Lalkantha stirs the JVP pot

The JVP, which has witnessed the defection of several of its senior members like Nandana Gunathileka and Wimal Weerawansa, is once again in the midst of a crisis with yet another party senior threatening to quit.

The crisis within the JVP came to a head when Weerawansa along with 10 other JVP parliamentarians defected from the party to form the National Freedom Front (NFF). Some even believed that following the defeat of the JVP at the North Central and Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council elections, another group of JVP members would join Weerawansa and his NFF. But that did not happen.

However, the next crisis in the JVP began to surface after the conclusion of the provincial polls in August. At the centre of the latest crisis is senior politburo member and Parliamentarian K.D. Lalkantha, who is also the party's trade union wing leader.

Lalkantha played the lead role in the islandwide token strike launched by trade unions in the public sector on July 10. During the organising stage of the strike, several party seniors had informed Lalkantha that an island-wide strike should be carried out in a more organised manner and not in haste, as any failure would have an adverse impact on the party's political future.

Not so successful

Known to be stubborn and a follower of the rule book, Lalkantha did not pay much attention to these requests as he felt confident of achieving his goal when the strike was launched. The July 10 strike was seen to be only 50% successful while the state media and several private media institutes highlighted that it was a complete failure.

Lalkantha's issues with the JVP, it is believed, began with the failure of the strike. Although he expected the party to stand by him in defending the strike action to the media and the public, the party decided to keep silent. JVP members believed that Lalkantha ignored the warnings of party seniors and acted stubbornly. As a result he alone had to face the media and the people over the trade union action.

A somewhat public tiff between Lalkantha and Party Secretary Tilvin Silva commenced from this point onwards.

The campaigns for the North Central and Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council elections commenced in this backdrop and Lalkantha informed the party that he could single-handedly carry out the campaign in Anuradhapura.

Problems

While statements made by Lalkantha on the election platforms during the campaign caused much controversy, following the party's defeat at the elections, the JVP seniors while conducting  self-criticism leveled several charges against him. Many believed that statements made by Lalkantha questioning party discipline had devalued the party among the masses, which resulted in the party's defeat at the North Central Provincial Council election.

The confidential charge sheet given to Lalkantha by the party is the root cause of the present crisis. The charge sheet was given to Lalkantha by Silva and included several charges regarding the failure of the July 10 strike, his actions during the provincial council election campaign and other actions allegedly unbecoming of a JVP parliamentarian.

 Lalkantha however had chosen a different approach to respond to the charges. Instead of responding to the charges, he decided to distance himself from the political activities of the party and move to Anuradhapura, where he decided to remain for some time.

Several party seniors who understood the gravity of the situation, decided to send a delegation from the party to meet Lalkantha at his residence in Anuradhapura and discuss the issues.

Following a two day discussion in Anuradhapura, Lalkantha informed the party members that he would return to Colombo and recommence his work with the party.

After returning to Colombo, he once again commenced party work, but not with the same enthusiasm as before. At the same time, Silva received some disturbing news from another JVP parliamentarian living at the MPs housing scheme in Madiwela.

Meeting

The news was that two JVP parliamentarians who defected from the party with Weerawansa had met with Lalkantha at his residence in Madiwela one night and had long discussions behind closed doors. Silva conveyed this information almost immediately to the other party seniors.

The party immediately dispatched a group of party seniors to meet with Lalkantha at his residence. The group was headed by Party Leader Somawansa Amarasinghe and included Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath.

The discussion between Lalkantha and the party seniors lasted for over four hours. During the discussion, Lalkantha informed the party seniors that there were several policies of the party that needed to be changed for him to once again play an active role in the party. He also criticised the conduct of several party seniors.

However, the party seniors agreed to some of Lalkantha's conditions and said they would be implemented at the next party convention.

At the end of the discussion, Lalkantha pledged that he would never leave the JVP and join either Weerawansa and his NFF or the SLFP or the UNP. He added that he would end his political career the day the JVP decided it no longer needed his services.

End of the road

Lalkantha said that after leaving politics, he would return to Anuradhapura with his family and start farming.

Weerawansa, although he had defected from the party, was well aware of the goings-on in the JVP. He believed that the crisis in the JVP would benefit him with one more senior member of the party coming his way.

However, as soon as he learnt the issues between the party and Lalkantha had been resolved, Weerawansa decided to release his version of the story to the media. He got about the task through several journalists close to him, hoping that the story would once again create a crisis between the party and Lalkantha.

Weerawansa has so far not succeeded in his efforts.

Suspicion

However, an incident that was witnessed by many last Tuesday in parliament has once again raised suspicion among many as to whether Lalkantha would follow Weerawansa. The incident was when Lalkantha who usually does not speak to Weerawansa, made a bold step to speak to him face to face for about 10 minutes in the parliament chamber.

Several government members who saw this started to tease Lalkantha in the lobby saying, "Right machang, seems like you too have realised the real side of the JVP. We hope to see you in Weerawansa's side soon."

Lalkantha, who is rarely seen smiling, in this instance had a hearty laugh and said, "What party does not have problems? They will be solved with time. You people need not worry about it too much."

Mangala under threat over Defence Watch

The SLFP (M) Wing last week launched a programme called 'Defence Watch' in order to release ground details about the war in the north.

Defence Watch commenced last week under the leadership of SLFP (M) Wing Convener, Mangala Samaraweera. At the outset of the press briefing, Samaraweera said that the aim of Defence Watch was to give true details and not propaganda as publicized by the Rajapakses.

Defence Watch that commenced operations last Tuesday (4) has now become important for several reasons. Key among them is the death threats received by Samaraweera even before the lapse of 24 hours after the first Defence Watch press briefing.

The threats issued over the telephone demanded of him to stop what he had started if he had any love for his life. Also, it is learnt that several suspicious characters have started roaming around Samaraweera's residence. All these acts it is believed are aimed at forcing Samaraweera to stop his action to reveal the truth about the war to the people.

The first person to say that the tax-paying people of the country had a right to know the truth was the late MP Sripathi Sooriyaarachchi. He said the people had the right to know the true details of the war.

Consideration

However, this idea was taken up for serious consideration when the SLFP (M) Wing, the UNP and the SLMC commenced discussions on forming a broad National Alliance.

At the first meeting to form the National Alliance, Samaraweera together with Tiran Alles met with Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and informed him of this need. He said that the joint opposition should launch Defence Watch together to counter the false propaganda of the government.

Wickremesinghe agreed. Samaraweera believed retired Major General Janaka Perera could be the ideal person to play a lead role in the programme.

Wickremesinghe immediately called Perera and said, "Janaka, Mangala will tell you something. It is something we should do. Discuss how to take it forward with Mangala."

Perera met Samaraweera to discuss the details. Names of people who should be involved in the project were also discussed.

Perera also held discussions with several senior security forces personnel on launching Defence Watch. Perera however was brutally killed in a suicide attack just a few weeks before the  launching of the programme.

Full backing

Even after Perera's demise, Samaraweera received the full backing of the opposition. However, there was just one problem. That was the fear of several forces personnel to come out in to the open. Their fears increased following Perera's killing.

However, a special team joined Samaraweera instead and a team from the UNP also backed him. Samaraweera then decided to go ahead with Defence Watch. He called his confidant Ruwan Ferdinands and asked him to call a special press conference.

Samaraweera that day held the first press briefing of Defence Watch.

At the briefing Samaraweera spoke of the military operations in the north and the details that have been kept away from the people by the government.

He said that Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse was drawing a plan of forming a police state under the guise of fighting a war and that during his visit to China, he had looked at the formation of a village intelligence service that would keep a close watch on those acting against the government.

Samaraweera also said that he would soon release details of the shadow group Mahasona Balakaya as well.

Threats

A few minutes after the conclusion of the press conference, media institutions started to receive calls from high-ups in the government. The callers said that details of Samaraweera's press briefing should not be carried in the media.

After the press briefing, Samaraweera returned to his house in Panadura. However, the atmosphere around the house was different that day.

 Unlike on other days, there were three wheelers parked outside his house. There were even boats near the riverbank next to his house.

Samaraweera then started to receive an endless number of calls threatening him.

The callers asked him to immediately stop revealing details of the war to the media and the people and said he would have to face a lot of issues if he failed to give in  to the demand.

Samaraweera's relatives also received phone calls asking them to stop him from continuing with his work.

However an undeterred Samaraweera called the IGP to inform him of the threats received but the police did not respond to him.

Samaraweera then called the SSP Panadura, Sumith Edirisinghe, but he too did not respond.

Samaraweera's is now under threat for taking upon himself the task of revealing the truth about the war to the media and the people.

President gets set for two more PC elections

The government when calling for elections after dissolving the North Central and Sabaragamuwa Provincial Councils said the security forces were about to capture Kilinochchi and called on the people to support the effort by voting for the ruling party.

The elections ended almost three months ago, and as requested by the government, the people voted in favour of the ruling party hoping the forces would capture Kilinochchi 'within days,' but no such luck. Months after the election, Kilinochchi has still not been captured. The Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) keeps churning out daily updates on the war front by saying the security forces have managed to capture some junction or town every day.

The President now needs to have elections once again. This time around, it is not due to the problems faced by the government in the provincial councils for not possessing a majority, but simply due to astrological reasons.

Astrologers have informed the President that his 'golden period' that commenced in November 2005 will  come to an end after March next year. They warned that the period after next March will see a 50% decline in the 'good period' experienced by the President all this time.

Stars rule

The President has therefore been asked to make all unfavorable decisions before next March.

The elections for all other provincial councils are scheduled to be held after next March. Therefore, the President called on the government intelligence units and an American firm to conduct a survey in the provinces. According to the study, the Western and Central Provinces were not too favorable for the government.

The survey revealed that the government will be defeated in the Kandy and Nuwara Eliya Districts while it would have a slight advantage in the Matale District in the Central Province.

In the Western Province, the government lagged behind in the Colombo District and was slightly ahead in the Kalutara District while the situation in the Gampaha District was in the balance.

After studying the situation, the President decided to call for the elections in these two provinces before the end of his 'golden period.' His astrologers advised that if the elections in these two provinces were held before March next year, it would be beneficial to the government.

No need

The President believed that since the position of the government in the other provincial councils was quite favourable, there was no need to hold elections in them before March next year.

Therefore the President decided to call for elections in the Western and Central Provincial Councils and called the ruling party members of both the councils for a meeting at Temple Trees last Sunday.

The western provincial councilors were asked to meet the President in the morning while the central provincial councilors were to meet him in the evening.

By that time, the media had given wide publicity to the government decision to hold elections in these two provinces.

Almost 90% of the provincial councilors from the two provinces asked the President not to dissolve the councils and call for elections at this time. They said that since the two provinces were quite unfavorable to the government, elections for the two councils should be held after having elections for the remaining councils.

However the President said, "We don't have provincial councils that need to be divided as favourable and unfavourable. If it is favourable then all provincial councils should be favourable to us, if not they all have to be unfavourable to us. If you say these two councils are unfavourable, then that means that our members have not worked for the people in these areas."

Thonda factor

Members from the Central Provincial Council said a decision by Arumugam Thondaman and P. Chandrasekeran to contest the election with the UNP would result in victory for the opposition in the Kandy and Nuwara Eliya Districts.

The President responded in an angry manner. "So are you asking me to hold a referendum even after the period of the council because Thondaman and Chandrasekeran might contest with the UNP?  Don't talk nonsense."

Several provincial councilors said that once financial allocations were made for the provinces from the budget, the money could be utilised to launch some programmes that would empower the youth in the area. They said an election could be called afterwards.

"Do you think that the people will vote for you when you worked in the last year ignoring them? That would not do. I think our people are scared of elections. They can leave, I will do the election with new ones," the President said.

Western Province Chief Minister Reginald Cooray, who kept silent for a while, posed a question to the President. "Mr. President, unlike in the other provincial councils our council has a problem. We will have to dissolve by either saying we do not have a majority or that it is difficult to carry out functions of the council. But our council does not have any such problem. The UNP councilors have pledged in writing to the governor that they would support the council and me. If you dissolve the council in such a backdrop, it would become a legal issue," he said.

Problem

"Yes, there is a problem there. But there are ways to address them. Let's find them," the President said.

UNP defector, Duminda Silva too made a proposal during the discussion. "Renuka Perera and I have held several rounds of discussions with UNP's G.Y.P Ram. He has a good Tamil vote-base in Colombo. We might be able to get him to our side. What should we do Mr. President?" he asked.

"Bring, bring as much as you can" the President said.

At the end of the discussion, the President made another important statement.

"Don't think that just because you are in the council now, you would be given nominations. I have already discussed with Maithripala Sirisena, all of you have to apply to get nominations. You have to then appear before the nominations board. You have to prove your innocence if you have been alleged to have been guilty of various illegal activities. We will then decide on giving nominations," he said.

All eyes then turned to provincial councilors Hector Bethmage and Gamini Thilakasiri.

The President has decided to dissolve the two councils on December 9 despite the calls from the council members not to.

India's deadline for political package leaked

New details of the discussions that took place between the Sri Lankan President's Special Envoy to New Delhi, Basil Rajapakse and senior members of the Indian government keep appearing in the Indian media.

Amongst the details revealed are some that are of a sensitive nature.

It is  projected to the Sinhala majority in Sri Lanka that the Rajapakses do not dance to the tune of the Indians and the Tamil people but reports from India indicate otherwise.

During Basil's discussions in New Delhi with Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the latter had constantly posed questions on devolving power to the areas in the  north and east of Sri Lanka. Although Basil responded to the questions, as prepared in Colombo, they did not get the anticipated reaction.

Mukherjee had told Basil that since the Sri Lankan President was yet to honour his word on devolving power to the north and east, the Indian government did not have much faith in what was being said and called on the Sri Lankan government to build faith by acting according to its word.

Proposals

Therefore, Mukherjee said that on behalf of the Indian government he would make several proposals that need to be acted upon by the Sri Lankan President and his government within 30 days in order to show commitment to devolving power. Mukherjee had asked Basil to immediately grant full powers to the Eastern Province as outlined in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

Mukherjee proposed that powers related to the fields of agriculture, education, irrigation, finance, land and police in line with the 13th Amendment be handed over to the Eastern Provincial Council under Pillayan. Although hesitant at first, Basil had later agreed to the proposal saying he would discuss the matter further with the President after his return to Sri Lanka and grant all powers to the Eastern Provincial Council.

However, the Indian official reiterated that if the President tried to mislead the Indian government like he did earlier, the consequences would be grave.

The Indian officials gave another serious message with regard to the Eastern Province. That was to put an immediate halt to the action taken by Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse and JHU's Champika Ranawaka to use Karuna to clash with Pillayan in order to cause a rift among the Tamil community. They said the only action that needed to be taken was to grant full powers to the Eastern Provincial Council and strengthen Pillayan.

Stop action

Basil had agreed to stop all action taken against Pillayan through Karuna.

It has now been revealed that a proposal forwarded by Basil to the Indian government officials was turned down by them.

Basil had informed the Indian officials that the Sri Lankan President wanted the Indian government to act as facilitator between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE, as there was proof that the present facilitators, Norway, was acting partial to the LTTE. Basil informed the Indians that the President wanted Norway removed from its present position and requested India's approval for the move.

However Mukherjee, Shivshankar Menon and M.K. Narayanan had all rejected the request forwarded by Basil.

They have told Basil that there was no other country that could play the role of facilitator other than Norway and that the President and the government should both stop acting against the country.

Finally, Basil had to agree that Norway should play the role of facilitator between the government and the LTTE.

SLRC censored on regulations debate

The government in a bid to further suppress the media has gazetted regulations to control the electronic media. The regulations are aimed at controlling private television channels and to impose restrictions on the people's right to information.

Five media organisations led by the Free Media Movement (FMM) brought information about these new regulations to the public domain.

It is in this backdrop that the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) telecast a programme called Ira Anduru Pata. The programme, although not of a political nature, deals with various topical social issues. Discussions are held with people popular in the respective fields.

However, this time around, Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa's Media Advisor Charitha Herath and Senior Lecturer, Colombo University, Dhammika Dissanayake and FMM Convener, Uvindu Kurukulasuriya participated at the event.

Kurukulasuriya began the programme by giving details of the suppression of the media in the country. He then criticised the President as well.

He said that media suppression was being done during the tenure of a president who has always posed as a friend of the media.

After Kurukulasuriya had spoken two rounds criticising the President, the government and media suppression in the country, when the time for the third round came, the host of the show announced that the programme was being stopped.

Since the programme could not be stopped abruptly, the telecast was transferred to the main control room and ended thereafter.

The reason for stopping the programme was due to a call received by the SLRC Chairman from a high government official. It is learnt that the Chairman had even been chided for telecasting the programme on SLRC. Orders were promptly issued to immediately stop the programme.

The outcome was an unexpected one. Apart from the participants, everyone was unhappy with the decision. Apart from Kurukulasuriya, the others represented the government.