Political circles were all agog last week with the sudden sacking of Susil Premajayantha from his position as State Minister of Education Reforms, Open Universities and Distance Learning Promotion by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Premajayantha was summarily sacked from his post after he spoke to the media at the Delkanda Sunday fair. Asked about high vegetable prices, he harshly criticised the government’s policy to promote organic fertiliser and said Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage had ‘failed’.
The dismissal raised eyebrows for several reasons: Premajayantha is a senior politician who stood with Mahinda Rajapaksa when he battled Maithripala Sirisena in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) post-January2015. The sacking was also made public before Premajayantha was made aware of it.
Premajayantha must have been piqued that no one in the higher echelons of the government had the courtesy to forewarn him of his sacking. He would have learnt of it through the short media release issued by the President’s Media Division saying he had been relieved of his responsibilities.
Even the former Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Professor Udith K. Jayasinghe who was also sacked by the President for much the same offence- criticising the ‘organic fertiliser policy’- was afforded the courtesy of being informed of his removal, although that was through a text message.
Another question that is now being asked is whether Premajayantha’s exit marks the beginning of the end of the Rajapaksa regime? Will he provide the necessary impetus for the many in the ruling party who are disaffected and disillusioned but aren’t bold enough to raise their voice.
If President Rajapaksa’s intention was to send a signal to any would be dissenters to keep their mouths firmly shut, that was achieved. Now, those in the government ranks would think twice before they utter remarks critical of either the President or the government.
President Rajapaksa also defended Premajayantha’s sacking publicly. He said that if someone who was part and parcel of the government was being hostile to its policies saying they had ‘failed’, they should consider themselves too as having ‘failed’ because they were also part of the same apparatus.
The government is also using the argument of ‘collective responsibility’ to justify the sacking. Defenders of the government’s faith such as Namal Rajapaksa and Johnston Fernando have been quick to cite this saying a man of Premajayantha’s seniority should have known that only too well.
That argument would have been sound if not for two flaws that have been pointed out. Firstly, the concept of ‘collective responsibility’ applies only to the Cabinet. Premajayantha was only a state minister and not a cabinet minister when he made remarks critical of the government.
Secondly, three ministers in the Cabinet, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Udaya Gammanpila and Wimal Weerawansa have supported a challenge to a Cabinet decision regarding the sale of the Yugadhanavi power plant in the Supreme Court. How then is that not a violation of collective responsibility?
It is clear then that the triumvirate have been handled with kid-gloves while Premajayantha has been giving marching orders, even though he was a far more valuable asset to the ruling coalition. That this is a decision based on personal preferences and not on grounds of ‘discipline’ is self-evident.
It is a phenomenon in politics- and particularly in Sri Lanka- that ruling parties are often undone not by their opponents but by dissenters from within. Those who are ill-treated tolerate that for a while before quitting to become the harshest critics of their erstwhile leaders, leading to their defeat.
That is what S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike did to the United National Party (UNP). That is what Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake almost did to the UNP. That is also what Maithripala Sirisena did to the SLFP. Is Premajayantha trying to do this to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna?
There were hints of this on display on January 8, when the birth 123rd birth anniversary of SLFP founder S.W.R. D. Bandaranaike was commemorated near his statue at Galle Face. Premajayantha arrived early and had an animated conversation with former President Chandrika Kumaratunga.
Premajayantha was surrounded by the media men who sought his views on his dismissal. He wasted no time in chastising the government. Interestingly SLFP leader and former President Maithripala Sirisena and his key party office-bearers ensured they arrived only after Kumaratunga had left.
It is now common knowledge that the SLFP contingent within ruling coalition, numbering fourteen, is restless and yearning to ‘break free’ from the Alliance. Sirisena is actively promoting this but the big question mark is what kind of traction the former President has over the voting public.
Although voters entrusted the nation to Sirisena once when they were tired of a Rajapaksa regime, it is wishful thinking that they would do so again. That is because Sirisena blotted his copybook in style not only by not honouring his pledges but also by trying to install Rajapaksa as Prime Minister again.
It is also no secret that there is little love lost between Kumaratunga and Sirisena. The former, whenever she gets a chance to give a ‘voice cut’, lambasts Sirisena for ruining the SLFP. Given half a chance, Kumaratunga would eagerly banish Sirisena from the SLFP and install another leader.
It is unlikely that Susil Premajayantha, for all his bravado will fit that bill. He may be the first wicket to fall in the SLPP ranks, but he is very unlikely to be the captain of a rival team. He also does not possess the charisma that will elevate him to national leader status- not that Sirisena ever did.
For all his tough talk, Premajayantha is best remembered by voters as Secretary of the UPFA during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s terms in office, rubber-stamping everything that the rampaging Rajapaksas stood for. There is also a feeling that he is angry only because he was not elevated to cabinet rank.
For all intents and purposes Susil Premajayantha’s departure is a ‘turning point’. It may foreshadow what is yet to come for the Rajapaksas. Yet, he wouldn’t be the one to turn around the fortunes of this regime or the opposition. Those are shoes that are too big for Susil Premajayantha to fill.
