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MS-RW clash reaches new level

02 Jun 2019

Black Box by Capt. Vasabha “The accumulation of all powers, legislative (and) executive…in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” – James Madison The continuous tension between President Maithripala Sirisena and the United National Front (UNF) Government led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe boiled over once again. This time, following the meeting of the parliamentary select committee (PSC) on the Easter Sunday attacks. The PSC that commenced sittings last Wednesday (29) questioned Defence Secretary (retd.) General Shantha Kottegaoda and Head of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) Sisira Mendis. During the sessions, the Intelligence Chief responded to all questions posed to him divulging some sensitive intelligence details as well. Many parliamentarians were also witness to the sessions including the media. However, the manner in which questions were being posed and the details that were revealed at the session were cause of much concern to a majority of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) parliamentarians. Soon after the PSC concluded sittings for the day, a group of SLFP MPs had made their way to meet President Sirisena. They had expressed their concerns to the President, claiming the possibility of another “Millennium City fiasco”, at which point Sirisena had also said he too was concerned about the matter. The President had immediately directed his officials to connect him with Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and the Prime Minister. Sirisena was first connected with the Speaker. The President asked the Speaker why the sessions of the PSC had been opened to the media, especially when sensitive intelligence matters could be taken up for discussion. Speaker Jayasuriya had said that although the sessions were open to the media, if an official summoned by the PSC did not wish to respond with the media present, they could request the media to be sent out. However, the President had noted that it did not seem feasible since the media would become more suspicious when they are sent out for certain interrogations and an official who requests as such would also face the wrath of the media. The President was then connected with the Prime Minister. The conversation between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe turned out to be a fiery one. The threat An angry Sirisena had given a tongue lashing to the Prime Minister. The President had claimed that he was aware that Wickremesinghe was trying to checkmate him and corner him before the country through the PSC. However, Sirisena had charged that the Prime Minister should not work to sacrifice the country’s intelligence establishment merely to get back at him (the President). A visibly shaken Sirisena had then said that he was unable to work with the UNF Government in this manner. “If this is how you are going to play the game, then I will not work with the Government. I will not attend the next Cabinet meeting,” the President had charged. He had added that the country was already grappling to recover from the current crisis and if the Prime Minister was going to play dirty, then he (the President) would also do the same, resulting in the Government losing face before the country and eventually resulting in an electoral defeat. Sirisena, after stating all this, had slammed the telephone. Leadership blues The clash between Wickremesinghe confidante Minister Sagala Ratnayake and Minister Malik Samarawickrama at last week’s Cabinet meeting left many members of the Cabinet bewildered, until they found out the real reason behind the spat. Samarawickrama was once Wickremesinghe’s closest confidante; it was not so long ago that the former played a key role in getting Wickremesinghe back in the Prime Ministerial post following last year’s 51-day political coup. Although the Ratnayake-Samarawickrama spat was over a piece of land for an investment project on steel manufacturing, the real reason for the clash was the boiling issue of a leadership change in the United National Party (UNP). Samarawickrama had recently met with Wickremesinghe for a confidential chat where he had explained to the latter, the growing dissention against the Premier within the party as well as among the party membership along with the general public. Wickremesinghe’s friend from school had explained that he had the latter’s best interests at heart and that it was now time to make way for a change in the party leadership in order to groom the individual to face the next presidential election. After listening to Samarawickrama, Wickremesinghe had shot down the request, saying a majority of the party’s parliamentarians sought his leadership and had requested him to prepare for the next presidential poll. Wickremesinghe had given the impression that he was the popular choice. The Prime Minister had said that the party leader should be the UNP’s next presidential candidate and if there needed to be a change in the candidacy, it should then be an outsider being fielded as a common candidate. It was then evident to Samarawickrama that Wickremesinghe had no intention of making way for new leadership or the next generation in the UNP. This is in direct contravention to the agreement Wickremesinghe reached with the UNF party leaders as well as the UNP parliamentarians during the 51-day political coup. During the peak of the crisis and the No-confidence Motion moved against him, Wickremesinghe, in order to muster support from the UNF, pledged that he would make way for a new leadership in the UNP and help the party’s preparation process for the next presidential election after he was re-appointed Prime Minister and the UNF was back in power. Be that as it may, Wickremesinghe’s pledge was not challenged until Samarawickrama decided to take the bull by its horns. The growing displeasure in Wickremesinghe towards Samarawickrama following this conversation has resulted in Ratnayake, who has not seen eye-to-eye with Samarawickrama for some time, hitting back at him at the Cabinet meeting. When Samarawickrama’s cabinet paper seeking a Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) land plot in Trincomalee for an investment project was taken up, Ratnayake objected to it outright. Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Housing Minister Sajith Premadasa said the proposal was a good investment for the country, especially at a time when the economy was facing many challenges. Samarawickrama had then explained the project in detail. The President at this point had smiled and said: “Well this seems to be a Temple Trees rift.” Finally, Samarawickrama’s proposal was deferred to a later date. High tension Meanwhile, tensions and rumblings of leadership changes in the UNP have spiked to levels not seen since Karu Jayasuriya’s failed bid to oust Party Leader Wickremesinghe eight years ago in 2011. The recent groundswell, according to several party sources, has been spurred on by fears over the impending presidential election. The first shot came from the grassroots, when the obscure UNP Weligama Urban Council Chairman Rehan Wijeratne Jayawickreme wrote to Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, calling for him to hand over the leadership to Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa. Within a week, all of the UNP Weligama councillors were summoned to Temple Trees for private conversations with the Prime Minister, and Jayawickreme’s UNP membership was suspended for allegedly “violating the party constitution”. Then, in a series of media interviews, singing off the same hymn sheet, Ministers Eran Wickramaratne and Samarawickama insisted on a “democratic process” for selecting the party’s presidential candidate. These comments were thinly veiled references to the UNP presidential candidacy apparently having been promised to business tycoon Dhammika Perera, an offer that Perera himself has confirmed to several UNP MPs and Ministers who he had contacted to seek support. Many of these UNP MPs including Cabinet ministers were mystified to hear of their party’s pledge to support Perera’s presidential bid from the budding candidate himself and not from the Party Leader or Working Committee. It is however evident that the UNP will be asked to back a common candidate yet again by Wickremesinghe in the event he is not allowed to contest. The main reason being the fact that any other party member who contests the presidential polls if elected to office would immediately become the leader of the UNP. With the waters remaining murky, last Wednesday, Prof. Sarath Wijesooriya of the National Movement for Social Justice escalated the stakes in remarks delivered to commemorate the life of Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera. Wijesooriya, who has been a sharp critic of President Sirisena, last week, turned his guns on Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, charging that that the Yahapalanaya Government was doomed from the start because of what he termed the Prime Minister’s arrogant and short-sighted politics. He alleged that Wickremesinghe leads the UNP like a dictatorship, doesn’t allow promising leaders to rise to that national level, distributes party power among his personal acquaintances, and has eluded contesting at the last two presidential elections. With Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, UNP Assistant Leader Ravi Karunanayake and National Organiser Navin Dissanayake in the front row of the audience, Wijesooriya wrote off the Prime Minister and called for a common candidate with a “conscience”, who will be dedicated to good governance and the rule of law. If these divisions in the UNP are not resolved one way or the other before the upcoming parliamentary debate on a No-confidence Motion faced by Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, the Government will see a real risk of credible defeat in Parliament for the first time since the January 2015 presidential election. Already, several government MPs have openly opposed the Minister and called for his resignation, while others have privately planned to abscond from voting, placing the fate of the Government in jeopardy. Through the turbulence, Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa, whom many UNP officials have urged to mount a leadership challenge to Wickremesinghe, has been silent. All eyes remain on Premadasa, who holds the key to uniting the UNP either behind Wickremesinghe or beyond him. SLFP CC The Central Committee of the SLFP met last Monday under the patronage of President Sirisena to discuss the current political situation in the country, the negotiations between the SLFP and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) on forming an alliance, as well as the No-confidence Motion against Minister Bathiudeen. The first item to be discussed at the meeting was the SLFP proposal on creating one common law to rule the country. After MP Nimal Siripala de Silva broached the topic, MPs Malith Jayathileka and Lasantha Alagiyawanna explained in detail the 11 points included in the proposal. As for the discussion on forming an SLFP-SLPP alliance, SLFP General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekara had said that there have been four rounds held so far with another scheduled for this Friday (7). Jayasekara had informed the SLFP Central Committee that while the two delegations had discussed economic and foreign policies, there had still not been a specific discussion on forming an alliance, its name, and its symbol. A majority of the members present at the meeting said that it was important to decide whether there would be an SLFP-SLPP alliance or not before progressing with discussions. When the issue of the No-confidence Motion was taken up, it was decided that the party should not be hasty in making public statements and make the correct decision that would be in favour of the country at the proper time. Fast unto death Last week also saw Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera, who was at the forefront of bringing the Yahapalana regime to power, commencing a fast unto death in front of Sri Dalada Maligawa last Friday morning (31). Speaking to the media, Rathana Thera said that the purpose of the fast was to demand the removal of Minister Rishad Bathiudeen and Eastern Province Governor M.L.A.M. Hizbullah and Western Province Governor Azath Salley from their respective posts. Governor Hizbullah called upon Muslims in the East to take up arms whilst Western Province Governor Azath Salley also acted capriciously to release terror suspects, Rathana Thera charged, adding that Minister Bathiudeen was implicated in several terror activities. Meanwhile, the top-most religious leaders in the country – the Mahanayakes of the Asgiriya, Malwatte Chapters, and Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith – warned the Government to seek public opinion before signing agreements with foreign countries, which could impact on the independence and sovereignty of Sri Lanka. “We are against any attempt by the Government in power to enter into agreements with any country which are detrimental to the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the motherland. “It is the responsibility of the Government to establish rule of law by acting against the extremist organisations. The Government should not make the country unstable by entering into agreements with foreign country at this juncture.” Serious concerns Meanwhile, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) issued a statement citing three recent instances which eroded the independence of the judiciary and thereby the rule of law, which was an indictment on President Sirisena and the Police, which too falls under his purview as Minister of Law and Order. Issued by its President Kalinga Indatissa, the BASL raised serious concerns over the presidential pardon for Ven. Galagoda Atthe Gnanasara Thera and two statements on the judiciary made by two lackeys of Sirisena – Western Province Governor Azath Salley and Eastern Province Governor M. L. A. M. Hizbullah. “The attention of the BASL has been drawn to a series of incidents in the recent past which appear to have a serious impact on the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary. “The BASL has always considered the judiciary and the legal profession as two units of the same component. Any impairment of one affects the other." “It was recently reported in the electronic media that a politician holding a high office in the Eastern Province has been quoted as having made a speech about the transfer of a member of the judiciary. While the authenticity of the video recording and the audio tape has to be ascertained, primarily, if the above statement has been actually made, it raises serious concerns on the independence of the judiciary being interfered with. “The BASL has taken note of the contents of the audio-visual that has been released by the media. The BASL holds the view that it would be extremely unfair by any individual to comment upon such an audio-visual without ascertaining the originality and the authenticity of the above recording. We also hold the view that the contents of the audio-visual, if proven to be accurate, undermine the independence of the judiciary. “We also observe that another politician holding high office in the Western Province has also made a statement to the effect that he could name a member of the judiciary who may be involved in subversive activities. Even though this was made as a public statement, it is unfortunate that no further action appears to have been taken in this regard by the authorities. “The contents of the above statement have a serious impact on public confidence of the judicial system. Any erosion of ‘public confidence’ has a serious impact on the rule of law. “The BASL urges the Inspector General of the Police to initiate investigations regarding the authenticity and the correctness regarding the above statements. “A further matter for concern is the recent act by His Excellency the President in granting a presidential pardon to a monk who was serving a sentence by the Court of Appeal for Contempt of Court committed in the presence of the Homagama Magistrate. It is relevant to note that the Court of Appeal exercises jurisdiction in respect of Contempt of Court in terms of Article 105 (1) of the Constitution. “Laws of contempt exist to protect the judiciary from unwarranted interference with its authority and to protect the judiciary from attacks against its independence and authority.”

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