Six months after being voted out of the presidency, Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa has bounced back to become a candidate for the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) at the August 17 parliamentary elections. He will choose from three different districts — Gampaha, Kurunegala or Ratnapura.
“I was willing to agree to anything that would not divide our party. We will ensure a victory and protect our country,” Rajapaksa told the Sunday Times. His successor, President Maithripala Sirisena, had earlier ruled out any role for him at the polls. The doors of the UPFA were thrown wide open to him on Friday. His close allies are now striving hard to persuade Sirisena to let Rajapaksa lead the campaign, though he has refused to name Rajapaksa as the prime ministerial candidate. They believe that is an issue to be tackled after the polls.
These developments saw dark clouds swallowing up the ‘rainbow coalition’ that emerged after the presidential election of January 8. Some 40 political parties and civil society organisations had led a turbo-charged campaign to ensconce Sirisena as the sixth Executive President of Sri Lanka. To say they were disappointed would be an understatement. They were livid. “It is unbelievable that such a thing could happen. In politics, nothing is impossible. We will have to wait and see,” said a shocked Minister Lakshman Kiriella, Leader of the House and Senior Vice President of the United National Party (UNP), after the UPFA decision was announced.
Sirisena swore in a minority UNP Government after he won — an election pledge he had made. Most UNPers were strongly critical of him now. Their leader, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, told close friends he had met Sirisena at a religious event hours before the announcement. Sirisena had told him that Rajapaksa would not be given nominations. There was disbelief in many quarters as a euphoric wave and jubilation shifted from one camp to another within just six months. Members of the Colombo-based diplomatic community, particularly those from the West, were shocked and even shaken. So was former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga who persuaded Sirisena to contest the presidential poll.
Allies livid over Sirisena’s decision
As a UPFA trio continued silent diplomacy with Sirisena in the past week, smaller partners of the coalition, privy to this dialogue were incensed. The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) was then sounding out like-minded parties and groups to form a new alliance. Its efforts intensified after news broke that Rajapaksa would be a UPFA candidate. Now, the JHU wants to take on both Sirisena and Wickremesinghe. A few others in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) either want to join this proposed alliance or become members of the UNP. Among those mentioned as possible new members are Arjuna Ranatunga, S.B. Nawinne, M.K.A.D.S. Gunawardena and Nandimitra Ekanayake. Nawinne is expected to do so today.
J.C. Weliamuna, a human rights activist and a key figure behind the Government’s tardy anti-corruption drive, lamented, “It’s inevitable that Mahinda Rajapaksa will stop all investigations if he wins. He will want to make sure his family is protected. We have seen horrendous human rights violations under his rule. There was a collapse of law and order. Journalists were harassed. People should remember all this and vote him out.”
The Ven. Maduluwave Sobitha Thera, leader of the National Movement for Social Justice, declared, “We have not been formally informed of the decision.” He added that President Sirisena should make “a clear statement.” Nirmal Devasiri, spokesperson for the Federation of University Teachers, said. “We brought Maithripala Sirisena to power by helping to defeat Mahinda Rajapaksa. He is now bringing him back. This is a paradoxical situation. The one who was defeated and the winner are going to work together. Sirisena is going against the wishes of the very people who voted for him.”
However, one of the UPFA leaders, parliamentarian Dinesh Gunawardena (who heads the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna – MEP) and a member of the team that held the last round of talks with Sirisena, welcomed the move. “It brings tremendous strength to UPFA forces and unites all factions within the alliance. We are now more confident of a victory at the elections,” he told the Sunday Times. He said the President is the leader of both the SLFP and the UPFA. It is only natural that he would want to forge unity particularly with the elections around, he added.
Another UPFA partner, Wimal Weerawansa, leader of the National Freedom Front (NFF), said a so-called 100-day work programme was over a long time ago. Both the President and his predecessor had personal differences but have come together to take the country forward. “The victory that was achieved by fooling the people through falsehood is now laid bare,” he said. “The UNP wanted to divide us, but failed,” pointed out Vasudeva Nanayakkara, leader of the Nava Sama Samaja Party (NSSP), another UPFA partner. Most of the UPFA leaders together with Rajapaksa were at the official residence of Western Province Chief Minister Prasanna Ranatunga till late Friday night. There was plenty of light hearted banter over the ‘success’ of their efforts.
The move to allow Rajapaksa to contest the parliamentary elections on the UPFA ticket was the result of a behind-the-scenes dialogue in the past days. It was carried out by Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva, UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayantha and SLFP General Secretary Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, with President Sirisena. This was a follow up of the meeting Sirisena held with Rajapaksa on Thursday (June 25) night at his Wijerama Road residence. The outcome was a visit by the trio for talks with Sirisena last Monday. As revealed last week, this was the understanding the President and his predecessor had reached. They wanted to pursue a quiet dialogue. This was whilst different parties made different claims, including denials of any talks.
During a lengthy session that lasted more than two hours, they discussed several issues. The main focus was on the role of Rajapaksa at the upcoming parliamentary elections. The trio were unanimous in their view that if they were to win the parliamentary elections, Rajapaksa would have to play a role. Sirisena had ruled out the possiblity of the former President being made the prime ministerial candidate. It was both Yapa and Premajayantha who insisted that Rajapaksa should be allowed to contest from any district. This indeed was a dilemma for Sirisena. Here were the two General Secretaries, one for the UPFA and the other from the SLFP, taking up a strong position for Rajapaksa.
It was coming at a time when the President had alienated the support of the majority parliamentarians in the UPFA. Most of them were accusing him of leaning heavily towards the UNP, allegedly ‘ignoring its misdeeds’ and thus endangering the UPFA’s prospects at the parliamentary elections. Sirisena’s close advisors even feared the two General Secretaries, who wielded all the legal power, could throw their lot with Rajapaksa and legitimately grant nominations to those of their choice. In such an event, removal of them could become a legal battle in courts. Sirisena was receptive to Rajapaksa being allowed to contest.
Of course, he made clear there would be no conditions attached. He said he was not compromising on any matter since he contested under a different symbol. Since then he had become leader of the UPFA and the SLFP and it was now his responsibility to conduct its affairs. So he had to heed their calls and decisions. The talks had to be adjourned for a while. This was to allow Sirisena to attend Premier Wickremesinghe’s Iftar party at “Temple Trees.” When it resumed, the trio were to hint that they may even be forced to give up politics if they failed to put forward only a single list of candidates that included Rajapaksa. There was also the issue of nominations being denied to some parliamentarians. The names mentioned include Mervyn Silva, Duminda Silva and Sajin de Vass Gunawardena.
Rajapaksa in Kandy
That Monday evening, the trio drove to Kandy. Rajapaksa was on a visit there and a meeting followed at the residence of parliamentarian Lohan Ratwatte, son of the late Anuruddha Ratwatte. After Rajapaksa was briefed, he began making telephone calls. He asked MEP leader Dinesh Gunawardena for his views. He was in favour. Wimal Weerawansa was asked. He was agreeable too. It was Basil Rajapaksa, who used a mobile phone to reach Udaya Gammanpila who was on a tour of France and Italy. He sought details and was hesitant, but gave his nod. Vasudeva Nanayakkara said that Rajapaksa should work on an agreement. It was agreed that these UPFA leaders would meet on Tuesday night when Rajapaksa returned to Colombo. At that meeting he briefed them and a consensus was arrived at.
In that backdrop, a five-member committee appointed by Sirisena (soon after his meeting with Rajapaksa last Thursday) went to work. They were consulting UPFA partners separately to obtain their views on Rajapaksa’s candidacy and related issues. The first meeting last Monday was with members of the Communist Party led by D.E.W. Gunasekera. They said they were in favour of Rajapaksa’s candidature. The five-member committee comprised Sarath Amunugama, Thilanga Sumathipala, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, S.B. Dissanayake and Reginold Cooray. Amunugama later said they had handed in a report on how accord could be reached with parties within the alliance. “We recommended that every effort should be made to bring together all members of the alliance, irrespective of differences of views, to contest parliamentary elections,” Amungama declared at a news conference. He said the committee had talked to 17 parties and there were eight more to be spoken to. They were also talking to civil society groups.
On Wednesday the trio — Susil Premajayantha, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Nimal Siripala de Silva — met Sirisena to convey that Rajapaksa was willing to be a candidate consequent to their discussions. Sirisena was to reply that he would consult others in the party that same night and would get back to them. There was some confusion over the next meeting. The trio turned up at the Wijerama Mawatha residence to find Sirisena had shifted to his new official bungalow at Paget Road. It is located less than a hundred metres from the Senior Police Officer’s mess.
Finality was reached when the trio met Sirisena on Friday. He was shown a copy of a draft statement that was to be issued by Premajayantha as General Secretary of the UPFA. The President read through and gave his approval. This is what it said:
“As discussed at the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) party leaders meeting on July 02, 2015 presided over by the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the UPFA, President Maithripala Sirisena, it was decided to grant nominations to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to contest the upcoming 2015 Parliamentary elections under the UPFA. Accordingly, in the next few days nominations will be prepared.
“Soon after nominations are completed the UPFA elections operations committee, with the participation of the political parties will commence its activities. Our hope is to achieve victory at the 2015 Parliamentary elections contesting under a broad people’s front with the progressive forces of the SLFP and the UPFA.”
As a UPFA candidate, Rajapaksa will now take part in a rally in Anuradhapura on Thursday (July 9). Last Wednesday, from his ancestral home at Medamulana, he announced his candidature but did not declare on whose ticket he was contesting. He did indicate that all the UPFA leaders were with him that day and in support of him coming forward. There was no finality by then, however, to the dialogue under way with Sirisena. The Medamulana event was telecast live over Carlton Sports Channel (CSN) with which Rajapaksa’s sons are closely associated. Not all of the 87 MPs who are supporting him turned up. There were, however, some new faces like Neomal Perera, Gunaratne Weerakoon and Nirmala Kotelawala.
A reference in these columns last week that a dinner hosted by Western Province Chief Minister Prasanna Ranatunga at his official residence was originally planned to be held at the Water’s Edge in Battaramulla had drawn a response. Its General Manager Rohan Fernandopulle says, “Although inquiries had been made to host the dinner…….. due to unavailability with regards to prior bookings, the hotel could not accommodate the request. However, an available time was immediately suggested….” Parliamentarian Mahindananda Aluthgamage who made the arrangements for the dinner told the Sunday Times “the claim is utter rubbish. They accepted our booking made through my Secretary Ovinda Sikuradikpathi. It was for 120 guests. We even printed the cards with the venue mentioned. When they learnt Mahinda Rajapaksa was coming, they backed out. They said they could not allow it. They are now making misleading statements.”
Courtesy:Sunday Times