Carnage, cozenage and suffrage

The government has apparently been left with no alternative but to reconcile itself to the fact that the local government (LG) elections cannot be postponed further. But it is not likely to give up without a fight. Speculation is rife in political circles that it may pull off something at the eleventh hour to delay the polls. The ruling party politicians have been claiming during the past several weeks that the country cannot afford the LG polls, which, they say, will cost as much as Rs 10 billion. But the Election Commission (EC) has said the cost will be about Rs. 5 billion!

In a dramatic turn of events, a letter sent by Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government, Neil Bandara Hapuhinna, to all District Secretaries, on Tuesday (10) morning, ordering them to stop accepting deposits from the candidates contesting the LG elections as per a Cabinet decision, caused quite a stir. It prompted Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa to summon a presser hurriedly and tell journalists that the government was planning to delay the polls; he threatened to hold street protests to frustrate the government’s effort. JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake also reacted to the latter in question in a similar manner. Both Premadasa and Dissanayake were of the view that the government had violated the Constitution by ordering the District Secretaries not to accept deposits.

Close on the heels of the issuance of Hapuhinna’s letter, Commissioner General of Elections Saman Sri Ratnayake wrote to all District Secretaries directing them to accept deposits and nominations, as scheduled, in keeping with the EC directive publicized via a Gazette extraordinary dated Dec. 21, 2022. Later in the day, the government recalled Hapuhinna’s letter.

The EC is expected to meet the political party leaders soon to discuss the issue, according to media reports.

The dead refuse to be forgotten

Everything, however, seems to be going wrong for the SLPP and the UNP on the political front. The government has caused another controversy—a big one at that. Media reports that Senior DIG (SDIG) Nilantha Jayawardena, who is one of those a special presidential commission of inquiry (PCoI) has held accountable for serious lapses that led to the Easter Sunday carnage in 2019, is to be elevated to the post of the IGP, has raised many an eyebrow. The Catholic Church has vehemently opposed the alleged move, and the SJB, too, has denounced it. The families of the victims of the Easter Sunday bombings are also very likely to register their protest with the government.

Jayawardena is currently holding the post of ‘SIDG Administration’, which is considered the second highest position in the Police Department, and it is only natural that he is expected to succeed incumbent IGP C. D. Wickremaratne. The government has chosen to remain silent on this issue. But it will have to offer an explanation soon.

Rev. Fr. Cyril Gamini Fernando, speaking on behalf of Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, on Monday (09), took strong exception to Jayawardena’s promotion and the government’s alleged bid to make him the next IGP. Insisting that many lives could have been saved if Jayawardena had taken prompt action when a foreign intelligence outfit alerted him to preparations being made for terror strikes, Fr. Fernando said all those who sought justice for the Easter Sunday carnage victims were opposed to the efforts being made to elevate an officer against whom the PCoI, which probed the terror attacks, has recommended legal action for his criminal liability, to the highest position in the Police Department.

The PCOI recommendation in respect of action to be taken against SDIG Jayawardena is as follows:

“All the evidence more fully discussed in Chapter 13 [of the commission report] shows that the Director SIS [Jayawardena] did not take the intelligence [provided by a foreign intelligence agency] seriously. It was the state of things until the Talankuda blast occurred.

“Based on the evidence, the COI is of the view that there is criminal liability on his part for the acts of omissions explained above. The COI recommends that the Attorney General consider instituting criminal proceedings against SDIG Nilantha Jayawardena under any suitable provision in the Penal Code.”

Political fallout of bombings

The Easter Sunday tragedy (2019) marked a turning point in Sri Lankan politics. It became the undoing of the Yahapalana government and provided a turbo boost to the SLPP’s efforts to capture power. Although national security was under the purview of the then President Maithripala Sirisena, who had fallen out with the UNP and stopped inviting Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to the National Security Council meetings, the entire government was held accountable for the serious security lapses that led to the carnage. The PCoI has made specific mention of this fact on page 471 of its final report.

It was in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday terror attacks that destroyed about 275 lives that war-time Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who had been dipping his toes in the water without taking to active politics, announced his desire to run for President. He hastened to renounce his US citizenship, which was a disqualification at that time for him to contest the presidential election, and threw his hat into the ring. With no formidable contender in the fray, he secured the coveted presidency with ease in November 2019.

Interestingly, about four years on, the Easter Sunday terror attacks have re-emerged as a central issue in electoral politics with a few weeks to go for the LG polls, which will assume the same importance as a general election besides serving as a referendum on the incumbent government’s performance. The ongoing protests against the possibility of Jayawardena’s elevation to the post of IGP could not have come at a worse time for the government, which has had to contend with numerous issues on all fronts, the worst being the economic crisis and its political fallout, which led to the ouster of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign.

Masterminds behind terror attacks

There is a question mark over who actually masterminded the Easter Sunday attacks. The SLPP government took great pains to have the public believe that Moulavi Naufar was the mastermind behind the deadly suicide bombings, but not many bought into this claim. It is believed in some quarters that Zahran Hashim, who led the National Thowheed Jamaath bombers and blew himself up at Shangri-La, Colombo, was handled by someone else. As many as 11 prominent persons who testified before the PCoI said they thought there had been a foreign hand in the terrorist attacks.

The witnesses who expressly testified that there was ‘an external hand or conspiracy behind the attacks’, according to the PCoI, are as follows:

Archbishop of Colombo His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith,

former President Sirisena,

former Minister Rauf Hakeem,

former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen,

former Governor Azath Salley,

SJB MP Mujibur Rahman,

former SIS Director SDIG Nilantha Jayawardena,

former STF Commandant M. R. Lateef,

former Chief of Defence Staff Ravindra Wijegunaratne,

former SDIG CID Ravi Seneviratne, and

former CID Director Shani Abeysekera.

Dismissing their statements as mere ipse dixits (unproven assertions), the PCoI report (page 472) says that it did not find any such foreign link. It has, however, recommended that certain identified parties be further investigated.

Curiously, the PCoI thought it fit to devote only nine pages in its 715-page final report to the alleged foreign involvement in the attacks!

Flawed prosecutions

The Attorney General’s Department has instituted legal action against some of those named by the PCoI as being responsible for the lapses that stood the Easter Sunday attackers in good stead. Among them are former Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and former IGP Pujith Jayasundara. But in February 2002, they were acquitted from all charges by the Colombo Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar. The cases against them were called up before Justices Namal Balalle, Aditya Patabendige, and Mohamed Irshadeen.

The Attorney General had filed cases against them on charges of criminal dereliction of duty for failing to take action to prevent the Easter Sunday attacks despite having received specific intelligence. A staggering 855 charges were filed against them individually. The Court acquitted them without calling for evidence from the defense on the grounds that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges.

Thus, the question is whether it will serve any purpose to institute criminal proceedings against those named in the PCoI report unless prosecutions are carried out properly. In this country, the conviction rate ranges from 4% to 6%, and this alone serves to prove how difficult it is to ensure that justice is done for the victims of all criminal offences. But as for the Easter Sunday tragedy, the government will not be able to evade responsibility for its failure to make those who did not care to prevent the terrorist bombings pay for their criminal negligence. Its decision to promote SDIG Jayawardena as the IGP is bound to trigger mass protests. Whether it will reverse its decision remains to be seen.