The debate on whether President Ranil Wickremesinghe and his Government have managed to provide ‘good news’ – as touted in a propaganda campaign – to the country and its people through the finalisation of the debt restructuring programme with creditors continues in political circles while the general public continues to battle for survival.
Despite the President’s address to the nation and the statement in Parliament on Tuesday (2), the latest development on the country’s path to economic recovery has failed to impress the people or drum up public support for Wickremesinghe and his Government. ‘Why?’ members of the Wickremesinghe Government might wonder; the reason is the long battle for survival of the masses.
The fact that the likes of President Wickremesinghe continue to ‘demand’ that the people understand and appreciate his ‘work’ on behalf of the country while a vast majority are battling to gain access to food and quality medication is a clear indication of the tone-deaf nature of the powers that be.
The hypocrisy in expecting the general public to sacrifice and tighten their belts while members of the Wickremesinghe Government, even some senior staff members of the President, continue to engage in wasteful public expenditure like large vehicle convoys with a host of security personnel, all funded by the general public, is now understood by the people who are more politically astute since the ‘Aragalaya’ people’s protest of 2022.
Be that as it may, the Wickremesinghe camp is now focused on political posturing, especially in preparation for the upcoming Presidential Election, given the 15 July deadline that the President requested from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) to secure crossovers from the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Members of Parliament (MPs) and show his chances of winning the election.
The coming week will therefore be a hectic week for the Wickremesinghe camp, with several senior members of the United National Party (UNP) working tirelessly to create a political ruckus when Parliament convenes on Tuesday (9). Although there is much hush-hush talk about plans for the 9th, it is still unclear what these plans will entail.
There is also increased interest in holding the postponed debate and vote on the debt restructuring programme. The vote on President Wickremesinghe’s speech on finalising bilateral debt last Tuesday was postponed indefinitely due to a technical issue. This issue was the parliamentary Opposition’s claim that the debate on Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring programme could not be held since Parliament had not received the final agreements signed with the bilateral creditors and since the deal with private creditors was still pending.
The Government finally decided to postpone the debate and the vote until such time that the agreements with the creditors could be tabled in Parliament.
The SJB meanwhile has decided that it will abstain from voting in the event the debate takes place without the agreements being tabled in the House.
President Wickremesinghe’s statement to Parliament last Tuesday also failed to capture the attention of the House or the public since it was a reiteration of his previous statements. In fact, as pointed out by a group of Opposition legislators, the only new statement made by Wickremesinghe was the question posed by him to the House on whether he should break into the Bank of England.
Debt deal chaos
However, there has been much chaos over Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring programme. While there was ambiguity over the country’s deal with bilateral creditors, there was also no clear sign of a finalisation of the debt treatment with private creditors.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s bilateral creditors who agreed to restructure close to $ 6 billion in loans have reportedly demanded “comparability of treatment” with other creditors, including China.
Accordingly, the Official Creditor Committee (OCC), led by Japan, France, and India, has requested details of other debt deals, according to a statement by the creditors quoted in an AFP report.
The OCC, which also included the US, Canada, and several European nations, had reportedly asked Colombo to provide “all information necessary for the OCC to ensure comparability of treatment”.
It had also expressed hope that Colombo would strike a deal with private creditors “on terms at least as favourable” as those the OCC had offered.
Reaching a deal
However, the Sri Lankan Government on Wednesday (3) issued a notice stating that an agreement had been reached with advisors to the private creditors (International Sovereign Bond [ISB] holders) on a restructuring framework for $ 12.5 billion. “At the conclusion of the meetings, Sri Lanka is pleased to report that, following negotiations, the parties agreed on core financial terms of a restructuring of the ISBs, the terms of which are embodied in a joint working debt treatment framework (the Joint Working Framework),” the notice said.
The framework proposes a 28% cut on the face value and an 11% reduction on past interest, with interest payments commencing in September.
Sri Lanka held restricted discussions between 21 June and 2 July (the restricted period) with nine members of the steering committee who agreed to take part in the discussions of the Ad Hoc Group of Bondholders of its ISBs.
State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe stated that the framework now required the approval of the OCC and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to proceed.
Polls conundrum
While the country’s debt treatment seems to be moving forward, Sri Lanka’s pending elections, especially the Presidential Election, is back in the limelight.
Amidst the chaos created by a Fundamental Rights (FR) petition filed by one C.D. Lenawa calling for the postponement of the Presidential Election until the Supreme Court determined the term of the president, Wickremesinghe moved to Cabinet a proposal to ensure that the term of the president remains as five years.
Nevertheless, the FR petition resulted in President Wickremesinghe gathering much flak from Opposition parties and civil society over the alleged move to delay holding the Presidential Election at the scheduled time.
The SJB, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP), and even the SLPP raised objections over any move to postpone the Presidential Election. Most of them pointed out that the petition was in line with a statement made by UNP General Secretary Palitha Rangebandara that the term of the President and Government should be extended.
However, President Wickremesinghe and his media crew immediately claimed that the Presidential Election would be held as scheduled and Wickremesinghe himself assured the Maha Sangha that the Election Commission (EC) had been asked to hold the election as scheduled without any delay.
Lenawa controversy
The FR petition also resulted in much attention being focused on the petitioner and his political affiliations.
The immediate reaction to the petition by the parliamentary Opposition was that petitioner Lenawa was affiliated to President Wickremesinghe and was carrying out the President’s bidding.
The President had to then issue a statement through the President’s Media Division (PMD) that he did not have any affiliation to Lenawa and that neither he (the President) nor his lawyers had any connection to Lenawa.
While some political analysts felt that C.D. Lenawa was related to former MP of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) S.B. Lenawa, the Wickremesinghe camp started looking into his background.
It was revealed that C.D. Lenawa was a member of the Social Democratic Party that is led by entrepreneur Rohan Pallewatta, who contested the 2019 Presidential Election. Lenawa’s name was also in Pallewatta’s National List at the General Elections. However, Pallewatta later joined the SJB and was appointed as an adviser.
Soon after finding out these details, the Wickremesinghe camp immediately started a counter campaign asking whether the FR petition was a ploy by the President or Opposition and SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa.
Clashes resurface
Meanwhile, the ongoing split within the ruling SLPP over the party’s stance at the Presidential Election saw yet another explosion during the rally organised by SLPP Minister Kanchana Wijesekera in Matara under the theme ‘Victory through Unity’. Many Government members participated in the rally – Prasanna Ranatunga, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Premnath Dolawatte, Ajith Rajapakse, Chinthaka Mayadunne, Kanaka Herath, Rohana Dissanayake, and Ali Sabry, among others.
The explosion however took place over the individual chosen by Wijesekera to be the compère at the rally. The task of compèring at the rally was assigned by Wijesekera to one Nuwan Tharaka, who also serves as a compère at events organised by the SLPP.
However, when Tharaka was preparing for his announcing work at the rally, he had received a telephone call from SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam, who had shouted at him and asked him not to engage in any work at the rally. Kariyawasam had asked Tharaka to leave the rally.
Tharaka however had responded saying that the rally had been organised by Wijesekera and that he had also informed SLPP National Organiser Namal Rajapaksa that he would be compèring at the Matara rally. Kariyawasam had nevertheless insisted that Tharaka not engage in any work at the rally and had disconnected the line.
SLPP seniors had also sent out a message to the party organisers in Matara that the SLPP had no role in the rally and that Wijesekera was organising it in a personal capacity. The message also called on the organisers not to attend the rally.
The SLPP organisers in Matara therefore refrained from participating in the Matara rally. Instead, the group of SLPP ministers and state ministers in the Government attended the rally along with their supporters.
It is therefore evident that Wickremesinghe does not have the support of the official SLPP and its vote base.
MR’s knowledge
However, Tharaka had informed Wijesekera of Kariyawasam’s telephone call and inquired what he should do. Pro-Wickremesinghe SLPP Minister Ranatunga and MP Aluthgamage had also been with Wijesekera at the time. Both Ranatunga and Aluthgamage had asked Tharaka to continue with his work and leave any issue he faces with some party seniors to them.
Aluthgamage had then telephoned Kariyawasam and berated him for calling Tharaka and asking him not to compère at the rally. It is learnt that Aluthgamage had also informed Kariyawasam that the rally had been organised with the knowledge of SLPP Leader, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR) and that Kariyawasam’s issue with Tharaka would also be raised with MR.
Minister Ranatunga had also telephoned Kariyawasam to inquire about the controversy surrounding Tharaka. He had pointed out that the SLPP seniors – MR as well as Basil and Namal Rajapaksa – had been informed of the rally and Tharaka’s participation and asked Kariyawasam why he was trying to block the programme when they were trying to build a joint programme targeting the Presidential Election.
Namal’s green light
Telephone calls were then made to Namal by the SLPP seniors at the Matara rally. In fact, Tharaka had also called Namal and informed him of Kariyawasam’s outburst.
Namal, it is learnt, had told Tharaka to continue with his work at the rally since he had informed him (Namal) about it. Namal had then informed Kariyawasam that Tharaka had informed him of the invitation to compère at Wijesekera’s rally and that he (Namal) had given his approval for it.
Mahinda listens
Once the rally got underway, the ministers in the front row of the stage had been told that Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena was listening to the speeches from his residence located close to the rally venue.
However, when Wijesekera, Aluthgamage, and Dolawatte had made their way to the Matara rest house for a cup of tea, Speaker Abeywardena had also been there. Abeywardena had then joined the SLPPers and enjoyed a cup of tea with the group.
Kanchana’s stance
However, Wijesekera, while addressing the Matara rally, claimed that he and a few SLPP MPs had decided to back Wickremesinghe at the Presidential Election. He noted that SLPP MPs and Ministers Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, Ranatunga, Sabry, and Aluthgamage would be backing Wickremesinghe at the election.
Wijesekera said that he was confident the SLPP leadership would also support Wickremesinghe at the polls. The Minister further said that there were some SLPP MPs who did not agree with what he had said but that he was still confident the SLPP leadership would put the country first.
Prasanna’s push
Meanwhile, the SLPP’s Balamandala meeting for the Kelaniya electorate was held recently under Namal’s patronage.
Addressing the meeting, Minister Ranatunga noted that they (the SLPP MPs) had supported the party decision to appoint Wickremesinghe as President and that Wickremesinghe had managed to take the country out of the economic crisis. He added that the President had also restored law and order in the country.
Ranatunga added that while there was a debate within the party over the Presidential Election, he believed the party would make the right decision.
It is interesting that Ranatunga pushed for Wickremesinghe at the SLPP meeting in Namal’s presence, given that Namal is of the firm belief that the party should field its own candidate while distancing from the Wickremesinghe Government citing differences in policies.
Tissa’s predicament
SLPP MP Thissa Kuttiarachchi meanwhile is facing the axe at many party meetings with organisers, especially pro-Wickremesinghe SLPPers, deciding not to allocate time for him to speak at their meetings.
The latest incident that had resulted in such a situation was the speech delivered by Kuttiarachchi at the SLPP Kelaniya electorate Balamandala meeting. Addressing the meeting after Ranatunga, Kuttiarachchi had said that the SLPP would field a candidate from the party at the Presidential Election.
After he had concluded his speech, Ranatunga had called Kuttiarachchi to a side and asked him if he knew the candidate the SLPP would field at the election. Kuttiarachchi had immediately responded saying that it was none other than President Wickremesinghe. Ranatunga had smiled and turned away.
Kuttiarachchi had then turned to MP Kokila Gunawardhana, who was at the time organising the SLPP’s Balamandala meeting in Mirigama, and asked if he would have a speech at her meeting. Gunawardhana had responded saying that he (Kuttiarachchi) would not be allocated a speech at the meeting.
Distancing from Govt.
However, the SLPP maintained that the ongoing islandwide series of rallies under the theme of ‘Victory through Unity’ were being organised by the Government and not by the SLPP. Nevertheless, the SLPP seniors had refrained from commenting about the participation of its members in these meetings.
One SLPP senior claimed that the SLPPers who attended these rallies were members of the Government.
“It was a rally organised by the Government. The rallies organised by the SLPP are different. All that is expressed in Government rallies do not necessarily reflect the views of the SLPP,” Kariyawasam had told the media when queried whether the SLPP played an official role in organising these rallies.
The second rally in the series is to be held in Galle today (7).
SLPP membership
The SLPP General Secretary also poked fun at Wickremesinghe last week by making an interesting statement about the President and the SLPP’s support for him at the Presidential Election.
Kariyawasam reiterated that the party would field a candidate at the election under the SLPP symbol. When asked whether there was no chance of the SLPP supporting Wickremesinghe at the Presidential Poll, Kariyawasam responded that Wickremesinghe could leave the UNP and join the SLPP and the party could then consider him as well.
Dhammika’s campaign
Meanwhile, businessman-turned-politician Dhammika Perera, who is likely to be named by the SLPP as the party’s candidate at the Presidential Election in the event the party decides to field its own candidate, is continuing with his campaign.
Although Perera has been asked by the likes of Basil to wait until 15 July to make a final decision on his (Perera’s) candidacy at the Presidential Election, he has been engaged in a different type of campaign strategy. The SLPP and its seniors are now waiting till 15 July, which is the deadline requested by President Wickremesinghe from SLPP Founder Basil.
Perera continues to hold mass-scale public gatherings covering all the provinces under his DP Education programme. It is learnt that Perera has placed much focus on the Northern Province. He has addressed the people of the north at several events under the education programme.
At the most recent event in the north, Perera informed the people of the role played by him in completing the northern railway line during his tenure as the Transport Ministry Secretary.
He further noted that although he had built a modern IT facility in the north with his personal funds, he had refrained from naming it after himself and instead named it a Mahindodaya IT Lab to make it part of a national programme.
SLPP to decide
Perera meanwhile threw the ball in the SLPP’s court by saying that he was prepared to contest at the upcoming Presidential Election and that the final decision was up to the SLPP.
SLPP National Organiser Namal, it is learnt, had told a group of party seniors that the party should decide on fielding Perera as its candidate at the Presidential Election and start the campaign work.
Basil had responded saying that the machinery was already in place for the party to start its election campaign work and that they (the SLPP) were waiting till 15 July since there was an agreement with President Wickremesinghe to give him time till then to pull numbers from the SJB.
Namal also claimed last week that elections could not be won by dividing political parties. He noted that although such divisions may have yielded benefits to some political parties in the past, it was no longer the case.
MR-RW meet
Amidst the growing division within the SLPP and the pressure from the pro-Namal group for the SLPP to field a separate candidate at the Presidential Election, MR has decided to hold a discussion with President Wickremesinghe.
It is learnt that this meeting between Wickremesinghe and MR, scheduled to take place soon, will decide whether the SLPP will support the President or not.
No national govt.
While the SLPP continues the waiting game, President Wickremesinghe is continuing with his efforts to form a national government or get SJB MPs to cross over.
The SJB however dampened the President’s plan by unanimously deciding last week not to support the establishment of a national government under the incumbent President. The decision had been taken during the party’s Parliamentary Group meeting held at the Parliamentary Complex on Tuesday (2).
The SJB’s Parliamentary Group had unanimously approved the proposal presented by MP Buddhika Pathirana in this regard. According to SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara, the initial decision on not forming a national government with President Wickremesinghe had been taken by the SJB two years ago and the decision last Tuesday had been a renewal of it.
The SJB leadership has also identified many SJB MPs who are perceived as possible defectors and planned for them to make public statements in support of the SJB and its Leader while criticising the President’s actions.
RW meets Rauff
Meanwhile, President Wickremesinghe, during the last parliamentary sessions, had met Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Leader SJB MP Rauff Hakeem in the President’s Office in Parliament. Hakeem had been asked by Wickremesinghe to meet him at his office in Parliament.
It is no secret that whenever the President is at his office in Parliament, he meets with MPs from the Opposition, especially those he has earmarked as being willing to defect to the Government to support him.
However, Hakeem had visited Wickremesinghe’s office after informing Opposition Leader Premadasa of the President’s request. It is learnt that Hakeem had informed the President during the discussion that he could not join the Government as it had failed to honour its pledges to the people in the past two years and that the Muslim people had not received any benefits either.
Hakeem has for some time been disgruntled with Wickremesinghe over the latter’s move to deal individually with SLMC MPs instead of discuss as a political party. The SLMC Leader had even publicly criticised the President for allocating funds from the decentralised budget to a few selected SLMC MPs.
SLPPers to SJB
The SJB also claims that 12 SLPP MPs will join the SJB-led political alliance that is to be formed shortly.
Madduma Bandara has said that the new entrants will be offered positions as per the Constitution of the alliance.
The SJB maintains that a total of 30 MPs, including those from Tamil and Muslim parties, will join it and Madduma Bandara expects them all to do so once the Presidential Election is announced officially.
Dayasiri’s return
Meanwhile, the ongoing crisis in the SLFP took a new twist with former General Secretary of the SLFP Dayasiri Jayasekara claiming that the enjoining order issued by court on Tuesday (2) meant that his party membership as well as his party general secretary post had both been restored until the conclusion of the case.
Former SLFP Leader Maithripala Sirisena sacked Jayasekara from the party and the general secretary post held by him at the time. However, the latter filed legal action and, after nine months of arguing the case, the Colombo District Court issued an interim order against the SLFP’s decision to expel him.
After being issued the enjoining order, Jayasekara said that the court had restored his party membership as well as the post of party general secretary until the case was concluded.
He further noted that he had remained silent without joining any faction within the SLFP or any other political party after being expelled due to the belief that justice would be served.
Two secretaries
Nevertheless, the latest enjoining order by court has yet again created confusion within the SLFP, with the party now having two general secretaries.
While the court had restored Jayasekara’s party general secretary post, the SLFP Executive Committee recently appointed Duminda Dissanayake (who represents the Nimal Siripala de Silva faction of the SLFP) as the General Secretary.
However, Jayasekara on Friday (5) made his way to the SLFP Headquarters at Darley Road in Colombo to resume work as the party’s General Secretary after claiming that he was the legally appointed General Secretary of the SLFP and that the court had also accepted it. He also called on party members to support his move to save the party.
Jayasekara’s message got the pro-de Silva faction activated, with the group’s General Secretary Dissanayake deciding to stake his claim to the key post in the SLFP. Since the keys to the Party Headquarters were with the de Silva faction, it was decided that Jayasekara would be blocked from entering the main building of the party and the office of the SLFP general secretary.
However, the building behind the SLFP Headquarters that houses the offices of the SLFP-led alliance, the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), was kept open for Jayasekara and his supporters to enter.
Assuming duties
Nevertheless, Jayasekara made his way to the SLFP Headquarters on Friday morning with a group of his supporters to assume duties as the Party General Secretary.
Since he was not permitted inside, Jayasekara assumed duties outside the Party Headquarters amidst the chanting of pirith by the Buddhist clergy.
SLFP’s stance
Meanwhile, the official SLFP, now led by de Silva, maintains that the court’s enjoining order does not apply to the new office bearers.
A senior SLFPer pointed out that the court order was directed at former Party Leader Sirisena and former Party General Secretary Dushmantha Mithrapala and that the court had not addressed the new office bearers.
“During the period of the case, there have been developments within the party, where the Executive Committee had met and appointed a new set of office bearers,” he said, adding that these changes had not been included in Jayasekara’s case.
The de Silva faction also maintains that the court directive has clearly stated to maintain the status quo.
Spying on NPP
Meanwhile, the JVP-led NPP has complained of being spied on, especially relating to the JVP/NPP’s recently launched Retired Police Officers’ Collective.
A Police complaint was lodged at the Piliyandala Police on Monday (1) by former Senior Deputy Inspector General (SDIG) of the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) Ravi Seneviratne about two individuals on motorbikes who had behaved in a suspicious manner when the collective had been engaged in a special discussion in the Piliyandala area last week.
The two individuals wearing full-face covered helmets had parked their motorbikes close to the venue of the meeting and had watched the goings-on at the meeting and in surrounding areas. However, the motorcyclists had left when the retired Police officers at the meeting had tried to inquire into the reason for them to be watching the meeting.
It is learnt that initial investigations had revealed that the number plates of the two motorbikes had been false.
Election period
Meanwhile, there has been much debate over the election laws that are applicable during an election period given that the postponed Local Government Election has still not been cancelled. The EC has reaffirmed the ongoing validity of the election law since it’s still an election period.
According to a statement issued by the commission, during the period in which the Local Government Election Law remains in effect, political parties, groups, or candidates are prohibited from engaging in promotional activities.
“The Election Law continues to be in force across the country due to the postponement and incomplete polling of local authorities,” the statement emphasised, referencing Article 104A of the Constitution.
In addition, the use of State property for such purposes is strictly prohibited. “The directives outlined in Gazette No.2313/32 and Circular No.20 remain applicable,” the EC asserted.
Opposition complaint
Meanwhile, a group of Opposition MPs has requested the EC to prevent the Government from using certain projects to gain advantage for future elections.
A written request signed by MPs Madduma Bandara, Mano Ganesan, Hakeem, V. Radhakrishnan, Tissa Attanayake, Gayantha Karunatilleka, Mujibur Rahman, Lakshman Kiriella, Rohini Wijeratne, Prof. G.L. Peiris, Rohana Bandara, Nalin Bandara, Buddhika Pathirana, Hector Appuhamy, Dr. Nalaka Godahewa, Dullas Alahapperuma, Weerasumana Weerasinghe, and Jayasekara was handed over to the Chairman of the EC.
“We know that the Local Government Elections have been disrupted by the Government by not providing the necessary funds. However, a period during which an election has been declared as per the Election Law is a duration in which the Election Law is in force. The Election Commission will get the official power to declare the Presidential Election constitutionally in less than a month. An election must be held between that date and 17 October 2024. However, knowing this situation, the Government is using public funds targeting the elections to promote parties and candidates under the guise of regional development,” the MPs said in the letter.
“Provisions in decentralised budgets for Members of Parliament have been issued only to selected members, depriving some members of their right to equal opportunity. Action was taken to transfer an amount of Rs. 8,750 million from other heads of expenditure to the head of expenditure of the President last week, purportedly to be used for regional development activities. In addition to this, the Government has implemented many display projects such as ‘Urumaya,’ providing rice to low-income earners; ‘Decade of Upcountry,’ providing fertiliser free of charge; and ‘Jayagamu Sri Lanka’. Although these programmes are carried out under the guise of people’s welfare events, most of them factually operate as political programmes initiated by regional politicians. Also, all State media outlets are controlled by political cronies. Accordingly, every media space has become a trumpet of the Government,” the letter added.