How the UNP defectors were humbled 
and taken into government

President refused to sign separate MoU

Karu told to take what is given

GL wanted rebels to accept any office

The much looked forward to event, the first cabinet reshuffle of President Mahinda Rajapakse, took place last week amidst much controversy. The controversy surrounded the President's decision to accommodate the breakaway group of UNP MPs in government.

Amidst much talk of the UNP defectors, the exact number of the MPs who joined the government was only known after they were sworn in as ministers by Rajapakse.

However, the background for the MPs to cross-over was put in place by former UNP Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya who sent secret messages to Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapakse through a businessman.

Important message

Through the messages, Jayasuriya informed Basil that if the government extended an invitation to him when Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was overseas, he would be in a position to join the government with 27 UNP MPs.

Jayasuriya also sent another message to Basil. That was of his intention of securing the prime ministerial portfolio if he were to join the government with such a large number of UNP MPs.

Basil used the opportunity to cause a split within the UNP and sent a response to Jayasuriya through the businessman stating that he would indeed be given the prime ministerial portfolio and extended an invitation to Jayasuriya for a discussion with the President on building 'a national consensus' when Wickremesinghe was overseas.

This was the beginning of the whole cross-over saga and from then on secret discussions were held at various places on how the UNP MPs would join the government. During these discussions, Basil made it a point to set a plan where the UNP breakaway group could not return to the party.

Jayasuriya, with his limited political experience, fell for Basil's plan. Following the response from Basil carried to him by the businessman, Jayasuriya firmly believed that while he would be offered the prime ministerial portfolio, his colleagues too would be given important ministries. Basil, who realised Jayasuriya's weakness, ensured that he did not receive any negative news about receiving the prime ministerial portfolio.

Once Basil had put everything in place to ensure that the UNP breakaway group had no chance of returning to the UNP, Jayasuriya was informed that he would not be given the prime ministerial portfolio as initially promised. Unable to do anything, Jayasuriya was helpless.

Jayasuriya immediately informed the rest of the UNP MPs who were planning to cross-over that he would not go ahead with the plan unless he was offered the prime ministerial portfolio. He then got Gamini Lokuge and P. Dayaratne to convey to Wickremesinghe that he would not be crossing over if he were once again appointed as deputy party leader.

Ministry demands

When he did not receive a favourable response from the Party Leader, he told the rest of the group that he would only join the government if he were given a powerful ministry.

Several rounds of discussion were held on the matter with Basil and Jayasuriya insisted that if he was not given the prime ministerial portfolio, he should then be given the Power and Energy portfolio, which he held during the UNP government.

Basil agreed and presented Jayasuriya's request to the President. It was then that everything changed. Basil forwarded to Rajapakse the list of ministries requested by Jayasuriya and Co.

The list was as follows:

Karu Jayasuriya (Power and Energy Minister)

Milinda Moragoda (Foreign or Finance Minister)

G.L. Peiris (Industries or Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister)

Gamini Lokuge (Tourism Minister)

Bandula Gunawardena (Finance or Trade Minister)

P. Dayaratne (Health or Rehabilitation Minister)

Rajitha Senaratne (Lands Minister)

M. H. Mohomed (Transport or Petroleum Resources Minister)

Dharmadasa Banda (Cooperatives, Agriculture or Irrigation Minister)

Hemakumara Nanayakkara (Agriculture Minister)

Several other names were included for several non-cabinet and deputy ministerial portfolios. After closely perusing the list, the President gave one short response to Basil.

"You go and tell them that I will not give them any of the ministries they have requested. Now they cannot go back to the UNP. They have no option but to join me, so ask them not to come to me with conditions. I will give them only what I want. The policy of my government is that they have to take what is given or they are free to leave," Rajapakse said.

The President further said, "These fellows who want to join us have to be trained from now on or else they will try to play games by forming groups. They have to be taken in by reducing them to zero value. Then things will be easy."

The President told Basil to convey the message to Jayasuriya and his group. At the same time the President also sent word to Wickremesinghe that the swearing in was scheduled for January 17 but that he has delayed it for the UNP Leader to persuade his team to stay back if he so wishes. Wickremesinghe, rather than do so, decided to go overseas believing the party's problems will be over with the departure of the rebels.

In the dark

Basil however toned down the President's message when conveying it to Jayasuriya and Co.

Jayasuriya and his group who were disturbed by the fact that they were not receiving what they had requested asked Basil several times to forward them the list of ministries they were being given.

Basil, who kept ignoring the requests, waited until the date was set for the swearing in ceremony and informed Jayasuriya and his group that he had no idea of the portfolios they would be receiving and advised them to discuss it directly with the President.

The group who met the President was further humiliated by the response given by Rajapakse.

"Please don't ask me what portfolios I will be giving you people. Don't ask me for ministerial portfolios. It is my policy not to give what is asked from me. It is okay if you don't want to join the government. I will continue with the MoU with Ranil and you can be with Ranil in the UNP. Everyone will know their ministries only on January 29. Please don't talk about this with me again," he said.

Jayasuriya and his group immediately stopped inquiring about the ministries and met later at Jayasuriya's residence for a meeting.

At the meeting they discussed their predicament and the President's hard-line attitude. However, the group had to make a final decision on whether they were going ahead with the cross-over or return to the UNP.

Fait accompli

The majority decision was that they had no option but to join the government as they would not be able to continue in the UNP given their imminent cross-over was public knowledge. They took the view that no UNP supporter will trust them anymore and that they have been delivered a fait accompli by the President.

Jayasuriya, Lokuge and Senaratne believed that they would face great difficulty in facing the people if they were not given key ministerial portfolios. The final decision was to hold a final round of discussions with Basil.

Peiris on the other hand was of the view that they should accept whatever portfolio offered to them and join the government as soon as possible.

Another decision arrived at the meeting was to keep their plight from reaching the ears of other UNP MPs. This decision was taken as news of the present situation might change the minds of several UNP backbenchers who were to cross-over to the government with them.

The several rounds of discussions held with Basil were not fruitful and Jayasuriya was finally given the portfolio of Public Administration and Home Affairs.

As UNP deputy leader, Jayasuriya, during the UNP government, was the Power and Energy Minister. In 2001, the non-cabinet Public Administration and Home Affairs Ministry was given to Vajira Abeywardena. Moragoda who found out that he was not going to be appointed as either the Finance Minister or Foreign Minister decided to join the government as an MP without accepting any portfolios.

Touting for Moragoda

However, Jayasuriya and the rest of the group said that such an action would create a conflict between them and the President at the outset itself.

Jayasuriya sent several messages to Basil in order to resolve the issue. He asked Basil to appoint Moragoda as the urban development and housing minister if he was not being appointed as the Foreign or Finance Minister. Basil was also told that Moragoda would be able to get foreign aid to develop the projects undertaken by the ministry.

Basil took the message directly to the President, but Rajapakse did not agree. By then the ministry allocated was the Export Development and International Trade Ministry. After a lengthy discussion on the matter, the President agreed to give him the post held by Anura Bandaranaike, the Tourism Ministry.

Rajapakse told Basil that he would not make any change in his decision not to give any minister the portfolio he or she requests.

Basil then summoned Moragoda at 10 p.m. the night before the cabinet of ministers was to be sworn in. Basil informed Moragoda that the President has agreed to appoint him Tourism Minister and asked him to be present at the swearing in ceremony.

These are but a few issues faced by Jayasuriya and his group while trying to secure ministerial portfolios. However, the main issue faced by the group was kept hidden until now.

MoU plans

In order to strengthen their powers after receiving what they expected to be powerful ministries, Jayasuriya and his group had plans of joining the government as a separate group and decided to sign a MoU with the President.

Peiris, Senaratne and Dayaratne were appointed to sort out the finer details of the MoU. Senaratne even went public with the decision of the rebel group to sign a separate MoU with the President.

Peiris drafted the MoU with several conditions. When drafting the MoU, Senaratne said, "Put a clause in the MoU stating that Basil and Gotabhaya cannot interfere with the work in our ministries. When we put such a clause, all the ministers who are against undue interference will join us."

Another clause in the MoU was that the President should not dissolve parliament till 2010 and that the government should look for a solution to the ethnic issue within a broad power devolution framework and not on a unitary framework.

The MoU also carried a clause saying that three months after them joining the government, the war should be stopped and peace talks should resume. After much hard work, the MoU was forwarded to Basil for Presidential approval.

Basil took it to the President. After reading the MoU, the President said, "This won't work with me. Just throw it out. I'm not ready for these."

Basil, however, had other ideas. "We shouldn't cast it aside just like that and upset the crowd. Let's come up with a good plan," he said.

The President and Basil then said that the MoU was forwarded to President's Counsel D. S. Wijesinghe to seek legal advice and Basil told Peiris that the President had given a favorable response to the MoU and that it was forwarded to Wijesinghe to seek a legal opinion.

Bad news

Excited by the news, Peiris informed Jayasuriya and the rest that the President had given a favorable response to the MoU. It was Senaratne who was most excited by the news and he continued to tell his close friends about the MoU and its clause to prevent Basil and Gotabhaya from interfering with their ministerial work.

But it took only four days for Jayasuriya and his group to hear the bad news. Basil called Peiris and said that according to the 'legal opinion' received by the President from Wijesinghe, it was unwise to sign an MoU as it would be bad for them when the court takes up the case of the crossers-over. Basil then said that the MoU therefore could not be signed.

Jayasuriya and his group then had no option but to cast aside that idea as well and go on bended knee to the government.

Fight back of the SLFP stalwarts after the reshuffle

Soon after the cabinet reshuffle, several senior ministers did not attend the President's tea party and decided to instead make their way to Minister Mangala Samaraweera's residence.

Upon hearing that Ministers Anura Bandaranaike, Arumugam Thondaman and A. L. M. Athaullah were heading to Samaraweera's residence for a meeting, Minister Sripathi Sooriyaarachchi also decided to join them.

Anura's stance

Samaraweera's residence then became the centre of a powerful political force in the making. Bandaranaike said that he would resign from his portfolio by evening after sending President Mahinda Rajapakse a strong letter of resignation. "I will go to the back benches. I will start politics all over again. We will see what happens then," he said.

However, his colleagues at the discussion asked him not to do so and asked him to act in a manner where the President would be forced to sack him rather than leaving voluntarily.

After a few minutes, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga called Samaraweera and upon hearing her brother's plight, asked immediately to speak to him.

"Why Mallo, are you disturbed? Don't be upset. Think twice before you take a decision. Even he wants to get you out of the cabinet, so don't resign, leave it for Mahinda," she said.

Kumaratunga then asked Bandaranaike to fight back from now on. Bandaranaike, after listening to his sister and colleagues, decided not to resign from his post and decided to fight back instead.

The next topic was the portfolio given to Bandaranaike. One minister at the discussion presented an interesting definition of the post. "When you say national heritage, the President would have thought it included only Sigiriya and the ruins in Anuradhapura. If the tasks are properly performed, then the destruction taking place within the state, corruption, protecting the head of state and traditions are all part of the National Heritage Ministry. So no matter what the Gazette says, the National Heritage Minister can look into any subject and prevent it from being destroyed and the minister could even ask the people to fight against such matters," he said.

They discussed the functions of Bandaranaike's Ministry and made several decisions on the course of action to be adopted. The final decision was simple. Bandaranaike from now on would function in a manner to protect the country and its people and a framework would be set up for him to carry out his functions.

Meetings

The political dialogue at Samaraweera's residence reached the other ministers as well. Several ministers called Samaraweera and asked why they were not informed earlier of such a meeting. However, they asked Samaraweera to keep them informed if he was planning to have such meetings in the future, as they too would like to attend.

Samaraweera then told all the ministers who called him that the discussion was not against the President or the government, but was held to safeguard the rights of the people who have been instrumental in bringing the government to power. He also said that there would be several such discussions on the subject.

Message for Anura

It took only several hours for news of the discussion at Samaraweera's residence to reach Temple Trees. The President angered by the news started to shout at first, but realising the danger of the formation of such a strong alliance, took immediate steps to break it up.

Rajapakse called business tycoon Harry Jayawardena, a close friend of the Bandaranaikes, and said, "Harry, ask Anura not to dance the merry devil. I will look after him. I will give him a good portfolio in a few days. But ask him not to go to Mangala's house again."

Jayawardena immediately called Bandaranaike and conveyed the message. After listening to what Jayawardena said, Bandaranaike started to laugh.

Message for Mahinda

"Mangala Samaraweera is a senior minister in his government and my colleague. No one can stop me from going to Mangala's house. If he asked me not to go there, tell him that I'm going there tonight as well. Not only that, I will be meeting Wimal and Somawansa also in the next couple of days. He cannot stop that either. He can no longer attack me, he has done that. So tell him that I'm not afraid of him," Bandaranaike said before giving him another important message.

"Tell Mahinda that my star sign is Singha (Leo). The lion spends most of his time sleeping, but occasionally looks around with one open eye. When he feels that he could catch a prey, he opens his other eye as well. The lion would then only sleep once he catches his prey. Tell Mahinda that I'm now in that stage," Bandaranaike said.

The reshuffle drama and its aftermath

The recent cabinet reshuffle by President Mahinda Rajapakse has transformed Sri Lankan politics. Although the ministers accepted their portfolios without much fuss during the reshuffle, the incidents that took place behind the scenes were to the contrary.

Weeks before the reshuffle, the President kept sending clear signals to Anura Bandaranaike that he would soon lose his ministry. Rajapakse apparently got immense pleasure by pestering Bandaranaike on the matter. So much so that one day he decided to call Bandaranaike himself.

"Ah, Anura how are you? Why do you sound upset" the President asked. "No, no, I'm not upset," Bandaranaike responded. "Why not, your voice sounds as if  you are upset. Why, are you taking a drink?" the President asked. An angry Bandaranaike then asked, "No, are you? What is your problem?"

Anura loses his cool

"No, Harry Jayawardena just told me that you were eagerly waiting to be appointed cooperatives minister. I just called to check on it," Rajapakse said.

Bandaranaike who realised that the President was trying to fool around said, "Mahinda you can be the President, but don't take it too much into your head. If your head swells too much, then I won't be the one who will fall down before long. You keep your powers with you. Just because you have the power to appoint us, don't try to take us for a joke."

Rajapakse who understood that Bandaranaike was losing his cool said, "Right, right, lokka, I will see then what I can do with you," and ended the conversation.

Following this call to Bandaranaike, the President also made sure that a distorted version of the conversation appeared in a Sinhala newspaper. For this purpose, the President used a deputy editor of the newspaper who was against Bandaranaike and Chandrika Kumaratunga (this editor was at one time a Ranil Wickremesinghe loyalist as well).

The gravity of Rajapakse's statement to Bandaranaike was seen only at the swearing in ceremony.

The swearing in ceremony was scheduled for the auspicious time of 10:20 a.m. and it was around 9:20 a.m. that Bandaranaike found out that he was to be appointed national heritage minister. It took only a few minutes for the SLFP ministers to realise that the Bandaranaikes were being marginalised.

Patience

Bandaranaike then decided to walk out of the Presidential Secretariat without accepting his portfolio. However, several senior SLFP ministers walked up to Bandaranaike and asked him not to act in haste.

Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, Ministers Maithripala Sirisena, Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, D.M. Jayaratne and Mangala Samaraweera amongst others advised Bandaranaike to stay in government and carry on the fight.

Samaraweera told Bandaranaike, "We have to be patient. It is not only you; the President has also started to attack me. I'm being patient. So I ask you to be patient now. You will be rewarded soon." Bandaranaike then sat down again.

The next topic that was discussed among the ministers was the President's behaviour during the swearing in ceremony. The common practice since independence has been for the head of state and the ministers sworn in to stand at the same level face to face.

Breaking tradition

However, Rajapakse broke this tradition this time. He opted to stand on a platform resembling a king while the ministers who were sworn in had to stand on a lower elevation like his subjects.

"We used to criticise Premadasa saying he sat on a throne, but he never acted like this in front of his ministers," one minister told a colleague at the ceremony. The minister also said the President had a yearning for acceptance and was probably why he had hoardings of himself dotting the entire landscape of the country.

After the ministers were sworn in it was time to sit for the group photograph. When Bandaranaike stood to leave without appearing for the photograph, the President asked Mervyn Silva not to allow him to leave without appearing for the photograph.

"Please sir, stay for the photograph without creating any issues. The President wants you to come," Silva said.

"No, Mervyn, he may not like me staying for the photograph like he did not like giving me a ministry. He has forgotten his past. Now he may not like to sit with the Bandaranaikes," Anura said.

"Are you mad sir? None of these fellows managed to eliminate the Bandaranaikes. Don't create an issue now, let's deal with it later," Silva whispered in Bandaranaike's ear.

Tea party

Bandaranaike then made his way to the place where everything was set to take the group photograph. After the photograph was taken, the President invited all the ministers for a tea party.

However, several senior ministers, Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, Maithripala Sirisena and others left the Presidential Secretariat without attending the ceremony.

One Presidential secretary who saw Minister Dinesh Gunawardena making his way out of the secretariat asked, "Why aren't you staying for the tea party Minister?"

"Why would I want to stay for a tea party when the cabinet reshuffle has taken away my water? I will go home and have tea," Gunawardena said, while leaving the secretariat.

Finally it was mostly the UNP defectors who were seen at the tea party. It was also noticed at the ceremony how several ministers were engaged in a discussion with Minister Mangala Samaraweera.

Private meetings

Most of the ministers spoke of the cruel treatment meted out to Samaraweera by the President after all his efforts during the last presidential election. "Don't be disturbed, be patient. All these issues will be solved soon," Samaraweera told all the ministers who gathered around him.

Minister Arumugam Thondaman then made his way to Samaraweera and said he needed to talk to him in private. Minister M. L. M. Athaullah and Bandaranaike also requested a private meting with Samaraweera. Samaraweera then invited everyone to his official residence at Stanmore Crescent.

What followed may well set the pace for dramatic political changes in the country within the next few months.

Wijeyadasa's hard-hitting letter to Lake House Editor

Despite the state media going to town whitewashing the government over the COPE report findings, COPE Chairman Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, himself a government member, has exposed the duplicity of the state media and taken Lake House to task over its reporting on the charges against Jani Chathurangani de Silva.

In a letter addressed to the Editor, The Sunday Observer, Rajapakshe states, "Readers have no option but to come to an irresistible conclusion that you are acting surreptitiously in a conspiracy to fix Jani Chaturangani and to cripple her sports career or at least carrying the brief for somebody who is involved in a designed mechanism to fix her."

He goes on to say, "Your repeated irresponsible writing has already proved that you have dipped your pen in a pot of poison with a view to wield it out of vengeance and to insult and defame the people with integrity and honesty. It is my duty to put on record that you have brought the standard of the Sunday Observer newspaper to the lowest level."

Following is the full text of the letter: 

The Editor,

Sunday Observer

Associated Newspapers Ceylon Limited,

Lake House,

D.R.Wijewardana Mawatha,

Colombo 2.

January 29, 2007 

I refer to the news article published in your Sunday Observer on January 28 under the heading 'No Judgment' in the Hide & Seek column on the first page in which you have conveyed your reveling joy about a purported decision of world track heads in Monaco to hold an arbitration on the doping charge against Jani Chathurangani de Silva.

Earlier you had also sought to challenge the decision of the disciplinary committee of which I was the chairman and you published my reply to it on January 20 in the Daily News. In that you also had published an unprecedented editorial note, which had reflected the true nature of the malice harboured in your mind than the constructive criticism of the issue. It also sounded that you were trying to exhibit yourself as maestro in journalism and sports law.

I myself have held some of the prestigious posts such as the Chairman, Sri Lanka Press Council, Vice Chairman, World Association of Press Councils, Managing Director, Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd., Director, Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation and Director, National Film Corporation, which are fundamentally engaged in fields relating to media and journalism and feel nothing to absorb from you. I will not use any space in this letter to show my legal experience.

Your article 'No Judgment' is written in idiotic language sounds assaning thinking in demented minds which is unfit and improper for any kind of national newspaper specially for the Sunday Observer which had earned much reputation in the field of journalism for several decades. I state without any hesitation and uncertainty that you have not only failed to understand the judgment but also paraded your incompetence to have a fair comment on it by writing your editor's note referred to above.

Our judgment is based upon principles of substantial and procedural laws and if there be any affirmation or overruling by any lawful authority under the relevant laws and if done in compliance of the law, it will be welcomed. But it is not for a mediocre to arrogate himself the appellate jurisdiction and wield his pen like Satan's sword.

I reminded you earlier the decision of the disciplinary committee which inquired into the allegation of doping violation against Ms. Susanthika Jayasinghe in which I wrote the majority judgment exonerating her while a medical professor held against her. But, finally the Panel of International Arbitration accepted my judgment despite some evil forces worked against the said athlete. Your unfounded and unscrupulous critic will not help to improve the standard of the sport. It is an insult not only to the institution you work, Lake House, but also to the whole country because it is a media institution of which the majority of shares owned by the general public of this country.

On the other hand by looking at the said news, readers have no option but to come to an irresistible conclusion that you are acting surreptitiously in a conspiracy to fix Jani Chaturangani and to cripple her sports career or at least carrying the brief for somebody who is involved in a designed mechanism to fix her. We being the judges of the disciplinary panel decided the matters with absolute independence and impartiality without any fear or favour and acted true to our conscience. The argument you had advanced stating that the judgment given against the Pakistani boxers should have been adopted against Jani Chaturangi too reflected the kind of malice that you have hidden in your mind which is appropriate for your column of Hide & Seek if it comes up in a rag paper but not in a national paper.

Please note that I am least bothered by the vapouring of demented minds. You have explicitly shown your boorishness and hardihood conduct to the world. Your repeated irresponsible writing has already proved that you have dipped your pen in a pot of poison with a view to wield it out of vengeance and to insult and defame the people with integrity and honesty. It is my duty to put on record that you have brought the standard of the Sunday Observer newspaper to the lowest level. I hope that you will not repeat your misdoings in your Hide & Seek game, instead try to learn something to do as a journalist for the best interest of journalism as well as for the well-being of the people of this country.

Thanking you,

Wijeyedasa Rajapakshe

President's Counsel

Copies;

His Excellency the President of the Republic

Hon. Minister of Media

Secretary to H.E. the President

Secretary, Media Ministry

Chairman, A.N.C.L.

Director, Editorials, A.N.C.L.

Directors, A.N.C.L.