Reply Mangala's Charges

After one year in office President Mahinda Rajapakse is exhibiting an unorthodox form of governance with authoritarian traits. The manner in which he sacked three of his ministers was a raw display of the arrogance of power - power which he had come by through the executive presidency. Instead of calling for the explanations of the ministers concerned, he announced their sacking on TV accusing them of many offences including conspiracies against the government.

The next day with absolute nonchalance he welcomed with open arms Anura Bandaranaike whom he accused of many misdemeanours and is now about to give Bandaranaike his former ministry plus an additional title. He has also called the other two Ministers, Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Sooriyaarachchi for discussions. If sacking a minister in public, making various accusations against him and then calling him back the next day with no questions asked or explanation proffered to the people is not dictatorial arrogance, what is? Come on Medamulane Rajapakse, we would like to hear it from you.

The President may have his own motives for this seemingly nonsensical display of power but it does go against the interests of the nation. When the President loses his credibility among his ministers, people and more importantly with the outside world, the country's credibility diminishes. It may be a political balancing act on the part of the President: doing exactly the opposite of what he said the day before but who would believe such a President or even his country? His track record of entering into agreements and MoUs and flouting them without a care in the world does not help enhance his reputation on this score either.

Former Minister Mangala Samaraweera's scathing letter of February 14 to the President demands a detailed reply. He is making serious allegations about the way in which this country was run in the first year of the Rajapakse administration. The instantaneous denial of the charges by Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa is inane and childish. As proof against Samaraweera's charges of interference by the President, the Minister says that the President had never interfered in the working of his Ministry!

The Sinhala aphorism hora ge ammagen pene ahanwa (asking the thief's soothsaying mother who carried out the theft) is apt in this case. Yapa should tell this kind of stories, perhaps to his gullible voters but not to the media which he lords over. For example, has Yapa developed amnesia about the removal of the Daily News Editor by him for using abusive language several months back and how he was asked to restore the man to his former post by the President following the intervention of Defence Secretary and brother Gotabhaya Rajapakse?

One of the most serious charges made by Samaraweera is that even though he was the Foreign Minister, he was not made a member of the Security Council although it has been the tradition that the Foreign Minister was always a member of that important body. Readers will recall that since independence until 1977, the prime minister of the country was always the defence and external affairs minister. This was for the very obvious reason that foreign affairs and defence are inextricable.

It was J.R. Jayewardene that took out the External Affairs Ministry and placed it under a foreign minister. To keep a foreign minister in the dark about defence matters, particularly in these times when much of the work of the Foreign Ministry is related to the on going north east conflict, is stupid and criminal. The country cannot pay for the insecurity of the Rajapakse brothers as evident from Samaraweera's letter, which is published elsewhere in today's issue.

President Rajapakse is well aware that our politicians, political parties and even NGOs have cultivated the habit of running to foreign embassies and making their grievances known, although what these missions could do within Sri Lanka other than to give generous handouts or travel grants is precious little. It is the Foreign Ministry that could handle this kind of complaints and not the top brass of the military. Samaraweera in his letter says, "I was never asked to attend a Security Council meeting. Several members of the Security Council have informed me that I was not invited to any meetings due to the influence of your brother, Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapakse."

This is an issue which the President should reply to immediately.  If the allegation is true, why should the defence secretary, an official who also carries a US passport, attempt to keep the Foreign Minister, a key figure in government, ignorant in matters of defence? This is one country and the Foreign Minister is by no means a foreigner to Sri Lanka. If there are petty rivalries between the two personalities, then they should be settled by the President.

It does appear that Gotabhaya Rajapakse and Samaraweera have been locking horns in other areas as well such as in the appointments made to the Airport Authority and on issues relating to human rights. There are standard procedures adopted while making appointments to such organisations even if they are political appointments and officials should learn to keep off the grass in areas which are not theirs. Usually, the Head of State is far removed from such bureaucratic squabbles but President Rajapakse seems to be knee deep in it.

There are many other allegations that have been made by Samaraweera which are of deep public interest particularly with regard to award of contracts where attempts were made to circumvent the law.  Samaraweera alleges that the President had shown that he had no time to discuss matters of importance to the SLFP and the government, and at times after a couple of minutes of conversation with Rajapakse he was told that it should be discussed with his brothers, Basil or Gotabhaya.

Samaraweera has also charged that since the President did not seem interested in discussing matters with him he was compelled to send letters to him expressing his concerns over which the President may have been annoyed eventually leading to his sacking. Needless to say, the facts in Samaraweera's letter have also substantiated the many stories published in The Sunday Leader on the inner workings of the Rajapakse government including the exposures on Mihin Air and family interference in tender matters.

It is a dismal picture of governance during the past year that had been painted by a very senior member of the SLFP and government. Now with the installation of a cabinet of over 50 ministers of diverse political beliefs and policies it is extremely important that the Executive President should be giving directions in which way the government is to move. So far we see no movement in any direction and all that is evident is only political somersaulting both inspired and voluntary.

The roles played by the President's brothers - one a complete outsider and the other a relatively junior politician - are resented by senior members of the SLFP while the UNPers who crossed over so far appear to be mummified. Rajapakse, as we commented earlier, is saying one thing and acting quite contrary to his pronouncements as is evident from his stand on agreements with the JVP and the UNP. Meanwhile the government is seething with corruption and only the private sector growth appears to be keeping the economy going but even that is under threat going by Samaraweera's letter where he states nothing can be achieved without doling out commissions.

The time has now come to end this political somersaulting, which obviously has not had the desired affect of restoring stability to the government. On the contrary, as predicted by this newspaper just before the cross-over drama, it has only helped create more confusion and instability with Sri Lanka even qualifying to enter the Guinness Book of Records for having the largest cabinet in the world.

Perhaps some of the 10 points suggested by Samaraweera in his letter can give the President who seems to be in a dither a way out. But whether Medamulane Rajapakse is man enough to rise to the challenge is left to be seeing. It is all well and good to talk tough and flex muscles to elicit a whistle or two from the gallery, but there are times the President has to learn to also exercise those brain cells in the interest of the country and its people. Sri Lanka after all has not yet been fully privatised and named Rajapakse and Bros. Ltd. with the people their employees. At least not legislatively. Medamulane Mahendra Percival Rajapakse is still the servant of the people and maintained as such by the public purse. It necessarily follows therefore that he is also answerable to the people and not to his brothers.

There are some who attempt to console themselves by saying that disagreement and reconciliation are part of our culture and recent events should not be of much concern. It does appear that culture is now the refuge of the Sri Lankan scoundrel. Reconciliation should not be at the expense of covering up bribery, corruption and nepotism.