Ranil’s Watergate?

 

By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana-April 1, 2018, 8:51 pm

Richard Milhouse Nixon has earned a place in history, not for the right reason though: he is the only US president to have resigned from post, which he did to avoid the impending ignominious impeachment. The scandal that ended the career of an otherwise very successful US president, Watergate, has now become synonymous with political cover-ups. Nixon, the 37th US President, credited with ending the American involvement in the Vietnam war, visited China in 1972 heralding a new era of Sino-American relationship, initiated détente and signed an Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union and presided over the Apollo 11 moon landing. On the negative side, he supported the coup in Chile that ousted the democratically elected Marxist President, Salvador Allende, propelling to power Augusto Pinochet, who turned out to be a cruel dictator. Nixon was re-elected in 1972 with a landslide, polling more than 60% of the popular vote and losing only one state, out of the 50, and the District of Columbia to his opponent. So, what went wrong?

Watergate scandal

To ensure his re-election, many in his administration carried out undemocratic activities which included "dirty tricks" campaigns like bugging the offices of political opponents, the harassment of activist groups and political figures. These activities were brought to light after five men were caught breaking into the Democratic party headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. on 17 June 1972. Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward of the Washington Post newspaper, relying on an informant known as "Deep Throat", later revealed to be an associate director at the FBI, linked the men to the Nixon administration. Though Nixon downplayed the scandal as mere politics, calling news articles biased and misleading, a series of revelations made it clear that the Committee to Re-elect Nixon and the White House was involved in attempts to sabotage the Democrats. As it happened, this was totally unnecessary, as he won with a landslide. But worse was to come.

A Special Counsel was appointed to investigate when one of the White House aides testified, under oath, that Nixon has recorded all conversations in the Oval Office and these will show that Nixon was aware of what happened, though he denied any knowledge. He was reluctant to release the tapes and released partial transcripts. Finally, under pressure, when Nixon released the tapes there was a gap of 18 ½ minutes, which his personal secretary claimed, she accidentally erased, which was considered a dumb excuse. After a protracted battle, as it became clear that Nixon attempted a cover-up, there was no choice but to start impeachment proceedings but before this happened, Nixon resigned on 9th August 1974. He was forced to resign not because of the break-in or any of the other "dirty tricks" but because of the cover-up.

Central Bank Bond scam

Not one, but two bond scams occurred when Ranil was in charge of the Central Bank with his chosen friend as the Governor. On the basis of the available facts, which I need not repeat as are very well known, most will come to the inevitable conclusion that Ranil, if not actively involved, was well aware of the scam. Of course, the hard-core UNPers, who still harbour the delusion that Ranil is ‘Mr. Clean’, would never accept this and will come up with all sort of fancy defences. A governent spokesman has already claimed that what they robbed is nothing, as Rajapaksas played out much more, though Rajapaksas’ scams are yet to be proved. Those who came to power on the promise of eradicating corruption, indulging in ‘minor’ corruption is justified! What sort of logic is that!! Do they think that Sri Lankans are grass-eaters?

Deception

The appointment of Mahendran itself was full of deception. Originally, it was claimed that he was a Sri Lankan citizen. Then it was told that he is a dual citizen but when it was pointed out that Singapore does not allow dual citizenship a totally different story emerged with a question. If the UK can have a Canadian as the Governor of the Bank of England, why cannot Sri Lanka have a Singaporean as the Governor of the Central Bank? If that was the case, why was Ranil not bold enough, instead of giving lame excuses, to state this in the first instance?

Can Mahendran and Mark Carney be compared? Certainly not! Before moving to the UK, Mark Carney was the Governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013. The equivalent of the Central Bank in Singapore is the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Mahendran has not held any top positions; either that of the Chairman or the Manging Director. Therefore, the comparison drawn is ludicrous and a means of deception.

Mahendran has run away and is not answering summons. If he is innocent why should he abscond? As the person who appointed him, should Ranil not take responsibility? Surely, when Ranil visited Singapore recently for investment promotion, he could have met his old friend and persuaded him to return to Sri Lanka.

Cover-up

What should be blatantly obvious to everyone is the cover-up. There is absolutely no doubt about it. When the Bond Scam surfaced, Ranil appointed a committee of three ‘eminent’ lawyers to investigate. Their conclusion was that the Governor was not involved and laid the blame on senior officials of the Central Bank, which infuriated many honest but helpless officials in the Central Bank. If not for President Sirisena’s afterthought to appoint a commission of inquiry as the public outcry was not going away, the cover-up would have succeeded. When the Presidential Commission of Inquiry found the truth, at least partly, those lawyers did not put there hands up and tender an apology. Well, they may say, as lawyers, they looked after the interest of their client!

I do not want to make comparisons between Ranil and Nixon. Nixon, to his credit, took responsibility for his actions, though belatedly and resigned.

Isn’t it time for Ranil to show that he has some self-respect left in him, take responsibility, and resign, obviating the need for no-confidence motion? For all I know, he will win and carry on regardless.