Ill-laid conspiracy of silence

Thursday, September 27, 2018

The controversy over an alleged plot to assassinate President Maithripala Sirisena and former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa hit the headlines last week and led to accusations and counter accusations from every side of the political divide but even this issue could not hide the cracks appearing between the different factions of the United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance (UPFA).
The controversy erupted when a Police informant identifying himself as Namal Kumara called a media briefing and claimed that there was a plot to assassinate the President and Rajapaksa who is widely tipped to be the next presidential candidate from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).

Conspiracy theories abound in Sri Lankan politics but what made this particular claim sensational was Kumara identifying the then Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in charge of the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the Police Nalaka Silva. Kumara claimed that he had a tape of a recorded conversation to substantiate his claim.

Presidential candidates

The claim is now the subject of a full scale investigation. With the President and a possible presidential candidate being postulated as potential victims, the government was taking no chances. The orders from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and Law and Order Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara were for the matter to be probed promptly and extensively.

However, this is where the government ran in to some stumbling blocks. When the claims were first made there was consensus within the government ranks that a comprehensive and independent inquiry was essential. If this was not conducted, the government was mindful that it could be accused of complicity in the conspiracy- and the backlash from the public would be significant.

The government therefore was keen to see DIG Silva out of the equation until an inquiry was concluded, even though the officer has every right to be presumed innocent until any case against him is established. However, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundera had by then issued orders to transfer DIG Silva to the Information Technology (IT) division of the Police Department.
This only created another furore. The opposition, the Joint Opposition (JO) in particular, was up in arms. Claims were made that the government was colluding with the IGP and a cover up of the investigation was underway. Another preposterous claim made by the opposition was that DIG Silva was being transferred to the IT division, so he could tamper with evidence related to the case.

It was then that the government was compelled to act decisively. Law and Order Minister Madduma Bandara had to request the National Police Commission (NPC) to send DIG Silva on compulsory leave. That was because it had been alleged that IGP Jayasundera was resisting calls by the NPC to send the officer on leave. It is understood that the IGP was also cautioned about his actions.
In the meantime, the opposition was having a field day. It was accusing the IGP of being a ‘government stooge’ and calling for his removal. Much was made of the fact that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s life was allegedly in danger- even more so than that of President Sirisena’s. JO stalwart Dullas Alahapperuma was even calling the resignation of members of the NPC.

The so-called ‘rebel’ group of the SLFP, which is a subgroup among the sixteen parliamentarians who resigned their posts in the government in the aftermath of the no confidence motion against Prime Minister Wickremesinghe wanted President Sirisena to take over the Ministry of Law and Order. These rebels included S. B. Dissanayake, Thilanga Sumathipala and Dilan Perera.

The matter is now expected to be resolved with the conduct of an exhaustive inquiry. During the debate on the issue in Parliament government leaders were quick to assure the opposition that, if indeed there was evidence against DIG Silva, he would be dealt with as any other suspect would be. The probe however would necessarily take some time, given it has to be a thorough investigation.

If anything, the controversy over the alleged assassination plot further widened the divisions among the various factions of the UPFA. The JO was the most vociferous, claiming there was a government conspiracy while the S. B. Dissanayake led ‘rebels’ also cried foul. The mainstream Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and indeed President Sirisena himself opted for a more moderate approach.
That did not prevent the President from acting decisively against errant SLFPers, most of whom have now, formally or informally, pledged their loyalty to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his adopted political party, the SLPP. Among them were several front-liners and the fact that President Sirisena, at long last, was cracking the whip against them indicated a major change in his strategy.

Electoral organiser posts

Eight out of the sixteen SLFPers who defected to the JO were relieved of their electoral organiser posts by the Central Committee (CC) of the SLFP. Among those were W. D. J. Seneviratne, former UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayantha, former SLFP General Secretary Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena and former Deputy Speaker Chandima Weerakkody.

In a simultaneous move, three heads of the SLFP’s District Development Committees in Ratnapura, Galle and Kurunegala, W. D. J. Seneviratne, Chandima Weerakkody, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa were removed from their posts. Their positions were offered to Athula Kumara Rahubadda, Piyasena Gamage and Dayasiri Jayasekara respectively.

The President also appointed nine new electoral organisers. They include Faiszer Musthapha (Colombo Central), Hector Bethmage and G. H. Buddhadasa (Kaduwela), Priyangani Abeyweera and Suranga Prabath (Matugama), Amilaka Harshana Kariyawasam (Bentara), N. D. Susantha Lal Jayaweera (Karandeniya), Thisara Gunasinghe (Habaraduwa) and Dr. Keerthi Fonseka (Yapahuwa).
These measures are extremely significant in that, until a few weeks ago various groups within the SLFP were hoping for and working towards a rapprochement between the Sirisena and Rajapaksa factions of the party. These groups, with S. B. Dissanayake taking the lead among them, fervently believed that a ‘joint ticket’ for the 2020 national elections was still a possibility.

Indeed, President Sirisena has been delaying taking action against SLFPers who have, for the past three and a half years been openly violating party discipline. The biggest offender has been Mahinda Rajapaksa himself who is addressing meetings and openly consorting with the SLPP, a rival political party while still being a patron of the SLFP. Some even blamed the President for his ‘soft’ approach.
Now that the whip has been cracked on the SLFP dissidents, they are being given a clear message: they need to decide where their loyalties lie. If they adopt an ‘on the fence’ approach, they would be taken to task and be at risk of losing their electoral organiser posts in the SLFP.

That is a significant issue because, at the electorate level, the masses still identify themselves with the SLFP.

In the midst of the upheaval in the SLFP, it was not that the United National Party (UNP) didn’t have its fair share of problems.

Apart from distancing itself from the alleged assassination controversy, it was the UNP and its ministers that bore the brunt of the public backlash against the fall of the rupee against the United States dollar which sent prices of consumer goods and services skyrocketing.

Thus, both the UNP and the SLFP are in damage control mode, while the JO and its partner, the SLPP are on the offensive, seizing any issue which captures the imagination of the public. Wittingly or unwittingly, the stage is being set for the next presidential and general elections, despite President Sirisena’s recent pledge that the presidential polls won’t be held a “day sooner” than necessary.