POLITICS

CBK's search for a majority

constituent assembly show on the road and abolish the executive presidency before the scheduled election in 2005, every trick in the book was resorted to as clearly indicative from the conspiracy drama over SLMC Leader, Rauf Hakeem which backfired on her big time.

CBK's strategy

Kumaratunga realises only too well it will be impossible to get any minority party support for the electoral reforms and the abolition of the executive presidency and has hit on the idea of breaking up those parties and attracting individual members using the wide powers of patronage enjoyed under the presidency.

It is this strategy that was put in motion with the Muslim Congress which is now on public record due to the damning video and audio taped evidence where even the details of money and portfolios are spoken of by the SLMC dissidents.

Despite the fact Kumaratunga does not have a mandate for amending the constitution, she has no qualms about cobbling together 113 MPs and going through the motions of a constituent assembly since it is her only hope of surviving in politics and has cast aside even pretensions of propriety and decency in achieving her objectives.

But such actions are now threatening to tear up the very alliance, with the JVP using its parliamentary clout to practically hold the SLFP bondage, knowing fully well, the President will concede anything and everything to get the presidency abolished. The President likewise believing she is taking the JVP for the ride of its life is giving into the Marxists' demands, biding time to pull the rug under their feet after securing a comfortable majority.

This the President hopes to achieve by not only attracting individual members from the SLMC and CWC but also UNP when the time is right.

That is the very reason why Kumaratunga despite the revelation in this column last week of the conspiracy against Hakeem, directed the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) and the Independent Television Network (ITN) to televise the "forced confession" of Kumari Cooray, thereby forcing the hand of the dissident SLMC MPs to come out openly against Hakeem.

As far as the President was concerned, she had identified five SLMC MPs for cross over purposes and no stone was to be left unturned to see that objective achieved. From the numbers point of view, the 105 UPFA MPs, one from the EPDP, two from the JHU and five from the SLMC made the 113.

Wooing the CWC

But erring on the side of caution, the President also wanted Armugam Thondaman's CWC on board and wooed him desperately with talk in Congress circles being that two portfolios and Rs. 250 million were on offer by interested parties to secure the CWC cross over.

And in keeping with the strong arm tactics adopted by the UPFA, the two key figures used to pressurise Thondaman for the cross over were casino king Nalin Fonseka and his uncle Shirley Wickremasinghe, who is the brother of notorious underworld kingpin, Nawala Nihal.

A few weeks earlier, at about the time JVP's Propaganda Secretary Wimal Weerawansa went public with a statement they would increase their numbers in parliament before the meeting on May 18, Thondaman in the presence of Nalin Fonseka called former Secretary to Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Chairman, Airport and Aviation Services under the UNF government, Hemasiri Fernando and discussed the very issue of supporting the government.

Fernando is Fonseka's brother-in-law. Fernando and Thondaman's friendship goes back 20 years.

Thondaman told Fernando he was considering supporting the government and inquired whether he was prepared to be the ministry secretary.

The CWC Leader said Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe had indicated to him there would be no move to topple the government till the presidential election next year and as such he (Thondaman) was considering affording conditional support to the government.

"However, I will contest all elections with the UNP. The reason to support the government is only to take office and help my people until such time the UNP re-organises itself for the presidential election," Thondaman had said.

Fernando for his part had said he would accept the offer provided Ranil Wickremesinghe gives his blessings and he too could accompany Thondaman to meet Wickremesinghe when the decision is to be conveyed.

Added Fernando - "But the President is the appointing authority of a secretary and she will never appoint me. And if you are taking a portfolio, it should be aviation."

Agreeing with Fernando, the CWC Leader said his support for the government would be on the same footing of the JVP and that if the Marxists could demand the secretaries of their choice, so would the CWC.

Subsequent to this development, Nalin Fonseka and Shirley Wickrema-singhe continued to put pressure on Thondaman for an early cross over and met regularly with him at Fonseka's apartment at the JAIC Hilton.

Desperate

By Monday, May 17, with all hell breaking loose in the SLMC front, the President was desperate to secure Thondaman before the following day, May 18, and directed Ports Minister Mangala Samaraweera to meet with the CWC Leader and seal the deal.

This Samaraweera set out to do and met with Thondaman on no less than three occasions at Fonseka's apartment at the JAIC Hilton on May 17 and urged him to cross over the following day, with Fonseka doing his own bit to help the President and Samaraweera.

But Thondaman was not there for the taking with moderates in the party equally pressing him to demand commitments from the President for support which would be of benefit to the estate Tamil people.

Given the pressure mounted by the President, Samaraweera, Nalin Fonseka and Shirley Wickeremasinghe on the one hand and party moderates on the other, Thondaman hit a compromise for the deputy speaker's post.

Thondaman told Samaraweera, the CWC as a sign of goodwill will support the government's nominee for deputy speaker provided an opposition member is elected uncontested for the post of deputy chairman of committees.

He also said the question of joining the government would however be subject to certain conditions which he would notify the President in writing. Samaraweera concurred.

With that done, Thondaman went and met with the JHU monks and discussed the issue of the deputy speaker's vote, inquiring how the monks intended voting. The CWC Leader had said the LTTE was infiltrating the estates and he intended voting with the government the following day.

The monks however were noncommittal, only telling Thondaman he should consider his decision carefully since the government was very unstable and may not last six months, with which Thondaman did not disagree. No sooner this meeting was over, the JHU monks informed UNP Deputy Leader, Karu Jayasuriya of Thondaman's plans.

At the same time, Thondaman himself called Opposition Leader Wickremesinghe and sought an appointment for 8:30 a.m. the following day to convey his decision formally with the UNP Leader stating they could meet in parliament.

And when Thondaman arrived, Wickremesinghe was addressing the UNP parliamentary group on the strategy for the deputy speaker's vote but adjourned the meeting and went out with Opposition Whip Mahinda Samarasinghe to speak with the CWC Leader.

There, Thondaman said the CWC has decided to vote with the government on the deputy speaker's vote and get the deputy chairman of committees for the opposition.

Said he, "As long as this does not upset our relationship we will continue as per our agreement. As long as you are leader of the UNP sir, we will not desert the opposition."

With Wickremesinghe agreeing, Thondaman said he will communicate his decision to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and left the room.

By this time Rajapakse himself was in touch with both Wickremesinghe and Samarasinghe, having proposed a compromise formula as suggested by Thondaman, which Wickremesinghe said he would put to the UNP group and obtain endorsement.

Conditions

With the compromise thus reached, Thondaman having consulted his party, in writing sent to the President conditions under which the CWC would support the UPFA on a more permanent basis, conditions which were impossible for Kumaratunga to fulfill.

The first condition of the CWC was to continue with a directly elected executive president while the second was to not tamper with the electoral process, both of which conditions if agreed to would effectively negate the necessity for a constituent assembly. The third condition was to veto the Upper Kotmale power project.

Having sent his conditions in writing, Thondaman took wing to India following the parliamentary sitting that day leaving Kumaratunga to ponder the issue.

And Kumaratunga was none too pleased, fully realising agreeing to Thondaman's conditions would effectively end her political career, deciding instead the better option was to woo the CWC into the alliance first and then split it from within.

With such a strategy in mind, Kumaratunga armed with a draft response that very evening went to the Port Chairman's official residence occupied by Samaraweera to discuss her plan and upon her arrival found several others present including Plantation Industries Minister, Anura Yapa.

At this residence, the President asked Samaraweera to look at the draft prepared wherein she is proposing a directly elected executive prime minister and requested him to have it sent to Thondaman through Nalin Fonseka.

Having said that the President gave vent to her feelings, claiming she plans to bring in the CWC and the SLMC into the government and after securing a majority, lobby individual members of the party to support the government for the constituent assembly.

The President further said she hopes to also bring in either the UNP as a party or a sizeable number of members from the UNP into government, after which the JVP, she said would no longer be a factor.

These sentiments shocked the persons present on the occasion and Anura Yapa was subsequently to comment that it was shocking for a head of state to indulge in such political practices.

For the President, having forced a general election to ensure her political future, there were too many contradictory positions to grapple with to keep the government afloat, with it becoming a near impossible task. And the pressure was already beginning to tell, especially with the JVP breathing down her political neck.

But the President also knew only too well, unless she carried the JVP along to achieve her political objectives, they would never see the light of day, hence the decision to string them along until such time the reforms were carried through.

Pushing for the maximum

The JVP was too politically streetwise not to realise the real politik and pushed for the maximum with Kumaratunga, thus ensuring when D-day comes, it will not only have a formidable force in parliament but also the provincial councils to face the two major parties.

Accordingly, the Marxists pushed to get the maximum seat allocation for the provincial council polls much to the chagrin of the SLFP, which was already having internal problems following the erosion of its base at the parliamentary elections to the JVP's advantage.

Given this situation, the President took a tough line on the nominations, only to see the JVP call the President's bluff much to her alarm.

The JVP politburo which met on Sunday, May 16 discussed the upcoming provincial polls and the consensus was that the President was unreasonably harassing the party and should be brought down to earth.

The politburo members were of the opinion, the President was delaying finalising the nominations to deal the JVP a fait accompli with regard to the number of slots made available and that though they were alive to the possibility of Kumaratunga attempting to cut the grass under their feet, they did not think it would have happened so soon.

Accordingly, the politburo decided as a matter of policy it will contest the provincial polls on their own if the necessary seat allocations were not given it by the President.

And to make their intentions clear, the party decided to prepare two lists, one, an all JVP slate to be fielded if the party does not get the quota demanded of the UPFA and another list with names to be fielded by the UPFA which if not acceded, would see the party fielding their own lists as prepared.

With this message reaching the President, there was panic and it was finally agreed to give the JVP the seat allocations demanded.

Prior to this development, the JVP also sent a signal to Kumaratunga the party will not be subject to her dictates by rejecting her nominee to a top post in the Rural Economy Development Ministry.

It was the President's Secretary who the previous Friday on behalf of Kumaratunga sent a letter to JVP Minister, A.D. Lalkantha recommending Chairman, TEC Lanka, Neranjan Nanayakkara as chairman of an institute under the Rural Economy Development Ministry.

On receipt of this letter, Lalkantha summoned all his officials for a meeting and showed the letter and in their presence thereafter placed a call to the President's Secretary. Then within hearing of his officials, Lalkantha told the President's Secretary he will not accept Kumaratunga's nominee and in future before sending such letters to first ask him whether to send such a letter. Having said his piece, Lalkantha cut the line on the Secretary.

Likewise, another letter sent to JVP's Culture and National Heritage Minister, Vijitha Herath recommending Tissa Abeysekera as chairman of the National Film Corporation met a similar fate and the JVP politburo having discussed these issues on Sunday decided the party will only appoint nominees of its choice to all departments coming under their ministries, even if it takes time.

Hardly 48 hours later, the JVP was to once again direct their wrath at the SLFP when parliament met to elect the deputy speaker. This time around Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and Tourism Minister Anura Bandaranaike, the targets of attack.

It was after the government worked out a compromise with CWC Leader Thondaman over the deputy speaker's post that the Prime Minister in consultation with Mangala Samaraweera decided to offer the UNP a no contest formula which the party accepted.

JVP goes ballistic

But the JVP, which was taking high moral ground over the 'mandate' received, was in the dark over this development and no sooner Opposition Whip Mahinda Samarasinghe announced the agreement on the floor of the House, the Marxists went ballistic.

Storming upto the Prime Minister, a visibly furious Wimal Weerawansa denying there was any such agreement, demanded an explanation.

The JVP by this time realised the grass had been cut under its feet and their battle cry against the election of the Speaker in a series of seminars round the country made to look hollow.

It did not matter to the JVP the deal made the UNP also accomplices by this agreement to all the underhand tactics adopted by the President on the Hakeem issue in her attempt to capture the deputy speaker's post. The JVP was slighted and wanted its pound of flesh.

And Weerawansa thundered to the Prime Minister - "We will not work with the government in future. If anything happens to this government, it will be your responsibility."

An equally livid Nandana Gunatilleke stormed to Bandaranaike who deftly deflected the ball to the Prime Minister stating the JVP should ask him what happened.

Thus tug-of-war not only within the UPFA but also the SLFP was also evident after the Prime Minister in writing informed Commerce Minister, Jeyaraj Fernandopulle he was appointed as acting chief government whip in parliament. That was despite instructions to the contrary by the President.

It is because the President objected to Fernandopulle's appointment that Premier sent the letter appointing him in an acting capacity but for the Commerce Minister, it was infra dig to accept such an acting appointment and declined the post.

By this time, the President had called Minister Maithripala Sirisena who is also Leader of the House and said under no circumstances would she allow Fernandopulle to be appointed chief whip.

To make matters worse, Sirisena's own appointment as leader of the house had drawn flak from Anura Bandaranaike who in writing had informed all MPs his position on the issue.

But before Sirisena could respond, the President had called and urged him to stay calm, assuring him she would this week in writing call for Bandaranaike's explanation.

Discontent

This growing discontent in the government which is barely six weeks old was further highlighted when the UPFA parliamentary group met, with Puttalam District MP, D.M. Dassanayake breathing fire.

Dassanayake was appointed Deputy Minister of Livestock Development but had to forego his office after the Ministry was given to the JVP's Anura Dissanayake.

Thus a furious Dassanayake thumped his table at the meeting and told the President there was no place for "Dassanayakes" in the SLFP any more, adding, one had to be a businessman or a "walawkaraya' to get ahead in the party.

Said he - "I have gone to jail for the sake of the party. I always speak to you with respect but people who call you eki, mayki are today ministers while my portfolio was sacrificed to the JVP. This is the last time I will step into this raja gedera. I will not leave the SLFP but I will never step in here again," Dassanayake said before storming out and pushing aside Deputy Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna who tried to hold him back.

Worst still, the government has been unable to even get its act together on the economic front except to dole out subsidies due to serious differences of opinion between Finance Minister Sarath Amunugama and Treasury Secretary, P.B. Jayasundera.

With Jayasundera calling the shots in the Treasury, Amunugama has been made to eat his words on policy matters with the Secretary Treasury publicly dismissing claims of privatisation made by the Finance Minister.

There will be no privatisation under this government, Jayasundera has told the Lankadeepa in an interview to be published today, directly contradicting Amunugama and substantiating the position taken by the JVP.

Amunugama on Thursday, May 20, took up this issue with the President, informing her it would be difficult for him under such circumstances to work with Jayasundera.

To top it all, the JVP is also bracing itself for an onslaught on the peace process in a bid to maintain its base given the continuing assassination of intelligence operatives in the east and had sought a meeting with Prime Minister Rajapakse for Friday to discuss these issues.

JVP strategy

The JVP strategy is to use Rajapakse as a foil against Kumaratunga and forge a broad support base within government to block the President's initiative for the resumption of talks based on the interim administration proposals.

Rajapakse sensing the JVP strategy has decided to play a straight bat and not get drawn into the conflict fully aware of the fact he will need minority support for the presidential election if he is to run as the SLFP's candidate.

Given this simmering discontent in government and a hung parliament it would under normal circumstances be a matter of time before the dam bursts but for one saving grace Kumaratunga is blessed with - an impotent opposition.

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