Politics

CBK's wrath and JVP's pledge to back PM

Inside Politics

By Suranimala 

While the SLFP-JVP alliance reached breaking point last week following President Chandrika Kumaratunga's decision to call the bluff on....

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CBK's wrath and JVP's pledge to back PM

Mahinda Rajapakse, Somawansa Amarasinghe, Mangala Samaraweera and Chandrika Kumaratunga

Inside Politics By Suranimala  While the SLFP-JVP alliance reached breaking point last week following President Chandrika Kumaratunga's decision to call the bluff on constant threats issued by the Marxists to quit the government, the opposition UNP decided it will launch an all out campaign against the administration commencing this week both in and out of parliament. Unable to progress either on the economic or political fronts because of obstacles placed in her path by the JVP, the President finally lost her cool with the main coalition partner last week and asked them to quit if they so wished. President's statement Though not identifying the JVP by name, the implication was obvious given the references to objections raised in her dealing with the LTTE, without which of course the desperately needed funds even for the post tsunami reconstruction will not be forthcoming in the required numbers.

And rubbing salt to their wounds, the President went further and charged it was those very people who were wanting her dead now more than even LTTE Leader, Velupillai Pirapaharan.

Given the President's statement, the JVP had to decide either to stomach the insult and risk losing credibility with the electorate or take up Kumaratunga on the challenge and precipitate the fall of the UPFA administration, none of which they were prepared to do immediately.

To the JVP, it was a no win situation and with one masterful statement, Kumaratunga had not only reduced the Marxists to a pitiful state but also enhanced her standing in the eyes of the electorate as a leader prepared to risk it all rather than be threatened into submission by the Marxists.

In making her challenge, the President also no doubt realised, the JVP would be hard put to obtain the 39 parliamentary seats currently enjoyed if the party went it alone in the event of a snap general election and gambled on the Marxists eating humble pie.

For in a situation where the SLFP and JVP are divided, there is no gainsaying the UNP would romp home a winner at a general election. Even otherwise the UNP would emerge as the single largest party in parliament if the Marxists merely withdraw from government and that is a chance the likes of Wimal Weerawansa just did not want to take.

Face saving mechanism

Thus, in the wake of the President's statement, the JVP looked for a face saving mechanism to stay in government whilst continuing with their opposition to dealing with the LTTE both on the ISGA and the establishment of a mechanism to handle the post tsunami reconstruction in the north east.

What the JVP in effect decided was to continue with their own strategy, forcing the President to make the first move to break the alliance or live and let live. But that was a situation the President was not prepared to go along with and made it clear to all emissaries the JVP will have to toe the line or else.

In fact, with the crisis between the JVP and Kumaratunga simmering, Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera on Sunday, February 6, sought a meeting with the President to discuss the issue, hoping a compromise would be possible.

With Kumaratunga having a busy schedule during the day that Sunday, Samaraweera was invited for dinner to discuss the current state of the alliance and the duo sat down to it over red wine at President's House about 7:45 p.m.

Initially the duo engaged in light banter as well as the on going tsunami rehabilitation effort and having got the President in the right frame of mind over the flowing wine, Samaraweera broached the issue of the JVP.

Making a case for the JVP, Samaraweera began to outline the difficulties faced by the Marxists at the hands of the SLFP within the alliance and stressed the importance of having a united approach to ensure stability of the government.

"It is time to resolve those problems between you and the JVP," Samaraweera added, only to see the President retorting sharply, "What problems?"

Not cowed down by the President's response, Minister Samaraweera once again reiterated the grievances of the JVP, with emphasis on violations of the MoU signed between the two parties by the President to the detriment of the Marxists.

The comments of Samaraweera saw the President's mood transforming completely from one of good humour to anger and snapped she, "Here Mangala, learn to be a little more practical. Do you think that anything the JVP is suggesting can be implemented? It is all impractical."

Samaraweera however was at a different wavelength and told the President what was of paramount importance was not practicality but keeping the government intact and if the current trend continued, the survival of the government would be at stake.

JVP trap

Responded Kumaratunga - "That is why I told you Mangala, you are not practical. You are caught in the JVP's trap. You better find a way of getting out of it immediately and start thinking independently again. Leave the so-called problems in the alliance for me to deal with."

The President went on to point out that during her recent visit to Matara, the people told her they came because of her and not Samaraweera since they were disappointed with the Minister.

"They said you were neglecting the SLFPers and addressing issues of other party members. In contrast, when I went to Beruwela, the SLFPers were full of praise for Rothitha (deputy minister of telecom) stating he was attending to problems of the SLFPers. That is the difference," Kumaratunga added.

Not relenting, Samaraweera said at the time the SLFP-JVP agreement was reached, many pledges were made to the Marxists and the honourable course of action was to act accordingly and reach a compromise, which comments only made Kumaratunga even angrier.

Shot back the President - "These people won't let us govern. They don't like the fact that we are doing it either. These JVP fellows were conspiring to swallow the SLFP as a whole so that we cease to exist as a party. When this alliance was being formed, I warned you of this development and said my father and mother would curse the alliance from their graves. That was because I suspected even then that the JVP was trying to destroy the SLFP from within. Now I know for sure from the day the MoU was signed the JVP was attempting to destroy the SLFP and emerge as the principal party."

Explaining how the JVP was systematically destroying the SLFP including infiltration, the President added, "Through Ruwan Ferdinandez they very cleverly landed our members in their pockets. Take Anura. He does not understand anything. He has been completely brainwashed and now he is practically living inside their pockets. You people stay out of this. I will deal with it and resolve the issue. They will eventually toe the line."

Thus, a meeting which got off on a friendly note ended sour, with Samaraweera realising he was fast losing clout with the President, who in his view was traversing a politically suicidal course.

JVP moves in on PM

But the JVP were no babes in the woods either and moved to sow their own seeds of dissension within the SLFP and in the face of Kumaratunga's belligerence, started lobbying Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse.

The JVP knew only too well, Rajapakse was aspiring to be SLFP's presidential candidate and that his chances would be greatly enhanced if he had the backing of the Marxists and accordingly sent a clear signal to that effect.

The JVP was also alive to the undercurrents within the SLFP and believed strengthening Rajapakse's hand at this stage would help isolate the President and provide them a dominant role in the alliance given the fact a majority of MPs did not want another snap election.

And with the President refusing to give the JVP an audience, the Marxists thought the time was right to bell the cat and bell the cat they did.

It was the previous week in parliament, the JVP made its move whilst the Prime Minister was in the chamber engaged in conversation with fellow SLFPers. The move came in the form of a telephone call from JVP Leader, Somawansa Amarasinghe in London.

And up to this point, the JVP Leader had reserved his dealings with SLFP seniors to Ministers Lakshman Kadirgamar and Mangala Samaraweera, with Rajapakse kept at a safe distance.

But times were about to change with the JVP now planning as a tactical move to woo Rajapakse.

Amarasinghe first called on Wimal Weerawansa's mobile phone and having discussed the latest political developments said he would speak with the Premier, following which the JVP Propaganda Secretary proceeded to the chamber and passed on the message to Rajapakse.

Interestingly, Marxist Weerawansa's mobile phone is state-of-the-art and merits description. It costs around Rs. 150,000 and has an in built video camera, MMS technology and is WAP compatible. In short, Weerawansa walks around with a mini computer and fax machine including a very powerful digital video and still camera.

Thus, when the Premier walked out of the chamber and took Weerawansa's mobile to answer Amarasinghe's call, he was surprised at the sophistication of the phone and could not resist making a comment.

"Shaa, what a great phone you have Wimal. First time I am seeing a mobile like this," the Premier said.

Thereafter, Rajapakse started talking to Amarasinghe and was soon told the President was treading a dangerous path which could threaten the survival of the government.

Stating the political situation was going from bad to worse, the JVP Leader told the Premier he intends returning to Sri Lanka soon to address the unfolding developments and would like to meet with Rajapakse.

Tirade against the President

Said Amarasinghe - "The decision to boycott the tsunami debate in parliament was the mildest course of action adopted by the party. That decision will not affect the government too adversely. We are sorry if any embarrassment was caused as a result. In any event if there was going to be a vote, we would have come to the government's rescue."

With that said, the JVP Leader went on a tirade against President Kumaratunga much to the embarrassment of Prime Minister Rajapakse.

Said Amarasinghe to Rajapakse, "According to whose tune is she dancing? Even if not today or tomorrow, if this trend continues, the JVP will be forced to leave the government before long. But we will not desert you. We know that you too have problems with the President. We will support you."

The Prime Minister in turn told the JVP Leader, he will do his best within his power to iron out the differences and thanked Amarasinghe for his expression of support to him.

With the conversation over, the Prime Minister handed the mobile back to Weerawansa and began to question him on the sophisticated gadget.

Weerawansa happily briefed the Premier on all the features of the phone including its cost and said, "Its not too expensive, you should also buy one."

Quipped Rajapakse, "Where do we have such luxuries Wimal? The government has given us mobile phones that are like bricks. I will just continue to use the one I have been given."

But the assurance of support to Rajapakse extended by the JVP Leader was not lost on the Premier and he informed confidants, his bid for the presidential election nomination would be greatly strengthened if the JVP backing was forthcoming.

It was in this backdrop, the President on Sunday, February 13, made her statement in Nittambuwa, on the JVP, practically asking the Marxists to get out of the alliance.

Onslaught

And a call received from Deputy Minister, Pandu Bandaranayake on her way to the meeting with regard to the Gampaha Cooperative Society election only helped condition the President's thinking against the JVP that much more, leading to the onslaught.

Bandaranayake informed the President the JVP was attempting to push the SLFP out of the cooperative system and capture power themselves notwithstanding the alliance and there was little he could do to stop it.

Bandaranayake was basically saying that despite being in an alliance, the JVP was intent on crushing its alliance partner. He added that a JVP provincial council member was also claiming to be terrorised and making false statements at various police stations and that SLFP supporters were having many problems with the Marxist party on the ground.

Listening to all this, the President was fast losing patience. Advising the Deputy Minister about the course of action to pursue, she said "I am also just on my way to Attanagalla. You continue with the election work. I will look after the rest."

Soon afterwards the President reached the meeting venue and while she was seated on stage several phone calls came from Deputy Minister Bandaranayake, who kept updating her about the situation. In his last call that came minutes before her speech, Bandaranayake told the President the SLFP had lost and the JVP had won the election. With all this brewing inside of her, President Kumaratunga got up to give her speech. And the rest is history.

And JVP Propaganda Secretary, Wimal Weerawansa found out about the President's speech in Attanagalla about one and a half hours after she made it, on being informed by a journalist of a Sinhala daily. The reporter informed the JVP MP about what the President had said, after which Weerawansa requested him to repeat it verbatim. Fifteen minutes later, the reporter called back and repeated the speech. He told Weerawansa that he had got it off the area correspondent who had covered the rally.

Wildfire

Having got all the details, Weerawansa's first call was to Minister Mangala Samaraweera. The Minister told the JVP MP that he would find out more about it and call him back. But the news of the President's speech was spreading like wildfire among the JVP members. General Secretary Tilvin Silva was of the opinion that JVP Leader, Somawansa Amarasinghe should be informed about the turn of events immediately and an emergency politburo meeting summoned.

Later that same night, Weerawansa went to Minister Samaraweera's residence for a discussion. The main topic at hand was of course the President's statement. Uncharacteristically, Samaraweera told Weerawansa that he too was very disappointed at the statement. It was the first time the close confidant of President Kumaratunga had ever made a comment critical of the President.

Samaraweera also went on to detail the proceedings of the dinner he had with the President one week earlier (February 6) and told the JVP MP that he had smelt a rat even then that Kumaratunga was going to make some crazy political move.

Next, the two discussed what they thought the President's next course of action would be. They thrashed out different theories and finally called up Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar and appraised him of the situation as well. Kadirgamar also expressed fear about the President's next move. Kadirgamar said during the phone call that the President appeared to be pursuing her own political agenda without consulting Samaraweera or himself.

Tactical solution

Given these developments, the JVP too had to take stock of the situation and despite JVP General Secretary, Tilvin Silva wanting to summon an emergency politburo meeting on Monday (14), instructions from JVP Leader, Somawansa Amarasinghe in London were to the contrary. He told Silva that under no circumstances were the politburo or the executive committee of the party to be summoned, knowing full well that if such a meeting took place, the leadership would have no choice but to bow to the decision of the majority. Instead, Amarasinghe instructed Silva to meet with senior party members in order to discuss a tactical way to deal with the situation.

Thus, on Monday, February 14, Silva, Weerawansa, Vijitha Herath and a few others met at the JVP headquarters at about 10 a.m. After a discussion that lasted over two and a half hours, the members decided they would not respond to the President's speech at all. The reasoning behind the decision was that if a response was made, the JVP's image would suffer with the voters.

They also decided to remain in their ministerial positions because it would otherwise give the wrong message to the people that the JVP ministers stepped down because they could not face up to the challenge posed by the President.

It was also decided at the meeting that the best course of action would be for the JVP to use all the clout it had with Ministers Mangala Samaraweera and Lakshman Kadirgamar to make the President withdraw the statement herself. They also decided that while they should remain with the government strategically, rumours should also be spread around the country in the next two months that the JVP was planning to quit the UPFA. The idea was to get the President to panic and be more amenable for a compromise.

All the JVP's decisions at this meeting were subsequently conveyed to Minister Mangala Samaraweera by Wimal Weerawansa. Accordingly, Samaraweera ensured the President got the message as well, but no response was forthcoming from Kumaratunga. Finally, Samaraweera decided to summon a meeting of the Deputy Ministers Forum and appraise them of the situation.

Accordingly, Minister Samaraweera arranged to meet Deputy Ministers Lasantha Alagiyawanna and Mahindananda Aluthgamage. He told the Deputy Ministers that unless something was done soon, the alliance would collapse. Minister Samaraweera and Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar also spoke to Treasury Secretary, P.B. Jayasundera and Senior Presidential Advisor, Mano Tittawela and told them to push the President into reaching some kind of compromise on the problem with the JVP.

Rectifying the situation

However, when Alagiyawanna and Aluthgamage met the President, she refused point blank to back down, saying her statement was perfectly fine. And throughout Monday, the operation to get the President to back down continued and eventually Kumaratunga agreed to rectify the situation.

Finally at about 6.30 p.m., Alagiyawanna and Aluthgamage called up Minister Samaraweera. They told him that the President would issue a statement via her Director General Media, Eric Fernando before 8 p.m. that night. They told the senior minister the statement would say the President never made the statement attributed to her in Attanagalla. It was really a clarification, they told Samaraweera. They also said before the statement was sent to the relevant media organisations, it would be faxed to Weerawansa as well.

Samaraweera immediately called Weerawansa and told him to expect the fax. But till 7:30 p.m., Weerawansa waited in vain for the fax. At 7:55 p.m., however, the fax did come, but it was far from satisfactory for Weerawansa since there was nothing in it that had been promised. The President's statement merely said that in her speech she had not specifically referred to the JVP.

Calling up Samaraweera, Weerawansa complained - "This won't work. There is no clarification here. We also will have to make certain attacks in the future then." Samaraweera responded he also thought it best if some pressure was put on the President to make her realise the errors of her ways.

Thus, the JVP too thought it fit to up the stakes and decided that before February 16, all JVP ministers and deputy ministers should resign from their portfolios in protest.

As soon as the decision was made, Wimal Weerawansa informed Minister Mangala Samaraweera of the impending action. The Minister then got activated promptly and took steps to prevent this disastrous development for the government. Calling up Deputy Ministers Lasantha Alagiyawanna and Mahindananda Aluthgamage, he asked them to inform the President of the threat immediately.

Discussions

President Chandrika Kumaratunga at the same time had spent the day in discussions with Treasury Secretary, P.B. Jayasundera and Senior Presidential Advisor, Mano Tittawela about the JVP's position and other matters and it had been decided that on Tuesday (15) night, the President would meet a group of deputy ministers for discussions.

The thinking of the trio at this meeting was that by the President holding a tough line, a compromise can eventually be reached on the political front in exchange for the JVP conceding on the economic and education reforms.

Unaware of Kumaratunga's game plan, Weerawansa and Samaraweera decided the best way to neutralise the escalating tension would be for the Deputy Ministers Forum to issue a statement contradicting the President's speech. Weerawansa said that if the forum issued a statement stating that it remained committed to keeping the alliance intact, it might make the JVP reconsider their decision to make the JVP ministers quit.

Minister Samaraweera thereafter called Alagiyawanna and Aluthgamage and informed them about the need to issue such a statement, but the two deputy ministers flatly refused, stating the responsibility of issuing official statements lay with Deputy Minister Dilan Perera alone.

Samaraweera then called Dilan. "If the forum issues a statement saying that it did not agree with the President's speech, we could control the situation until we meet with the President," the Minister said. But Perera was none too impressed and responded in a way Samaraweera never expected him to.

"I am not ready to issue such statements. I will never sign a statement that might cause harm to the President. But I am committed to protecting the alliance. If the President asks me to, I will issue the statement," Perera said.

Checkmated, Samaraweera's next decision was to issue the statement himself. With him having done so, the JVP was finally satisfied given the fact the statement by implication said he would not allow even the President to break up the alliance.

And while Samaraweera was busy issuing a statement according to the JVP's wishes, a group of deputy ministers were gathered at President's House to meet President Kumaratunga. Among them were Deputy Ministers Lasantha Alagiyawanna, Mahindananda Aluthgamage and Dilan Perera.

Stern action

The meeting between the President and the deputy ministers which commenced Tuesday night went on till 1 a.m. the next day. Stating her position very clearly, the President told her junior ministers that if the JVP was going to keep threatening to quit the government, she would also take stern action.

"Those people are ministers today thanks to us. After April 2, I am going to dissolve parliament. Then they will come down to earth. Give this message to Mangala and the JVP also," the President said.

Finally, however, the President did come to some kind of agreement to send JVP General Secretary, Tilvin Silva a confidential letter. In that letter, the President was to promise Silva she would take steps to set the UPFA back on course. The President was to also respond positively to a JVP request to set up a special committee that would make crucial decisions for the government.

Minister Samaraweera got news of this at about 1 a.m. on Wednesday, around the same time the meeting concluded at President's House. He immediately called Weerawansa to give him the news. Having had so many sleepless nights, the parties concerned finally went to bed resting easy thinking that the crisis was well on the way to being resolved.

The next day, the President advised her staff to draft the letter to Weerawansa. After it was drafted, Kumaratunga changed it three times. At about 2 p.m. on Wednesday (16), Weerawansa received the missive. But it contained nothing of what was promised to the deputy ministers the night before. It contained a statement of clarification by Eric Fernando and a covering letter by Kumaratunga. This letter was succinct but biting.

Asserting her previous position, the letter only attacked the JVP further, stating she will no longer suffer in silence the humiliation meted out to her personally and the government any further. Having got the response, Weerawansa immediately called up Samaraweera to tell him what the contents of the letter had been.

"It is clear what the President's position is. Although the letter is confidential, we will have to inform our supporters of this," Weerawansa told the Media Minister.

And by Friday, the JVP was struggling for air desperately trying to cling on to Kumaratunga despite her making it extremely uncomfortable for the Marxists.

Thus, while Kumaratunga's actions may finally lead to the collapse of the alliance, she will at least be credited for humbling the Marxists.

The ides of March, it seems, will spell doom for the UPFA, unless of course Kumaratunga backs down.

 Plans to dissolve cluster bus companies

State transport kota uda

Transport Minister Felix Perera

By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema 

The country's transport sector is currently in a quandary due to the ad hoc decisions made by the Transport Ministry.

Transport Minister, Felix Perera's decision to re-establish the Central Transport Board (CTB), in other words to dissolve the cluster bus companies, has caused much controversy with the public bus companies threatening to strike if their existence is threatened by the decision.

No increase in productivity

The failure of the CTB as well as the cluster bus companies to minimise losses and increase productivity has raised questions as to the feasibility of reverting yet again to a mechanism, which was proved a failure almost a decade ago.

CTB's controversy began in 1977 when it was restructured during the J. R. Jayewardene era. The reforms during the 1994-2000 PA regime decentralised the CTB by the formation of cluster bus companies. While the Treasury held a 50% stake, the workers held 39% of the cluster bus companies. The move to establish the cluster bus companies was justified by the huge losses incurred by the CTB as well as its inability to provide commuters with a streamlined transport system.

However, Sri Lanka CTB remained government owned while proving more and more to be a white elephant than an asset with an ever increasing maintenance bill, borne solely by the Treasury.

In 2004, after the depreciation of the rupee, the CTB incurred a loss of Rs. 2,404 million. The Treasury had to pump in Rs. 13 billion for the CTB's survival. At the CTB, the government maintains approximately 40,000 employees to operate 4,000 busses.

Unfortunately operations of the cluster bus companies too have not been as expected. Last month, the Treasury had to disburse Rs. 252 million to the cluster bus companies just to meet the salary requirements.

Last week's strike organised by the cluster bus company workers demanding the Rs. 2,500 salary increment granted to public servants through the budget meant a further drain on the Treasury.

However, the granting of an interim allowance of Rs. 1,000 as an interim solution by Perera to the strikers meant an addition of almost Rs. 51 million to the already burgeoning losses of the transport sector.

Perera's statement that the balance payment of Rs. 1,500 would be made in three months after the re-establishment of the CTB has stirred a hornet's nest with private bus operators demanding the government to dissolve the operations of the CTB and the cluster bus companies.

Finance Minister, Dr. Sarath Amunugama observed that the Treasury would pay the additional Rs. 51 million to the cluster bus companies in order to make the promised Rs. 1,000 increment.

The deadline

Meeting a deadline of three months however seems a far cry from reality as the groundwork alone is expected to take almost three months.

A draft proposal would have to be presented to the ministry for approval and then it must be forwarded to cabinet for approval. Once cabinet approval is received, the proposal would have to be sent to the legal draftsman and then to parliament for approval.

Chairman, CTB, Dr. I. S. Jayaratne told The Sunday Leader that under the proposal to re-establish the CTB, the 11 cluster companies would be dissolved and the transport sector would be brought under one apex body.

"It will once again be a 100% government owned entity," he said.

Admitting the losses made by the CTB in the past year, Dr. Jayaratne observed that the establishment would have to be restructured if it is to be centralised once again.

He noted that the ministry would have to first look at ways to reduce the excess staff.

A Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) is expected to be offered to those who wish to leave in order to reduce the staff of 40,000 to at least 20,000.

Dr. Amunugama insisted that the CTB would have to be restructured and a VRS be introduced to retrench the excess staff.

However, Dr. Amunugama observed that the ministry would have to study the matter in-depth before making a decision. "The CTB will have to be restructured and a VRS would have to be given to at least 17,000 employees," he said.

PBOA's view

The Private Bus Operators Association (PBOA) maintained that both the CTB and the cluster bus companies have been a failure and should be closed down.

President, PBOA, Gemunu Wijeratne observed that the need of the hour is to scrap the CTB and the cluster bus companies and formulate a streamlined structure where efficiency and productivity could be improved by following proper guidelines.

Wijeratne noted that the CTB and the cluster bus companies' survival depend on the money drawn from the state coffers, the taxpayers' money.

He pointed out that the sector has been highly politicised adding that buses operating under the cluster bus companies run without route permits and do not adhere to a timetable.

Explaining further, he said the management board of each cluster bus company is headed by political henchmen who work solely for political reasons and not for the greater good of the sector.

Wijeratne observed that the lack of a proper reform programme for the road passenger transport service has resulted in an increase in bus accidents on the roads, absence of bus stands to park buses, driving buses at high speed/slowly, workers in the bus service not being made permanent, non availability of buses during the night and simply follow the same disastrous methods year after year.

He further explained that the only solution for the problem is to introduce a route franchising system.

The system has however been met with much opposition from cluster bus companies.

The PBOA meanwhile has written to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank to urge the government to implement a streamlined mechanism to remedy the ills that prevail in the transport sector.

Wijeratne said that they have further requested the donors to stop financial assistance provided to the state transport sector if the government continues with its ad hoc remedial methods.

The PBOA has also threatened to organise an islandwide strike if the government refuses to heed their requests and continue with the decision to re-establish the CTB.