<i>Saba’s Weekly Review</i><b> - Two Annoyed Leaders and the LTTE</b>

T.Sabaratnam

The President who was the de facto cabinet for seven long years, until 1994 November to 2001 December, (“I’ve decided to accept this tender, she would proclaim and the minister concerned would nods his approval,” her erstwhile cabinet minister, Prof. G. L. Peiris accused her, when he left her cabinet a year ago) was cut to the plight of telling her cabinet on June 3 Wednesday that that she was its head.

Suranimala, who reports regularly the discussions in the weekly cabinet meetings in his column ‘Inside Politics’ in Sunday Leader, gave on July 7 a detailed account of a verbal duel between President Kumaratunga and her minister Karunanayake.

The cabinet was discussing the import of 49 high security luxury vehicles and the fraud in the Sri Lanka Rubber manufacturing and Export Corporation. The ministers demanded an explanation from the President, who was the finance minister at that time.

Exasperated, she declared: “I am not going to answer any more. I am putting a full stop to this discussion today. No fraud has taken place in the last seven years.”

Karunanayake: Whether there was a fraud or not is a matter for you to comment on and for us to decide. You are just one in the cabinet of 30 members.”

President Kumaratunga: But I am the head of cabinet.

THE TWO MATTERS

Both matters on which the ministers were trying the head of the cabinet were sensitive. The first, dubbed the vehicle issue concerns the import of 49 bullet proof luxury vehicles by the presidential secretariat for 2.4 billion rupees. No proper records about them are available.

Senaratne charged that, they were discarded vehicles used for Sydney Olympics and the importers had collected the price of new vehicles from the Treasury. He said the whereabouts of 13 vehicles were not known. “Were they imported at all?” he raised a doubt.

Cabinet spokesman, Constitutional Affairs Minister, Prof. G. L. Peiris told the media on July 11, that President Kumaratunga has to answer “a lot of questions” on the vehicle matter.

“The questions are: How was the money released to the luxury vehicles and by whom?

What was the authorization?

How was the company selected?

What has happened to the five cars gifted by the Daewoo company?’’
Peiris summed up.

The second matter was more of a curious nature. Over Rs. 900 million was released to Sri Lanka Rubber Manufacturing and Export Corporation headed by President’s confidante Sarath Wickremesinghe. Plantations Minister Lakshman Kiriella in a cabinet paper charged that Rs. 541 million was either misappropriated or fraudulently misused.

The ministers told President Kumaratunga that, major portion of that sum was allegedly spent on a new factory at Bulathsinhala, but no such factory was built.

“Definitely there is something fishy about this. The report (Auditor General’s Report) says Rs. 120 million was spent on the foundation but even the foundation stone was not laid.”

The president undertook to “check and come back.”

The President did not attend the July 10 cabinet meeting, but sent a note about the vehicle issue, inviting the Prime Minister to come and have a look at the vehicles. In that note she said of the 49 vehicles out of which, 29 were cars and the balance 20 were jeeps. Of the cars, ten are used by the present cabinet ministers, two by the Leader of the Opposition and four by former ministers, who the government decided are LTTE targets. The rest are being used by the President and for her security

She said that, those vehicles were not registered with the Motor Traffic Department, as that would compromise her security and declined to reveal the engine and chassis numbers, as that would help the ‘enemy” to get hold of the special protective mechanisms fitted to the vehicle from the manufacturers.

The cabinet rejected her invitation to the Prime Minister to view the vehicles and decided to take legal action against those all connected with the two issues.

President Kumaratunga charged that, some ministers were keen to endanger her security.

The cabinet Sub-Committee on Political Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister, decided to impeach the President, when it met on July 4, and asked the three legal luminaries in the cabinet - Finance Minister K. N. Choksy, Defence Minister Tilak Marapone and Prof. G. L. Peiris, to draft the impeachment motion.

Cabinet spokesman Peiris announced to the media on July 11 of the decision to impeach the President.

That was government’s action to curb President Kumaratunga’s constitutional authority, to dissolve the parliament after the expiry of the first year, of its six- year term.

President Kumaratunga too had gone on the offensive. On July 8 she launched the restructuring of her Sri Lanka Freedom Party with a series of religious ceremonies. She told at public rally at Anuradhapura, that Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government had failed to solve the problems faced by the people. “He promised to bring down the cost of living. It’s soaring and people find it difficult to live. He promised to bring peace. Up to date, the proposed talks were not held. The whole thing is delayed and dragging.”

She is encouraged by the crowd that gathered at Anuradhapura and later she addressed at a meeting held Nugegoda, a Colombo suburb, to oppose the peace process. At that meeting, President Kumaratunga’s younger brother Anura Bandaranaike predicted: LTTE would never come for talks and the fall of the government is imminent.

Kumaratunga expressed similar views to Tamil groups, which met her on July 9. She described Wickremesinghe’s handling of the peace process as “amateurish.” Told them that, she is preparing for a comeback.

SLFP is preparing the people for her comeback through a whispering campaign. It says that she alone could bring back peace to the country.

“Pirabaharan does not trust Ranil. That is why he is delaying the talks. He is waiting for the return of Chandrika. They have come to an understanding.”

HAKEEM’S ANGER

Hakeem is also an annoyed, angry leader. Last month’s Tamil- Muslim clash in the Eastern province, has once more released the forces challenging his leadership, within the SLMC and outside. He feels that the LTTE with which he signed an agreement on April 12, had badly let him down.

Internally, Eastern province Muslims, who consider Hakeem an outsider, are challenging his leadership, charging that he is ‘soft’ towards the LTTE and lacks understanding of their problems and concerns. Externally, the traditional Colombo leadership, is also posing challenge. And LTTE had assisted M.H. Mohammed, the Colombo Muslim leader, to re-emerge as the Muslim leader.

Ministers - Mohammed, A. R. M. Cader and other UNP Muslim parliamentarians, went to the East on July 8, and met with LTTE’s Eastern region leader Karikalan and elicited an undertaking to ensure the protection of the Muslim people.

Mohammed then consolidated his leadership by convening a meeting of all Muslim Members of Parliament, which Hakeem and his parliamentary group attended.

Hakeem has thus lost his claim to be the sole representative of the Muslims. The meeting decided that the group should talk to the LTTE and arrange the meeting through Norway, the peace facilitator.

Karikalan announced after his meeting with Mohammed that, LTTE no longer considers the SLMC as the sole representative of the Muslims.

“There are many groups among Muslims. We have to talk to all of them to prevent future Tamil- Muslim clashes,” Karikalan told the media.
Coming weeks are going to be interesting.