{"id":10682,"date":"2012-09-17T16:44:56","date_gmt":"2012-09-17T20:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=10682"},"modified":"2012-09-19T21:31:14","modified_gmt":"2012-09-20T01:31:14","slug":"najeeb-a-majeed-eastern-chief-minister-four-provincial-ministers-pillaiyan-wimalaweera-and-two-from-muslim-congress-acmc-and-nc-chairman-and-deputy-chairman-posts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=10682","title":{"rendered":"
Najeeb A Majeed – Eastern Chief Minister;<\/div>
Four Provincial Ministers-Pillaiyan, Wimalaweera and Two From Muslim Congress;<\/div>
ACMC and NC – Chairman and Deputy Chairman Posts<\/div>"},"content":{"rendered":"

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj<\/b><\/p>\n

President Rajapaksa Finalises Eastern Provincial Matters
\nAmidst Deep Muslim Party Discontent<\/h4>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

T<\/strong>he prickly issue of forming a new administration for the Eastern Provincial council was finally resolved by the direct intervention of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa after a high level meeting held at \u201cTemple Trees\u201d in Colombo on September 17th.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Najeeb A Majeed ~ via facebook.com\/abdulmajeed.mn<\/p><\/div>\n

President Rajapaksa after discussing matters with some ministers and influential Parliamentarians has decided upon a formula to appoint the new chief minister for the Eastern province and also allocate provincial ministry and chairman,deputy chairman posts.
\n
\nThe Eastern province power sharing formula decided upon will be announced before President Rajapaksa embarks upon his trip to India on September 18th.<\/p>\n

The Eastern provincial council arrangements were finalized by President Rajapaksa on September 17th because the dates 8,17 and 26 are said to be numerologically favourable to him.<\/p>\n

Among those present at the Temple Trees meeting were Cabinet ministers Basil Rajapaksa,Dullas Alahaperuma, Susil Premajayantha,Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Nimal Siripala de Silva , Maithripala Sirisena and parliamentarians Sajin de Vaas Gunewardene and Namal Rajapaksa.<\/p>\n

As stated in these columns earlier the Sri Lanka Freedom Party(SLFP)\u2019s solitary Muslim provincial councillor Najeeb Abdul Majeed elected on the United Peoples Freedom Alliance(UPFA)ticket from Trincomalee district will be the first Muslim Chief minister of the Eastern Province.Najeeb hails from Kinniya.<\/p>\n

Najeeb Abdul Majeed will be sworn in as the second chief Minister of the Eastern Province before President Rajapaksa on Tuesday September 18th. Najib will be both the first Muslim Chief minister of the East as well as the first ever Muslim Chief Minister in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) which contested separately from the UPFA and obtained seven seats will get two Provincial minister posts. One is likely to go to SLMC deputy leader Hafiz Naseer Ahamed who was elected from Batticaloa district. The other will be filled by either AM Jameel or M. Munsoor elected from Amparai district.<\/p>\n

Former Eastern Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillaiyan who was re-elected from Batticaloa district to the Eastern Council will also be given a ministerial portfolio in the Provincial council. Pillaiyan who is the leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalaip Puligal(TMVP)and contested on the UPFA ticket in the polls will represent the Sri Lankan Tamils in the provincial administration although the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) contesting on the house symbol of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK)got more than 90% of votes and seats from the Tamil areas of the province.<\/p>\n

Wimalaweera Dissanayake of the SLFP from Amparai district will be appointed as provincial minister to represent the Sinhala community in the East. He was the Eastern province Educational minister from 2008 to 2012.<\/p>\n

The National Congress(NC) and All Ceylon Muslim Congress (ACMC)led by cabinet ministers AHM Athaullah and Rishad Badiutheen will not be given any ministerial posts. Instead the Provincial council chairman and deputy chairman posts will be given to them. Both parties contesting on the UPFA ticket won three seats each in Amparai and Batticaloa districts totaling six seats<\/p>\n

The UPFA which won Twelve seats at the polls also obtained two additional bonus seats, taking its tally to fourteen. One bonus seat was given to former TMVP provincial minister Thuraiappa Navaratnarajah, a Tamil who contested and lost from Trincomalee. The other was granted to former UPFA councillor SM Jinasena a Sinhalese from Amparai district.Although the Muslim Congress demanded a bonus seat the request was not acceded to.<\/p>\n

The ethnic composition of the Eastern Provincial council is now fifteen Muslims,thirteen Tamils and Nine Muslims.<\/p>\n

The National Freedom Front which like the SLMC is a constituent of the Government but contested separately in Trinco district got one seat.This gave the UPFA the tally of fifteen seats in a thirty \u2013 seven member council.<\/p>\n

On the other hand the TNA which won eleven seats and the United National Party (UNP) with four seats arrived at a common understanding. With fifteen seats the TNA-UNP combine was on par with the UPFA in the council.<\/p>\n

Both sides began wooing the Muslim Congress which held the balance of power in the council with seven seats. The SLMC leader Rauf Hakeem projected the Muslim Congress as the \u201cKing Maker\u201d and went through an elaborate charade of consultations both within the party and also with other parties purportedly to decide on which course to adopt.<\/p>\n

It was however revealed in these columns that the SLMC was going through the motions of \u201cpre-decision consultations\u201d as an exercise in duplicity in a situation where Rauf Hakeem had already promised President Rajapaksa that the party would remain within the UPFA and support it to form the new administration in the East.<\/p>\n

The \u201chaggling\u201d described as \u201cnegotiations\u201dwas about issues such as chief minister,provincial ministers,chairman and deputy chairman posts,cabinet and deputy minister posts,bonus seats, carving out a new majority district in the Coastal regions of Amparai district, Appointments of Eastern provincial governor and GA posts, signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU)etc.<\/p>\n

Ultimately no MOU was signed. No decision has been taken officially on the requests made by the SLMC either. It is however not known whether favourable responses have been conveyed by President Rajapaksa to Hakeem confidentially.<\/p>\n

The question of another cabinet minister post and two or three deputy minister posts for the Muslim Congress could surface again if and when President Rajapaksa re-configures his Government in the weeks to come.<\/p>\n

Initially the Govt wanted to appoint Pillaiyan as chief minister but all the Muslim Parties as well as Muslim members of the SLFP wanted a Muslim to be chief minister this time.<\/p>\n

Thereafter a three corner tussle began with Hakeem wanting Naseer Ahamed as chief minister while Athaulla and Badiutheen wanted SMM Ameer Ali to be appointed. SLFP elements from the province wanted the first Muslim chief minister to be from their party.This made Najeeb the lone Muslim councillor from the SLFP the only choice available.<\/p>\n

With the SLMC and ACMC \u2013 NC objecting to someone from the opposite side being made chief minister the way was cleared for the SLFP\u2019s Najeeb A Majeed who is considered to be acceptable to all shades of Muslim opinion.<\/p>\n

The Muslim Congress is being given two minister posts in the province . This has deprived the ACMC and NC who are only being given the chairman and deputy chairman posts. Two former Provincial ministers Uduma Lebbe from Athaullah\u2019s party and Zubair from Rishad\u2019s party are likely to be appointed to these posts. It is also possible that chief ministerial contender Ameer Ali also may opt to be chairman.<\/p>\n

Even though the decisions are yet to be announced formally the news has begun spreading rapidly on the grapevine<\/p>\n

It is learnt that the President\u2019s decision is deeply resented by Eastern Province Muslim Congress elements at the grass roots level. <\/p>\n

There is a groundswell of discontent over Hakeem\u2019s conduct in this matter. The party leader is being accused by some SLMC stalwarts from the East that Hakeem and party chairman Basheer Segu Dawood are \u201cSelling out\u201d SLMC interests to the Govt.<\/p>\n

Former Colombo deputy mayor Azath Salley who contested the Easstern poll on the SLMC ticket and lost has expressed the opinion of many Muslim Congress members and supporters by stating that joining the GOvt amounted to a betrayal.<\/p>\n

Apart from the SLMC there is also great disappointment in ACMC and NC ranks that their parties have not been given any ministerial posts despite faring well at the polls and sharing six of the twelve UPFA seats between themselves.<\/p>\n

Hakeem in this case has scored a political point over these parties by depriving his rivals of ministerial office.<\/p>\n

It is very likely that President Rajapaksa will be faced with protests by disgruntled Muslim political sections from all sides except those within the SLFP when he returns from India.<\/p>\n

Despite the deep disappointment and discontent it remains to be seen whether any party claiming to represent the interests of Sri Lankan Muslims would have the political temerity to break ranks with President Rajapaksa on the Eastern Provincial council issue.<\/p>\n

The Govt knows that they will put up a \u201cSatham\u201d(sound)for public consumption but will tag along with them on account of tasting power through ministerial and deputy ministerial posts.<\/p>\n

Whatever protest expressed by ministers such as Hakeem,, Athaullah and Badiutheen are expected to be a \u201cTheneer Koppai Puyal\u201d(Tea cup tempest)<\/p>\n

The only factor which may affect the Muslim Congress hierarchy is the protest and pressure likely to be exerted by the party activists (Poraligal) from the East. While Hakeem can make the 85 member Uyar Peedam (High Command) or Supreme Council to comply with his wishes, he could be confronted with a serious challenge from the party\u2019s eastern province members and supporters.<\/p>\n

Hakeem hailing from Kandy district may also be accused of not being sensitive to Eastern sentiments as he is not a \u201cKizhakku Mannin Mainthan\u201d (son of the Eastern soil)<\/p>\n

It would require a very high degree of sophistry and casuistry to persuade Eastern Province supporters to accept the new arrangement after contesting elections separately in opposition to the Govt and whipping up Muslim emotions over a number of matters where the UPFA was portrayed negatively.<\/p>\n

Hakeem\u2019s loyalists however feel that their Thalaiver(leader) has the gift of the gab to win over the dissatisfied Muslim supporters in the East.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile as stated in these columns the TNA keeps waiting for the SLMC to team up with them and form a joint Eastern administration together with the UNP.This expectation of the TNA is very much akin to the \u201cIlavu Kaatha Kili\u201dplight of the parrot which waited in vain for the \u201cfruits\u201d of the Silk cotton wood tree to ripen.<\/p>\n

Adding insult to injury would be the spectacle of Pillaiyan becoming the Tamil minister in the new Provincial administration.<\/p>\n

Moves are also afoot to entice the UNP\u2019s sole Muslim provincial councillor into supporting the Govt. The UNP councillor Imran Maharoof elected from Trincomalee district is the son of former UNP Minster MEH Maharoof who was assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fifteen years ago.<\/p>\n

DBS Jeyaraj can be reached at dbsjeyaraj@yahoo.com<\/em><\/p>\n

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By D.B.S.Jeyaraj President Rajapaksa Finalises Eastern Provincial Matters Amidst Deep Muslim Party Discontent The prickly issue of forming a new administration for the Eastern Provincial council was finally resolved by the direct intervention of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa after a high level meeting held at \u201cTemple Trees\u201d in Colombo on September 17th. President Rajapaksa …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘<\/p>\n

Najeeb A Majeed – Eastern Chief Minister;<\/div>\n
Four Provincial Ministers-Pillaiyan, Wimalaweera and Two From Muslim Congress;<\/div>\n
ACMC and NC – Chairman and Deputy Chairman Posts<\/div>\n

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