By the “Sunday Times”Political Editor
The snowballing effect of President Sirisena’s remarks at a Cabinet meeting last month that the UNP leadership stalled high profile cases involving the former President, members of his family and associates continues to reverberate. There appears to have been considerable soul searching by the party hierarchy over those responsible and what form of action should be initiated against them.
It is in this backdrop that a group of UNP back-benchers supported by seniors collected signatures for a Vote of No-Confidence in Parliament on Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe. It was not only over his remarks against the Hambantota Port project with the Chinese, which he vowed to take back one day, but also covered other reasons.
As revealed in these columns last week, Premier Wickremesinghe persuaded those sponsoring the Vote of No Confidence not to proceed. He said that it required approval of the Working Committee and himself as the leader of the party.
When the Working Committee, the main policy making body of the party, and the Parliamentary Group met at a joint session at UNP headquarters Sirikotha on Thursday morning, moves against Rajapakshe dominated the discussion.
This time, Ashu Marasinghe MP proposed and Sydney Jayaratne MP seconded a motion to remove Rajapakshe from his portfolio as Minister of Justice. The accusations listed against him in the motion were:
• He failed to introduce new laws to prevent bribery and corruption in keeping with the United National Front manifesto.
• He failed to introduce new laws to re-acquire monies illegally gained by persons.
• The Minister has been criticised by the public for the failure to ensure justice to them due to the delay in hearing criminal cases.
• The actions of the Minister of Justice have eroded the popularity of the United National Party among the public.
Hence, the motion said, the UNP Working Committee and the UNP MPs have lost confidence in Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe.
There is little doubt that it was Rajapakshe’s responsibility, as the Minister of Justice, to have enforced some of the promises in President Sirisena’s pledge for a “Compassionate Government and a Stable Country” during the presidential election.
One promise was to make Constitutional provisions for the “establishment of a powerful Anti–Corruption Commission which is capable of finding out technical, managerial and financial corruption without any political interference in its activities.”
Another was to strengthen and activate the Commission to Inquire into Allegations of Bribery and Corruption by making it an independent Commission recognised by the Constitution. Sirisena pledged that action would be taken to reinforce corruption prevention structures in accordance with the Anti-Corruption Charter of the United Nations to which Sri Lanka is a signatory.
Follow up measures on such matters, no doubt, fell on the Ministry of Justice. That there has been no such action for the past two and half years is one thing. On the other hand, Minister Rajapakshe ran into a storm of controversy over his personal friendship with businessman Nissanka Senadipathi when controversies over his firm Avant Garde Maritime Services cropped up, something the Minister initially denied till Minister Sarath Fonseka released some damning photographs of the Minister and the wealthy businessman on holiday together overseas.
The Minister also kept saying he had no powers to have the Rajapaksas arrested, which though factually correct, fuelled speculation that he was protecting them.
The question that begs answer is why Government leaders paid no attention to Rajapakshe’s ‘serious lapses’ in the past two and half years. Despite ministers raising issue at Cabinet meetings and MPs shouting in Parliament against delays in cases against Avant Garde amassing wealth through a sole monopoly for maritime security, which Rajapakshe stoutly defended, action was not forthcoming in the past.
Moreover, civil society groups which backed the present government at the polls, also demanded last year that Rajapakshe be removed. It fell on deaf ears then. It is clear the wheels of justice or the troubleshooting has begun to move only after Sirisena admonished the UNP leadership.
At the joint UNP Working Committee–Parliamentary Group meeting on Thursday, speaker after speaker was bitterly critical about Minister Rajapakshe. It began with Deputy Minister Ajith Perera, one of the principal movers of the earlier No-Confidence Motion planned in Parliament against the Minister. He was critical about Rajapakshe’s contradictory views which brought embarrassment to the party. Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera, who made clear, it was not a personal issue, was emphatic that it concerned the party and the well-being of the Government.
Other speakers included, Sarath Fonseka, John Ameratunga, Nalin Bandara, Ruwan Wijewardene, Sydney Jayaratne, Harsha de Silva, Ranjan Ramanayake, Ananda Aluthgamage, Ashoka Abeysinghe, Chandima Gamage and Eran Wickremeratne. The only support for Rajapakshe came from Minister Daya Gamage who pleaded that his colleague’s case be considered sympathetically.
Rajapakshe to fight back
When it came to the end of the discussion, leader Wickremesinghe wanted to know whether there were any persons against the motion.
Wickremesinghe made no move to lay-by the motion. Amidst the silence, the motion was carried unanimously. In a move that surprised many of those who attended the joint Working Committee-Parliamentary Group meeting, Wickremesinghe named a three-member Committee to forward to him a report on the discussions, including the resolution, and recommend what action should be taken.
The Committee is headed by Mangala Samaraweera and includes party general secretary Kabir Hashim and Ravi Samaraweera. He has sought the report to be handed over to him as early as tomorrow (Monday) since he is expected to discuss the issue with President Sirisena. Should the Committee recommend Rajapakshe’s removal as Justice Minister, a position which has become somewhat irreversible after the resolution adopted at the joint meeting, such a course of action can only be taken by the President. This again is based on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
During Thursday’s joint meeting, Rajapakshe was on the back foot, denying he told newspapers in interviews that he would take back the Hambantota Port.
Retorting to the response was Ashu Marasinghe, who moved the resolution against him. He asked the Justice Minister why he had posted the full text of the interview in the Lankadeepa in his Facebook account. Rajapakshe did not answer. In an interview with our sister newspaper Lankadeepa , Rajapakshe declared he would not stop short of taking back the Hambantota Port through legal means.
Noting that it cannot be done by force, he declared, when asked whether he would quit the Government, Hitiyath Ekai, Nethath Ekai or no matter whether he remains or not. He has said elsewhere, that the country was bigger than the government to him.
When the joint meeting at Sirikotha ended, Wickremesinghe had a one-on-one meeting with Rajapakshe. No details of what they discussed were available.
According to a well-informed UNP source, leader Wickremesinghe could take a conciliatory approach to the issue only if Rajapakshe would publicly express his regrets and apologize for his lapses. “That way, it will become clear that the party as a whole was not responsible for scuttling or slowing down any probes and the public will get a clearer picture,” the source said.
However, Rajapakshe, a source close to him said, was in a defiant mood.
“He is neither going to resign nor offer apologies, for he has done no wrong,” the source said. He would, of course, not want to be equated with Ravi Karunanayake who also took up a similar position, before he eventually resigned last week. Rajapakshe has taken up the position that if he, as a President’s Counsel, was not fit to be a Justice Minister, who then would be suitable. He will choose his next step only after the form of action that would be taken against him was known to him, the source disclosed.
Rajapakshe yesterday attended religious ceremonies at the Malwate Temple in Kandy. In a Video posted later on his Facebook, he said he had no intention of quitting the Cabinet and declared the allegations against him were false. He said it was only the President who can decide whether he could be removed
Courtesy:Sunday Times