two should come to an end for the UNP to make headway in the Matara which is strongly held by the PA headed by Minister Mangala Samaraweera.

Mr. Samaraweera in recent times came in for criticism on the way he conducted himself as the Minister in charge of media. He went all out to defend the channel 9 episode and even issued statements to protect the President’s media adviser Sanath Gunatilleke.

This saga once again figured at a dinner hosted by the President to the Cabinet Ministers last week where she expressed her displeasure to the ministers who failed to defend her on this score. At the dinner she singled out Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle who told a debate on Swarnavahini that the channel 9 episode warrants an inquiry and found fault with him for failing to defend the President.


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