Grassroots level activists offered rewards:

Basil on poaching spree for Kirulapone rally

When President Maithripala Sirisena walked into a meeting with newspaper editors and media heads at the President’s House on Wednesday morning, he looked calm and confident.

The timing of the meeting was crucial as it fell four ahead of May Day – a day exploited by Sri Lankan political parties.

This year, the traditional muscle-flexing event has drawn more media attention as the UPFA rebel group, which calls themselves the ‘Joint Opposition’, will have their own May Day event. Obviously, they hope to poach some MPs from the SLFP’s May Day rally in Galle, chaired by President Maithripala Sirisena.

This has already caused a split in the blue camp. Some UPFA MPs, who are members of the SLFP, have already said they will attend the rebel group’s May Day rally in Kirulapone.

Some backbenchers of the SLFP, ardent supporters of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, openly claimed they would distance themselves from the party’s May Day event in Galle.

This situation compelled the SLFP to take measures to give more energy to the Galle rally. The SLFP instructed its seniors to hold press conferences almost on a daily basis to boost the enthusiasm of grassroots level supporters.

Poaching

The SLFP was aware of the fact that former Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, the former President’s campaign manager at the last Presidential election, was holding district level meetings to poach the SLFP’s grassroots level activists for their May Day rally in Kirulapone.

It was in the grapevine that the party’s Local Government representatives, who confirmed their presence at the Kirulapone rally, were offered rewards and various benefits.

It was against this backdrop that President Sirisena held a meeting with newspaper editors after a hiatus of about eight months. It was clear to everyone that the SLFP’s May Day battle would be the hot topic at the breakfast meeting.

The President was flanked by Media Minister Gayantha Karunathilake and Deputy Minister Karunarathna Paranawithana. Newly appointed Secretary to the Media and Parliamentary Reforms Ministry, Nimal Bopage, was also present at the discussion.

From the beginning, it was crystal clear that the President had decided to unmask the UPFA rebel group and their de facto leader Mahinda Rajapaksa before the media heads.

No regime change

“Some talk about forming a new government and their sole aim is to create a sense of instability in the political sphere. I must categorically state that there will be no regime-change in this country until the next Parliamentary election. No one will be able to engineer a regime-change by ‘shifting heads’ in Parliament,” President Sirisena said, directing his criticism at the rebel group.

“Any party striving to form a new government in a conspiratorial manner should secure 113 seats. They cannot approach the UNP because the party is already in the government. They should start their mission with the UPFA, which has 95 seats.

“Assume they can draw the support of 50 out of 95 MPs representing the UPFA. They will still need 63 seats. Have you ever heard about 63 MPs switching sides in Parliament?” the President asked the media heads and journalists at the meeting.

“Therefore,” he said, “those dreams will never materialise. I must reiterate that the government is strong and will serve its full term. There is no instability in the country’s political sphere.”

“There is no internal power struggle in the SLFP. There is no internal crisis. One section of the party is trying to purify the SLFP while upholding its core values.

“Then there is a group of rogues and scoundrels attempting to sabotage this process. I request the media to understand this reality,” he said, adding that a certain section was unnecessarily inflating the image of the rebel group.

The President said, according to intelligence reports, only 11,900 were present at the Hyde Park rally organised by the UPFA rebel group.

“The main objective of the rally was to show the crowds and intimidate law enforcement authorities conducting anti-corruption investigations. In his speech at the rally, the former President asked the members of the judiciary to take a look at the crowd.

“By making this remark, he attempted to intimidate the country’s law enforcement mechanism. But, I must assure them that nothing will happen to the present government and no act of sabotage will be entertained,” the President said.

Wrong track

“Democracy is overflowing in the country, literally! My predecessor had been given military security and he also handpicked the officers he needed. What does he do using this military protection. He goes around the country, talking about toppling the government. Name any other country that gives military protection to elements trying to topple the government,” he said.

“The previous government knew that the economy was on the wrong track. Former Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera personally told me that he was planning to step down. He knew that en economic crisis was in the offing,” the President said, commenting on claims about an impending economic crisis. “The previous ruler had two main worries and that was why he announced a premature election. He was worried about the Geneva resolution and he knew the economy was in shambles. In March, 2014, I personally handed over a letter to the former President, urging him to refrain from announcing an election.

“I presented him a framework containing eight points that needed to be fulfilled before going for an election. I said a ‘winning mindset’ should be created among our supporters before an election. Such requests fell on deaf ears,” he said.

Then his criticism was directed at former Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa. Basil’s ‘village to village’ campaign which had already earned the ire of party seniors and members of the SLFP old guard.

Alluding to the conduct of his former Cabinet colleague, President Sirisena said certain top-brass members of the previous administration are now going from village to village, distributing money to sabotage the SLFP’s May Day rally.

‘Powerless’

“It is important to find where this money came from,” the President said.

“We all know how they ran the country. Every morning, about five members of the former First Family got together at the breakfast table and made important decisions about the country. Then they were passed on to the Cabinet and to Parliament. The previous ruler completely disregarded the opinion of other senior leaders of the government and the party’s important decision making bodies,” the President said, adding both the Cabinet and the legislature were ‘powerless’ under the Rajapaksa administration.

Criticising the conduct of the former Economic Development Minister, the President said he attempted to run the government using ‘State machinery.’

“He went to every district and the district secretaries were asked to organise meetings. People’s representatives in the districts were kept in the dark about those events.

“They were not even given a chance to deliver the vote of thanks. At the event, the minister would deliver a letter to the District Secretary, allocating funds for development projects in the area. Disappointed with this whole process, some senior MPs in Matale, Ratnapura and Badulla districts even boycotted such events,” he said.

“The majority of Cabinet ministers were utterly dissatisfied with their conduct. But, they were helpless. It was against this backdrop that I stepped down from my ministerial position to become the common candidate of the opposition.”

It did not require a lot of wisdom to understand that the President used the meeting with media heads and editors to send a message to the UPFA rebel group. He has already made it clear that the SLFP would embark on major reforms after May 1. Giving a sign of party reforms that are in the office, the SLFP, last week, appointed 11 new electorate organisers to some key electorates.

Interestingly, MPs Geetha Kumarasingha and Salinda Dissanayake, two stalwarts in the Rajapaksa, were axed when appointing electorate organisers.

It was, needless to say, a red light to other electorate organisers of the party supporting the Rajapaksa faction.

However, those who replaced Dissanayake and Kumarasinghe too had skeletons in the cupboards. For instance, Kamal Indika, who replaced Dissanayake as the SLFP organiser for Hiriyala, was allegedly involved in the attack on a group of artistes representing ‘Aluth Parapura’, in December, 2014. ‘Aluth Parapura’ campaigned for President Sirisena and the group who led the attack identified themselves as members of ‘Nil Balakaya’ – the youth wing operated under Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa.

Pro-Rajapaksa group faces split

Meanwhile, the pro-Rajapaksa group too is facing a fresh split after former Minister Basil Rajapaksa became the ‘face’ behind the rebel group’s campaign. Rajapaksa’s emergence has disheartened two main stakeholders of the former President’s political campaign- namely Wimal Weerawansa and Vasudewa Nanayakkara.

After the last Presidential election, Both Weerawansa and Nanayakkara openly claimed that the former Minister was responsible for his brother’s unexpected downfall.

Weerawansa, during internal meetings of the group, repeatedly said the former Minister should take a ‘back seat’ Rajapaksa’s comeback campaign. The parliamentarian opined that Basil Rajapaksa could not be ‘marketed’ to the grassroots level voters, as they were skeptical about the former Minister’s track record on the bribery and corruption front.

On the other hand, Basil was not a fiery orator who could attract the common masses with political rhetoric. In addition, his reputation was seriously tarnished when he chose to leave the country two days after his brother’s defeat at the Presidential election.

However, it is important to understand that the former President’s politics, over the past 12 years, entirely revolved around his family. Despite concerns raised by his confidantes, the former President allowed his brother to occupy his campaign’s driving seat.

Basil functioned as the main organiser of the Rajapaksa group’s May Day rally in Kirulapona and he spent money lavishly to ensure the success of the event.

The former Minister, however, has now come under criticism from various sections in the same camp. For instance, some web sites run by Weerawansa fired cannons at Basil Rajapaksa over the past few days, saying the latter was driving the pro-Rajapaksa political campaign to the ground.

It has also been revealed that MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara, another vociferous campaigner for the former President, is yet to confirm his participation atthe Kirulaponea rally. Nanayakkara too was disillusioned after Basil took over the Rajapaksa group’s May Day program.

Udayanga Weeratunga

Apart from the May Day issue, former President Rajapaksa ran into another problem when he met his nephew. Udayanga Weeratunga, a former Sri Lankan diplomat, in Thailand, last week.

Weeratunga, needless to say, is one of the most notorious diplomats under the previous administration and he faced multiple allegations after the previous regime fell out of power, in January, last year.

He was accused of selling arms to separatist rebels in Ukraine and his name was also mentioned in connection with the controversial MIG deal. Apart from that, some relatives of Noel Ranaweera, the Sri Lankan Embassy worker who died in Russia in 2014, pointed their fingers at Weeratunga over the incident. Therefore, the Sri Lankan law enforcement authorities were on the lookout for Weeratunga.

However, the Sri Lankan authorities could not find out the whereabouts of the former diplomat. As a result, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ajith P. Perera, addressing a press conference, said Weeratunga was missing.

Although Weeratunga vehemently denied the allegations, he did not return to the country to clear his name. Issuing a statement in June last year, the former diplomat said he was still in Ukraine and there was no inquiry against him by the Russian authorities.

Even though he said he was in Ukraine, the former Ambassador, a few weeks later, visited the Sri Lankan Embassy in Tehran with a request to certify a power-of-attorney copy to get some of his heavy baggage in the Colombo port to be cleared.

The Sri Lankan Embassy, however, declined his request on the condition that he returns his diplomatic passport. He had replied to this request via email on May 9, 2015, stating that he would not return the diplomatic passport.

It is against this backdrop that the former President, who was on a personal visit to Thailand, last week, met Weeratunga in the Southeast Asian country. Former Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Pieris was also with the former President when the latter met his nephew in Udon Thani, Thailand. Weeratunga also took part in some religious activities with the former President and was not reluctant to appear for photographs.

Interestingly, Weeratunga shared the photographs he took with Rajapaksa on his official Facebook profiles. It was a clear indication he did not want to hide his association with the former President.

Rajapaksa’s meeting with Weeratunga stirred up a controversy in the Sri Lankan political domain. Addressing the weekly Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Minister Rajitha Senaratne sad the government would take measures to arrest the former diplomat soon. He said that Weeratunga visited Thailand using his personal passport.

On Friday, Weeratunga posted another statement on his Facebook profile stating he was back in Ukraine, after meeting his ‘leader’, the former President, in Thailand.

Air Force issue

Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Kapila Jayampathy, a front-runner for the position of Air Force Commander at point, has complained to the Human Rights Commission against his removal from the position of Director Air Operations.

Air Marshal Gagan Bulathisinhala, on June 15, last year, became the new Commander of Air Force, edging out Jayampathy, following a keen contest. Air Vice Marshal C.R. Gurusinghe was appointed as the Chief of Staff of the SLAF while Jayampathy became the Director Air Operations.

Jayampathy has complained that he has been removed from the position of Director Air Operations ‘illegally’ without a hearing or a proper inquiry.

He also claimed that the removal was based on frivolous ‘unconnected to the functions of Director- Air Operations.

Apart from this, in his letter to the Human Rights Commission, he has levelled several other allegations against the Air Force. Including:

* Illegal reduction from seniority list of the Air Force
* Unjustified and unreasonable withdrawal of perks granted to Air Vice Marshal rank.
* Humiliation caused by sudden removal from office and placing in the basement of the headquarters with other junior officers and other ranks
* Appointing a junior person to the post of Chief of Staff whereas he was the most senior and suitable person to hold such office.

Following this complaint, the Human Rights Commission has sought a response from the Sri Lanka Air Force over the matter. In its response to the HRC, the Air Force has explained the circumstances leading to Jayampathy’s removal.

“An inquiry carried out by the Command Provost Marshal on alleged violations of government regulations by AVM K.V.B. Jayampathy revealed beyond doubt that he had provided misleading information and imported a second vehicle on duty concessionary terms before completing the prescribed five-year period between two such importations as provided for in the trade, tariff and investment policy circular No 01/2010 dated November 10, 2010 as amended by Circular No 01(01) /201 dated December 24, 2010.

AVM Jayampathy was found guilty for the fraudulent act vide findings made by the Department of Trade and Investment Policy. This proven breach is one of very critical nature,which displays questionable integrity of AVM Jayampathy further compounded by the fact that it has been willfully committed by an officer at the apex level of armed forces who aspires for higher office with more responsibility vested to upholding national security.

This wrongful act is clearly defined as ‘scandalous conduct’ that has been dealt by a court martial under 107 of the Air Force Act and cashiered from the Sri Lanka Air Force,” the Air Force’s response to the Human Rights Commission said.

The letter, according to informed sources, also explained how the senior officer’s personal life had allegedly conducted the disciplinary code of the Sri Lanka Air Force.

“AVM Jayampathy, whilst being the Director Air Operations, which is the primary appointment operationally responsible for the execution of the core competency of the SLAF was found lacking in spirit of commitment and professionalism on many occasions.

It was observed that AVM Jayampathy as the Director Air Operations had failed to institute an Air defence plan nor a contingency evacuation plan for the ceremonial sitting of the 15th Parliament Sri Lanka on September 1, last year.

The ceremonial sitting was attended by the President, Prime Minister and the entire complement of MPs, had the status quo remained and an eventuality occurred, the SLAF would have failed in its bounden duty with disastrous consequences.

Provision of Air defence cover and establishing of an emergency evacuation plan for pre-planned national events attended by VIP/VVIPs is a primary role of the SLAF and the responsibility of the officer of the Director Air Operations.

The SLAF organisations professional reputation was critically questioned by the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka due to negligence, and failure towards basic operational management of a flying institution by the Accountable Manager of Helitours.

AVM Jayampathy by virtue of his appointment as the Director Air Operations was also the Accountable Manager of Helitours, the commercial aviation arm of the SLAF.

The Accountable Manager is specifically named by the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka in its letter dated October 20, 2015, faulting the SLAF for professional negligence,” the letter added.

The SLAF explained it was on those grounds that AVM Jayampathy was removed from his position as the Director Air Operations – one of the most senior positions in the Air Force.

However, the Human Rights Commission is yet to give its recommendation on the matter.

When the Sunday Observer contacted the Air Force Commander’s officer to get his comment on the matter, we got the response that Air Force Commander Air Marshal Gagan Bulathsinghala was overseas. However, multiple Air Force sources confirmed that this was the first time that a top-tier officer of the SLAF ran into a issue of this nature.