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A game of political brinkmanship

25 Nov 2018

The politicking that has been taking place for nearly one month is still continuing amidst the danger of reaching a disastrous end for the nation and its people. Once the adrenaline rush settles after every parliamentary seating day, the nation is left bewildered at the continuous failure on the part of President Maithripala Sirisena to restore democracy and normalcy in the country – a pledge undertaken by him in the run up to the 2015 presidential polls. It is encouraging to see the growing momentum in the camp, mostly led by true citizens of the country demanding accountability and democracy. It is at this point pertinent to note that the increasing numbers of civil society taking to the streets, demanding democracy, are not in any way supportive of ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe – albeit the United National Party (UNP) has been quick to say the immense outcry for democracy is mostly in favour of Wickremesinghe. What needs to be realised is that any political leader who tries to resort to dictatorial forms of governance will now earn the wrath of a nation or at least a majority of it. The pre-2015 form of governance during the then Mahinda Rajapaksa regime ensured that the people could be held under an iron fist only for that long. The beating suffered by the key tenets of democracy and proper governance during the Rajapaksa era will not be tolerated by the conscientious general public. It is these realisations that are dawning on President Sirisena. Although a bitter pill to swallow, recent statements made by him indicate that the possible repercussions he would have to face for the current crisis are not lost on him. “This crisis will end with either me losing my position or life,” he was quoted as saying in the Sinhala media. Sirisena has also come to realise that the 6.2 million voters who aided his ascension to power have now abandoned him. He too, for that matter, seems to be pushing away those who have been loyal to him through his political journey towards the presidency. Sirisena, last week, sidelined long-time loyalist Chandana Sirimalwatte, who was a Director in the President’s Media Division (PMD). The Sunday Morning learnt that the emotional words uttered by Sirimalwatte before handing his immediate resignation from the PMD was felt by the President’s staffers who have endured much hardships along Sirisena’s path to greatness. Realising the legitimacy deficit of the current Sirisena-Rajapaksa Government and the moving away of the 6.2 million “Yahapalana” voters, the United National Front (UNF) has launched a campaign to demand a presidential election from Sirisena. “Mr. President, you want to let the people voice their preference and see where the mandate lies? Let’s go for a presidential election. We are ready,” seems to be the theme of the UNF these days. These sentiments were first expressed in public by UNF MP Patali Champika Ranawaka and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Leader MP Rauf Hakeem. They have both challenged the President to hold a presidential election to allow the people have their say in resolving the current political crisis. Constitutionally, the President is able to call for a presidential election after 9 January, 2019. Sirisena however, does not seem ready to accept the challenge. Together with Rajapaksa and the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) group, formerly known as the “Joint Opposition”, Sirisena seems to be pushing for the holding of a general election instead. Be that as it may, Sirisena is now well known by political counterparts to be someone who sends out mixed signals – not an admirable feature for a leader. Nevertheless, reaching a consensus on resolving the current political stalemate seems to be fast diminishing when observing the goings on that took place from last Sunday (18). The meeting The 18th was when Sirisena, Wickremesinghe, and Rajapaksa all sat at a table together after the 26 October sacking of Wickremesinghe and appointing of Rajapaksa. It was also Rajapaksa’s birthday. The discussion focused mainly on the parliamentary proceedings to be held the following day, Monday (19). Wickremesinghe outlined the need for Parliament to decide on the existing governance issue while Sirisena stated that he was willing to accept the majority in the House if proven in line with the standing orders of Parliament. The meeting ended in a cordial fashion with all parties agreeing to act in a civilised manner during sessions. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya did not attend the meeting stating that there was no need for him to attend as it was with political party representatives. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) also stayed away from the meeting saying there was nothing more to talk about and only action on the part of the President was now required. Hakeem on Monday (19) morning tweeted: “The ruse to illegally cling on to power seems to continue. Reminded of a quote from Churchill at this hour: ‘I have full confidence, that if all do their duty...and if the best arrangements are made, we shall prove ourselves once again... to outlive the menace of tyranny.’” The Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) Head Mano Ganeshan tweeted: “Minor parties didn’t back #Rajapaksa because he seized power in an unprincipled manner. We privately thought his party would gain power winning forthcoming presidential & parliamentary elections. But it was before Oct 26. Now the situation is changed.” Nevertheless, it was Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Leader R. Sampanthan who simply stated in Parliament last week that there was only one simple question. “It is whether the purported Prime Minister enjoys the confidence of this House. If he does, he can be the Prime Minister. If he doesn’t, he is not the Prime Minister of our country.” The UNF, TNA, and JVP combined have stated that regardless of whether the executive accepted it or not, the fact that Rajapaksa and his Government do not command the majority in the legislature has been proven thrice. The electronic vote taken last Friday to determine the political party representation in the Selection Committee of Parliament was witnessed by a majority in the country on television. Although the UPFA staged a walkout as part of its strategy to avoid being exposed without the numbers in the Chamber, the fact that the UNF, TNA, and JVP combined polled 121 votes has now sealed the fact that Rajapaksa and his Government do not command the numbers in the House. Come Friday (29), there will be yet another vote in the House on the motion moved by the UNF to prevent the Prime Minister’s Secretary from utilising the funds allocated to the Prime Minister’s Office. The President meanwhile has informed the group of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) MPs who stood by Sirisena in the Yahapalana Government that he was willing to work with the party that commands a majority in Parliament. Yes and no The group of SLFPers including Mahinda Amaraweera, Duminda Dissanayake, Mahinda Samarasinghe, Dayasiri Jayasekera, and Lasantha Alagiyawanna met the President on Thursday (22) evening. The discussion was based on the course of action to be taken, given that the UPFA did not command a majority in the House. During the discussion, Sirisena admitted that the UPFA did not have the numbers and admitted that he was willing to work with the party that commanded the majority in the House. However, he added that Wickremesinghe cannot be the prime minister even if the UNF was to form a Government. The SLFPers said that the UNF had expressed willingness to discuss the issue of the prime minister once the current deadlock was overcome. According to Sirisena, he had informed the likes of Thilanga Sumathipala, Dilan Perera, S.B. Dissanayake, and Lakshman Wasantha Perera – the architects of the chaotic Sirisena-Rajapaksa Government – that he would only go ahead with the formation of a government with Rajapaksa as prime minister if he commanded the majority in Parliament. The group of SLFP ministers then asked the President why he would not now consider calling a meeting of the UPFA parliamentary group and inform them of his decision. The President then said that the UNF, TNA, and JVP needed to show their numbers in the House through a proper vote conducted in Parliament either by name or through electronic voting the following day (23). However, the UPFA parliamentary group decided to stage a walkout during the sessions on Friday, objecting to the conduct of Speaker Jayasuriya whom they claim was partial to the UNP, and as a protest against the call for a vote to show the majority to approve the names for the Parliament Selection Committee. Showing the majority in the House was the only option left since the party leaders meeting held earlier that day to finalise the names for the committee had ended indecisively. The Speaker stood firm and called for an electronic vote, which resulted in the UNF, TNA, and JVP showing the strength of 121 votes. The governing UPFA later stated that they would not attend parliamentary proceedings under Speaker Jayasuriya. However, both the Speaker as well as JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake called on the UPFA to file a No-confidence Motion against Jayasuriya in the House. The UPFA turned a deaf ear to the challenge. Not stopping with the vote in Parliament, 122 legislators who voted in favour of the No-confidence Motion moved against Rajapaksa on Friday and filed quo warranto petitions before the Court of Appeal, questioning Rajapaksa’s occupation of the office of the Prime Minister, following the passage of the No-faith Motion in Parliament against him. After the vote and the filing of the writ applications, party leaders of the UPFA, as well as the SLFP ministers, attended a meeting with the President on Friday night. During the meeting, the President had not shown any signs of being disgruntled over the failure of the UPFA to gain numbers in the House. Instead, he spoke about moving ahead and gearing up for an election. Amidst all these developments, Sirisena turned to his trusted confidantes – Sumathipala and SB. Both assured the President that the UPFA had no problem in securing a majority in Parliament and that it would be done within the next few days. The statement by the duo is indicative of the horse trading that is now taking place through back channels to entice legislators to the UPFA fold. While the UPFA is trying to hold on to its numbers and entice MPs from the UNF fold, the UNF is also holding on to their numbers while trying to increase their numbers. The UPFA also reportedly took steps to set up several committees to address the increasing challenges. Among them are the committees to ensure the stability of the Government headed by Basil Rajapaksa, the committee on legal issues headed by Minister Udaya Gammanpila, media headed by Rohitha Abeygunawardena, and social media headed by Kanchana Wijesekera. Alliances While the battle for supremacy in the Diyawanna abode is ongoing, the formation of electoral alliances is now gaining momentum. The common political alliance in the making with the UNF, headed by Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, is now planning on a launching ceremony where the alliance would present to the public its vision and mission statements. According to Senaratne, the alliance is now all set and ready to face any election, be it presidential or general. He added that Wickremesinghe would not lead the alliance as he would also be a member of the leadership committee. Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Nidahas Podujana Peramuna that is to be formed by the Rajapaksa-led Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and Sirisena-led SLFP has hit a snag. The first signs of cracks in the alliance are appearing even before it is properly formed. During the meeting of UPFA party leaders headed by the President last Friday, Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera requested a brief moment to air his views as an SLFPer. He noted that the SLFP had reservations about forming an alliance with the SLPP. Jayasekera explained that there were many unanswered questions for SLFPers with regard to the new alliance. He added that the SLFP was in no way prepared to lose its identity by aligning with the SLPP. Interestingly, it is in this backdrop that a group of SLFP organisers and party cadre have decided to make their voices heard by the party leadership. All SLFP electoral organisers and affiliated organisations have been asked to attend a meeting scheduled for this afternoon at the Public Library Auditorium. The SLFPers are rallying to bring the party back to the founding principles of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge is expected to attend today’s meeting. She has already publicly stated that she would make it her duty to stand by the SLFP and provide it the required leadership to make the party a reckoning force. Diplomatic faux pas With the local political scenario heating up with the ongoing political crisis, the diplomatic community in the country has also been dragged into the fray. Since the 26 October changes in Sri Lanka’s political sphere, the international community has been keeping a close watch on the unfolding events in the country and the diplomats in the foreign missions have been giving an ear to the concerns of all parties connected to the political crisis. The diplomatic mission heads/representatives have met with the President, Wickremesinghe, the TNA, and apparently with the Rajapaksa faction of the UPFA as well. However, the meetings with diplomats have time and again been taken to the forefront by a few UPFA MPs – especially MP Namal Rajapaksa. Nevertheless, some of his tweets on meetings between Opposition parliamentarians and the diplomatic community have gathered criticism from the diplomats themselves. The first to respond to the young MP’s tweets was Canadian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka David McKinnon. The UPFA Rajapaksa group immediately started to criticise the Canadian High Commissioner. However, McKinnon’s German counterpart last Friday made a controversial tweet that in fact exposed the double standards of some of the UPFA MPs. German Ambassador Joern Rohde tweeted: “Why this unfair criticism at Canadian HC and members of the diplomatic Community? Last Tuesday around a dozen envoys including Canadian HC and myself met with 4 leading UFPA MPs/Ministers on their request. We respected their request for confidentiality. Afterwards we were invited to meet TNA leadership. Diplomatic Community also had meetings with President, Speaker and other stakeholders. To listen to all sides is part of our job!” The request made by the leading UPFA MPs who met with diplomats, as stated by Rohde, to keep the meetings a secret, exposed the modus operandi of the UPFA types. While breathing fire before the masses against the “western conspirators”, these pseudo patriots, in the form of a few UPFA MPs, have, on the other hand, opted to cosy up to the foreign mission heads based in Colombo. It is interesting to see how the Sirisena-Rajapaksa duo would manage the country’s finances without foreign assistance to meet its annual debt obligation. Be that as it may, the international community has not minced any words when conveying their message to the key stakeholders in Sri Lanka’s political arena – get your act together or face the consequences.

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