Final episode of mystery mayor

Sunday Observations: The Political Column

Fortune smiles in different ways. Finally, a three-wheel driver who sweated much in the dust in the city, occupied the office of Colombo Mayor on Thursday. Men from all walks of life were present to witness, Uvais Mohamed Imtiyaz taking office, clad in western attire. The mystery that surrounded the new mayor thus ended. Those missing at the official ceremony were the UNP Mayoral candidate, Sirisena Cooray and the Colombo District UNP Parliamentarian, who from time to time hospitalised the mayor at his expense.

This MP is labelled as the 'Godfather' of the Mayor. This 'Godfather' finally offered a week-long holiday in the South before the Mayor took office. But having done all this, the man could not be present to witness the great moment of his 'Godson' as he was embroiled in another controversy with his former private secretary over a vehicle.

The MP in question is reported to have retained a car which had been bought on lease in the name of his former private secretary with the latter paying the monthly instalments off his monthly salary. When the relations between the two turned sour, the MP had taken the car back. The private secretary claimed he was the legal owner and reported the matter to the Colombo Fraud Bureau.

The Police took the vehicle into custody and requested the MP to make a statement this week. On Wednesday morning, the MP in question appeared before the Fraud Bureau with much reluctance to make a statement.

The witnessess to the lease agreement of the vehicle are the MP's wife and sister. Fraud Bureau officials sent their policemen to the residences of the two witnessess to record their statements last week. With all these unfortunate developments, the MP who acted as the 'Godfather' of the Mayor was not in a mood to witness the 'Godson's' grand occassion.

Turn of events within the UNP does not look good for this MP in question.The two-member committee that probed the CMC'tippexing' drama of the nomination list has already submitted their report to the UNP leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The UNP leader has assured the party that he would table the report at the next meeting of the Working Committee due in the first week of July. It is learnt that the report had referred to the conduct of this MP in a serious manner with regard to the fate of the CMC nomination list.

The victim of the 'tippexing' episode, T.M.Sanghadasa publicly claimed that this MP was responsible for deleting his name which was included by none other than the UNP leader himself. Sanghadasa has called upon Wickremesinghe to take stern action against this MP once the report is tabled.

In the parliamentary corridors this week,the subject of discussion was this Colombo District MP and the lethargic attitude shown by the UNP leader to take swift action against him. A senior UNPer was heard telling another from Moratuwa that the 'leader' seemed to have lost interest and the party was asleep during the past seven months.

The Moratuwa colleague replied that while the 'leader' kept the UNP asleep so long, his deputy was being advised by a trio who had no knowledge of politics. While passing them,a Kurunegala UNP MP who overheard the conversation was eager to know the names of the the three advisors to the deputy.'

They are Dr.Wickreme, Brigadier Ajith and Dr.Mohan',said the Moratuwa man. He then went on to describe that the first was related to the late Gamini Dissanayake, the second, a relative of the deputy's wife and the third, a doctor of power and energy.' They know nothing about politics', quipped the Kurunegala colleague adding he was going to lunch.

Meanwhile, UNPers are demanding immediate reforms to the party. Wickremesinghe has been promising reforms over a period of time. But, nothing had materialised so far. S. B. Dissanayake is leading the battle for reforms. But, party seniors are not in favour of moves to promote SB.

They claim that it was SB who stuffed ballot boxes to defeat the UNP while in Chandrika's government as a minister. A Nuwara Eliya District MP recalled how SB himself confessed on what he did when he joined the UNP. In another development, the entry of Dr.Jayalath Jayawardene to Political Affairs is being thwarted by a section led by deputy leader, Karu Jayasuriya.

They both hail from the Gamapaha District. The UNP leader is keen to bring in Dr.Jayawardene to the committee, sources close to Wickremesinghe disclosed. But, Jayasuriya claims that two people from the same district should not be there and the vacancy could be offered to another from a district outside. In Kandy, Deputy General Secretary, Tissa Attanayake is accused of doing nothing at grassroot level rather than addressing the media in Colombo almost daily.

Party organisers have told Wickremesinghe that it was Lakshman Kiriella who really organised the district being the leader in Gampola. Wickremesinghe has decided to make Kiriella, the Kandy District leader and bring him to the Working Committee. Kiriella has won all elections he contested from the UNP with increased majorities while Attanayake has performed below expectations.