The struggle for survival of small parties

Is the row between the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and the small parties in the ruling coalition real, or is it a drama? Many social media posts have posed this question. Some are of the opinion that this is a drama stage-managed by the ruling party leaders to divert the attention of the masses from many issues the country is currently faced with. 

Meanwhile, some groups believe that the leaders of the small parties have resorted to this kind of agitations to extract more favours from Rajapaksas, while there are also people who see a section of Rajapaksas behind the agitations of the small parties, as a result of the feuds within the Rajapaksa family.  Only a very few people seem to take the row seriously though the media that always crave for hot cakes attempt to portray a near breakup of the ruling coalition.

As in many cases such as the controversies on the Eastern Container Terminal of the Colombo Harbour and the Trancomalee oil tank farm, these small parties were initially reluctant to lead from the front in their current “struggle” against the government’s move to hand over treasury owned 40% of shares of the Yugadanavi power plant in Kerawalapitiya to a US based company. However, as far as the media is concerned their protests are more eye-catching than those of the Opposition political parties and they in turn get the benefit of media hype. 

The issue on the transfer of 40% of Yugadanavi Power Plant was first cropped up in July when the trade unions in the electricity sector raised alarm with a warning to take trade union action following the signing of a framework agreement between the Government of Sri Lanka and the New Fortress Energy Inc. 

On October 21, the US-based New Fortress Inc. issued a press release with a headline “New Fortress Energy Finalizes Contract with Government of Sri Lanka for LNG Terminal, Investment into 310 MW Yugadanavi Power Plant, and Gas Supply to Country’s Power Plants.” The statement further explained “New Fortress Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NFE) (“New Fortress”) and The Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (“GOSL”) jointly announced today that they have executed a definitive agreement for New Fortress’ investment in West Coast Power Limited (“WCP”), the owner of the 310 MW Yugadanavi Power Plant based in Colombo, along with the rights to develop a new LNG Terminal off the coast of Colombo, the capital city. As part of the transaction, New Fortress will have gas supply rights to the Kerawalapitya Power Complex, where 310 MW of power is operational today and an additional 700 MW scheduled to be built, of which 350 MW is scheduled to be operational by 2023.”

New Fortress will acquire a 40% ownership stake in WCP and plans to build an offshore liquified Natural Gas (LNG) receiving, storage and regasification terminal located off the coast of Colombo. New Fortress will initially provide the equivalent of an estimated 1.2 million gallons of LNG (~35,000 MMBtu) per day to the GOSL, with the expectation of significant growth as new power plants become operational, according to the statement.

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) were up in arms against the agreement and the Small parties in the ruling coalition also joined the bandwagon, but separately. They requested a meeting with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa but it was turned down. They were asked to air their views at the party leaders’ meeting of the ruling coalition or the Cabinet meeting which they did at the party leaders’ meeting. They had told the President that the agreement was signed without the approval of the Cabinet where it was only mentioned. They also complained that the minutes of the Cabinet meeting say that agreement was approved, which was wrong. 

The meeting ended inconclusively and the small parties went public with their complaints and allegations. They held a meeting called “Mahajana Manthrana Sabhawa” (People’s Council) on October 29 in Colombo where Industries Minister Wimal Weerawansa said that some people are misusing the mandate received by the President while threatening that those who going against the wishes of the 6.9 million people voted for the President must be kicked out. Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila too were vociferous to say that the deal with the US Company was one more corrupt than various deals entered into by the governments of J. R. Jayewardene, Ranasinghe Premadasa, Chandrika Kumaratunga and Ranil Wickremesinghe. Media interpretatively reported it as him saying that this was the most corrupt government in the history, but he did not seem to correct it. 

What they wanted to drive home – genuinely or for the moment - was that the deal was against the national interest and national security. It is ironic that they who portrayed the Rajapaksa family to be the most patriotic people in the country had to accuse the same leaders of selling national assets in a manner that is detrimental to the national interests and national security. 

The leaders of the small government allies are not only very careful not to hurt the President but also attempt to absolve him of the deal. Although Weerawansa said that some people are misusing the President’s mandate, the latter did not give an appointment for them to discuss the matter. Also who would dare to mention something that was not approved as an approved item in the Cabinet minutes, without the knowledge of the head of the Cabinet?  The President’s Media Spokesman Kingsley Rathnayaka conducted a media briefing under the theme “The Truth about the Yugadanavi Project” on Wednesday where the Power sector officials claimed that the Yugadanavi project was a great investment opportunity for the country.

In Sri Lanka the patriotism is in most cases, especially in politics is seasonal or occasional. When the Yahapalana government signed a trilateral agreement in 2019 to develop the Eastern Container Terminal of the Colombo Harbour with India and Japan, there were no agitations. But the current government had to rescind the deal in January, due to protests by trade unions and political parties including the same small parties in the ruling coalition. Ironically, nobody saw any threat to the national security or the national economy when 51% of stakes in the Western terminal of the same harbour - against 49% of the Eastern terminal - was given to India’s same Adani Group on September 30. 

The silence on the part of these small constituents of the government on the high-handed actions by the Chinese authorities in the current fertilizer row is deafening. Similarly, they did not utter a word when the trade unions raised alarm over the current Yugadanavi deal in July and Energy Minister Gammanpila unsuccessfully attempted to hide behind the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 when involvement of India in the oil Tank farm was questioned by the Opposition parties.  

Will the agitation of these small parties end up in a division of the ruling coalition? It is most unlikely, as they cannot survive without the help of the SLPP or any other major party. If they break away from the SLPP, the only party that might accommodate them is the SJB. And that would further erode their credibility. Anybody who knew what happened to former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka would not dare to take a drastic step, leaving the ruling coalition. And the SLPP too would not prefer to see the Opposition using the oratorical skills of these small party leaders against it. That was evident through Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s speech at the fifth anniversary of the SLPP on November 1 where he said the SLPP should not marginalize those who supported the party during difficult times.