SLPP-SLFP talks head for murky waters SLPP perturbed by court filing against Gota

The opposition-led by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) was in for a rude shock when it learnt of a court filing against its presidential hopeful former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the United States where he holds dual citizenship.   

The South Africa-based International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP), working with the law firm Hausfeld and human rights lawyer Scott Gilmore, filed the case on behalf of a person called Roy Samathanam. Besides,   separate papers were filed by the daughter of Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickremetunge who was slain in January 2009.

Rajapaksa, the brother of Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, spelled out his interests in becoming the presidential candidate of the political amalgam led by SLPP.  Yet, he faces a legal barrier in contesting the polls because of his dual citizenship. Actually, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution has barred dual citizens from becoming parliamentarians or the President of this country. 

• Actually, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution has barred dual citizens from becoming parliamentarians or the President of this country
•  Mahinda Rajapaksa also contacted him and inquired about the matter
• The doctors were on strike in the province demanding an apology from the Chief Minister

In his bid to qualify as a presidential candidate under such circumstances, Rajapaksa initiated action to renounce his US citizenship. Against the backdrop, the SLPP and other likeminded parties were greatly perturbed whether legal filing in the US against him would thwart the process of renunciation of his citizenship, thus disqualifying him as a candidate. 

As such the party stalwarts rushed to find out the possible implications of court action being filed there.   Mahinda Rajapaksa also contacted him and inquired about the matter. However after clarifying they viewed it only as a storm in a teacup.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa had reserved air tickets to depart the US on April 10 initially over such developments. But, he later cancelled reservations since he found out that the legal filing was not of serious concern. Now, he is expected to arrive in Sri Lanka on April 12.

The political engines of the main parties are now being revved up in view of the presidential election to be conducted in December in accordance with the law.  The SLPP has reportedly endorsed the name of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as its candidate.

Political measures by the other parties, mainly the United National Party (UNP), swirl around this decision by the SLPP.  In the selection of their candidate, they would take into account the strengths and weaknesses of Rajapaksa and try to adjust themselves accordingly to counter and outsmart him at the presidential election. 

Rajapaksa is seen as someone charismatic   among the majority Sinhalese community, but despised by the minority communities in the north and the east. In the formulation of its strategies against him, the UNP would try to cash in on such dynamics and get the minority vote base en bloc to offset the erosion of its vote base within the majority community.  In contrast, the SLPP would work out a strategy aimed at furthering its vote base in the majority areas while reducing the margin of loss in the minority areas. 

GL raises concerns about Dayasiri’s delay 

Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and SLPP sat down for talks yesterday, but with some antagonism with each other over recent political developments and activities. 

The SLPP was incensed by the decision of some SLFP MPs to be absent during the Budget Vote instead of voting against it. Many of the SLPP MPs including the likes of Ranjith de Zoysa and Prasanna Ranatunga  objected to further talks with the SLFP against such a background.  They viewed the SLFP as a party standing for the UNP at any critical time. 

At yesterday’s meeting, the SLPP representatives- Prof. G.L. Peiris, Dalles Alahapperuma and Dr. Jagath Wellawatta- raised their concerns about the SLFP’s action during the Budget Vote. They said that they would find it difficult to convince their rank and file on the importance of bilateral talks in the wake of such political action.

However, SLFP representative MP Tilanga Sumathipala had a counter point. He said there was something more beneath the surface of President Maithripala Sirisena’s political decisions these days.   

“One should not look at only the surface of what the President does. He has to think of the future of the six MPs who broke ranks with the UNP to assist the installation of Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister on October 26, 2018,” he said. 

Also,    he said it should be borne in mind that the President played a pivotal role in securing the post of Opposition Leader for Mr. Rajapaksa in Parliament. 

SLFP General Secretary MP Dayasiri Jayasekara was late by 40 minutes to attend the meeting, and this concerned Prof. Peiris who is the SLPP Chairman. Mr. Jayasekara is a former student of Prof. Peiris when he served as the professor of law at Colombo University’s Law Faculty at that time.  

Prof. Peiris and Sumathipala had turned up on time for the meeting. Prof. Peiris remarked, “It is not nice to be late for a meeting of such importance,”

Being well aware of this student-teacher  relationship in the past, Sumathipala snapped    back, “At that time, if you had moulded him as your student to be punctual, this problem would not have arisen today. You should have beaten him up and moulded him properly,” 

Mr. Alahapperuma who was seated nearby butted in and remarked, “This is reminiscent of a meeting to be chaired by former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga,”
Kumaratunga was notorious for her lateness even for public and official events during her tenure. 

Political measures by the other parties, mainly the United National Party (UNP), swirl around this decision by the SLPP.  In the selection of their candidate, they would take into account the strengths and weaknesses of Rajapaksa

Dayasiri’s remarks

In the presence of Jayasekara at the negotiation table, Prof. Peiris took him to task over his statement to the media the other day.   Jayasekara said at a news conference on Tuesday that the President would make a reference to the Supreme Court seeking an advisory opinion whether he could serve till June 21, 2020. 

Prof. Peiris viewed this as an attempt to postpone   the presidential elections, and said it was preposterous. Jayasekara’s comments to the media are taken with due seriousness by others since he is the General Secretary of the party. 

However, he was defensive in responding to Prof. Peiris at the negotiation table. 

“That was not what I intended to say. I was responding to a question raised by a journalist at the press conference,” he said.   

A date was fixed for the fourth round of talks in May, but there is no good chemistry between the two parties. So, the possibility of talks getting derailed is high. Actually, the two parties harbour contrasting and conflicting political ambitions. 

Uva CN bypasses striking Badulla doctors 

Government medical doctors serving in the Uva Province took up cudgels against Chief Minister Chamara Sampath Dasanayake over his high-handed action against one of their colleagues.  The doctors were on strike in the province demanding an apology from the Chief Minister.  In the meantime, the Chief Minister fell sick and was admitted to the Ratnapura Teaching Hospital instead of seeking medication at the Badulla General Hospital in the province. 

One of his political friends   later found that the Chief Minister came to Ratnapura for treatment because the doctors at the Uva province were annoyed with him.