{"id":42878,"date":"2015-08-25T18:27:24","date_gmt":"2015-08-25T22:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=42878"},"modified":"2015-08-25T18:27:24","modified_gmt":"2015-08-25T22:27:24","slug":"return-of-chandrika-to-active-politics-paves-way-for-rise-of-the-bandaranaike-brandin-the-slfp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=42878","title":{"rendered":"Return of Chandrika to Active Politics Paves Way for Rise of the \u201cBandaranaike Brand\u201din the SLFP."},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

By<\/p>\n

Rasika Jayakody<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Former President Kumaratunga heads the Office for National Unity. She is also now playing a leading role in the SLFP. And she chaired the Committee which drafted the MoU from their side. President Maithripala Sirisena and the former President Kumaratunga have a moderating influence in the SLFP and I think they are spearheading a movement to revive the SLFP brand, as we call it. We, the UNP never gave up identity; we may have alliances but we never gave up identity. The SLFP is suffering the consequence of submerging their identity in the UPFA and having their personality cults.”<\/em> – Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, excerpts from his interview with The Hindu on August 24.<\/strong><\/p>\n

M<\/strong>ahinda Rajapaksa can be dubbed as the longest-standing rival of Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga within the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.<\/p>\n

When S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, Kumaratunga’s father, crossed the aisle of Parliament on July 12, 1951 to form a centre-left political party, Beliatta MP D.A. Rajapaksa, father of Mahinda Rajapaksa, also walked beside him. Interestingly, Rajapaksa was not among the MPs with whom Bandaranaike discussed his crossover. Those who discussed the move with Bandaranaike did not follow suit while the MP from Beliatta, much to the surprise of Bandaranaike, crossed the aisle of the House behind him. <\/p>\n

There are many anecdotes surrounding D.A. Rajapaksa’s strange and unexpected move. Ironically, despite D. A. Rajapaksa being one of the founding members of the party, he remained in the peripheries when it came to its decision making process. D.A. Rajapaksa was not given a Cabinet portfolio when the SLFP-led coalition came to power in 1956 with an overwhelming majority in Parliament.<\/p>\n

Although the Bandaranaike legacy continued in the party from 1951 to 2006, the Rajapaksas were not part of the party’s inner circles until the emergence of Mahinda Rajapaksa as the SLFP leader following his victory at the Presidential election in November, 2005.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

After becoming the SLFP Leader, Rajapaksa,’re-wrote’ the party’s history, projecting his father as a co-founder of the SLFP, alongside Bandaranaike. While erasing the traces of the Bandaranaike legacy, Rajapaksa made a feverish attempt to create a ‘Rajapaksa legacy’ in the party, placing important decision making bodies of the party under the members of the Rajapaksa family. <\/p>\n

Party members who maintained relations with members of the Bandaranaike family were “blacklisted” and sidelined while those who re-wrote the party history in favour of the Rajapaksas were benefited in numerous ways. During Mahinda Rajapaksa’s tenure as the party Chairman, D.A. Rajapaksa’s death commemoration was way more significant than that of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, the “real” founder of the SLFP. This farcical trend, which developed over the past 10 years, earned the ire of the SLFP old guard and a sizable proportion disgruntled members of the party aligned themselves with Maithripala Sirisena when the latter challenged Rajapaksa’s presidency in November, 2014.<\/p>\n

This, to a certain extent, explains the hostility between Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Mahinda Rajapaksa.<\/p>\n

Mahinda – CBK feud in 1982<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, the feud between Bandaranaike and Rajapaksa has another dimension.<\/p>\n

It goes back to the time when Anura Bandaranaike who, in the early 80s, rebelled against the leadership of his mother, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, demanding party leadership. The intra-party campaign against Sirimavo Bandaranaike gained ground when she lost her civic rights in 1980 following an inquiry initiated by the J.R. Jayewardena regime. <\/p>\n

The rebel group led by Anura Bandaranaike and Maithripala Senanayake claimed that a person who did not have civic rights should not remain as the party leader.<\/p>\n

Mahinda Rajapaksa, probably due to his close friendship with Anura Bandaranaike, was seen as a supporter of this campaign. They held meetings with grassroots level activists of the party claiming the SLFP leadership should be changed. They were, in many ways, similar to the village level meetings held by Pro-Rajapaksa group in the recent past, demanding Prime Ministerial candidacy for Rajapaksa. It was widely known among political circles that during the early 80s, Rajapaksa often referred to Anura Bandaranaike as “lokka”.<\/p>\n

During the presidential election campaign in 1982, SLFP presidential candidate Hector Kobbekaduwa was not supported by the Anura Bandaranaike-Maitripala Senanayake of which Mahinda Rajapaksa too was a supporter. In fact, addressing a meeting in Balangoda, Anura Bandaranaike said the SLFP’s presidential candidate Kobbekaduwa was a ‘contractor’ and he would hand over the post of President to the leader of the party.<\/p>\n

This remark went viral and it damaged the entire election campaign of the SLFP in an irreparable manner, plunging Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and her husband Vijaya Kumaratunga, the key speakers of Hector Kobbekaduwa’s campaign, into a difficult situation.<\/p>\n


\nBattle renews in 1992<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the early 90s, Rajapaksa ran into another confrontation with Kumaratunga when he organized the “Pada Yathra” from Colombo to Kataragama against the then UNP government in the aftermath of the 88-89 insurrection. When Kumaratunga, who returned to Sri Lanka from the UK, joined the march in Matara, Rajapaksa, the main organizer of the march, scolded her in public in foul language. As a result, Bandaranaike went back to Colombo without participating in the ‘Pada Yathra’ campaign. This incident, quite obviously, left a bad taste in her mouth.<\/p>\n

Rajapaksa faced a tough time when he had to work as a Minister under President Kumaratunga’s government. As Rajapaksa was the chief architect of ‘Pada Yatra’, ‘Jana Gosha’ and ‘Minis Damwela’ (Human Chain) campaigns which were instrumental in bringing the 17 year UNP rule to an end, many thought he would be given an influential Cabinet portfolio under the Kumaratunga administration. However, President Kumaratunga only gave him the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, a “second tier” ministry in the Kumaratunga government. A few years later, he was entrusted with the task of handling the Fisheries Ministry.<\/p>\n

It was the then SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena who persuaded President Kumaratunga to appoint Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister in 2004. In fact, the JVP, a key stakeholder of the UPFA government in 2004, opposed Rajapaksa’s appointment as the Prime Minister as their choice for the position was Lakshman Kadirgamar. After becoming the Prime Minister, Rajapaksa swiftly consolidated his position in the party as the coalition’s future Presidential candidate. <\/p>\n

Kumaratunga’s original plan was to announce the Presidential election in 2006 and nominate Anura Bandaranaike as the Presidential candidate of the party, overlooking Mahinda Rajapaksa. Former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva’s ruling to hold the Presidential election in 2005 put a damper on President Kumaratunga’s plans and she was compelled to appoint Rajapaksa as the Presidential candidate of the party.<\/p>\n

After becoming the fifth Executive President of the country, Rajapaksa took measures to move an amendment to the party’s constitution with the sole intention of removing Kumaratunga from her position as the SLFP Chairperson. Rajapaksa’s constitutional amendment stated that when a party member becomes the President of the country, he or she should ‘automatically’ become the party chairman.<\/p>\n

Following her removal, Kumaratunga did not maintain direct links with her former party colleagues. She distanced herself from the party’s affairs and enjoyed her retirement. On other hand, the party leadership deployed “intelligence agents” to gather information on those who interacted with Kumaratunga. As a result of this distrust, several senior members of the party were sidelined as the party leadership thought they were “CBK loyalists.” Among them was Berty Premalal Dissanayake, father of new SLFP General Secretary Duminda Dissanayake, who was overlooked when appointing the Chief Minister of the North Central Province, a few years back.<\/p>\n

CBK’s present role in SLFP reforms<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amidst such developments, Kumaratunga continued to work towards a more inclusive and democratic Sri Lanka through the CBK Foundation for Democracy and Justice (FDJ) and the South Asian Policy and Research Institute (SAPRI), two non-profit, non-political bodies. She returned to ‘limelight’ when she held a discussion with the then Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe in March, 2014, on resolving religious tensions. <\/p>\n

The meeting was held at the UNP Leader’s office in Jawatte, Colombo, amidst speculations that she might be contemplating a return to active politics. Although the meeting was mobbed by journalists and photographers eager to get sound bytes from the former Head of State, she categorically said, “nothing political was discussed.”<\/p>\n

However, this meeting was an important turning point in the country’s political trajectory. She was approached by some sections of the disgruntled ‘old guard’ of the party to rescue the SLFP from what they termed as the iron fist of the Rajapaksas. She gradually repaired links with her old party colleagues and brought them to a common front against the Rajapaksa factor. The culmination of that process was the defection of Maithripala Sirisena, the longest serving General Secretary of the party, to be the Common Candidate of the opposition, in November, 2014.<\/p>\n

After Maithripala Sirisena’s election victory, Kumaratunga was expected to play a pivotal role in terms of party reforms. However, she had to postpone that process due to various internal power struggles within the party. The majority of party front-liners, including the ones who were sidelined by the Rajapaksas, wanted former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Ministerial candidate for the Parliamentary election primarily due to his individual popularity at the grassroots level. <\/p>\n

Although there were initial attempts to block Rajapaksa’s path to nominations, the ‘reformists’ finally had to give in to the internal pressure as the ‘majority’ required Rajapaksa to contest the election. President Maithripala Sirisnea, in his address to the nation on July 14, explained the circumstances under which Rajapaksa was given nominations.<\/p>\n

Within hours of polling closure at 4 pm on August 17, President Sirisena, in his capacity as the SLFP Chairman, acted swiftly to remove 13 members from the Central Committee, the apex decision making body of the party, with immediate effect. He knew the party might have to enter into a reform-phase soon after the election and he needed to consolidate his power in the party before any such process.
\nSoon after the Parliamentary election, President Sirisena and the ‘reformist group’ of the party led by Kumaratunga made quick moves to initiate key changes in the party. As there was an understanding with the UNP to form a national government after the parliamentary election, they were fully aware that Rajapaksa was not in a position to become the Prime Minister of the country.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, President Sirisena, on two occasions, said in no uncertain terms that Rajapaksa would not be appointed as the Prime Minister. Therefore, the President’s strategy was to embark on immediate party reforms while working towards a national government with the UNP. The President, an astute politician to the core, knew that Kumaratunga was the key figure when it came to drastic party reforms.<\/p>\n

Before the Parliamentary election, the balance of power within the SLFP’s decision-making bodies were very much in favour of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as most of the members who served in such committees were appointed by him. To gain the control of main decision making bodies of the party, he removed 13 members from the party’s Central Committee, within hours of polling closure at 4 p.m. on August 17. As he made the move after the polling was closed, the mini-purge of pro-Rajapaksa elements in the Central Committee did not make any impact on the final outcome of the election.<\/p>\n

One of the key moves by President Sirisena soon after the elections was the appointment of former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga to the party’s Central Committee. It was a clear indication that the President was intent on cleaning up the party as former President Kumaratunga was hostile to Rajapaksa and a staunch advocate of party reform. <\/p>\n

This was the first time, Kumaratunga was made part of the Central Committee after 10 years. When she attended the Central Committee meeting of the party three days after the Parliamentary election, she was warmly welcomed by her ex-colleagues, who served under her before November, 2005.<\/p>\n

At the Central Committee meeting, a six-member sub-committee was appointed to discuss the formation of a national government in detail. The committee headed by former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga also comprised Nimal Siripala de Silva, Dr. Sarath Amunugama, Susil Premajayantha, Mahinda Samarasinghe and S.B. Dissanayake. The committee was tasked with reaching a consensus for the formation of a national government that will pave the way for solving the major issues faced by the country.<\/p>\n

She also played a key role in discussing ministerial portfolios with the UNP. There were viewpoints from the party that the SLFP too should get “influential ministries” within the framework of a national government. At the same time, the UNP was not willing to let go of the ministries it held over the past six months. <\/p>\n

In this context, former President Kumaratunga played an important role in striking balance between the two parties. Importantly, she had the support of key stalwarts of the party, including former Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva and former UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayantha, in this process.<\/p>\n

Many believe that Kumaratunga’s role in the SLFP will be similar to that of Sonia Gandhi in the Congress Party of India. Kumaratunga has made her position clear that she is not willing to accept a ministerial portfolio from the government.<\/p>\n

Her prime focus, for the next five years, will be to revamp and revive the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. Her main challenge, in this regard, will be the ‘political behaviour’ of her one time successor Mahinda Rajapaksa.
\n
\nCrestfallen MR meets President Sirisena<\/strong><\/p>\n

It seems as if Mahinda Rajapaksa’s position in the SLFP is very vulnerable at this juncture. On Sunday night, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa held a discussion with President Maithripala Sirisena at the President’s Residence in Colombo. The discussion mainly focused on his future political activities.<\/p>\n

Rajapaksa informed Sirisena that he did not wish to be the Opposition Leader in the new Parliament. When asked about his future political activities, a crestfallen Rajapaksa said his future lay in the hands of President Sirisena as the latter is the Chairman of the SLFP. This statement alone showed that Rajapaksa, one time the all-powerful Executive President of the country, was fighting for his political survival at the mercy of his ‘bete noire’, President Sirisena.<\/p>\n

The senior members of the SLFP, who spoke of forming a government with “Executive Prime Minister” Mahinda Rajapaksa, have now joined the national government bandwagon, leaving their former leader with some minor parties of the UPFA. Some MPs-elect of the SLFP are still backing Rajapaksa as they are certain they will not find a place in the national government. <\/p>\n

Speaking to the Daily News, an MP-elect who represents the Rajapaksa camp said over 50 Parliamentarians of the UPFA will back former President Rajapaksa. However, a sizable proportion of them are either members of minor stakeholders of the UPFA or crossovers from other parties. They do not have a say in the decision making process of the SLFP.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in an interesting turn of events, Rajapaksa, on Tuesday, said Kalutara District MP-elect Kumara Welgama was suitable for the position of Opposition Leader. He made this remark while speaking to a vernacular newspaper. Welgama was one of the Central Committee members who openly opposed the idea of forming a national government with the UNP at the recently held Central Committee meeting. A final decision on the appointment of the opposition leader has to be made by the UPFA MP group.<\/p>\n

The UPFA, on the other hand, is on the verge of a possible dissolution. Giving a strong indication in this regard, former General Secretary of the UPFA, Susil Premajayantha, who was suspended by President Maithripala Sirisena last week, sent a formal letter of resignation to the President on Tuesday. The President has already taken measures to sack four members from the UPFA Executive Committee. Members from constituent parties of the UPFA were deliberately overlooked when appointing national list nominees of the party.<\/p>\n


\nWeerawansa wants MR led coalition for local government election?<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, minor stakeholders of the UPFA such as the National Freedom and the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna are still backing Mahinda Rajapaksa. Talks are already underway to form an alternate political alliance under Rajapaksa’s leadership. In such a scenario, Rajapaksa, a Patron of the SLFP, will have to step out of the party to give leadership to a new political alliance. It is obvious that an initiative of that nature will send the former President to “political wilderness”.
\nWimal Weerawansa, Dinesh Gunawardena and Udaya Gammanpila are eying for a political front led by Rajapaksa as they know that local government elections are around the corner and the SLFP, in all probably, will contest on its own under the ‘hand’ symbol. <\/p>\n

In that case, minor stakeholders of the present UPFA will have to contest as individual entities and that will throw them into a precarious situation. A political front led by Rajapaka will at least ensure their representation in important local government bodies. It is merely a plan by minor parties to capitalize on the ‘individual popularity’ of the former President, as they did at the recently held Parliamentary election.<\/p>\n

The ‘dubious’ conduct of constituent parties has already come under criticism from the SLFP. At a meeting organized for SLFP MPs last week, they said the National Freedom Front, led by Wimal Weerawansa, obtained parliamentary seats in Colombo, Matara, Anuradhapura, Kalutara and Moneragala districts by craftily cashing in on pro-Rajapaksa propaganda carried out by the SLFP-led alliance.<\/p>\n

Had the NFF contested alone, it would not have been able to secure a single seat in Parliament. Therefore, it was quite evident that minor stakeholders of the UPFA had capitalized on the voter-base of the SLFP, depriving the SLFP candidates of their Parliamentary seats.<\/p>\n

This has also affected the strength of the SLFP, which was in a formidable position after the Parliamentary election in 2010. For instance, among the Colombo District MPs-elect of the UPFA, there is only one actual SLFP member – none other than UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayantha who came third in Colombo’s preferential votes list under the UPFA symbol. The other six members elected from the Colombo district are either members of minor parties of the UPFA or SLFP candidates who were originally cross-overs from other parties. <\/p>\n

Courtesy:Daily News<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rasika Jayakody “Former President Kumaratunga heads the Office for National Unity. She is also now playing a leading role in the SLFP. And she chaired the Committee which drafted the MoU from their side. President Maithripala Sirisena and the former President Kumaratunga have a moderating influence in the SLFP and I think they are …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Return of Chandrika to Active Politics Paves Way for Rise of the \u201cBandaranaike Brand\u201din the SLFP.’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42878"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42878"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42879,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42878\/revisions\/42879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}