SRI LANKA’S ALIENATION IS WORSENING

Although there is mounting pressure internationally against Sri Lanka (SL), with Western countries and the European community taking a tough stand against it, the President of SL however reposed immense confidence in India and the Commonwealth countries that they would stand by SL.

If by chance, a resolution is brought against SL before the UN Security Council or the UN Human Rights Council, the President entertained the view that India and the Commonwealth countries will come to SL’s rescue.
However when the war crime charges were levelled against SL, the Secretariat of the Commonwealth countries made no announcement in that regard and was silent. When the Commonwealth games were held in India last year, the SL President was invited as a special guest which came as a surprise to all. It was the Indian Government which invited the President. But, when the President attended the event, the countries of the Commonwealth raised a storm of protests against this invitation. They protested on the grounds that extending an invitation to a leader of a country against whom war crime charges are mounted is reprehensible. The office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth in answer to this said, no invitation was extended to the SL President from its end, and may be India had invited him. This must have prompted the President to nurse the notion that, since the Indian Government is with SL, the support of the Commonwealth council can be secured in SL’s favor.
Meanwhile the Commonwealth council had decided to hold its summit in SL next year. The President and Government of SL must have therefore presumed that it can seize this opportunity to give a signal internationally that the Commonwealth countries are aligned with Sri Lanka.
About two weeks ago SL foreign Minister Prof. G L Peiris visited the Island of Bali, Indonesia and met a large number of representatives of the Commonwealth countries, and canvassed their support for SL. The Commonwealth Secretariat which was hitherto silent on the war crime charges against Sri Lanka, broke its silence and released a controversial statement last week. In the statement issued on June 23, the Commonwealth Secretariat located in London stated, its organization has focused its attention on the video footage telecast over Channel 4.
Indian Diplomats, Kamalesh Sharma and Amitav Benarji have been serving as Secretary and Political Advisor respectively at the Commonwealth Secretariat for some time. The controversial statement that was issued under their leadership and the announcement made by the British Deputy Foreign Minister Alistair Burt had a lot of similarities.  The SL President was obviously shocked and dismayed when the Commonwealth Council released such a statement after remaining silent this long regarding the SL war crimes charges.
Measures were then launched in SL to probe into what caused the Commonwealth Secretariat to take this sudden change of stance. Some were of the view that, as two Indian Diplomats are in the Commonwealth Secretariat, India is through the Secretariat giving out grave signals to SL. They contended that, since none of the undertakings which were given to India were fulfilled by SL, India is initiating measures to exert pressure via the Commonwealth Secretariat. The President is evidently gripped by the fear that the countries of the Commonwealth which were aligned with SL hitherto  are now turning hostile.
Meanwhile, discussions  between Indian Security Advisor Shiv Shanker Menon and Mahinda Rajapaksa when the former visited SL recently as part of a three member team, have still not been disclosed to the media. It is in this climate, the SL Premier D M Jayaratne recently announced that pressure is being brought to bear on India to take action against SL. It is the view of many that this announcement was made by the Prime Minister (PM) with the concurrence of the President. It is also their view that the PM‘s statement reflects the outcome of the secret discussion between the President and Menon.  At this discussion which was conducted at Temple Trees, Menon has disclosed to the President that there is intense pressure on them, and therefore compelled the President to provide a political solution to the SL ethnic issue. It is believed that he had pinpointed that the Indian Government is helpless and a political solution should be formulated forthwith. It is the general consensus that the President used the PM to convey his message internationally.
No matter what political analysts say, India is disgruntled and disconcerted over the attitude of SL, and this was manifested via the statement issued by the Commonwealth Secretariat. According to the statement issued by the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Summit of the leaders of the Commonwealth countries scheduled for next year and the Commonwealth games to be held in 2018 are plagued by confusion and controversies over which country will be hosting them.
While international pressure against the SL Government is steeply mounting, the conflicts within the Government are also deepening and do not augur well for the Government.  The reason is, the political parties and groups which are presently supporting the Government are embroiled in hostility and embitterment.  May we recall that in the same column of last week, we reported on the conflict that had erupted between the President and the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU). We revealed therein that the cause of this conflict was the JHU‘s islandwide campaign that arsenic was present in the rice. We also highlighted that Minister Champika Ranawake objected to the decision of the President to dissolve the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), and had even threatened to resign his portfolio over these issues.
At the Cabinet meeting convened  two weeks ago, the President openly warned Ministers Champika and Wimal Weerawansa who were spreading the ‘arsenic in rice’ story, that if they do not desist from this campaign which is detrimental to the Government, they can continue with it only after resigning from the Government.  Champika who kept silent at that moment, however chose a weekend Sinhala newspaper column to retaliate. Furnishing answers to questions, he said in the column, that the Government failed to take any action to counter the Channel 4 documentary. Moreover, the SL Government, the diplomatic circles and the media only took minimal measures politically in that regard, he added. If any wrongs had been committed by any individual during the war, punishment should have been meted out, while pointing out in the column that those who murdered of Premawathi Manamperi in 1971 and the murders of students in Trincomalee during the insurgency were punished.
With the publication of this column, a section of the President’s media unit and Ministers who were close to the President had informed him that Ranawaka had in a newspaper column criticized the Government. The President who then realized that the dispute between the Government and the JHU was  increasing, instructed the JHU to immediately stop its ‘arsenic in rice’ campaign. Meanwhile, the members of the JHU including Ven. Athureliya Rathane Thero decided that they should go ahead with the islandwide campaign. The President is deeply concerned that the arsenic campaign launched by those with the Government can transform into a national campaign at any time.
The confusion was further compounded when the 13th Amendment issue and the Government’s attitude to it also took a turn  for the worse. Several pro Government parties and Ministers who are liberal minded have openly stated that 13th Amendment should be fully implemented and the North East ethnic issue resolved. It is their view that the 13th Amendment should be fully implemented including the devolution of land and police powers. The pro Government Communist Party, Lanka Sama Samaja Party, Nava Sama Samaja Party, the Tamil parties and a number of Ministers have informed the President to this effect. They have indicated that as India and the Western countries are insisting on the implementation of the 13th Amendment, the Government should take immediate measures to resolve this issue. It is their perception that if Sri Lanka follows a collision course with India and the Western countries, it could precipitate in a serious crisis.  Like the arsenic in rice campaign which had originated from within the Government ranks, pressure is now being exerted from within the Government itself to implement the 13th Amendment.
Be that as it may, the UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe left for America last week while the local administration polls are around the corner, to participate in the International Democratic Union (IDU) conference. The principal objective of the IDU is to strengthen the democratic character within the political parties which are its constituent members, and thereby secure the administrative power of the country the parties represent in order to promote democracy in those countries. However it is apparent that Wickremesinghe has secured membership in the IDU not to achieve those purposes. His flagrant violation of the party constitution abundantly demonstrates that he is not promoting democracy within the party. His high handed actions and dictatorial attitude are diametrically opposed to what the party constitution and the IDU stand for.
Following the UNP convention held in December last year and the introduction of the new party constitution, Ranil had been riding the high horse and acting in gross violation of the party constitution. This was amply illustrated when he appointed Ravi Karunanayake as the National Organizer defying the constitutional provisions and the party’s disciplinary norms. This action of his has triggered even a legal suit against him. Indeed, owing to his dictatorial nature, the UNP MP’s are deprived of the opportunity to express their views fearlessly and forthrightly in Parliament. When UNP MP Sujeewa Senasinghe was bitterly castigating the Government over its anti democratic actions, Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage retorting said, democracy is non existent not in the country but in the UNP party. He added that, therefore before the UNP tries to rectify the Government it should first put its own house in order and that it would be best if the democratic rights of the UNP members are first restored.
Interestingly, Ranil left for America to partake in the IDU conference at a time when he was being taken to task not only by the party for his anti democratic actions but also by the Government. It is worthy of mention, that this is not the first time Ranil bolted from the country when elections were around the corner. On an earlier occasion too, he left the country to monitor elections in Spain. During the 2010 Presidential elections, when former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka was contesting as the common opposition candidate, Wickremesinghe went abroad on three occasions deserting the election campaign: his first trip was to Singapore; second was a tour of Europe lasting several weeks and the third trip was to India. Fonseka who was placed in a grave predicament as a result had no alternative but to ask him a straight forward question, ‘Are you conducting my campaign by travelling abroad …?’ Likewise when the last Provincial Council elections were coming around, he embarked on another European tour, and now when the date for local administration elections have been finalized, he has left for America.
Sources close to Ranil say, he had gone to America to meet high profile representatives of the US Government. It will not be out of context if we recall Ranil’s tour of the US after Barak Obama was appointed President.  Ranil’s repeated requests to meet with US State officials were turned down. Teresita Schaffer who is now in charge of the US foreign policy ‘think tank’ relating to SL was the US Ambassador to SL when Ranil was SL’s Prime Minister. During that period she maintained cordial relations with Ranil.  In 1995, in her speech at her farewell ceremony, she said, Ranil made an invaluable contribution to strengthening ties between the US and SL. Yet Schaffer in her latest report, had mentioned that it is the monumental weakness of the Opposition that had been the main contributory cause for the erosion of democracy in the country. By pinpointing the weakness of the Opposition her insinuation was directed at Wickremesinghe. By implication it was indicated, that Ranil had not performed well in his role as an Opposition leader. Even the US Embassy in SL has no faith in Ranil right now. The Embassy has intimated to the US State Department that Ranil is not taking any measures to defeat the Governments campaign against democracy and media freedom. Under the circumstances, the US State Department has not granted an appointment to Ranil to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, or other officials there.
America is currently taking a very stern and critical stand pertaining to SL. During the past several months, the US had been hurling charges against SL based on war crimes and against the Government for its indifference towards a political solution. These warnings came to a head on the 28th of this month. The US Government made this  abundantly clear as follows:  As we have stated before the United States supports a full, credible and independent investigation of alleged violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and accountability for such violations, while domestic authorities have primary responsibility to ensure that those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law are held accountable; international accountability mechanisms can become appropriate in circumstances in which  a State is unable or unwilling to meet its obligations. We continue to urge the Government of Sri Lanka to quickly demonstrate that it is able and willing to meet these obligations as it seeks reconciliation. We hope the Sri Lankans will themselves do this, but if they don’t, there will be growing pressure from the international community to examine other options.’
This statement was issued by the US State Department while Ranil is in the US. This provided a splendid opportunity for the beleaguered Ranil to take advantage of this statement and make an attempt to meet the officials of Hillary Clinton.
As Ranil is the official opposition leader in SL, irrespective of his weaknesses, it is likely that he will get the much sought after appointment to meet with Hillary Clinton, since he may be used to carry a message to the SL Government. In that event, it may be Ranil’s intention to give the false impression to SL that the Opposition mounted by the US against SL was engendered and engineered by him as Opposition leader, and thereby masquerade as the savior and protector of the UNP. But the fact is that it is the Tamil Diaspora which is the architect for the build up of opposition in the US against SL.
Not only America, even other countries of the world are convinced that Ranil is not duly carrying out his role as opposition leader. It is the general consensus that he is a leader who is a born loser in elections and in whom no confidence can be placed. India’s attitude towards Ranil is a case in point. Though there are media reports that every time Ranil visits India, he had met Manmohan Singh, it is a well known fact that he had never received an appointment to meet Singh. Even on his tour of European countries, leaders of those countries stayed clear of him because they are aware of his weaknesses. In the recent tour of Europe the only top rung foreign representative whom Ranil tried to meet was British Foreign Secretary William Hague who is an old friend of Ranil’s. Despite this, UK informed Ranil that if he wished to meet Hague, he must first resolve the internal conflicts within the UNP. In desperation Ranil enlisted the assistance of a number of friends attached to the English newspaper media and carried out a big publicity campaign which reported that the party had resolved its conflicts, and a massive campaign against the Government is now being launched by the UNP.
It has however come to light that though Ranil is ostensibly conducting a campaign opposing the Government by highlighting it in the British newspapers which are friendly towards him, there is a close and clandestine deal between him and President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Prior to Ranil’s departure, he had informed the President of his impending tour.  He had told the President he had requested an appointment to meet Hillary Clinton and if he gets the appointment he would discuss the SL government’s issues with a view to sorting them out. However, the US is not aware that Ranil had communicated with Mahinda Rajapaksa about his US tour.