There are no permanent friends or foes in politics, it is said. The centre stage of politics wonders what’s happening behind the screen. Mahinda Rajapaksa loyalists did not give up the battle to seek nomination to Mahinda. While the centre stage was kept in suspense about the issue, Susil Premajayantha on Friday issued a letter stating that the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) has decided to give nomination to Mahinda and that the decision was taken at a meet presided over by President Maithripala Sirisena, the previous night. As it stands, the contents of this letter quoting Maithri had not been denied so far by him.
It stated that Mahinda would get UPFA nomination and there was no reference to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). Mahinda is a Patron of the SLFP and the SLFP is the main constituent of the UPFA. Therefore, Mahinda would certainly have to get nomination from the SLFP to contest the elections as the SLFP does not give nominations to the constituent parties in the Aliance. The SLFP General Secretary, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa is yet to issue a statement endorsing Premajayantha’s letter which stated that the UPFA had decided to give nomination to Mahinda.
Mahinda loyalists had done hard work to ensure that Mahinda gets nomination. The team led by Dinesh Gunawardene, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Kumara Welgama and Wimal Weerawansa worked round the clock to convince the SLFP leadership towards achieving that task. As it stands now, they’ve been successful as Mahinda has won the day. In the recent days several moves took place regarding the issue of nomination to Mahinda. The initial move was to name Mahinda as the prime ministerial candidate of the UPFA.
However, that proposal met with stiff resistance from the rank and file close to Maithri and Maithri himself was not in favour. Mahinda loyalists who campaign for him held a series of public rallies since Mahinda’s defeat, around the country. Finally, Mahinda decided to call a meeting at his Medamulana residence last Wednesday to make an announcement that he would accept the public request to return to active politics. He called this meeting after the committee which worked towards a Maithri-Mahinda unity gave the green light. Maithri had told the committee that he would not permit Mahinda to be the team leader of the campaign and had ruled out the move to name Mahinda as the prime ministerial candidate. Maithri had pointed out that if it was necessary he could consider giving nomination to Mahinda.
This message was conveyed to Mahinda, who was in Kandy that day with Keheliya Rambukwella, by Susil Premajayantha and Anura Priyadarshana Yapa. Mahinda returned to his Mirihana residence the same evening to hold a meeting with his loyalists. Accordingly, the Mahinda faction sought the approval of Mahinda towards the move to accept the nomination offer made by Maithri. It was decided to proceed ahead with the move on nomination with Maithri. On receipt of the move to offer nominations to Mahinda, the Maithri faction looked excited and annoyed. Accordingly, Rajitha Senaratne, Ven. Maduluwawe Sobhitha Thera, Lal Wijenaike, smaller political parties and civil society organizations which backed Maithri called on the latter to express their views. Rajitha pointed out that no room should be left for Mahinda to enter the election fray from the party. Maithri agreed and Rajitha informed his associates about the stand of the President with regard to giving any political space to Mahinda.
Later Ven. Sobhitha Thera called on Maithri to express his opposition towards accommodating Mahinda and warned that civil society organizations and other entities would traverse round the country against moves to bring back Mahinda into active politics. Similarly, Lal Wijenaike and his supporters met Maithri and urged the latter not to leave space for Mahinda to return into politics. With the news spreading that Mahinda was to get nomination, much pressure was brought on Chandrika Kumaratunga asking her to stop that move. A large number of SLFP loyalists called at her residence to put pressure on the move to bring back Mahinda. Chandrika too held the view that Mahinda should not be given nomination. They also stated to Chandrika that if Mahinda succeeded in his attempt to get nominations, the ‘Swan’ symbol should be kept ready to contest separately. They requested Chandrika to hold talks with Ranil Wickremesinghe in that regard. Malik Samarawickreme informed Chandrika that another section aware of the move to offer nomination to Mahinda were holding talks with Ranil to use the ‘Swan’ symbol in the event Maithri offered nomination to Mahinda. Meanwhile, the civil society organizations which backed Maithri at the January presidential election conducted a protest against giving nomination to Mahinda opposite the Fort Railway Station under the theme: ‘Let’s honour the people’s verdict and prevent Mahinda’s return’.
Basil back to base
Basil Rajapaksa out on bail after being in remand for over one month has returned to the political scene behind the curtain. He was present at a meeting held at Sarana Gunawardene’s Colombo residence. There it was discussed to form a new party to enable Mahinda to contest the upcoming general election in the event the SLFP or the UPFA refused nominations. Following Mahinda’s announcement at Medamulana last Wednesday a number of private meets among Mahinda loyalists were conducted at several places in Colombo. Also, the Maithri and the Mahinda factions too met to discuss future plans on how to forge ahead.
As the move proceeded to give nomination to Mahinda, Maithri summoned John Seneviratne, Susil Premajayantha and Anura Yapa to his official residence. The trio thought that the meet was called to give the green light to Mahinda to contest the forthcoming election. At the time they arrived, the Indian High Commissioner was in discussion with the President. The discussion dragged on for hours and the trio was informed that the President was not able to meet them. As they were about to leave Maithri’s residence, they received a message contrary to the one they carried to Mahinda who was in Kandy earlier that it has been decided not to give nomination to Mahinda.
Party Leaders Meet
In a bid to decide on Mahinda’s nomination issue, a face to face meeting with UPFA party leaders was held by Maithri at the Presidential Secretariat last Thursday. Nearly twenty coalition leaders were present and Maithri requested them to place their views. Dinesh, Vasu, Athaulla and Thondaman pointed out that without the Mahinda factor, the UPFA cannot dream to contest the August elections as the coalition would face a certain defeat. D.E.W. Gunasekere urged the President to act on such reality. Contrary to the views expressed in favour of Mahinda, Nishantha Warnasinghe of the Jathika Hela Urumaya said: “We must take a decision on this issue today itself. One day it is said Mahinda will not be given nomination and on another that becomes ‘yes’. We must know your stand clearly. We need to take our stand as a party”.
Maithri stated that his personal opinion was against giving nomination to Mahinda and added: “My personal opinion is against the move. But I cannot decide alone. I will talk to my ministers tonight and let you know by 10:00 a.m. tomorrow”.
Ministerial Group
Maithri met his party ministerial group the same night to discuss the issue of granting nomination to Mahinda. At this discussion that dragged on for over two hours, a number of ministers spoke in favour of giving nomination to Mahinda. However, some others vehemently opposed the proposal and amongst them were Rajitha Senaratne, Arjuna Ranatunga, M.K.A.D.S. Gunawardena and Thilanga Sumathipala. They said Mahinda should not be given nomination as such a move would contravene the pledge given to the people on 8 January.
Among those who spoke in favour of Mahinda were S.B. Dissanayake, Sarath Amunugama, Felix Perera, Reginold Cooray, Lasantha Alagiyawanna, Sudarshani Fernandopulle, Duminda Dissanayake and Lalith Dissanayake. In the face of stiff resistance from Rajitha, another group comprising Lakshman Seneviratne and Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene proposed to plan out a strategy to overcome the crisis. They said: “We must think strategically at this moment. If we do not give nomination to Mahinda that could also be an issue, so let’s give him nomination and entrust the President the right to offer nomination to others.
Don’t allow Mahinda to interfere with the nomination process”. Maithri looked in a mood to endorse that view and said: “You all say that Mahinda must be given nomination, I have no objection”.
Mahinda’s meet
Around 6:00 p.m. last Thursday, Mahinda’s residence at Mirihana was busy with his faction holding talks. As many quarters hinted that Mahinda may not get nomination, the faction of Mahinda proposed to find an alternative path if nomination were denied. “Under the present situation it would be futile to even dream of a united path. The Maithri faction says it will offer nomination and change the minds in the evenings. We also tried our best to unite the two factions. If that cannot be done, we must think of an alternative”, they claimed. At this point several mobile phones rang and SMS messages indicated that Mahinda was unlikely to get nomination. The angry MPs yelled: “See these messages….However much we try to unite them, they are opposed. These messages state that Maithri had opposed it. Let us decide on an alternative path”. On receipt of information that Maithri would announce his position the following morning, Mahinda supporters calmed down and decided to await Maithri’s announcement.
Susil’s residence
After the meet at Mirihana, Mahinda and the crowd moved to Susil Premajayantha’s residence where Anura Yapa, John Seneviratne and Nimal Siripala De Silva were present. There it was urged to maintain patience as the SLFP ministerial group meeting of Maithri had reportedly given the green light to offer nomination to Mahinda. This meet concluded around 2:00 a.m. last Friday and it was further decided to hold another meet at 8:30 a.m. the same day at the same venue. Later Susil, Nimal and Anura decided to call on Maithri to further discuss the issue. Maithri refused to accept some proposals put forward by the trio and the Maithri faction had agreed to offer nomination to Mahinda. This was conveyed by Susil to the Mahinda faction on Friday morning. Towards the afternoon a media release was being prepared at the SLFP headquarters. Quoting instructions from President Sirisena, the text stated that the UPFA had agreed to grant nomination to Mahinda. The release did not mention that Mahinda would be the prime ministerial candidate or the team leader. Following the issuing of this news release, the Mahinda faction held a news briefing at the Abhayarama Temple, Narahenpita accepting the decision to give nominations to Mahinda.
WPC Chief Minister
In the face of stiff opposition towards giving nomination to Mahinda, Chief Minister of the Western Provincial Council, Prasanna Ranatunga, an ardent supporter of Mahinda said that he would contest the forthcoming general election together with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, whether the latter contests from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), UPFA or separately.
Ranatunga said he would contest from the Gampaha District in support of the Mahinda faction.
Ranatunga said while efforts were being made to bring about unity in the SLFP and UPFA, the former President and his supporters would contest alone if all efforts failed. Ranatunga made these observations while the Mahinda faction planned a new alliance which comprised several political parties that support Rajapaksa who sought the shade of Mahinda to enter Parliament. Following the UPFA press release that Mahinda had been given nomination, it is learnt that all plans to form a new alliance had been set aside.
While Prasanna expressed views in the open to support Mahinda, the Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID) on Thursday recorded a statement from his wife over a land deal.
Earlier, the FCID also filed a case against Chief Minister Ranatunga at the Fort Magistrate’s Court, for allegedly accepting a sum of Rs15 million from a businessman to perform an official duty.
Early developments
A proposal has been made to nominate former Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa as the prime ministerial candidate of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Higher Education and Research Minister Sarath Amunugama said last Thursday as the nomination of Mahinda Rajapaksa continued to drag on. This statement followed appeals within the party to name a prime ministerial candidate from the SLFP. However, Chamal has expressed his desire to retire from active politics on 7 July. Contrary to this statement of Amunugama, President Sirisena firmly holds the position that his party will not name a prime ministerial candidate till the polls are concluded. Following the granting of nomination to Mahinda many political party leaders could not be contacted for comment and some kept their phones switched off to avoid the media.
China vs. India
With the Chinese funded Colombo Port City Project put on hold by the Colombo Government with India raising issues over the regional maritime security, Beijing this week claimed that the South Asian seas were not the backyard of India. A Press Trust of India report stated: “China recognizes India’s special role in stabilizing the strategic Indian Ocean region but the perception that it is India’s ‘backyard’ may result in clashes, Chinese military officials and experts have cautioned”.
“The word backyard is not very appropriate to use for an open sea and international areas of sea,” Senior Captain Zhao Yi, Associate Professor of the Institute of Strategy in China’s National Defence University, said during a rare candid interaction with the resident Indian journalists in Beijing and a visiting Indian media delegation. “I admit geographically speaking, India has a special role to play in stabilizing the Indian Ocean and the South Asian region,” he said while replying to a question on rising concerns in India over the Chinese Navy’s increasing forays into the Indian Ocean. If India views the Indian Ocean as a backyard, then how do, the navies of United States, Russia and Australia have free navigation in the Indian Ocean, he asked. Citing the observations of a US researcher who predicted that Indian Ocean could be the focus of 21st century and as a result severe clashes could break out, Captain Zhao said though he did not agree with the American scholar, such a possibility cannot be “eliminated” if the Indian Ocean is continued to be perceived as India’s backyard. Chinese Navy’s increasing presence in the Indian Ocean comes in the background of the release of a White Paper published by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) recently, outlining a new military strategy enhancing its Navy’s duties for the first time to “open seas protection” far from its shores. Also the presence of Chinese submarines at Colombo Port last year and most recently in Karachi sparked concerns in India.
The interaction between the Indian media and a team of Chinese military experts headed by spokesman of the Chinese Defence Ministry, Senior Colonel Yang Yujun, arranged by the All China Journalists Association was aimed at promoting better understanding between the two countries as they seek to forge closer political, military and trade ties. Elaborating on PLA Navy’s activities in Indian Ocean, Zhang Wei, researcher of the PLA Navy Academic Institute, said since 1985, Chinese Navy ships visited lot of countries in the Indian Ocean region including India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan. More Chinese ships are crossing the Indian Ocean as it has become a major pipeline for trade for China, she said. Also the Chinese Navy’s presence there is to protect the security of sea lines especially against piracy. The PLA Navy provided escort services to over 6,000 ships in the Gulf of Aden. Half of them were foreign vessels, Zhang said. “So I do not agree that the presence of Chinese naval ships is expansion of the Chinese military,” Zhang said. “The Chinese Government has been very prudent in handling PLA Navy’s navigation to the Indian Ocean. Most of the time our submarines go to Indian Ocean, we diplomatically inform our neighbouring countries.
We should enhance cooperation in order to enhance mutual trust at the level of military and government. By conducting trainings and mutual visits, mutual trust can be gained,” she said. On the Malabar Exercises involving Navies of India, the US, Japan and Australia, spokesman Yang said the exercises should be conducive to the region and should not violate interests of any third party. On the establishment of Air Defence Identification Zone, (ADIZ) in the disputed South China Sea (SCS), Senior Colonel Yang Yujie, Director, PLA Air Force Command, said China did not properly convey its message of imposing in ADIZ in East China Sea when it was imposed in 2013. Misunderstandings about Chinese ADIZ persisted even though more than 20 countries have imposed their own ADIZs. While establishing an ADIZ in SCS is in the scope of China’s sovereign right, the situation in the SCS at present is stable, Yang said: “We have the confidence and willingness to maintain stability and peace in the SCS. That is why we did not come up with the decision to establish ADIZ in the SCS,” she said.”
COURTESY:CEYLON TODAY