Work in unison, politicians and officials told

It seems that the never-ending internal power struggle of the United National Party (UNP) is going to push them to the losing camp in many more elections. Though the elections to the Provincial Councils in North Central, Sabaragamuwa and the East are around the corner, the UNP seniors still seem to be ‘exchanging blows’ behind the scene.

Kurunegala District UNP Parliamentarian Dayasiri Jayasekera, who came to the limelight through a television reality show, strongly demanded reforms in the UNP at the very beginning of the leadership dispute of the party.

But having understood that the UNP Reformist group, led by Sajith Premadasa, is engaged in an impossible battle, Dayasiri gradually ‘went on back foot’, taking the glamour off Sajith’s battle. Some UNPers claimed that Dayasiri had approached party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to iron out differences.

Subsequently, the talk in political circles was that a popular UNP MP is going to join the Government and it would be announced ‘at the correct time’.

But the latest turn of events showed that Dayasiri was still at the receiving end and that Ranil had not ‘pardoned’ him. UNP Deputy Leader Premasasa said last week that any moves to initiate disciplinary action against parliamentarian Jayasekera or anyone in the party would adversely affect the UNP as it might lose popular figures through such action.

Premadasa, in statement referred to reports that disciplinary inquires were to be initiated against Dayasiri Jayasekera and Anurdhapura District UNP MPs P. Harrision and Chandrani Bandara. Peremadasa claimed that such action should not be taken at this stage. Premadasa said neither he nor anyone else had been affected by statements made by Jayasekera at any point.

Report submitted

UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake joined the debate saying that he was not aware of any move to hold disciplinary inquiries against Harrison and Chandrani Bandara. However, Attanayake said the report he had already submitted to the UNP disciplinary committee, headed by Tilak Marapana, included details of statements made by Jayasekera. He said no letters had been sent to these members calling for an explanation.

Attanayake said procedures, pertaining to disciplinary action was included in the party constitution to ensure that its members maintained good conduct. He said party discipline deteriorate, in the absence of such disciplinary actions.

But Dayasiri has said he would participate in the party’s campaign for the Provincial Council elections despite the challenges he was facing at the moment. Dayasiri has decided to participate in the campaign as many candidates contesting for the Sabaragamuwa, North Central and Eastern Provincial Councils had invited him to do so.

“No intimidations or threats can stop my mission to ensure the victory of my party at the PC elections,” he was quoted as saying. Dayasiri claims that said he had not received any official request to attend any inquiry by the disciplinary committee despite reports that such an inquiry was in the offing.

The UNP disciplinary committee is expected to meet over the weekend to go through the report submitted by the party’s General Secretary with regard to the conduct of Jayasekera.

Family politics was a popular slogan of the UNP during its successful 1977 general election campaign. But it seems to have boomeranged as party seniors claim that there are sinister moves by the party leadership to hand over the UNP top seat to a close relative of the party leader.

Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities Minister Wimal Weerawansa said that family politics has hit the Opposition and not the UPFA government. “While Namal Rajapaksa was elected to Parliament by the people through their universal franchise and remains just an ordinary member of the SLFP, a son of the Opposition leader’s relative secured a place in the UNP’s Executive Committee as the first step into the leadership,” Minister Weerawansa said at press briefing at the Mahaweli Centre last week.

He said the Opposition leader's main objective is remaining in the leadership for 12 years and he has no intention whatsoever to become the leader of the country. "As the first step, he secured his leadership for six more years by amending the party constitution and he will extend his leadership for six more years. He allocated a place for his relative's son in the Executive Committee of the UNP to ensure the son gets the leadership of the UNP after him,” he said.

Minister Weerawansa said the people in the North Central, Sabaragamuwa and the Eastern Provinces have only one question before them when voting at the upcoming Provincial Council elections - whether they prefer the past three decades marked by LTTE terror or the past three years after the dawn of peace.

"The people lived in fear amidst death threats during the past 30 years and got relief, independence and development during the past three years. The people will provide the answer at the election. This is the election which has the strictest implementation of election laws,” he said.

"It will be ideal if the government can attend the next UNHRC session in September with a new mandate from the people," he said. The minister said the Human Rights Commissioner should have appointed representatives to the team visiting Sri Lanka from the countries which abstained from voting during the resolution passed against Sri Lanka so that the team would be unbiased, but representatives had been appointed from three countries which voted against Sri Lanka which show clear bias.

Maithri’s open challenge

SLFP General Secretary Minister Maithripala Sirisena last week issued an open challenge to Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to a public debate about the allegation made by him that Wickremesinghe tried to undermine Gamini Dissanayake’s 1994 presidential election campaign by providing information about Dissanayake’s election strategies to UPFA candidate Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.

Minister Sirisena alleged that Wickremesinghe was making a vain bid to ridicule the revelation made by him by getting representatives of his party to issue statements about it. Instead of resorting to such tactics Wickremesinghe himself should face him in a public debate as expected by the public and disillusioned UNP membership.

Minister Sirisena in a communique issued in his capacity as SLFP General Secretary said he once again divulged the role played by Wickremesinghe in passing Gamini Dissanayake's electoral plans and strategies to Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Minister Sirisena said Wickremesinghe's unsuccessful bid to consolidate his position as party leader for six years had been challenged and added to this, the revelation made by him has further eroded the UNP's strength with supporters leaving the party enmasse to join the UPFA making Wickremesinghe jittery and panicky.

“If Wickremesinghe is a veteran politician what he should do is to act in a straightforward manner and face a public debate to show his followers that he still had self-confidence. Instead what is happening is that the Ranil clique which thought that they should protect their leader at all costs for their own survival were getting the Party General Secretary to issue statements calling for a debate with him,” Minister Sirisena said.

President’s call

President Mahinda Rajapaksa last week urged politicians and state officials to work in unison to fulfill public expectations to ensure their social and economic well-being. He told them to consider public service as equal to serving God and urged them to give their best when serving the masses.

President Rajapaksa told ministers, politicians, ministry Secretaries and Heads of state institutions to ensure that people who seek their help, go back happy and contented. The President was addressing the Vavuniya and Mannar District Development Committee meeting at the District Secretariat in Vavuniya.

The progress of development activities, needs and future plans were discussed at length with the main areas of focus being education, agriculture, health, irrigation, water resources management, land and electricity.

Addressing officials, President Rajapaksa said the North which was ravaged due to terrorism which prevailed for decades, had made vast strides in economic and social development in a short span of three years. The President said the North was ahead in health, fisheries, roads and education when compared to other parts of the country. Officials pointed out that when comparing recent education examination results, Vavuniya district emerged as the second best in the island.

President Rajapaksa told state officials to work in unity, treat all equally and support government endeavours to take the North to greater heights. The President said it was the responsibility of politicians and state officials to make the best use of public funds for development activities.

President Rajapaksa also inquired from officials about the state of development activities taking place in the two districts and plans for the future. He also brought up various complaints he had received from the public and listened to the grievances and issues highlighted by politicians and officials. In some instances, he gave prompt orders to resolve issues and in others told those responsible to come up with viable solutions soon.

Regarding an issue which came up on lack of land to house returning displaced persons from other provinces, the President directed officials to take prompt action to solve the issue. When an official highlighted the increase in kidney disease in the North due to contaminated water, President Rajapaksa said the government plans to provide small water treatment plants capable of purifying 200 litres of water per hour to affected villages shortly.

When a question was raised on the issue of people losing property due to the construction of irrigation schemes, the President told officials to provide them alternative land and other facilities without delay. He also told officials to speed up the construct on work on a super market and a coastal park in Mannar town which had stalled due to various issues.

The President told officials to speed up matters on land allocation to build the proposed garment factory and other factories in the Mannar area. He also drew the attention of officials on the importance of speeding up the ongoing work to construct new schools and renovate dilapidated ones in the two districts. He also told them to expedite work in constructing a central bus stand and a supermarket in Vavuniya North.

President Rajapaksa said he received complaints from the public that there is a big difference in the price of essential goods in Vavuniya town and the villages where prices were much higher.

The President urged cooperative officials to look into the matter and provide an immediate solution to alleviate the anomaly. The meeting was attended by Ministers, Ministry Secretaries, Government Agents of Mannar and Vavuniya, state officials and local political representatives.

On his way to Vavuniya, the President commissioned the Thantirimale water supply scheme, constructed at a cost of Rs. 180 million. It caters to the Thantirimale Sacred City, surrounding villages and government institutions. The President simultaneously declared open the Sacred City water pond and the Thantirimale Archaeological Museum.

The President visited the water purification plant accompanied by Water Supply and Drainage Minister Dinesh Gunawardane and distinguished visitors.

President Rajapaksa’s calendar last week included an address to Army personnel of the Gemunu Watch at the Gemunu Watch Regimental Centre, Kuruwita as chief guest at Colours Awarding ceremony.

He said no one should be allowed to tarnish the unblemished image of the country whether in Sri Lanka or abroad. He told soldiers that although terrorism has been defeated they cannot afford to relax.

“In the same way a proposal was made in Vaddukoddai for separation 40 years ago, another conference was held the other day to give life to the Eelam project,” he said. “We must understand this threat. The aim of the Eelamists is to break the unity and trust among us and reduce the feeling for the country and make us criticise the motherland," President Rajapaksa said.

The President said a leader of a political party who attended this pro-Eelam conference had similarly criticised the country. "However the same people who tried to set up Eelam here intervened to stop his speech," the President said.

President Rajapaksa said what this demonstrates is that although Eelam is we1come elsewhere they don't want this to happen in their own country. The President said although Eelam could be established elsewhere, no country will want this to happen on their own soil.

"On the other hand, patriotic Sri Lankans should not allow those criticising their motherland abroad or allow foreigners to criticise the country in their presence. We should not play into the hands of Eelamists," the President said.

Free visit to Sri Lanka

Opposition politicians have been making a big hue and cry over foreign officials touring Sri Lanka on diplomatic missions. But Mass Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said last week that not only representatives of UN Human Rights Commissioner Navaneedan Pillai, but anybody else is also free to visit any body Sri Lanka and see for themselves the post-conflict progress made by the Government.

Addressing the weekly Cabinet media briefing in Colombo on Thursday, he said voting against or for Sri Lanka at the UNHRC is not a bar to visit the country. The Minister further said President Mahinda Rajapaksa had always invited any interested party to come to Sri Lanka and see for themselves the progress of the country. This invitation is valid today and even in the future.

“Earlier, visitors were advised by the government not to visit Sri Lanka in some cases due to presence of land mines in many areas of the North and East. Today we are fully confident on the steady progress being made in the North and East regions. We have every confidence as we step forward into this bright future,” the Minister said.

Meanwhile, the King of Swaziland made a state visit to Sri Lanka last week. The efforts by the Sri Lankan government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in uniting the nation towards sustainable development and reconciliation were applauded by the Swaziland King Mswati III.

Speaking at the bilateral meeting at the Presidential Secretariat, the King honoured President Rajapaksa as a “champion of peace in the South Asian region”. He praised the manner in which the President successfully put an end to the conflict which had negatively affected the development of the country.

King Mswati III also observed that Sri Lanka had demonstrated high resilience to economic shocks which paralysed many economies of the world during the recent crisis.

“Our country was not spared and we hope to learn from your experience for the future” he said. The King also commended the spirit of dialogue and peace the government is promoting among people.

He observed with the durable peace in the country, handsome dividends such as better roads, communication and infrastructure and a strong economic development plan augur well for the future of the country.

King Mswati III also praised the country’s steady progress towards an industrial economy with significant development in food processing, textile, telecommunication and finance, while production of tea, rubber, coffee and other agricultural commodities remains important.

He also pointed out the importance of laying the foundation for increased trade and investments between the two countries. He invited business people from Sri Lanka to consider Swaziland as their investment destination. He also pledged to support Sri Lanka in all areas of development, stating that many of those would be initiated after the visit.

He also invited President Rajapaksa to visit Swaziland. President Mahinda Rajapaksa expressing his warm sentiments to the delegation from Swaziland, said that the visit by the king and the delegation would help to establish long-standing bilateral relations between the two countries.

The President expressing his desire to strengthen ties with the Kingdom of Swaziland also reminded that the diplomatic relations between the two countries had a history of 12 years. The President also offered Sri Lanka’s assistance in promoting the education and health sectors in Swaziland.

Govt ready

The government is ready to proceed on the Parliament any Select Committee (PSC) to arrive at a consensus on the national issue no sooner the TNA is ready to take part, External Affairs Minister Prof G.L. Peiris said.

Responding to a question at a press conference, the minister said the government representatives have been nominated and the terms of reference of PSC have already been formulated. He said the delay is on the part of TNA and not on the part of the government.

He said the President had clearly stated that the PSC is the most effective mechanism to proceed on this matter reminding of past endeavours which failed, since they came from the highest political level with inadequate participation of the people.

The President had stressed that lessons must be learnt from the failures of the past and that he prefers to listen to various opinions by people before deciding on the final solution.

He stated the TNA’s attempts to take local issues to the outside world are of no use and have no sense. He stressed that domestic problems must be solved within the country, adding that the government elected by the people must be first consulted on such internal matters.

The minister said he had instructed the Sri Lankan representative to the UN in Geneva to inquire and submit a full report on the UN Human Rights Commissioner’s meeting on Sri Lanka to be held by the end of this month as reported by the media.

He said the Sri Lankan government has not been officially informed or invited for such a meeting. He said he only came to know of such a meeting through media reports.