EXCLUSIVE That there is never a dull moment in this paradise isle seemed a fitting statement given the incidents that took place last week. The week as it progressed saw the cold war between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe take a new twist and the growing dissention within the “Joint Opposition” ranks over the Rajapaksa family-centric politics exploding in public. In simpler terms, Sirisena, Wickremesinghe, MPs Kumara Welgama, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Keheliya Rambukwella, and Lohan Ratwatte were the show stealers in the unfolding drama that is the local political scene. Be that as it may, amidst all these show stealers, the hidden star of the real political drama was well and truly hidden, until uncovered by The Sunday Morning. It was none other than Co-Cabinet Spokesperson and Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne. The grand alliance Amidst the uproar in Cabinet and the events that followed, Senaratne continued with a task he has been engaged in during the past month or so. He is in the process of formulating a common alliance with the participation of almost all the political parties represented in the current Coalition Government. The alliance is being formed to contest the next presidential as well as the general election. The grand alliance will be launched some time next year, which incidentally is the beginning of Sri Lanka’s election season. Senaratne has commenced the formation of the alliance following a discussion with both the President and the Prime Minister. In fact, it is Wickremesinghe who had first tasked Senaratne with the duty of pulling together all factions under one alliance for the next election. The Sunday Morning reliably learnt that the Prime Minister had informed the Minister that the next presidential candidate would have to be yet another common candidate given the current political scenario. Senaratne had then discussed the alliance with the President, who had also given the green light for the project. From then on, Senaratne continued to meet with senior members of the United National Party (UNP), Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), and other political parties in the Government. The Sunday Morning also learns that the discussion is currently focused on a name for the common alliance and a symbol. Senaratne is in the process of drafting the constitution of the alliance in consultation with the UNP and SLFP. Looking at a possible name for the alliance, several senior SLFP members have proposed the name – Samagi Peramuna. A final decision on whether the name would be Samagi Peramuna or something based on the name is yet to be finalised. A common symbol is also being thought of at the moment. It is the common agreement of all parties that the symbols that have already been used for alliances should not be considered when deciding on one for the new alliance. Confirmation When contacted by The Sunday Morning, Senaratne confirmed that he is in the process of forming the alliance and finalising the constitution that could be agreed by all stakeholders. He said that several rounds of discussions have already taken place between political parties represented in the Coalition Government, including the minority political parties. “An impressive majority of the government members have expressed their support for this alliance,” Senaratne said. Senaratne is confident that the alliance, once formed, would be able to muster the support of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) as well. Given the unfolding scenario related to the new alliance, it seems like a majority of the members in the UNP and SLFP have decided to ignore the cold war between Wickremesinghe and Sirisena and move forward with a sustainable political option that would help them face the next presidential and general elections with confidence. The Sunday Morning learnt that a majority of the UNP, including seniors as well as the SLFP members in government, have agreed that a common alliance is the way forward and the party leaders will have to sort out their differences. As a senior SLFP minister said: “Both the President and the Prime Minister must sort out their differences and fast, without ruining the confidence of the people who backed the Coalition Government in 2015.” However, Sirisena and Wickremesinghe don’t seem to have had enough of engaging in tit-for-tat. President vs. PM The meeting of Cabinet ministers on Tuesday could easily be called a defining moment in the clash between the President and Prime Minister. A heated argument took place between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe, when a Cabinet Paper on developing the Colombo Port was taken up for discussion. When Ports Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe presented a Cabinet Paper on developing the East Container Terminal in Colombo, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera has said there were no funds to allocate for the project at the time. It was then noted in Cabinet that there was no need to allocate funding for the project since the East Terminal was going to be handed over to a joint venture between India and Japan. The President has vehemently objected to the move. He has said that the terminal cannot be given to India or any joint venture and insisted that the terminal be assigned totally to the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA). Sirisena has continued saying that given the rate the Government was assigning strategic locations to foreign countries, Sri Lanka would not have a port to berth a ship, as required by the country, without receiving approval from a foreign country. The President has added that he had even discussed the matter of the East Terminal with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the side-lines of the BIMSTEC summit and explained the reasons as to why Sri Lanka was unable to assign it to a foreign country. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has then tried to intervene. Minister Samarasinghe has quickly stated that there was nothing for anyone to say since the President had spoken his mind and a final decision made. Minister Samaraweera has then intervened and objected to Samarasinghe claiming the latter had no right to block the Prime Minister from addressing the Cabinet meeting. In fact, Samaraweera has gone on to say that the Coalition Government was formed after defeating dictatorial elements that previously governed the country and there was no room for such behaviour again. However, Wickremesinghe has then said that a pledge has already been given to New Delhi on the project. The Prime Minister explained that it was important to rope in India into the East Terminal project since about 80% of the cargo handled at the transhipment hub was meant for India. Nevertheless, Wickremesinghe has sought a week to sort out the issue. The Premier requested for a week since he was then planning to make an official visit to India on Thursday (18) and was scheduled to meet Prime Minister Modi. Having the final word, the President has said that the Government could look at requesting India and Japan to develop the West Terminal while the East Terminal is operated by the SLPA. The President has then continued to air his grievances and then turned towards the alleged plot to assassinate him and several Opposition parliamentarians. He expressed his displeasure in the manner in which the UNP-led Government had broached the matter. Sirisena has charged that he would have called for the resignation of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) had he been the minister-in-charge. He has further said that his continuous complaints about the assassination plot were ignored by the minister-in-charge and that the latter had failed to even provide a progress report on the probe to him. It is then that the President has made the controversial statement about the involvement of an Indian spy agency in the alleged plot. Sirisena, referring to the Indian national in police custody has said that the individual is said to be an agent of an Indian spy agency and the operation is being carried out without the knowledge of Prime Minister Modi. Soon after the President ended airing his grievances, Minister Senaratne said that all members of the Cabinet should reach an agreement not to divulge the details of the discussion that had taken place in the meeting that day. All had agreed. However, it is now common knowledge as to how long it took for members of the Cabinet to violate this agreement. The plot The following morning, a story published in India’s The Hindu newspaper referred to statements made by the President at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, especially regarding the references made to the Indian national in police custody being an Indian spy. The chaos that ensued resulted in the Foreign Ministry and the Presidential Secretariat issuing statements denying the President making such a statement at the Cabinet meeting. The Hindu journalist along with the newspaper authorities have stood by the story, claiming the contents were verified with several members of the Cabinet. President Sirisena immediately held a discussion with the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Wednesday and denied the contents of The Hindu story claiming it was taken out of context. The Foreign Ministry emphasised that relations between Sri Lanka and India, including at the highest levels of Government, are strong, encompassing multiple spheres including intelligence sharing. Sirisena’s next move was to speak to Prime Minister Modi to iron out the issue. Indian Prime Minister’s official website published a statement on Wednesday (17) on the telephone conversation Sirisena had with Modi. “The President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena called Prime Minister Modi on telephone today. The President of Sri Lanka stated that he categorically rejected the reports in sections of media about him alluding to the involvement of India in any manner whatsoever in an alleged plot to assassinate the President and a former Defence Secretary of Sri Lanka,” the statement said. “He mentioned that the mischievous and mala fide reports were utterly baseless and false, and seemed intended to create misunderstanding between the two leaders as well as damage the cordial relations between the two friendly neighbours. “The Prime Minister appreciated the prompt steps taken by the President and his Government to firmly refute the malicious reports by publicly clarifying the matters. He also reiterated India’s emphasis on ‘neighbourhood first’ policy and the priority the Government of India and he personally attach to developing even stronger all-round cooperation between the two countries,” the statement said. RW in India It is in this backdrop that Prime Minister Wickremesinghe left for India on Thursday evening. He met India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Friday. On Saturday, Wickremesinghe met with India’s Home Minister and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and was to call on the Prime Minister afterwards. Wickremesinghe was to meet with Prime Minister Modi yesterday afternoon where the two leaders were to discuss key issues related to Indo-Lanka ties and the discussion was to be followed by lunch. Afterwards, Wickremesinghe was to return to Sri Lanka last evening. On the agenda for the talks between Wickremesinghe and Modi were several projects India is still awaiting clearance in Sri Lanka for. Among them are the East Terminal project, an LNG terminal, an oil storage facility in Trincomalee, and a proposed joint venture to run the Mattala Airport. However, no memoranda of understanding (MOU) or agreements were expected to be signed during the Saturday meeting. Eating humble pie Hot on the heels of the heated Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the SLFP Central Committee (CC) met at the President’s official residence to discuss party reforms. Interestingly, the CC meeting proceeded in a calm manner when compared to the action-packed Cabinet meeting earlier that day. Prior to the CC meeting, the Group of 15 SLFP MPs, who recently defected the Government, charged that they would ensure that the SLFP would leave the Government and the remaining SLFP MPs in government would be forced to sit in Opposition. For all the bravado before the meeting, the group finally sent a letter to the CC demanding that the SLFP move out of the Government and claimed they would not attend the CC as long as the SLFP continues in the Coalition Government. Interestingly, the letter was taken up at the CC and read to the gathering. Everyone was silent and President Sirisena, who chaired the meeting then moved to the next matter in the agenda – party reforms. MP Dayasiri Jayasekera was appointed as the Chairman of the Reforms Committee and was asked to submit a report within a few weeks. It was also decided by the CC to make several changes to key positions in the party and to hold the SLFP convention that was postponed in September. Split in “JO” Meanwhile, the growing dissention among the rank and file in the “JO” also surfaced last week. It all surfaced with MPs Keheliya Rambukwella, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Lohan Ratwatte, and Dilum Amunugama publicly criticising firebrand “JO” MP Kumara Welgama over comments made by him regarding the next presidential candidate of the Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP). Welgama has been a vociferous critique of nepotism within the Opposition ranks and has openly claimed that he was and will always be a Mahinda Rajapaksa loyalist period. Issues within the “JO” started when Welgama came out in the open claiming that the lead at the next key election should be taken by former President MP Mahinda Rajapaksa and no one else – not even his siblings. Welgama’s statement in fact is a reflection of a majority of “JO” seniors who are not prepared to give into the dictates of young MP Namal Rajapaksa or any of senior Rajapaksa’s siblings. It is these thoughts that compelled Welgama to state publicly that the SLPP’s candidate would be an individual who is preferred by the minority communities. This statement garnered criticism from Rambukwella, Aluthgamage, Ratwatte, and Amunugama, who made critical comments about Welgama on a public platform where Mahinda Rajapaksa was also seated. After hearing the criticism levelled against Welgama, Rajapaksa at the “JO” party leaders meeting last Tuesday (16) asked all individuals to stop the infighting and make up. Welgama responded by saying that he would stop after responding to the criticism levelled against him by the four MPs. Accordingly, Welgama responded by exposing the political conduct of Rambukwella, Altuhgamage, and Ratwatte as well as claiming that Rajapaksa should be the next candidate, and if not, he should pick a successor from among the seniors in the fold rather than turn towards his siblings. The Sunday Morning learns that Rajapaksa, his siblings and progeny, decided to discuss the next candidate during a family dinner at the Kingsbury Hotel last Thursday. However, the discussion has ended inconclusive.