Focus on Tamil politics

First general election under Gotabaya presidency:

SPECIAL REPORT : Part 327

July 28, 2020, 8:43 pm

Before the split: Sampanthan and Wigneswaran at an event in the Jaffna peninsula

by Shamindra Ferdinando

Rajavarothiam Sampanthan (87) is the oldest contestant at the August 5, 2020, parliamentary poll - the third since the conclusion of the nearly 30-year separatist war, in May 2009. The leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is in the fray, from the Trincomalee district. Having first entered parliament, at the 1977 general election, on the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) ticket, the Attorney-at-Law was among those lawmakers who boycotted parliament, beginning mid-1983, after the then President JR Jayewardene extended the life of parliament by six more years, through fraudulent means. The so called 1982 Dec referendum, which was more or less rigged by his regime, deprived the voters an opportunity to exercise their franchise, till 1989. The UNP move facilitated the India-sponsored terrorist project here.

The TULF boycotted parliament for several reasons. This Indian-sponsored terrorist groups ordered them not to continue in parliament beyond the normal six-year term et al. The TULF members lost their seats, following three month absence from parliament. It would be pertinent to mention that the TULF, with 23 seats - the second highest number of seats in parliament - served as the main Opposition.

Having participated in turbulent politics, Sampanthan received the post of Opposition Leader, following the last parliamentary poll, held in August, 2015, though his TNA received only 16 seats. In spite of the Joint Opposition (breakaway UPFA faction) having a much bigger representation in Parliament, (almost 50 MPs), and despite repeatedly challenging Sampanthan’s appointment, he served as the Opposition Leader, until Dec 2019. The JO was denied the Opposition Leader’s Office, through machinations of then President Maithripala Sirisena, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and the majority hold the ruling UNF-led alliance had in the House.

Sampanthan, who also served as the Illankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) leader, handed over the post to Mavai Senathirajah (77) in early Sept 2014. The ITAK is the main constituent of the TNA, notorious for recognizing the LTTE as the sole representative of the Tamil community, by fiat. LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran held the de facto title until the Sri Lankan military shot him, on the morning of May 19, 2009, in the final skirmishes.

TNA faces unprecedented

challenge

The TNA, with its strong man Senathirajah contesting from the Jaffna electoral district, faces a huge challenge in retaining the 16 seats it won at the last general election. For the Tamil electorate, the main battle is between the TNA and the newly formed Thamizh Makkal Thesiya Kootani (TMTK), led by former Chief Minister and retired Supreme Court Justice C.V. Wigneswaran (80).

The TMTK-led grouping includes Eelath Thamilar Suyaatchchi Kalagam (Leader 48-year-old Ananthy Sasitharan), Thamizh Thesiya Katchchi (Leader M.K. Sivajilingam) and Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (Leader Suresh Premachandran 62). Among others in the fray are Minister Douglas Devananda 62, (EPDP) and the All-Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), led by Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam (46).

Sasitharan is the wife of LTTE Trincomalee ‘political’ head Velayutham Sasitharan, alias Elilan.

She has repeatedly alleged, both here and abroad, that her husband disappeared after surrendering in 2009 to the Army, on the Vanni east front.

Former Northern Province Chief Minister Wigneswaran’s move undermined the TNA’s supremacy, particularly in the Northern region. Having obtained five seats at its first election, in 2000, during Kumaratunga’s presidency, the TNA secured 15 seats at the 2001 general election (the UNP engineered a dozen defections that compelled Kumaratunga to call fresh parliamentary poll), 22 seats in 2005, 14 seats in 2010, and 16 in 2015. The TNA secured its best results, in 2004, thanks to the LTTE stuffing ballot boxes to help its then totally pliant proxy. The European Union condemned the TNA for its murderous alliance with the LTTE, though parliament conveniently turned a blind eye to the blatant way it won such a large number of seats. Local election monitors, too, didn’t utter a word, exposing those self-appointed guardians’ much flaunted impartiality.

The TNA will definitely find it extremely difficult to retain 16 seats, even though the top leadership publicly remains confident that the Northern electorate won’t disappoint the party. However, it certainly wouldn’t be an easy task, especially against the backdrop of TNA heavyweight M.A. Sumanthiran (56), publicly denouncing the LTTE’s failed terrorism project, recently. The TNA opponents are already capitalising on it by whipping up hysteria, among northern emotional voters.

The provocative declaration was made by ex-lawmaker Sumanthiran, in an interview with Chamuditha Samarawickrema’s recent widely-watched and shared interview on social media. No less a person than Sampanthan defended Sumanthiran, amidst heavy attacks on the ex-lawmaker.

UK-based Suren Surendiran, of the Global Tamil Forum (GTF), too, defended Sumanthiran.

Surendiran efficiently discussed the Sumanthiran issue, in an article headlined ‘Is unqualified and uncritical support for the armed struggle of the past, a must, to play a leading role in Tamil politics today?’ published in The Island, on May 28, 2020. Surendiran questioned the interviewer’s motives, as well as those of a Tamil media organization, belonging to a close relative of a former UPFA National List member, representing the Jaffna District. The reference was to Angajan Ramanathan, who is on the SLFP ticket, in the fray from the Jaffna District.

The TNA heavyweight’s condemnation of the LTTE is all the more surprising as he justified the Thowheed Jamaat 2019 terror attacks on Churches and hotels soon after those despicable assaults on total innocents. Sumanthiran maintained that such attacks should be expected, if the government did not address the grievances of the minorities.

The shocking and utterly callous pronouncement was given at an event, at the BMICH, to mark the first anniversary of the political weekly ‘Anidda,’ held a few days after the Easter Sunday carnage.

The TNA’s fate depends particularly on the performance of Wigneswaran’s grouping. The possibility of the TNA retaining 16 seats, however, seems very unlikely. The TNA is certainly troubled by the UNP split. ITAK Colombo leader K.T. Thawarasa, PC, recently declared that TNA’s Jaffna District candidate Sivagnanam Shritharan’s call for Colombo District Tamils to vote for Mano Ganesan (60) of the Tamil Progressive Front, contesting under the breakaway UNP faction, now registered as the Samagi Jana Balvegaya (SJB), was not the party’s position. Shritharan, in a statement published in a Tamil website emphasized that it was the duty of Colombo Tamils to re-elect Ganesan.

The UNP faces a heavy defeat in the Colombo district, with eight out of 11, elected on its slate at the last parliamentary poll, contesting on the SJB ticket/National List at the August 5 poll. Only Ravi Karunanayake, still under investigation over 2015 and 2016 Treasury bond scams, remained along with UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe on their Colombo list, whereas the other former Colombo district lawmaker Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, PC, is on the SLPP ticket.

Having fully cooperated with the UNP, since the LTTE’s defeat, the TNA appears to be uncertain of its strategy. Recent meetings with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa indicated readiness on its part to explore the possibility of ‘working’ with the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).

Moreover, the TNA is struggling to come to terms with new political realities. The UNP set up is in tatters, with beleaguered Wickremesinghe facing his worst defeat at the forthcoming poll.

The TNA backed the UNP nominated presidential candidates at 2010 (General Sarath Fonseka), 2015 (Maithripala Sirisena) and Sajith Premadasa (2019). The two parties worked extremely close during 2015-2020 and, during that marriage, the UNPled administration betrayed the war-winning armed forces at the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council, and proposed the drawing up of a new Constitution, at the expense of the country’s unitary status. The TNA stood solidly with the UNP, in the wake of the Oct 2018 constitutional coup perpetrated by the then President Maithripala Sirisena. The JVP, too, was part of the UNP-led defence, fully backed by a section of the Western powers, and the civil society grouping, backed and financed by those powerful outside interests. Having backed General Fonseka and Maithripala Sirisena, fielded by the UNP-led coalition, the JVP contested the 2019 presidential poll. JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake (51) ended up a distant third, at the poll, handsomely won by wartime Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa with a majority of nearly 1.4 mn votes. JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who contested on Jathika Jana Balavegaya ticket, polled 418,553 votes (just 3.16 per cent). The JVPer did much better than retired Army Chief General Mahesh Senanayake who obtained a paltry 49,655 votes (0.37 votes). Having vowed to contest the parliamentary poll, a humiliated Senanayake vanished from the political scene.

The JVP is struggling to retain the number of seats, it won at the 2015 parliamentary election. It managed to secure six seats, including two National List slots. The JVP filled its National slots with defeated candidates (Sunil Handunetti 48) and Bimal Ratnayake (47).

Slain MP’s wife enters fray

The TNA fields slain TNA MP Nadarajah Raviraj’s wife, Sasikala, on its Jaffna District nomination list. Raviraj, who served as the Mayor of Jaffna after the military brought the peninsula under its control, in 1996, was shot dead, in Colombo, on Nov 10, 2006. Having first entered parliament, in 2001, Raviraj retained his Jaffna seat, at the 2004 general election and was one of the most outspoken lawmakers at the time he was silenced. Raviraj was 44 years old at the time he was assassinated, along with his Sinhala police bodyguard. A court, in Dec 2016, acquitted five men accused of Raviraj’s murder.

Former LTTE Trincomalee District political leader Elilan’s wife, Ananthy Sasitharan, is contesting Jaffna on TMTK’s ticket. She served the TNA-run Northern Provincial Council, both as a member and later as a minister. Having entered political life, thanks to the TNA, and engaged in a high profile campaign, overseas, against the government of Sri Lanka, Sasitharan switched allegiance to Wigneswaran.

Interestingly, former member of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) Ambika Satkunanathan is not on the TNA Jaffna List. Satkunanathan’s resignation from the HRCSL in March this year, fuelled intense speculation the lawyer and human rights advocate would enter politics.

Satkunanathan served in many roles at the United Nations offices, in Sri Lanka, including as the national legal advisor to the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Office of the Senior Human Rights Advisor and national consultant on gender integration/evaluation at the Office of the Resident Coordinator.

She is the chairperson of the Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust in Colombo. The LTTE assassinated TULF lawmaker, Tiruchelvam, on July 29, 1999, in Colombo. The emergence of the TNA should be examined, taking into consideration the decimation of the TULF leadership, by the LTTE.

Tiruchelvam was on his way to his office at Kynsey Terrace, Colombo, when a man threw himself onto Tiruchelvam’s car, near the Kynsey Road-Rosemead Place Junction. The academic was 55 at the time of his assassination.

In addition to Sasikala Nadarajah and Ananthy Sasitharan, Vijayakala Maheswaran, wife of slain UNP lawmaker, T. Maheswaran, is contesting Jaffna on the UNP ticket. An LTTE assassin killed Maheswaran inside a Hindu temple, in Colombo, on January 1, 2008. The police apprehended the assassin alive. While Sasikala is a newcomer to national politics and Ananthy seeks a parliamentary career, having represented the Northern Provincial Council, Vijayakala eyes a third term as Jaffna MP. Vijayakala served two terms (2010-2015 and 2015-2020) during which she publicly appreciated the LTTE. In spite of the government initiating legal action, Vijayakala continues to praise the LTTE, regardless of the organization ordering her husband’s assassination.

Post-LTTE Tamil politics

All Tamil parties are in the process of gradually re-asserting their roles over a decade after the LTTE’s demise. The LTTE controlled and influenced the political setup in the Northern and Eastern Provinces before setting up its own - a grouping loyal to Prabhakaran. It chose Sampanthan to lead the TNA. The Attorney-at-Law obviously had no choice, but to accept the LTTE dictate or face the consequences. Having helped the TNA to register its best performance, at the 2004 general election, with heavy handed support from the Tigers, the LTTE used the grouping to engineer Ranil Wickremesinghe’s defeat at the 2005 Nov presidential poll. The LTTE wanted an environment conducive for declaration of a full scale war, hence the decision to order Tamils to boycott the presidential election. The denial of the Northern electorate cost Wickremesinghe the November 2005 election and Prabhakaran, his life, in May 2009. The TNA enjoyed special status, thanks to the LTTE. The status quo remained until the very end. It would be pertinent to mention that the TULF, in spite of being in the original TNA formation, quit the organization, before the 2005 presidential poll.

Over a decade after the successful conclusion of the war, Tamil polity is sharply divided over the course it should take. The unexpected emergence of war veteran Gotabaya Rajapaksa, as the President, clearly delivered a debilitating blow to the TNA project. No nonsense President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has ruled out following the strategies of his predecessors, in dealing with Tamil political parties. The President refrained from inviting the TNA leadership for formal talks or making overtures though some felt a consensus could be reached. However, the TNA will have to await the Aug 5 poll result to formulate its strategy. The most important question is whether it can retain a parliamentary group similar to the size of the one in the last parliament. One thing is clear, in the absence of the LTTE, and the top leadership pursuing an exit strategy, meant to distance the coalition from the LTTE, the TNA may end up much weaker in parliament. But, in politics nothing is certain and unexpected factors can influence the electorate.

Recently, former TNA lawmaker Sivagnanam Shritharan (who urged Tamils to vote for Mano Ganesan) declared, in Kilinochchi, that they needed at least 20 seats, in the next parliament, to represent the Tamil community in a meaningful way.

The TNA really toiled hard for a new Constitution, during the yahapalana administration. Sumanthiran played a significant role in the process, led by Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe, who, on behalf of the 21-member Steering Committee, tasked with formulating proposals in September 2019, just weeks before the constitutional coup presented an interim report. The Steering Committee of the Constitutional Assembly, established by parliamentary resolution, on March 9, 2019, consisted of Ranil Wickremesinghe (Chairman), Nimal Siripala de Silva, Rajavarothiam Sampanthan, Rauff Hakeem, Dinesh Gunawardena, Lakshman Kiriella, Douglas Devananda, Susil Premajayantha, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Rishad Bathiudeen, (Dr.)Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, Patali Champika Ranawaka, Bimal Rathnayake, D.M. Swaminathan, M.A. Sumanthiran, Mano Ganesan, Prasanna Ranatunga, Malik Samarawickrama, (Dr.) Jayampathy Wickramaratne, Dilan Perera and Dr. Mrs. Thusitha Wijemanna.

SLPP National List nominee Gevindu Cumaratunga recently challenged the UNP and its breakaway faction the SJB, the TNA and the JVP to seek public endorsement of yahapalana constitutional proposals, at the forthcoming election. Strangely, none of those who pushed hard for a brand new Constitution had the stomach to go before the public with their proposals in the on-going campaign. The UNP factions are silent on the once high profile constitutional making process. Instead, both major camps (SLPP and SJB) engaged in uninspiring campaigns primarily based on accusations of waste, corruption and irregularities. Basically, the SLPP is campaigning for a steamroller two-thirds majority to do away with the 19th Amendment whereas the SJB, UNP, TNA and JVP sought to thwart President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s project.

Indications are a two-thirds majority is simply not possible, under any circumstances, regardless of, continuing SLPP rhetoric, a week short of Election Day.

Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman, contesting the Digamadulla electorate, on the Ahila Ilankai Tamil Mahasabha (All Ceylon Greater Tamil Council), caused a stir when he recently claimed killing 2,000-3,000 soldiers in a day during the battle for the Elephant Pass base.

The reference was to the 2000 battle, leading to the Army quitting the strategic base, in April 2000. As far as the writer understood, Karuna meant the LTTE killing 2000-3000 soldiers in one night.

Former UPFA Minister (National List) is struggling on the political front and his unsubstantiated claim regarding the Elephant Pass battle proved the one-time LTTE commander faced an uphill task. Ahila Ilankai Tamil Mahasabha is unlikely to make an impression at the general election.

The UPFA accommodated Karuna on its National List twice - first in 2008 and then in 2010.

Instead of contesting the 2015 general election, he fielded his sister, from the UPFA Batticaloa list. Kruna’s sister failed in her bid. With Maithripala Sirisena’s emergence as the President and the SLFP leader, Karuna, who held the post of Vice President of that party quit. However, he backed Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidential campaign and seemed certain of returning to parliament. However, his bid went awry due to former TNA lawmaker S. Viyalendran receiving the top position in the SLPP Batticaloa list. An irate Karuna is fielding his wife Vithiyavathi through an independent group in Batticaloa, while himself moving to neighbouring Digamadulla in spite of the district not being dominated by Tamils. Karuna is on record as having said that he declined an offer to accommodate him on the SLPP National List. However, Karuna didn’t claim a personal role in Elephant Pass battle though he was involved in their counter offensive against Jayasukurui and some phases of operations, leading to the humiliating the Elephant Pass fall to the Tigers. However, Karuna hadn’t been involved in the Elephant Pass battle at all nor did the Army lose 2,000 to 3,000 officers and men in one night. Karuna was playing politics with the war that is now fast fading from our collective memory.

Karuna’s boast in response to TNA Chairman of the Karaitheevu Pradeshiya Sabha said in Tamil ‘Karuna was more ‘kodiya’ (deadly, dangerous, cruel, and nefarious) than corona.’ Let us not hound Karuna over political rhetoric.

Prez Gotabaya’s Viyathmaga project enters new stage

General Election 2020

SPECIAL REPORT : Part 326

July 21, 2020, 8:45 pm

Gotabaya Rajapaksa shares a light moment with Viyathmaga activists Dr. Nalaka Godahewa (center), Dr. Seetha Arambepola and Sarath Weerasekera at an event in the run-up to 2019 presidential polls. Godahewa contests Gampaha, Weerasekera Colombo while Arambepola is on the National List.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Many an eyebrow was raised when National Freedom Front (NFF) and Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) signed a five-point agreement, on Saturday (18), to function as a pressure group, within the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), to protect national interests.

Having signed the agreement, at the parliamentary polls Operations Room of NFF leader Wimal Weerawansa, at 123/2, Pelawatte, Battaramulla, the one-time JVP heavyweight and former Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) lawmaker pledged to follow a common programme. The declaration was made on the basis that the SLPP would comfortably form the next government.

Weerawansa and Attorney-at-Law Gammanpila, declared that even if the SLPP fell short of the magic two-thirds majority, required to do away with the 19th Amendment, they wouldn’t remain in the government, in case the likes of Rishad Bathiudeen , leader of the All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC), was accommodated.

Bathiudeen is under investigation, by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks. His younger brother, Riyaj, is held in custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for allegedly facilitating Easter Sunday mastermind, Zahran Hashim, to leave for India, by sea, a charge vehemently denied by Rishad. The former minister caused furore by convincing the Election Commission to request Acting IGP C.D. Wickramaratne in writing to leave Bathiudeen alone until the conclusion of the parliamentary polls. Can EC intervene in/dictate terms to the police, especially in such a delicate matter. Weerawansa on Monday (20) lambasted the EC for its intervention. Having served as Commerce and Industries Minister, during President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second term (2010-2015), and the Sirisena-Wickrenesinghe administration (2015-2020), Bathiudeen’s party is contesting the August 5 parliamentary polls on the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) slate. In spite of the top SLPP leadership repeatedly assuring the party wouldn’t succumb to dictates of extremist groups, under any circumstances. No less a person than President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has given that assurance on more than one occasion. However, Messrs Weerawansa and Gammanpila obviously seem to be concerned about future political developments.

Weerawansa and Gammanpila, both contesting on the SLPP Colombo District nomination list, promised the electorate (1) they wouldn’t serve an administration that accommodated Muslim extremists (2) they represent the interests of the war-winning armed forces facing threats from those still propagating separatist ideology (3) oppose US projects meant to consolidate Western hold over Sri Lanka (This was an obvious reference to Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement, Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact and Status of Forces Agreement) (4) protect national assets and promote local products and finally (5) promote local values.

Both Weerawansa and Gammanpila lead breakaway factions of the JVP and the JHU, respectively. The NFF had five seats - Wimal Weerawansa (Colombo), Jayantha Samaraweera (Kalutara), Padma Udaya Shantha Gunasekera (Moneragala) , Niroshan Premaratne (Matara) and Weerakumara Dissanayake (Anuradhapura) - in the last parliament, whereas the JHU had one (Udaya Gammanpila). NFF Deputy Leader Weerakumara Dissanayake switched his allegiance to the then President and SLFP leader Maithripala Sirisena, in Dec 2017. Now SLFP nominee Dissanayake is contesting from the Auradhapura District, at the August 5, 2020 parliamentary polls, on the SLPP ticket.

The SLPP accommodated 12 NFF candidates on its district lists. In addition to the four lawmakers, who represented the NFF, on the UPFA list, in the last parliament, there are eight new faces. Of them, perhaps the most significant nominee is retired Lt. Colonel Ratnapriya Bandu, formerly of the Special Forces who played a critical role in the post-war reconciliation process, in his capacity as the most senior officer responsible for Civil Security Department deployment in the north. The then Vishvamadu-based Lt. Colonel Bandu’s ground breaking handling of the rehabilitation of ex-LTTE cadres earned him love, respect and admiration from a large number of Tamils, living in the Vanni.

The then government, as well as the Army, conveniently failed to exploit Bandu’s success. The other NFF nominees, on the SLPP lists, are actor Uddika Premaratne (Anuradhapura), Gamini Waleboda (Ratnapura), Nimal Piyatissa (Nuwara-Eliya), Lalantha Gunasekera ((Gampaha), Jayantha Wanniarachchi (Hambantota), Jagath Priyankara (Puttalam) and Rohitha Thilakaratne (Badulla). The NFF has also received one National List slot (Mohammed Muzammil). Muzammil represented the NFF on the UPFA National List (2004-2010).

The PHU received much less opportunities, with popular musician Madu Madhawa Aravinda and Yasapala Koralage contesting Gamapaha and Kalutara districts, respectively. The SLPP accommodated PHU General Secretary Upul Wijesekara and National Organizer Dhammika Rathmale on the SLPP National List.

The NFF-PHU combine has fielded altogether 14 candidates, and three on the SLPP National List. Would the grouping be able to secure at least eight seats, including two National List seats, at the August 5 polls? The parliament consists of 196 elected and 29 appointed members.

A role for civil society in parliament

Civil society group Viyathmaga is also in the fray at the forthcoming polls. Having spearheaded a high profile campaign, on behalf of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, that enabled the wartime Defence Secretary to secure SLPP candidature, at the 2019 Nov presidential polls, Viyathmaga is seeking an unprecedented parliamentary role. President Rajapaksa has declared, in no uncertain terms, that he wants a Viyathmaga group in the 2020 parliament. There had never been a previous instance of a President pushing for a group, of his own, in parliament, as part of a contentious bid to consolidate power, both in and out of parliament.

Dr. Nalaka Godahewa, who heads the list of Viyathmaga candidates, told several public meetings, including one organized by ‘Negombo professionals’ recently, that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa needed a parliament that could achieve, in five years, what could be done in 15 years. Among those who had been present at the Negombo event were former IGP Chandra Fernando, ex-Senior DIG H.M.G.B. Kotakadeniya and retired Rear Admiral Shermal Fernando. Speaking, on behalf of Viyathmaga, Dr. Godahewa, who had held high posts in both the public and private sector, explained how the future challenges should be tackled, against the backdrop of the corona crisis delivering a knockout blow to the global economy.

With the blessing of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the SLPP accommodated nine Viyathmaga contestants, on its district lists, and two on its National List. Of them, only one-retired Navy Chief of Staff Sarath Weerasekera had served as a member of parliament (2010-2015) during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second tenure, in addition to a high profile campaign in the defence of national interests. Weerasekera earned the respect of a vast majority in the country by voting against the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, enacted at the onset of the yahapalana administration, in 2015. Weerasekera was the only parliamentarian to vote against the 19th Amendment that weakened the Sri Lankan State.

Professional Anura Fernando, too, contests the Colombo District. Dr. Godahewa, who played a significant role in the overall Viyathmaga campaign, beginning 2016, is in the fray, in Gampaha. The other Viyathmaga contestants are Nalaka Kottegoda (Matale), Thilak Rajapaksa (Digamadulla), Upul Galapaththi (Hambantota), Prof. Channa Jayasumana (Anuradhapura), Gunapala Ratnasekera (Kurunegala) and Udayana Kiridigoda (Mahanuwara). Viyathmaga is set to receive two National List slots. Former Central Bank Governor, Ajith Nivard Cabraal, who had been earlier tipped to contest Colombo, is in the National List, along with ENT surgeon Dr. Seetha Arambepola.

Viyathmaga paved the way for Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s entry into politics, at the highest level, against the backdrop of the overall deterioration of parliamentary standards, due to failures and lapses on the part of all political parties. Subsequently, Gotabaya Rajapaksa launched Eliya, to campaign against yahapalana attempts to undermine Sri Lanka’s unitary status, by enactment of a new Constitution.

Today, very few can even remember how the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe involved the Joint Opposition in the controversial new Constitution making process. The JO never realized the danger in Wickremesinghe’s project, backed by Western powers. Eliya attacked the UNP-led project while the JO participated in the process. The JO continued its role in the Constitutional Assembly, while accusing the UNP-SLFP coalition of working, in unison with the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), to bring in a new Constitution.

The then High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein, in his June 2016 oral update to the rights body, mentioned the move to conduct a referendum to approve a new Constitution. If not for the Treasury bond scams, perpetrated in Feb 2015 and March 2016, Wickremesinghe could have succeeded in conducting the controversial referendum, in early 2017. It would be pertinent to reproduce what Al-Hussein said: "Significant momentum has been achieved in the process of constitutional reform. On 10 March 2016, Parliament adopted a resolution establishing a Constitutional Assembly to draft and approve a new constitution or amendments by the end of 2016, which would then be put to a referendum in 2017. The drafting process has benefited from an inclusive public consultation process overseen by a Public Representations Committee that received submissions and held district level consultations in the first quarter of 2016".

Viyathmaga, Eliya and Yuthukama campaigned against yahapalana projects. Gradually, the JO accepted the emergence of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the leading presidential candidate. Former Gajaba Regiment combat veteran and Commanding Officer of its celebrated First Battalion, Gotabaya Rajapaksa gradually attracted members of the JO parliamentary group. Yuthukama has received one National List slot and the opportunity to field one contestant (Anupa Pasqual) in the Kalutara District. Yuthukama Convener Gevindu Cumaratunga, who turned down the post of Governor of the North Central Province, in the immediate aftermath of the presidential polls, is high on the SLPP National List.

The civil society campaign, backed by a section of the JO parliamentary group, continued until the SLPP named Gotabaya Rajapaksa as its candidate at the November 2019 presidential poll. Among those who had been at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, to welcome Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s arrival, as the next leader, was Vasudeva Nanayakkara, a veteran leftist politician, who hadn’t been so enthusiastic about the former Defence Secretary’s move. Vasudeva Nanayakkara hadn’t been alone in that view, though, gradually, all pledged their allegiance to the new leader. SLFP veteran Kumara Welgama, a staunch Mahinda Rajapaksa supporter, was the only former lawmaker to stand his ground, regardless of consequences as regards opposition to Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s political role. The former Kalutara District lawmaker Welgama switched his allegiance to Sajith Premadasa, in the wake of the UNP split. Welgama is in the fray from the Kalutara District on the SJB ticket.

If not for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s intervention, the SLPP nomination lists wouldn’t have included so many professionals/civil society activists. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa ensured sufficient places in the nomination lists and National List for those who campaigned for him, at the risk of political vendetta.

A new experience

In SLFP-led PA, or UPFA politics, the top leadership essentially restrict the space for newcomers to enter the parliamentary polls fray. Civil society groups never received the attention of the PA and the UPFA leaderships. Instead, civil society groups were always portrayed as anti-Sri Lanka/anti-national and routinely accused of treachery. The JO never realized the potential of the civil society grouping on their side promoting national interests, until Gotabaya Rajapaksa stepped-in, in the wake of twice President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s defeat at his third attempt in the 2015 January presidential polls The former Defence Secretary led civil society grouping in a high profile manner that really took those opposed to him by surprise. Perhaps they never expected Gotabaya Rajapaksa to have the Viyathmaga Convention 2018 at Colombo’s latest five-star hotel Shangri-La, on the evening of May 13, 2018. At that time Rajapaksa, who functioned as the Chairman of Viyathmaga, carried a US passport. A section of the civil society, opposed to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, strongly believed the US could easily disrupt Viyathmaga plans by not allowing the former Defence Secretary to renounce his US citizenship.

The 19th Amendment excluded dual citizens from contesting parliamentary and presidential polls, in addition to restoring the two-term limit, meant to deprive Mahinda Rajapaksa of another attempt at regaining the presidency. The 18 th Amendment was brought in late 2010 by the UPFA, especially to allow Mahinda Rajapaksa to contest for a third time. Even at the time of the 2018 Viyathmaga convention – the first held on such a grand scale, the JO hadn’t been sure how to respond to Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s move. The SLPP remained non-committal, for obvious reasons. The breakaway UPFA faction and the JO struggled to comprehend the reality. Ravaya and Annidda (a political weekly, edited by Attorney-at-Law K.W. Janaranjana) hammered Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s effort. Essentially, the battle against the Viyathmaga project was led by the civil society critical of the way Sri Lanka, under Mahinda Rajapaksa’s political leadership, brought the war to an end in May 2009.

Civil society activist, Sunanda Deshapriya (brother of Election Commission Chairman), in a piece titled Gotabhaya Perahera (Procession of Gotabaya) in the June 3, 2018, edition of Ravaya, cogently discussed the former Defence Secretary’s strategy.

Alleging that Gotabaya Rajapaksa had been backed by retired military top brass (Sunanda named retired Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera and retired Maj. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne as key supporters, in addition to Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila), Sunanda Deshapriya asserted that the Gotabaya Rajapaksa Group believed (1) the national issue did not require a political settlement based on the devolution of power (II) economic development is the panacea for the country’s problems and that war crimes weren’t perpetrated during the war (Aug 2006-May 2009).

Sunanda declared: "Whether Mahinda Rajapaksa liked it or not Gotabaya will be the SLPP presidential candidate. The US is the main factor that can thwart Gotabaya. If the US bureaucracy delayed the decision on Gotabaya’s request to rescind his US citizenship, his presidential dream cannot be realized. In the final analysis, Gotabaya’s political fate will be in the hands of US imperialists to decide whether to allow Gotabaya to proceed."

At that time (June 2018) Gotabaya Rajapaksa hadn’t even sought to rescind his US citizenship. He waited till early 2019 to make his move to get the US citizenship rescinded. The US didn’t make an official announcement until Gotabaya Rajapaksa became the President. The delay in Gotabaya Rajapaksa seeking US consent prompted some interested parties to believe the former army officer wouldn’t seek a political role.

In spite of the Treasury bond scams (Feb 2015 and March 2016), Geneva betrayal (Oct 2015) and Local Government polls defeat (Feb 2018) that caused irreparable damage to the yahapalana arrangement, influential sections remained committed to prevent Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s entry into politics.

Newly appointed SLFP National Organizer Duminda Dissanayake and UNP General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, on June 4, 2018, declared President Sirisena and PM Wickremesinghe as their presidential candidates, respectively, at the 2020 poll. Duminda Dissanayake opposed Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s move until the very end. Today, he is contesting Anuradhapura, under the SLPP ticket, as an SLFP nominee.

Having failed to convince the UNP parliamentary group to remove its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to enable the continuation of the yahapalana project, President Sirisena dismissed the UNP government, in Oct 2018. In the wake of new Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa’s failure to secure simple majority in parliament, President Sirisena dissolved parliament, in early Nov 2018. The President called for

parliamentary polls, on January 5, 2019. The President’s plan however fell through due to the UNP-JVP-TNA combine challenging the move in court.

If the President succeeded, the parliamentary polls would have taken place ahead of the presidential polls. That would have disrupted the Viyathmaga project. Amidst the political turmoil, Viyathmaga sustained its operation. In Sept 2019, Viyathmaga held its second Convention, again at Shangri-La hotel, in the wake of Gotabaya Rajapaksa receiving SLPP nomination. Among those who joined the Shangri-La event was former national cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan. Addressing a side-event, earlier in the day, Muralitharan threw his weight behind Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s candidature. Muralitharan’s endorsement surprised many as interested parties continued to fault the former Defence Secretary for alleged war crimes.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa is yet to take membership of the SLPP though he is the head of the cabinet. The civil society grouping tried its best to deprive Gotabaya Rajapaksa the opportunity to contest the last presidential polls, until the last moment. Gamini Viyangoda and Prof. Chandragupta Thenuwara made a high profile eleventh hour unsuccessful bid by moving court against Gotabaya Rajapaksa. A seriously concerned SLPP had no option but to prepare to field Chamal Rajapaksa in case the court upheld the civil society move. The civil society’s right to move court should be accepted and the court ruling respected.

Obviously, the then President Sirisena made a last bid to alter Gotabaya Rajapaksha’s strategy. His plans went awry due to the UNP-JVP-TNA combine successfully moving court against takeover of the parliament. Having failed in his bid, Maithripala Sirisena is in the fray, in Polonnaruwa, on the SLPP ticket, as the SLFP contests the parliamentary polls, under the SLPP banner.

Let me end this piece by reminding the recent warning by SLPP Gampaha District Leader Prasanna Ranatunga who had been engaged in a running battle with Sirisena and SLFP General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekera. Ranatunga warned in case a dozen SLFPers were elected, Sirisena could cause quite a crisis, within the government by making unreasonable demands. It’s a warning, the electorate could not ignore, Ranatunga said.

The people’s response to Ranatunga’s warning will be known in two weeks. Given the current status of the SLPP’s relationship with the SLFP, Ranatunga’s warning is likely to be accepted by the electorate. The ground situation should be examined, keeping in mind Premier and SLPP leader Mahinda Rajapaksa’s rejection of an offer to take over the SLFP leadership soon after the parliamentary polls.

‘Forward, Not Backward’

Fresh civil society project launched ahead of Aug 2020 polls

SPECIAL REPORT : Part 325

July 14, 2020, 8:55 pm

Former lawmaker Mangala Samaraweera at an event oganized by new civil society grouping Freedom :People’s Collective at the Town Hall on July 8 (pic by Thushara Atapattu)

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Former lawmaker Mangala Pinsiri Samaraweera’s presence at a recent event, at the New Town Hall, where the newly formed civil society grouping, ‘Freedom: People’s Collective’, vowed to derail President Gotabaya Rajapaksa-led government’s bid to do away with the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, should be examined against the backdrop of Samaraweera quitting the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) ahead of the August 5, 2020 parliamentary polls.

Samaraweera pulled out of the contest after obtaining nomination from the SJB’s Matara District list in the second week of June.

Samaraweera sat in the first row of seats. Samaraweera, who held top ministerial portfolios in the governments of Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (PA), Mahinda Rajapakasa (UPFA) and Maithripala Sirisena, was the only former lawmaker in the audience. On stage, among others activists, was former Jaffna District parliamentarian, M.A. Sumanthiran, who is also the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) spokesman.

Having deserted the SJB, Samaraweera has obviously thrown his weight behind the new political movement.

Some sections of the society, and the powers that be, tend to be suspicious, always, of some sections of civil society activists’ intentions. However, there is nothing secret about ‘Freedom: People’s Collective’ primary objective. Consisting of prominent civil society activists, ‘Freedom: People’s Collective’ declared in July 8, that it would campaign to thwart the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) project to rescind the 19th Amendment. The grouping warned of dire consequences, in case the government was allowed to succeed. The government also received the backing of some civil society groups and, in return, accommodated them on the SLPP nomination lists, as well as the National List, at the forthcoming general election.

Professor of Sinhala, Sarath Wijesooriya (National Movement for Social Justice), Gamini Viyangoda (Purawesi Balaya), Prof. Rohan Samarajiva, and Manu Tissera, rallied public support for the project. In addition to them, Attorney-at-Law Javid Yusuf, an outspoken member of the Constitutional Council, delivered a brief but highly critical statement, perhaps not in keeping with his status as a member of the all-important Constitutional Council. Yusuf, one-time Sri Lanka’s Ambassador, in Riyadh, strongly opposed the SLPP move. Yusuf is one of the three civil society members, in the Constitutional Council, chaired by ex-Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. In spite of the dissolution of parliament, on March 2, 2020, the Constitutional Council functions. Yusuf claimed that there would be disastrous consequences if the SLPP was rewarded by voters with a 2/3 majority, in parliament, and the 19th Amendment was done away with. Over 200 voted for the new law, enacted in 2015, that restricted a President from seeking a third term. The 19th Amendment also introduced far reaching other changes.

Having covered the event, the writer, a few days later, sought an explanation from Viyangoda as regards the project. Viyangoda said: "Freedom is the foremost legacy of modern democracy. That freedom is likely to be threatened, we suspect, going by the intentions of the present ruling political leadership. Democracy, as we perceive, is institutes, rule of law and accountability, not just holding elections. All three conditions, mentioned above, will be in danger if the 19th Amendment is done away with to pave the way for an authoritarian presidential system. This would even go further than the 18th, we suspect. No, we will not be working with any political party for this election. But we ask the voter to choose one party in the pro-democracy camp, namely, Ranil Wickremesinghe (UNP), Sajith Premadasa (SJB), Anura Kumara Dissanayake (Jana Balavegaya) and the TNA, to strengthen the next Parliament with democratic forces. We ask voters to also choose most suitable persons, corruption-free, etc., from whatever group. This time we are not insisting on any particular party or person, but on a camp."

Viyangoda urged the electorate to vote for those candidates seriously committed to a democratic constitution, democratic institutions and democratic traditions.

Strangely those who talk so much about democracy, and the rule of law, seem to have no qualms about the yahapalana lot having robbed the country’s Central Bank, in broad daylight, and virtually ensured the easy escape of the chief culprit the then Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran, personally hand-picked by PM Wickremesinghe for the job, despite that man not even being a citizen of this country.

Former Minister Mangala Samaraweera has clearly joined the latest project. Having served the cabinets of ministers during the tenures of Kumaratunga and Rajapaksa, Samaraweera was kicked out of the cabinet, in January 2007. An irate Samaraweera formed the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (Mahajana) Wing, which merged with the United National Party, in 2010. Samaraweera seems to be confident he could influence political developments through ‘civil society’ actions. Can the SJB, UNP, JVP and TNA deprive the SLPP a two-thirds majority in the next parliament? Securing two-thirds is certainly an uphill task, even if the civil society didn’t undertake a special operation to derail the highly ambitious project. Since the introduction of the PR system, two-thirds hadn’t been achieved by any political party, or coalition. The best was the UNP and the UPFA obtaining simple majorities at the 1989 and 2010 general elections, respectively.

Victor Ivan wants Mangala to play revolutionary role

Former Ravaya editor, Victor Ivan, in a piece in the Ravaya on June 21, 2020, explained the circumstances leading to Samaraweera taking an unprecedented path, having served parliament since 1989. According to the former JVPer, Samaraweera had summoned a meeting to discuss the situation after having signed nominations to contest the parliamentary polls, on the SJB ticket. Among the few participants at the discussion were two economists (they weren’t named), Victor Ivan and two Central Committee members of civil society group Punarudaya. There had been general consensus as the continuing crisis, in Sri Lanka, couldn’t be brought under control, a collapse of political and economic systems were inevitable.

Subsequently, there had been another meeting to discuss a strategy, pertaining to the role of the particular civil society grouping, and especially that of Samaraweera in the face of the SLPP trying to consolidate its hold with overwhelming victory at the parliamentary polls. There had been a general consensus of the need to build a strong public project, capable of winning structural adjustments. The discussion covered what Samaraweera’s role should be, with Victor Ivan strongly pushing for Samaraweera to quit the parliamentary polls contest. Ivan urged Samaraweea to play a radical role in the civil society project. However, some of those present asserted that the former minister could play such a role even without wholly quitting the existing political system.

Having listened to different suggestions, Samaraweera decided to quit the SJB to serve, what Ivan called, a public campaign to save the country. Samaraweera pledged to commit himself fully to the latest project. Ivan asserted that the current crisis couldn’t be addressed by corrupt political parties.

Instead of promoting one political party, ‘Freedom: People’s Collective’ intends to promote an

Opposition coalition capable of challenging the SLPP expected to win 2020 parliamentary polls comfortably. Their success depends on the denial of a two-thirds majority to the SLPP. For that, whatever the differences among the SJB, UNP, JVP and the TNA, their priority should be to obtain more than 75 seats out of the 225-member parliament. The SLPP is likely to fail in its endeavour to obtain a 2/3 majority. However, in the absence of constitutional means to block crossovers, the winning party can always engineer crossovers. ‘Freedom: People’s Collective’ faces the challenge of thwarting crossovers. It wouldn’t be an easy task. Former President Maithripala Sirisena is on record as having said, in the wake of the failed Oct 2018 constitutional coup, that the project failed as lawmakers sought as much as Rs 500 mn each to switch allegiance.

Manohara challenges

Yusuf’s role

Acknowledging the right of the civil society to engage in a political project, whatever its consequences, President’s Counsel Manohara de Silva challenged Constitutional Council member Attorney-at-Law Javid Yusuf’s claim that the incumbent government would have conducted parliamentary polls as originally scheduled for April 25 regardless of the threat posed by the coronavirus, if not for the timely intervention made by the Election Commission, established in terms of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. Civil society members, in the CC, cannot, under any circumstances, play politics, the top lawyer emphasized.

Manohara de Silva, a civil society activist, himself, faulted political parties/groups opposed to such projects for not taking a strong stand. Subsequently, SLPP Chairman Prof. G.L. Peiris took up this matter on Monday (13) at the weekly briefing at the SLPP party office, at Nelum Mawatha.

Calling the situation very unfortunate, the President’s Counsel said: There is also an ethical issue. Is it proper for a CC member to express a political opinion, in public and, if so, can CJ do the same? CC approves appointment of judges. Shouldn’t they be more independent than judges? All the people Javid sat with are federalists, sharing a common political ideology. The important thing is that an expression of a prejudicial view, in public, can harm the institution’s independence. At a time of an election, is it correct to express an opinion against one political group. Article 41A (5) says that a CC member cannot be a member of a political party. Isn’t he going against the spirit of the law? De Silva asked.

Manohara de Silva added: Javid’s issue is a system error. This is what happens when NGO representatives are appointed to CC, as well as Commissions established in terms of the 19th Amendment. The inclusion of Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole in the Election Commission is another example. There are many more I can cite. All these parties supported this system and now they are embarrassed. All these people benefit from this system, so they are not critical of them. Just imagine Chief Justice and other judges being appointed /recommended by those promoting civil society ideals at the expense of the Sri Lankan State."

Contentious role of

the civil society

Among those present, at the New Town Hall event, were the Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) Dr. Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu, former President of the Bar Association Upul Jayasuriya, and Sandya Ekneligoda, the wife of missing media personality, Prageeth Ekneligoda, and award-winning author and poet Shakthika Sathkumara, who had been arrested and remanded on charges of inciting religious hatred. The Executive Director of the National Peace Council, Dr. Jehan Perera, was also in the audience. In spite of being invited to promote the project, polls monitoring bodies PAFFREL (Rohana Hettiarachchi), CAFFE (Ahamed Manas Makeen) and CMEV (Manjula Gajanayake) refrained from participating for obvious reasons of not wanting to tarnish their status as ostensibly independent polls observers. They, however, received the appreciation of the organizers. Former Ravaya editor K.W. Janaranjana, now the editor of the political weekly Annidda, at the onset of the programme, briefly explained the short, as well as, long term objectives. Polls monitors quite clearly understood the implications of their participation at such a political event, though CC Yusuf felt otherwise. Yusuf’s slip has been showing for quite some time and to be fair, by him, he has never hesitated to respond to a query when the writer sought his views on contentious matters. Yusuf has always been outspoken on controversial matters. The CC needs to examine Yusuf’s matter rationally, without further delay, as ‘Freedom: People’s Collective’ stepped up its campaign with the crucial general election just four weeks away.

Those involved in the latest campaign played a crucial role in the 2015 presidential polls campaign to help Maithripala Sirisena win the presidency. They backed the UNP at the 2015 August parliamentary polls. In spite of repeated interventions, they couldn’t save the yahapalana partnership for want of a common programme. President and SLFP leader Sirisena’s decision to accept the leadership of the party made matters worse, though the real setback was caused by the UNP, by perpetrating the massive Treasury bond scam, in late February 2015. It was followed by a far bigger Treasury bond scam, in late March 2016. In between, the yahapalana lot betrayed the war-winning armed forces in Oct 2015, by way of co-sponsoring a US resolution at the Geneva based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Instead of facing the electorate, the yahapalana leadership delayed Local Government polls till February 2018 only to suffer a debilitating setback. Yahapalana partners never recovered from the humiliating defeat at the Local Government polls though they through manipulating parliament managed to avoid the Provincial Council polls rout later.

Regardless of yahapalana partners repeated failures finally leading to the devastating 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, the civil society played a significant role in a well-organized counter attack. They promoted Speaker Karu Jayasuriya as the presidential candidate while moving court against presidential hopeful Gotabaya Rajapaksa. A deeply rattled SLPP had no option but to get Chamal Rajapaksa to pay his deposit to contest the 2019 Nov polls in case the court verdict went against the former Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

But, the Court of Appeal dismissed a case seeking the cancellation of the citizenship of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, clearing the way for him to register as a candidate.

Civil activists, Gamini Viyangoda, and Prof. Chandragupta Thenuwara, asked the Court of Appeal to annul Rajapaksa’s citizenship, saying he renounced it in 2003 to become a citizen of the United States and regained it two years later in an irregular manner. The three-judge panel unanimously rejected the case, saying that the case had no merit. The civil society quite rightly exercised their right to take legal recourse. Earlier, those opposed to Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s entering politics, at the highest level, believed the former Gajaba Regiment veteran could be blocked on the basis of him being a US citizen. The 19th Amendment to the Constitution, enacted in 2015, with the backing of the Joint Opposition was meant to block dual citizens from contesting parliamentary, or presidential polls, though a foreign passport holder could receive the position as Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, and yet another foreign passport holder could be a member of the independent Election Commission.

Recently, EC member Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole caused controversy by urging the electorate in Jaffna not to vote for the SLPP, according to a complaint lodged by that party with the EC. Prof. Hoole said that he made no reference to any political party, though strongly endorsed the stand taken by the March 12 movement, comprising civil society organizations, including the PAFFREL, CAFFE and CMEV, not to vote for unscrupulous elements. Perhaps, Yusuf, too, should quit the Constitutional Council, like Samaraweera quitting the SJB, to concentrate fully on the ambitious civil society project. Former Sri Lankan Ambassador in Moscow, Dr. Dayan Jayatilleke, last Friday (10), strongly criticized the SLPP project to abolish the 19th Amendment. Jayatilleke, who at one-time declared President Gotabaya Rajapaksa-PM Mahinda Rajapaksa combination was the best for Sri Lanka, flayed the incumbent government, warning of dictatorship unless, what he called, the despicable project was reversed. However, Dr. Jayatilleke is not formally involved with the Freedom-led civil society project though he contributed to that overall operation. Dr. Jayatilleke attacked the SLPP project at the CSR, Maradana.

Fresh initiatives, failures

The civil society alleges that the SLPP, under the leadership of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would terminate what ‘Freedom: People’s Collective’ called the democratic form of government, enjoyed by the people, for over 70 years. The civil society alleged that the SLPP would unceremoniously do away with the 19th Amendment to pave the way for the return of the dreaded executive presidential system, introduced by the UNP government, in 1978, in which current UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was a full-fledged Minister. The grouping is of the view that in spite of the UNP split, those opposed to authoritarian rule can work both in and outside parliament to thwart the government project. Declaring their commitment to uphold democracy, the ‘Freedom: People’s Collective’ stated in its first official document, distributed at New Town Hall on July 8: "…the most crucial political responsibility of the voters of our country at the parliamentary election, on the 5th of August, is to make sure that it will not mark the beginning of the end of Sri Lanka’s parliamentary democracy."

Although former President Maithripala Sirisena had been repeatedly faulted by the civil society for the collapse of the yahapalana arrangement, perhaps the real reason is nothing but the first Treasury bond scam, staged within weeks of coming to power that caused a sharp split in the government. In spite of that, President Sirisena dissolved parliament, in late June 2015, to save the UNP from the COPE (Committee on Public Enterprises) damning report on the first scam, an even more audacious UNP committed second Treasury bond scam, eight months, after the 2015 August parliamentary polls. Those who talk disparaging of former President Sirisena, never bothered to inquire into the crisis caused by co-sponsoring the Geneva resolution, in Oct 2015, against its own armed forces, on unsubstantiated allegations, and then turning a blind eye to Lord Naseby’s revelations, in Oct 2017, that could have been efficiently used to clear the bogus allegations. The civil society, instead of taking tangible measures to rectify those shortcomings, and mistakes, pursued the same strategies, at the expense of their own project.

Their call to place Defence and Law and Order, under Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, after him having accused his own Army of killing thousands of Tamils, seemed as ridiculous as the TNA voting for the war-winning Army Chief at the 2010 presidential poll. Politics and NGOs, in this country, are obviously dabbled in by many an opportunist and scoundrel. The forthcoming parliamentary poll is no exception. 

Wijeyadasa’s revelation: How a Bill to ‘abolish and repeal’ H’tota port agreement stymied

SPECIAL REPORT : Part 324

July 7, 2020, 9:11 pm

SLPP Colombo District candidate Wijeyadasa Rajapakse leaving Presidential Commission on ‘Political Victimization’ at the BMICH recently (pic by Sujatha Jayartne)

By Shamindra Ferdinando

One-time Justice Minister, Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, PC, recently questioned serious shortcomings in the parliamentary as well as political party system to address contentious issues which may have major security implications.

Against the backdrop of recent trouble, at the Colombo port, over the handing over of the East Container Terminal (ECT) to India, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Colombo district candidate Wijeyadasa Rajapakse discussed the controversial and highly dangerous deal with China over the Hambantota port. The outspoken politician emphasized the responsibility on the part of the next parliament to inquire into those inadequacies and take remedial measures.

Alleging that the country’s security is at stake, the former President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) PC Rajapakse called for a thorough public discussion on what he referred to as a matter that may cause further instability due to external interventions. The Easter Sunday carnage should be thoroughly investigated, taking into consideration a possible external role in the National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ) terror project now being examined by a Presidential Commission of Inquiry (P CoI).

The former Justice Minister asserted that debilitating Western interventions would continue as long as the Hambantota port remained in the hands of the Chinese. Having realized further threats posed by powerful enemies, the then UNP lawmaker sought to introduce a Private Members’ Bill to abolish the agreement on the Hambantota port. Rajapakse told the writer: "Several months after I handed over the Bill to the Office of the Secretary General of Parliament, I was informed of the Attorney General Department’s decision with regard to my Bill. It is certainly an unfortunate situation."

AG on Wijeyadasa’s Bill

The SLPP candidate made available a copy of a letter he received from Tikiri K. Jayathilake, Assistant Secretary General (Legislative Services).

The following is the text of Jathilake’s letter dated Feb 27, 2020: A Bill to abolish and repeal the concession agreement for the establishment of a Public-Private Partnership for Hambantota Port by and among Sri Lanka Ports Authority, Government of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, China Merchants Port Holdings Company Limited, Hambantota International Port Group (Private) Limited and Hambantota International Port Services Company (Private) Limited.

This has reference to the request made by you to introduce the above Private Members’ Bill in Parliament. The above Bill had been referred to Hon. Attorney General on 2nd Oct 2019 to obtain his opinion under Standing Order No 52 (3). As per the opinion of the Hon. Attorney General, repealing of the Concession Agreement will have an impact on the funds of the Republic, thus it attracts the provisions of Article 152 of the Constitution. In terms of the said Article such a Bill can only be introduced by a Minister unless such Bill or motion has been approved either by the Cabinet of Ministers or in such manner as the Cabinet of Ministers may authorize.

Therefore, I would like to inform you that a Private Member could not introduce a Bill in parliament, which attracts the provisions of Article 152 of the Constitution (end of letter).

Wijeyadasa Rajapakse handed over the Bill to Parliament on July 30, 2019. Rajapakse wanted to abolish and repeal the Concession Agreement entered into on July 29, 2017. The former minister cited four reasons for his decision to move a Private Members’ Bill against the Concession Agreement (1) The agreement hadn’t been endorsed by two thirds majority in parliament (11) in terms of Sri Lanka Ports Authority Act, the ownership, control and operation of all Sri Lankan ports are vested with SLPA, therefore the Concession Agreement is illegal (iii) the Concession Agreement has exposed Sri Lanka to severe danger and (iv) foreign powers continuously interfered and threatened Sri Lanka’s defence thereby exposing the country and its people to grave danger.

In case the parliament endorsed a Bill to abolish and repeal the Concession Agreement, gazette bearing No 2044/20 dated 66.11.2017 and gazette No 2048/32 dated 66.11.2017, too, would be abolished and void in law.

PCoI on Easter carnage proceeds

The police, attached to the PCoI inquiring into the Easter Sunday carnage, recently recorded a statement from the writer as regards several articles on NTJ operations published in The Island in 2019. The former UNP lawmaker’s unsuccessful move to take up the Hambantota port matter in parliament, in 2019, was brought to the notice of the PCoI by the writer. Copies of the Bill, in Sinhala and English, too, were handed over to the PCoI, along with a copy of the letter received by the former minister from Parliament Assistant Secretary General (Legislative Services) Tikiri K. Jayathilake.

Wijeyadasa Rajapakse entered parliament following the 2004 parliamentary polls during Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga’s tenure as the President. Kumaratunga accommodated Rajapakse on the National List. The new entrant received the appointment as the Chairman of the parliamentary watchdog committee COPE (Committee on Public Enterprises). Rajapakse took the COPE to new heights. The newcomer to parliament was soon on a collision course with the top SLFP leadership, following moves to accommodate a group of dissident UNPers in the government parliamentary group. Trouble began in the wake of UPFA moves in this regard, following the 2005 November presidential polls. The SLFP-led coalition went ahead with the questionable move, in spite of Wijeyadasa’s objectives. The MP declared his intention to function as an independent candidate in Nov., 2007, as some of those accommodated happened to be the ones exposed by Wijeyadasa’s COPE report. Wijeyadasa contested from the Colombo District at the 2010 parliamentary polls on the UNP ticket. The high profile politician was re-elected at the 2015 parliamentary polls. The former SLFPer received the Justice and Buddha Sasana portfolios. Wijeyadasa Rajapakse earned the wrath of the top UNP leadership for strongly opposing the politically motivated project directed at the wartime Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and similar investigations, as well as challenging the controversial Hambantota port deal.

The SLPP candidate told The Island: "The Concession Agreement violated the Constitution. In terms of Article 157 of the Constitution, such a pact cannot be finalized without having two-thirds parliamentary approval. The cabinet collectively violated the Constitution by handing over the strategically located port on a 99-year-lease to China, the emerging Super Power. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against China or any other country. My constant stand that angered an influential section of the UNP is the opposition to privatization of state assets."

Wijeyadasa sacked

Interestingly, the UNP found fault with Wijeyadasa Rajapakse for breaching the collective responsibility as a member of the cabinet. On the UNP’s request, the then President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Wijeyadasa Rajapakse in August 2017. The candid parliamentarian caused quite an uproar in the previous year (2016 Nov.) by openly declaring that Sri Lanka faced a serious Muslim extremist threat, with some in the UNF government even accusing him of having a tribal mentality. The yahapalana lot simply ignored the then Justice Minister’s timely warning. In May 2017, the UNP, in consultation with President Sirisena, brought in SLFPer Mahinda Samarasinghe as Ports and Shipping Minister. Samarasinghe replaced Arjuna Ranatunga, who rejected the Hambantota port deal. Ranatunga took a stand very much similar to that of Wijeyadasa Rajapakse. Minister Samarasinghe finalized the obviously illegal port deal prompting Rajapakse to go on the offensive. The then government brought in UNPer Thalatha Atukorale as the Justice Minister.

Wijeyadasa Rajapakse said that the port deal should be examined taking into consideration the entire range of issues - NTJ attacks, possible external links to that heinous project and regional and global political-economic and security aspects. "We should seek a thorough inquiry," the former minister said, appreciating efforts made by the incumbent government to ascertain the truth.

Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, on July 30, 2019, explained the threats faced by the country. Addressing the media, at the Sri Lanka Foundation (SLF), the President’s Counsel declared that the Attorney General’s Department owed an explanation as to why it sat on hardcore NTJ member Zahran Hashim’s file for nearly two years. The AG’s Department lapse was revealed during the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) proceedings from May 2019-Oct 2019. The PSC consisted of Deputy Speaker Ananda Kumarasiri (Chairman), Ravi Karunanayake, Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, Rauff Hakeem, M.A. Sumanthiran, Dr. Jayampathy Wickremaratne, Ashu Marasinghe and Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa.

The writer, in his statement to the police unit, assisting the PCoI, pointed out the inclusion of the President's Counsel in the PSC as he, just a week after the Easter Sunday carnage, at an event at the BMICH (where the PCol sits), publicly justified the NTJ operation. Later, Hakeem meeting Zahran Hashim and visiting the latter’s brother, in hospital, while receiving treatment for a bomb blast injury, transpired. The inclusion of two Easter Sunday bombers’ father in the JVP National List, at the 2015 parliamentary, didn’t discourage the then Speaker Karu Jayasuriya from accommodating the JVP in the PSC (Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa represented the JVP).

Nearly 270 perished in seven separate suicide blasts, and another 500 were wounded with the Colombo Shangri-La targeted by two persons, including Zahran. And quite a number of the wounded are maimed for life.

Wijeyadasa Rajapakse said that the AG’s Department couldn’t remain silent in the wake of shocking revelations made before the PSC.

Pointing out that the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) had sought the AG’s approval, in June 2017, to take action against Zahran Hashim, in terms of the ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights), Rajapakse said the then AG Jayantha Jayasuriya, PC, had handed over Zahran’s file to Deputy Solicitor General Azad Navavi and then to State Counsel Malik Aziz.

Referring to the incumbent AG Dappula de Livera moving court against suspended IGP Pujith Jayasundera and the then Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando over their failure to thwart the Easter Sunday attacks, Rajapakse asked who would indict AG’s Department officers.

He underscored the importance of ascertaining why those who were authorized to decide whether Zahran could be arrested, as he posed a grave threat to the society, had refrained from doing so.

Rajapakse acknowledged that the PSC was quite useful, though he had written a letter to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya requesting him not to constitute it.

He, at the same time, however, insisted that the PSC was meant to clear All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) leader Rishad Bathiudeen, in addition to saving Pujith Jayasundera et al and placing the blame squarely on President Maithripala Sirisena.

AG’s Department role questioned

At the onset of his briefing, Rajapakse alleged that western powers had undertaken a high profile destabilization project here, consequent to the incumbent government handing over the Hambantota port on a 99-year-lease to China. The former Justice Minister alleged that the Muslim community and the Islamic State were used by interested parties (Easter Sunday attacks: UNP MP blames AG, H’tota port deal - The Island, July 31, 2019).

Wijeyadasa Rajapakse should seek an explanation from parliament regarding the delay in seeking Attorney General’s advice. Having received the then MP’s Bill, on July 30, 2019, why did parliament refer Wijeyadasa Rajapakse’s Bill to the Attorney General, only on Oct 2, 2019? When did the Secretary General’s Office receive the Attorney General’s Office response to the query from parliament? By the time Wijeyadasa Rajapakse was informed, by Assistant Secretary General Tikiri K. Jayathilake, about the Attorney General’s Department decision, there was consensus among all stakeholders, regarding the dissolution of Parliament on March 2.

The process took seven months. Parliament owed an explanation as to how such matters of public interest are conveniently ignored at the expense of the country’s well-being. Interested parties seemed hell-bent on subverting the parliamentary system of governance, though the former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, is on record as having claimed that Sri Lanka’s parliament rated among some top 170 Parliaments.

The previous government seemed to have pathetically failed in its responsibilities, in spite of boasting of a mega US-funded project, implemented during 2016-2019, to improve state standards at a cost of staggering Rs 1.92 billion (USD 13 mn) .

Wijeyadasa Rajapakse questioned the dismissal of his Bill on the basis of the provisions of Article 152 of the Constitution that the repealing of the Concession Agreement would have an impact on the funds of the government. The former Justice Minister emphasized the pivotal importance of establishing the truth. Perhaps, the SLPP Colombo District candidate should seek a copy of the Attorney General’s opinion on the Hambantota port deal, in terms of the Right to Information Act, without delay. Did the Attorney General endorse the Hambantota transaction?

Did AG grant approval to MCC Compact?

It would be pertinent to mention that the Finance Ministry, on Oct 31, 2019, claimed to have received the Attorney General’s consent for the implementation of the MCC agreement. There is absolutely no reason to question the validity of the Finance Ministry’s statement as it was issued rather emphatically, just the day after Wickremesinghe declared his intention, at a Temple Trees briefing, to sign the MCC agreement in a rather cavalier fashion, in the run up to the last presidential election. Minister Samaraweera, in a statement, titled ‘MCC agreement drafted with the consent of AG will be presented in Parliament’, justified the project.

Samaraweera insisted: "The whole process and the final Agreements were done under the guidance of the Attorney General and well within the legal framework. The Attorney General is in the opinion that the Agreements are in order and there exists no legal impediment to execute same". The agreements, referred to therein, were the Compact Agreement and the Programme Implementation Agreement.

Responding to The Island queries, Wijeyadasa Rajapakse asserted that his Bill needed to be endorsed by a simple majority in parliament. As the quorum was 20, the Bill could have been approved with just 11 votes if taken at a time only 20 members were present. But, obviously there was probably a wider agenda, the President’s Counsel charged, pointing out that the police didn’t file a ‘B’ report in court as regards the Easter Sunday carnage, carried out by a group of Islamic extremists, a minority among a minority in this predominantly Buddhist country, with sizeable Hindu and Christian populations, till April 28 - a good seven days after near simultaneous suicide attacks sent shock waves through the country, and even the world. The UNF government sacked Justice Minister, for being forthright, pointed out that the ‘B’ report referred to his complaint as the cause for the police to bring the Easter mayhem to the attention of the court. The police should at least now explain the inordinate delay in initiating investigations, the former Justice Minister said. The PSC as well as the on-going PCoI revealed the staggering extent of the law enforcement establishment’s failure, leading to the worst ever single coordinated attack carried out in Sri Lanka.

Alleging that the parliament lacked authority to inquire into the Easter Sunday attacks, against the backdrop of judicial process, Wijeyadasa Rajapaksa asserted that the external angle needed to be thoroughly investigated. At the time of the attacks, President Sirisena held both Defence and Law and Order portfolios, following the Oct 26, 2018 short-lived constitutional coup perpetrated by the SLFP-Joint Opposition combine.

ECT controversy

The continuing controversy over the Colombo Port’s East Container Terminal cannot be ignored. Hope the government remembers the battle between President Sirisena and Premier Wickremesinghe over the UNP’s agreement with New Delhi to handover the ECT to the nuclear armed neighbour that has been behaving often like a bully towards our country, from the time of the JRJ’s regime. May be Mrs. Indira Gandhi was justified in her behaviour at the time as Junius Richard Jayewardene, dubbed Yankie Dicky, because of his open admiration and support for the USA, having even wanting to give Trincomalee to Washington, while India, at the time, was firmly in the Non-Alignment Camp, but seen by the West as being more pro- Soviet Union

Subsequently, Japan was also brought into the ECT agreement. Recent protests at the Colombo harbour revealed discontent and suspicions among various trade unions over the incumbent government’s intentions. The crisis at the Colombo port should naturally be discussed, taking into consideration the rushed ‘illegal’ agreement between Sri Lanka and China as there’ll be no further discussions on the 99-year agreement, finalized in 2017.

With China aiming high, the US-India-Japan coalition is likely to pursue what can be described as their containment or ganging up policy against Beijing in respect of Sri Lanka and elsewhere in Asia. Finalized ACSA (Access and Cross-Servicing Agreement) as well as MCC (Millennium Challenge Corporation) and SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) sought by the US are grim reminders of entanglements waiting to happen that could prove to be extremely beyond the country’s capacity to handle in the days to come for want of consensus among political parties, represented in parliament, without the government having a sound majority there. National security and foreign policy shouldn’t be part of the political agenda as the government and the Opposition battled for control of parliament, which the former Justice Minister once called the most corrupt institution in the country and to this day he has not retracted one bit.