'Class monitor'

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has taken on himself the daunting challenge of making peace with the LTTE and told his fifty-something ministers to get on with the job of running the country. Wickremesinghe has also made it clear that he does not see for himself a role as a Ranasinghe Premadasa-style 'class monitor', wielding the big stick at errant ministers: all well and good. During the past few weeks however, the UNF's bona fides have been coming loose at the seams, and no one seems to know quite what to do.

Unlike Chandrika Kumaratunga in her run-up to the general and presidential elections of 1994, Wickremesinghe made hardly any promises (except for vague and general ones, like good governance) in the run-up to the December 5 election. However, in the seven years they spent in opposition, the UNF did espouse a variety of noble causes, and espouse them with passion. Now, six weeks in government, all that seems to be forgotten and swept under the rug. This, as the party's backbenchers are saying more stridently each day, simply will not wash with the electorate.

Wickremesinghe has made it clear that he wanted a smooth transition of power, and pledged there would be no witch-hunts and retrospection. Good. But is that to say the UNF will stand idly by and let law and order sink back into the abyss merely because it will offend the sensibilities of the opposition? Hundreds of state-owned vehicles have been misappropriated by former ministers and deputies. Many of these have been cannibalised or damaged beyond repair. Yet, no action has been taken either to recover the vehicles or punish the offenders. After all, the misappropriation of government property is a non-bailable offence. What is more, Anuruddha Ratwatte's sons, all three of whom are wanted in connection with a variety of murders, are all on the loose, and the police have not so much as attempted to find their whereabouts. Worst of all, while the Director of the Crime Detective Bureau, Bandula Wickramasinghe himself, swore an affidavit almost one month ago implicating Mahen Ratwatte in the murder of Kumar Ponnambalam, the CID is yet to take a statement from Wickramasinghe, let alone Ratwatte. And all this in an atmosphere where Interior Minister John Amaratunga has stated that there are 10,000 illegal weapons floating about the country!

A plethora of wrongs

It is all very well for the UNF to say it does not wish to interfere with the police. But if the maintenance of law and order is impossible without interference, Defence Minister Tilak Marapone had better interfere or watch his party sink into an ocean of public disgust. The UNF in opposition promised to right a plethora of wrongs: having come to office, all those appear to have been forgotten. AirLanka, Tawakkal, Galle Port, Bribery Commission, Locomotives, Dhammika Kitulegoda, Sarath Silva, Ken Balendra, and on and on.

Ironically, former John Keells Chairman Ken Balendra has been re-appointed as chairman of the Bank of Ceylon. We have nothing against Balendra, who is a businessman of very special accomplishment. Nevertheless, Gamini Atukorale, just three weeks dead, must be turning in his grave. On 17 October, 2001, several opposition MPs met Balendra in his penthouse office at the Bank of Ceylon and handed him a petition protesting the waiver of interest amounting to some Rs. 15 million in favour of Ronnie Peiris, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's close friend and associate. This, in part, is what they said:

"We write with concern to protest the shameful abuse of power in which you have indulged to write off accumulated interest of some Rs. 15 million payable by Mr. Ronnie Peiris to the Bank of Ceylon. The Sunday Leader of October 7, 2001, gave full and graphic details of this disgraceful concession by the bank you lead. To our knowledge, neither Mr. Peiris nor the Bank of Ceylon has to date denied or even commented on the disgraceful disclosures made in the Leader expose, "Bahamas link of Ronnie bared: Bank of Ceylon waives off over Rs 15 million interest on loan as CBK's friend makes merry in Sri Lanka." As you would have concluded, the 'CBK' referred to is Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, president of Sri Lanka, who is also your appointing authority."

"As you are aware, Mr. Balendra," they went on, "The Bank of Ceylon is the property of the people of Sri Lanka. It is not your private property: neither is it Mrs. Kumaratunga's. This being so, by waiving off interest due of Rs. 15 million in favour of a known friend and crony of the president, have you not defrauded the Sri Lankan people? You, Mr. Balendra, move in the highest business circles in Sri Lanka. You are widely reputed to be well informed and 'business savvy'. Were you not aware then, as has been widely publicised, that Mr. Ronnie Peiris is involved in several Sri Lankan business ventures of giant proportions? These include the Kotte Golf Course project, ABC Radio and the Katunayake-Colombo Expressway project. These projects, the cumulative worth of which is in the billions, have received wide publicity in the Sri Lankan media, as has Mr. Peiris's involvement in them. Given this background of opulence, Mr. Peiris is hardly an object of charity. Why then offer him this largesse by way of a Rs. 15 million waiver?"

Whose words were these? None other than those of Ravi Karunanayake, Rajitha Senaratne and Bandula Gunawardana, all three of who are now ministers of the UNF Government. This is what they had to say on October 17, barely three months ago. Now, not only does the UNF wish to retain Balendra as chairman of the Bank of Ceylon, but it in effect is covering up the exposure of Ronnie Peiris, against whose numerous nefarious deals they screamed their heads off when in opposition. Worst of all, as deputy minister of finance, his appointment comes under the direct purview of Bandula Gunawardana. Yet, there has been not a word of explanation from Gunawardana. Not only that, the UNP's own Assistant Leader, the late Gamini Atukorale himself, personally petitioned the Bribery Commission to investigate the Bank of Ceylon's interest waiver and Balendra's role in it.

Ken Balendra may or may not have known about the Ronnie Peiris deal ahead of the newspaper expos‚. If he was unaware of it, he is certainly not directly responsible for it, though as chairman of the bank, he is nevertheless accountable to the public. If the matter did come up to the bank's board however, or if Balendra was otherwise aware of it, unless he has a very convincing explanation, he is unsuited to hold the office he does. Balendra's reappointment by the minister of finance with no explanation whatever to the public on the resolution of the scandal, smacks of outright arrogance and disregard for public sensibility. What is more, Deputy Minister Bandula Gunawardana's silent acquiescence is baffling given the strident tone of his earlier criticism of Balendra. In their letter of October 17, the UNP MPs did not pull their punches. They made their stance abundantly clear. Let us quote once more from that letter:

"That is why", they wrote Balendra, "It is tragic that you have betrayed the trust the people of this country placed in you. You have become just one of the multitude of evils that have to be rooted out when finally a just and honest government starts picking up the pieces among the economic wreckage which is the legacy of Chandrika Kumaratunga." Bravo, three cheers and hip-hip hooray! During his visit to the National Savings Bank last Tuesday Gunawardana claimed, "I have stated the truth and we will always place the true picture of things before the country." It would be interesting to hear then, what the honourable minister has to say now.

So far, things have worked well for Prime Minister Wickremesinghe on the peace front. The Norwegian initiative is now well under way, with the fundamentals for the talks to come being accepted by both sides. Wickremesinghe in no hurry however, prefers to give time for the opening up of communications, trade and industry in the North, relieving the besieged public of the restrictions they have suffered during the war. Both the government and the LTTE have agreed privately that there will be no fixed time frame and no preconditions, with it being understood that the ban on the LTTE too, will be lifted before the ceasefire commence. The current cessation of hostilities, which began on Christmas Eve too, will be extended a month at a time, until the first milestone of the Norwegian initiative, a formal ceasefire, is brokered. Neither side has been enthusiastic about the ceasefire being monitored by an international force, a positive sign for the growing rapprochement between the UNF government and the Tigers.

Minimum facilities

Wickremesinghe did not rush to the aid of the LTTE when the state government of Tamil Nadu last week firmly rejected the possibility that Anton Balasingham would base himself in Chennai for the duration of the talks. In addition to the availability of medical services for the LTTE theoretician, the intention is that Balasingham could helicopter to and fro between India and the Vanni in order to parley with Prabhakaran. Given that Prabhakaran will not engage in face-to-face negotiations with the government at least in the early stages, Tamil Nadu's rebuff is something of a blow to the Tigers. Prime Minister Vajpayee however, is expected to bring pressure to bear on the state government and it is likely that Balasingham will be afforded minimum facilities to operate from India, especially given that there is no other practical venue.

With the peace process on track, Wickremesinghe last week devoted his energies to getting the constitutional council appointed by independence day on February 4. Whether President Kumaratunga will permit this is another matter, for she thereby loses a significant portion of the power she yet has left.

UNF's dilemma

The UNF's dilemma is that they must bring an impeachment against Kumaratunga if they are to prevent her dissolving parliament come December 5, 2002. In order for a successful prosecution at the Supreme Court however, the government knows also that it has to rid itself of Chief Justice Sarath Silva. While that is relatively easy, Silva's replacement will, as things stand, be decided by Kumaratunga, who is most unlikely to opt for Mark Fernando, the next most senior judge on the bench, known to be the government's choice. The government is in a similar dilemma over the replacement of IGP Lucky Kodituwakku and the service chiefs, over all of which Kumaratunga has a last word.