by Camelia Nathaniel

Veteran diplomat Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, when asked about the underworld activities that have raised its head again, said that one thing that must be said about the Rajapaksa administration is that under the former Secretary of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa there was relentless, one might even say ruthless rooting out the gangs and especially drug related gangs. He said that Gang violence was almost completely eliminated with the use of the STF. But that achievement added Dr. Jayatilleka, has been rolled back by the UNP government and there is a vicious gang violence emerging. This he pointed out is a clear sign of the lack of law and order, which was handled well when Gotabaya Rajapaksa was in charge.In an interview with The Sunday Leader he said that he does not see why president Sirisena does not invite Gotabaya Rajapaksa back into the state, and give him some serious developmental and security responsibilities.

Following are excerpts of the interview:-

Q: There is talk that the government does not have a proper economic strategy and the country’s economy is heading towards disaster at this rate. Do you agree with this statement?

A: We have to go by the available data and the measures taken by the government and what is the picture that emerges? The government has borrowed 6 billion US dollars during its first year in office. But we do not see any major or even mid-level construction that has taken place nor any kind of development projects that are being initiated as a result of this debt. Lately we have seen new taxes imposed which heaps burden on the consumer and functions as a disincentive for business. This is not what we expect from a UNP government, which is usually market friendly.

The most grotesque of all is the attitude towards China. The government came to office criticising China on electoral platforms. It threatened to discontinue the major Chinese projects and poked fun at the Chinese funded projects such as Mattala and Hambantota. But now there is a complete about turn, where Mr. Malik Samarawickrema soon to be followed by the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe are headed in the direction of China in order to secure funding for the same projects that the Rajapaksa administration embarked upon, but on a much larger scale. This is almost laughable. If the government knew that China was indispensable in Sri Lanka’s development, they should not have behaved in the manner they did towards China.

One might also say that there is complete discrepancy within the government west centric diplomatic and political orientation, and its attempt to rediscover the East like China as a source of capital, and financing for infrastructure. So the office of the government doesn’t know what it’s doing. I would have thought that the UNP government would have sought the advice of Ronnie de Mel, Sirisena Cooray and Susil Siriwardena in strategising the economy and in managing the development aspect but they have chosen not to do so and I find that inexplicable.

Q: The good governance regime spoke a lot about the corruption of the previous regime, but just 7 months down the line there are signs of corruption and malpractices. How do you see the former President CBK’s statement that although corruption still prevails, it’s not as bad as the previous regime?

A: I don’t think we should take Chandrika Kumaratunga seriously. I certainly don’t, and I personally don’t know anybody who does take her seriously. So I rather not bother answering to what she has said.
The more important point is that, while I don’t necessarily trust what the Rajapaksa’s have to say about corruption, I do trust the professional competence of the US homeland security. Foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera sought the assistance of US secretary of state John Kerry, and obtained the services of both the US department of homeland security and the US department of Justice to investigate the alleged corruption of the Rajapaksa’s. Now The US homeland security is an extremely competent and resourceful US agency. They were brought in early last year and they have found nothing and I don’t even know if they are still looking. Hence since I trust the competence of US homeland security, I have to conclude there is nothing much in the allegations of large scale corruption and large scale money transfers of the Rajapaksa family and administration.

Q: Do you see a certain level of political instability in the country?

A: Yes instability will in fact grow in the coming months because the UNP is embarking on very contentious and risky political measures. One of them is the full implementation of the Geneva resolution which the UNP government needlessly signed Sri Lanka up with. This means special laws, special courts and possible foreign participation in trials of senior military officers and political leaders who stamped out terrorism in this country.

When we look at the world today, whether it’s Syria, Belgium or France we are reminded of just how much scourge terrorism is and how we suffered from terrorism for nearly 30 years.

Now Mahinda Rajapaksa, Gotabaya and the military freed us from this scourge of terrorism. So the attempt to have trials with special laws, prosecutors and foreign participants is bound to cause serious social and political discontent in the country and this is bound to exacerbate the contradictions between the UNP and SLFP wings of the government not in the least because President Sirisena has taken a very correct stance and said that he is opposed to outside participation in any such investigation and accountability process.

Q: The opposition alleges that the government is postponing the LG elections because they are certain of losing at this point. What is your take on the postponement of the Local Government elections?

A: Minister Faizer Mustapha says that the delimitation process has to be concluded before the elections are held and I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on that. But I must remind the government that further delaying it the more unpopular the government will be and the more popular the joint opposition is likely to be. So it’s up to the government to decide when they are going to hold the LG elections but they must be aware that the time is not working in their favour.

Q: The recent joint opposition rally was seen by some as a growing support for Mahinda Rajapaksa, What is your view?

A: I don’t know if it’s an indication of the people’s desire for the return of the Rajapaksa regime. But I do know that Hyde Park was the largest opposition rally to be held within one year of any newly elected government.

I have as a young boy attended a rally at Hyde Park with my late father Mervyn de Silva and I must say that I have never seen a rally as the recent one at Hyde Park.

Now this is not by the ruling government, not even the official opposition, not by the official SLFP but by a group of numerically large population of MP’s under the parliamentary leadership of Dinesh Gunawardena and the National leadership of the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. I think it’s a remarkable comeback by the opposition.

The UNP had a mobilisation just before that which aimed to culminate in a rally at Hyde Park, but they just did not have enough people. Although they had the legals of state power and they brought people in busses, the UNP just did not have enough people to hold a rally at Hyde Park. So instead they had to be content with a rally at Lipton Circus, where trade unionists usually have picketing campaigns and that is a pretty pathetic performance for a ruling party.

Hence the official SLFP leadership has to make its mind up. According to the SLFP’s official leadership, what is the opposition or alternative to the UNP? Do they think that there should not be one? They have to answer these questions. I have always been in the opposition to the UNP especially given the ultra-right wing and pro-western policies of Prime Minister Wickremesinghe. If the SLFP is in coalition with the UNP, the opposition is bound to crystalise around the joint opposition and that is what has happened.
What it shows is not a definite return of Mahinda Rajapaksa, but it shows that Rajapaksa is a political factor that cannot be marginalised in this country.

Q: The practice of dashing coconuts and grinding pepper etc is something we have seen a lot these days. How do you see this new trend?

A: I personally do not participate in such activities, nor do I come within miles of any such activity. But in the social stars literature there is a term known as primary forms of Nationalist resistance. Primary forms of Nationalist resistance involve cultural modes of resistance and that is what we are seeing. So while I am not a fan of such practices, I can understand why such practices are resorted to and it’s an expression of emotions of those who are alarmed by the policies of the UNP government.

Courtesy:The Sunday Leader