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As PM engages world leaders, investors, in Davos :
MR in the middle as divisive tremors hit SLFP
 Last Thursday, January 21, President Maithripala Sirisena summoned
all Ministers, State Ministers and Deputy Ministers representing the
SLFP to his Paget Road residence for a special discussion on the present
state of affairs in the party.
The move came amidst a flurry of news reports that the group
supporting former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was preparing to form a
new political party to contest the Local Government elections. The pro-Rajapaksa
group includes a section of the SLFP and minor political parties of the
UPFA coalition, the National Freedom Front, the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna,
Pivithuru Hela Urumaya and the Democratic Left Front. They also have
links with the two old Left political parties, the Lanka Sama Samaja
Party (LSSP) and the Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL).
Almost every speaker at the meeting, which lasted for nearly two
hours, stressed the need for party unity and an understanding of some
sort among President Sirisena, former President Rajapaksa and former
President Kumaratunga.
They also asserted that the party should collectively defeat any
attempt to create a split in the party in the run-up to the Local
Government elections, due this year. It was decided that the party
should discuss with all stakeholders to avert a split and work together
as one group under the leadership of party Chairman Maithripala Sirisena.
Party stalwarts also discussed the possibility of convening an urgent
Central Committee meeting to discuss the current situation and possible
'threats' to party unity and discipline. However, they failed to fix a
date for the next meeting of the Central Committee, the top-most
decision-making body of the party.
As another step in the same process, the SLFP also decided to hold
district-level meetings across the country, where the party's local
government representatives would pledge their support to the party. The
first two meetings took place in Kandy and Gampaha last week.
"It is important to understand that at the district-level meetings,
no member will extend his support to any particular individuals.
They will, as a group, show their support to the party and discuss
ways in which the party can strengthen its unity," said a senior party
official who also holds a ministerial position in the national unity
government.
However, party seniors supporting President Sirisena, namely S.B.
Dissanayake, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Susil Premajayantha, have been
holding under-the-radar discussions over the past two weeks with members
of the pro-Rajapaksa group. Former Western Province Chief Minister and
UPFA MP Prasanna Ranatunga was their key contact point in the pro-Rajapaksa
camp.
The talks however failed to produce the desired results as the
Rajapaksa group demanded that the former President should be given the
opportunity to lead the party's campaign at the local government
elections. This idea was shot down by the group supporting President
Sirisena.
"Rajapaksa led the party's campaign at two national election but
could not secure victory. If he leads the Local Government election
campaign, we will get the same result. So, the
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"It is important to understand that at the district-level meetings,
no member will extend their support to particular individuals. They
will, as a group, show their support to the party and discuss ways in
which the party can strengthen its unity"
- senior SLFP official
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party does not intend to make Rajapaksa the leader of the election
campaign," Minister S.B. Dissanayake told a journalist last week on the
sidelines of an SLFP press conference.
"But we need his blessings for our election campaign," the outspoken
minister, who was appointed to Parliament as a national list MP by
President Sirisena, also added. Dissanayake's remarks clearly show the
line of thinking among key supporters of the President.
Dissanayake also hosted a dinner for a group of SLFP MPs at his
residence in Battaramulla last week. Dilan Perera, T.B. Ekanayake, Nimal
Siripala de Silva, John Senevratne, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Mahinda
Amaraweera, Lasantha Alagiyawanna and Sudarshini Fernandopulle attended
the dinner.
At the discussion, Dissanayake presented a 'to-do' list for President
Sirisena in order to build up party unity. However, Dissanayake's
'to-do' list was greeted with mixed reactions by his dinner guests. Some
were of the view that Dissanyake's proposals would allow the Rajapaksas
to easily regain power in the blue camp.
After the discussion, Dissanayake telephoned a senior Cabinet
Minister who had earlier held an influential ministerial portfolio under
the Rajapaksa administration. The minister was among the first group of
MPs who defected with Sirisena to challenge Rajapaksa's presidency in
November, 2014. Dissanayake casually informed his colleague about the
move but received an unexpected reaction from him.
"What you are planning to do is naïve. Do you imagine Rajapaksa will
do his politics without Gota and Basil? If you accommodate Rajapaksa in
the party he will also bring Gota and Basil in. Then it will come back
to square one. We left the party not because we had a personal issue
with Rajapaksa. We had a problem about the manner in which he ran the
party," the senior Cabinet Minister explained. It looked as if he
convinced Dissanayake to abandon his move.
The group supporting Rajapaksa, at least to some extent, is aware of
the fact that the President and his negotiators will not give in to
their demands. While holding discussions with the SLFP seniors, they are
in the process of doing ground-work to form a new political party. They
have calculated that nearly 35 UPFA MPs will certainly join the new
political party, breaking away from the SLFP.
However, in an interesting turn of events, the SLFP MPs supporting
Rajapaksa were instructed by the seniors of the joint opposition to
refrain from talking about forming a new political party. They said such
statements would hinder ongoing negotiations with the SLFP officials on
working out a solution. However, the joint opposition stalwarts said,
other MPs of the UPFA (non-SLFP MPs) could openly talk about the matter
as they did not have any commitment to the SLFP or its disciplinary
conduct.
That was why only the UPFA's other smaller party leaders openly
talked about forming a new political party in recent days while most of
the SLFP MPs - except a few hot-blooded, young Parliamentarians - kept
mum on the matter.
"I am almost certain that a new party will have to be formed. Even
now, the joint opposition functions as a new party. We don't think we
can proceed with the SLFP led by President Sirisena. He hoodwinked us
once at the Parliamentary election.
We don't want to be hoodwinked again," MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara told a
journalist last week when asked whether the UPFA dissident group had any
hopes about the discussions within the SLFP. Nanayakakra's response was
a clear indication that the leaders of the pro-Rajapaksa UPFA dissident
group did not have a positive attitude towards the talks within the SLFP.
They think the formation of a new party is inevitable.
SLFP's dilemma
This situation has left the SLFP in a dilemma. It does not require a
lot of wisdom to realize that the formation of a new political party
will cripple the SLFP as a sizable proportion of the party's grassroots
level activists will join the new party.
SLFP local government councillors several districts have already
conducted meetings to pledge their support to the former President. At
the same time, however, the majority of the party's Parliamentary group
and the Central Committee are with President Sirisena and they do not
support the former President's comeback bid. The large majority of SLFP
seniors are mature enough to understand the gravity of this situation
and its complex consequences.
But, they are not in a position to make up their minds to transfer
'leadership responsibilities' to Rajapaksa. The SLFP seniors,
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The SLFP seniors were the worst victims of the Rajapaksa rule over
the past 10 years. Under the Rajapaksa rule, the party's decision-making
powers were controlled by members of the Rajapaksa family while senior
SLFP officials were reduced to rubber stamps.
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needless to say, were the worst victims of the Rajapaksa rule over
the past 10 years. Under the Rajapaksa rule, the party's decision-making
powers were controlled by members of the Rajapaksa family while senior
SLFP officials were reduced to rubber stamps.
As a result, there was a strong sense of frustration among top-rung
members of the SLFP who were considered as the old guard of the party.
They knew the Rajapaksas had grand plans to remain in power
'eternally' and Namal Rajapaksa was being groomed to take over the
leadership baton from his father. There was no upward mobility in the
party hierarchy as all the key positions were held by the Rajpaksas and
their acolytes.
It was widely known among political circles that Nimal Siripala de
Silva was the first choice to become the opposition's 'Common Candidate'
at the last Presidential election. When he changed his mind at the last
moment, then SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena was handpicked
as the ideal candidate who could challenge Rajapaksa's third term
presidential bid.
Another group of top-rung SLFPers silently supported Sirisena while
pretending to be in the Rajapaksa camp. They were the first group to
back Sirisena to be the party Chairman soon after the latter won the
Presidential election.
In this context, it is naïve to believe that the same SLFP stalwarts
will genuinely back Rajapaksa to be the party leader again. That is one
reason why they have chosen to back President Sirisena, although the
latter became the President with the support of the SLFP's rival
political party.
At the same time, they know that the party's grassroots level
supporters have a different take on the matter and their allegiance lies
with the former President. It is quite evident that they are caught
between the devil and the deep blue sea.
At this point, one relief for the SLFP's 'Maithripala group' is the
government's move to introduce electoral reforms. The introduction of
electoral reforms will at least take a few more months and the local
government election will be held under the new electoral system. In the
light of the present crisis in the SLFP, the UNP looks like the clear
favourite to win the local government elections.
However, the SLFP leadership think-tank, at this point, believes that
the new electoral system will lessen the damage for its party.
Gota spills the beans
Another influential person who openly talked about the new political
party was former Defence Ministry Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The
one-time powerful State official openly expressed his views on the
matter when he arrived at the PRECIFAC on Friday to give a statement
regarding the corruption probe against him. Rajapaksa said nearly 5.8
million people who voted for his brother at the last Presidential
election had become "voiceless".
"The SLFP has decided to join the Government. Therefore, it does not
represent the aspirations of the 5.8 million who voted for the party at
the Presidential election.
There is a need for a party," the former Defence Ministry Secretary,
who is facing a surfeit of issues on the anti-corruption front, told
reporters on Friday. "The party," he added, "is not the SLFP."
The former Defence Ministry Secretary added that the former President
would step in at the right moment to be the leader of the new political
outfit.
"He is a leader who always stood up for the right thing. I believe he
will step in at the right moment," Rajapaksa said.
Sources from the pro-Rajapaksa camp told the Sunday Observer that the
group had already decided to appoint Rajapaksa as the leader of the new
political party. There were rumours earlier that Rajapaksa would take a
backseat and Dinesh Gunawardena or Gotabaya Rajapaksa would be entrusted
with the task of leading the alliance.
Davos
While the SLFP was dealing with various internal power struggles,
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe left for Davos, Switzerland, to
attend the World Economic Forum - a first for a Sri Lankan political
leader. Many political and economic observers dubbed the Prime
Minister's participation in the World Economic Forum as a rare
opportunity for Sri Lanka to attract FDI opportunities and to paint a
better picture about the political and economic situation in the
country, especially after the regime change in January, last year.
The World Economic Forum took place while the global economy was
facing numerous challenges. The Prime Minister's participation in the
WEF gave Sri Lanka the opportunity to voice its position on the
challenges faced by the world economy at large.
On the sidelines of WEF 2016, the Premier also chaired an evening
'Sri Lanka Investment Forum' at the Morosani Post Hotel in addition to a
VIP luncheon discussion on 'How to Invest in Sri Lanka' at Swiss chalet
Fuxägufer. Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik
Samarawickrama, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake and Central Bank
Governor Arjuna Mahendran and Sri
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"The former President would step in at the right moment to be the
leader of the new political outfit. He is a leader who always stood up
for the right thing. I believe he will step in at the right moment"
- Gota
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Lanka's Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Switzerland, Ravinatha
Aryasinha also joined the Prime Minister during the events..
Both events were organised under the aegis of the Swiss-Asian Chamber
of Commerce with support from the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the
Office of Sri Lanka's Ambassador in UN Geneva.
Apart from the Ministers and a group of senior state officials, a
delegation of leading Lankan business leaders from the Ceylon Chamber of
Commerce also joined the Prime Minister during the sessions. They
included Brandix CEO Ashroff Omar, Carson Cumberbatch Director Hari
Selvanathan, John Keells Holdings Deputy Chairman Ajit Gunewardene,
former Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chairman Suresh Shah, Colombo Stock
Exchange Chairman Vajira Kulatilaka, Ceylon Biscuits Group Managing
Director Sheamali Wickramasinghe, MTD Walkers Chairman Jehan Amaratunga,
TW Corp. Chairman Thilan Wijesinghe, Virtusa Chief Operating Officer
Keith Modder and Ceylon Chamber of Commerce CEO Mangala Yapa. They were
joined by two foreign investors Pierre Pringiers (Camso Loadstar) and
Philip Richart (Lafarge Holcim).
In addition to them, the WEF's only Sri Lankan member John Keells
Holdings Chairman Susantha Ratnayake, Advisor to PM Dinesh Weerakkody,
CSE Director Anton Godfrey, business leader Suresh Subramaniam and top
professional Dr. Kapila Ranasinghe were also in Davos with the Sri
Lankan Prime Minister.
PM reassures
Apart from taking measures to attract more investment opportunities,
the Prime Minister also set the record straight on matters relating to
the country's foreign policy and its direction. When asked by
international media as to how the Sri Lankan government would tackle
China, the Sri Lankan Prime Minister said the government would welcome
Chinese involvement as the country had adopted a "friends to all"
foreign policy after the new government came to power.
Wickremesinghe said Chinese funded infrastructure projects, including
the Colombo Port City, would go ahead.
"Infrastructure alone is not sufficient. Now we are discussing
bringing Chinese investments," Wickremesinghe said.
"I think the Chinese government has also decided that some of its
manufacturing industries should move out and Sri Lanka seems to be one
of the locations for industries to be moved out to. We are looking at
Chinese participation in the logistics hub of Sri Lanka as well as
further investments in the real estate sector," he added.
Commenting on China's role in the global economy, the Prime Minister
said China had become a global economic power and it was "reaching out"
to various regions including the Indian Ocean region.
"There is a need to restructure the country's economy and we can
overcome our challenges only through a restructuring process," he added
while speaking on the way forward of the country's economy.
"We have formed a government
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We have started off a great experiment, firstly of reconciliation
and, secondly, of re-establishing a constitutional democracy. We will
also have an understanding to create national policies concerning major
issues in the country. Then when we part ways, probably after the next
election, there will still be national policies that will remain
unchanged
- PM
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with the two main parties. This has never happened in South Asia or
South East Asia. We have started off a great experiment, firstly of
reconciliation and, secondly, of re-establishing a constitutional
democracy.
We will also have an understanding to create national policies
concerning major issues in the country. Then when we part ways, probably
after the next election, there will still be national policies that will
remain unchanged.
We are having discussions with the IMF and we have not yet reached a
conclusion. There is a need to restructure our economy and the current
balance of payment issue cannot be corrected without a major
restructuring. There has been a drop in the revenue collection in the
country and the mechanism is not working.
On the other hand, the global economy has not recovered fast enough.
We had a Sri Lankan Economic Forum where we discussed some of the
challenges with experts and the private sector.
After our talks with the IMF, we will come up with a contingency plan
for the future.
No one is certain as to what will happen in 2016," the Prime Minister
said, speaking to a group of international press correspondents in Davos.
"We have reached out to the Tamils. We are discussing with Tamil
parties. The government is working on the questions of reconciliation.
On the other hand, we are having discussions with Tamil parties on the
new constitution, new electoral system and further devolution of power.
More lands will be handed over to Tamils in the North in the near
future and Tamils have been recruited to the country's police force.
Gradually things are getting back on the right track," the Prime
Minister said while stressing that there are no political prisoners in
the country.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the WEF, the Sri Lankan Prime Minister
also met Asian Development Bank Chairman Takehiko Nakao who pledged more
financial and technological support to Sri Lanka as the country had made
progress in the field democracy, human rights and freedom of people.
Their meeting focused on how the ADB can provide further assistance for
the development of Sri Lanka.
ADB Chairman Nakao said he would be in Sri Lanka next month to
extensively discuss on how ADB can provide assistance. He added that the
Asian Development Bank was ready to assist Sri Lanka to recover its
earlier place on the world map as a democratic and free country.
Reforms
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe outlined the reforms to be made
in the country's health and education sector.
The ADB Chairman in return said that the social develop index in
terms of health and education is at a commendable point and expected
that Sri Lanka could raise these indices further through reforms.They
also expressed views on how Sri Lanka had obtained loans from donor
agencies extensively in the past few years. Both Prime Minister
Wickremesinghe and ADB chairman agreed to explore the ways for the Asian
Development Bank to alleviate the debt burden.In another important
development, Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who also took part
in the WEF, expressed his willingness to support Sri Lanka to eradicate
kidney disease and solve the issues pertaining to water management.
Rutte also appreciated the changes that occurred in Sri Lanka under
the new government stating that it has strengthen democracy and good
governance in the country. Supporting the Sri Lankan government's
mission to strengthen its agriculture sector, the Netherlands Prime
Minister said that he would extend his support to improve and strengthen
the agriculture sector in Sri Lanka.
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