Namal’s comeback campaign becoming Mahinda Sulanga II?

By Counterpoint Political Desk

Everything is reportedly ready for a grand show of strength by the SLPP in Anuradhapura later today. The SLPP would have the public believe that the arrest and remand of its National Organizer Namal Rajapakasa, MP, over a questionable airbus deal, were intended to sabotage today’s SLPP rally. The government has denied the allegation. His arrest has in fact given a fillip to the SLPP’s campaign. Even the SLPP’s estranged allies have pledged solidarity with Namal, and its leaders have agreed to attend today’s rally, which is apparently going to be a joint Opposition event for all intents and purposes. The SLPP has pulled out all the stops to make today’s muscle flexing a success.

The JVP-led NPP government has sought to dismiss the political significance of today’s rally, claiming that it’s much ado about a minor event to be held, but it cannot be so unconcerned as it makes itself out to be if the keen interest the police have evinced in the Anuradhapura meeting is any indication. The SLPP has said there is a heavy police intelligence presence in Anuradhapura in view of the rally.

Namal is being held on remand, and his father and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is expected to attend today’s rally. Mahinda is not in the best of health, but that is not likely to stand in the way of his participation at the rally. Politicians are known to have an insatiable desire to go among people. Media reports of Mahinda’s presence at the rally are likely to attract larger crowds than expected, especially from the villages in the North Central Province worst affected by LTTE attacks on civilian targets in the past. President Rajapaksa provided political leadership for the country’s successful war against the LTTE.

There is the likelihood of Namal’s comeback campaign becoming Mahinda Sulanga II. One may recall that the campaign launched by Mahinda loyalists, following the 2015 regime change, against the UNP-led Yahapalana government was called Mahinda Sulanga, which became a huge success, so much so that the SLPP led by him, won the 2018 local government elections, marking the beginning of the end of the Yahapalana government, and went on to win the presidential and parliamentary elections that followed. The SLPP failed to retain popular support thereafter, and that is a different story.

The challenge before the NPP government is to ensure that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s nationwide propaganda campaign currently underway will be bigger than the SLPP rallies to be launched. In this country, people tend to use crowd sizes as a yardstick to measure the strength of political parties.

Political El Niño

The JVP-led NPP government is apparently facing a political El Niño; it gains ground on some fronts but loses support elsewhere simultaneously. It has managed to raise state revenue substantially, albeit by keeping taxes and tariffs at very high levels and curtailing capital expenditure and keep the economy on an even keel, but it is losing support among the influential segments of society, who made its electoral victories possible.

Paddy farmers are up in arms against soaring production costs and low prices of paddy. State sector trade unions are demanding pay hikes, and the public is complaining of extortionate taxes and tariffs. Ordinary people’s dream of having their lot improved and buying small cars or motorcycles at affordable prices, in keeping with the NPP’s election promise to that effect, has been shattered. Disaster victims are demanding promised compensation. Lawyers and other professionals who backed the NPP to the hilt at the 2024 election have fallen out. The Bar Association of Sri Lanka is opposing the government’s 22nd constitutional amendment Bill, which, it insists, is aimed at enabling the Executive to gain control over the Judiciary by granting favours to serving judges. The government is unmindful of such concerns and determined to secure the passage of the controversial bill without a referendum.

That the government is not confident of facing an electoral contest any time soon became clear once again on Friday (11), when Chief government Whip and Minister Nalinda Jayatissa presented a proposal to Parliament to extend the term of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) which is examining a report on the matter of adopting an electoral system for the Provincial Council (PC) Elections, until December 17, in accordance with Standing Order 102.

Claiming that the extension of the term of the PSC was a mere ruse to postpone the PC polls further, the Opposition staged a protest in the House and officially withdrew from the PSC, which will now lose whatever legitimacy it may have had in the eyes of the public.

Mahinda gives Namal some good advice about prison life

Mahinda visited Namal at the remand prison the other day. According to those who accompanied him during the prison visit, he gave Namal the following advice in Sinhala: “Son, people who enter politics become seasoned through this kind of vindictive treatment by governments. So, chalk it up to experience.”

There are about 10 other prisoners in the cell where Namal is being held. It is said that Namal is disturbed by cockroaches, rats and other creatures that share the cell with him and other inmates.

On the day Namal was remanded, he was advised not to consume any food or drink provided by the prison. Accordingly, he waited until food arrived from home the following afternoon.

Indian Defence Minister's wish

Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh arrived in Sri Lanka this week on a three-day official visit. The last Indian Defence Minister to visit Sri Lanka on official business was Krishna Chandra Pant, who served as Defence Minister in the government of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, in 1988.

In 2005, the then Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, also came to Sri Lanka, but that was to

attend the funeral of former minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.

In any event, although Rajnath Singh had planned to visit Sri Lanka on two previous occasions, those visits did not take place for various reasons. His programme on this occasion also appeared to be fairly simple. The main feature was the signing of three agreements at the President's Office. The agreements announced publicly covered matters such as training for the armed forces of the two countries and assistance with the mechanical refurbishment of six anti-aircraft guns.

“Was it really necessary for the Indian Defence Minister to come to Sri Lanka to sign such agreements?” asked Pubudu Jayagoda, Propaganda Secretary of the Frontline Socialist Party, saying that even diplomatic officials of the two countries could have handled such matters. He also challenged the government to disclose to the country the actual agreements signed between the two countries.

However, high-level diplomatic sources say that the only request made by Rajnath Singh, who comes from a family of Maharajas and warriors in the Lucknow region, was to visit the Seetha Amman Temple in Nuwara Eliya on a pilgrimage.

During his visit, the Indian Defence Minister met President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, members of the Tamil community and their party leaders, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya.

A Cabinet reshuffle likely?

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is now traveling around the country, meeting people to mark two years of his government. At a time when the Mahanayake Theras and the Maha Sangha, along with numerous other national and international organisations, have expressed opposition to the 22nd Amendment, and the resistance appears to be emerging against the government, the President is apparently on a mission to defend the government.

The government selected Bulathsinhala and Beruwala in the Kalutara District to launch the programme, apparently with a view to assigning greater responsibility within the party to Kalutara District leader and minister Nalinda Jayatissa. According to internal sources, the government is considering a proposal to give Jayatissa a ministerial portfolio, such as the Foreign Affairs, while Vijitha Herath is also reportedly being considered for a ministerial portfolio and higher position in the parliament.

The President’s meeting launched in Kalutara attracted the crowds the party had expected. Addressing them, the President said that the constitutional amendment would be passed.

Referring to speculation that the government might resort to scrapping the next presidential election through a referendum, the President said that the government would not hold a referendum to extend its term of office. Explaining why, he said that a referendum would become a contest between two sides, whereas a presidential election would involve several parties, giving the government the greatest possible advantage.

Dayasiri's fight with Speaker

SJB MPs are clashing with the Speaker of Parliament these days. MP Dayasiri Jayasekara is even calling for the Speaker’s resignation. The reason he has given is that the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption has launched an investigation against the Speaker following a complaint by former Deputy Secretary-General of Parliament Chaminda Kulatne. Dayasiri, Mujibur Rahman and several other Opposition MPs have been protesting and demanding that the Speaker should not remain in office until he is cleared of the allegations.

Marikkar gives Watagala a lesson in figures

Meanwhile, S. M. Marikkar also became involved in a major argument in Parliament with Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala, who accused him of lying when he produced lists concerning compensation payments to people affected by the Ditwah disaster, and challenged him to produce even the name of one person who had not received compensation.

Two or three days later, MP Marikkar tabled a list containing more than a thousand names of the disaster victims who had not received compensation, thereby demolishing Watagala's claim. He subsequently said that he could produce thousands more names if necessary.

Meanwhile, Milinda Rajapaksa, a supporter of the SLPP, recently travelled to Geneva and made a lengthy complaint at the UNHRC about the arrest and remand of Namal and the prolonged detention of former Intelligence Chief Suresh Sallay. He also submitted the complaint in writing to the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Religious leaders thank the President

A group of Hindu, Muslim and Catholic religious leaders recently visited President Dissanayake. Among them were Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, leaders of the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama organisation, and Hindu religious leaders from the Northern and Eastern provinces.

The religious leaders thanked the President and the government for their commitment during the past two years to maintaining communal and religious harmony.

The President firmly stated that under his administration he would not allow any form of communal conflict to arise in the country. He also stressed that under his government he would not allow any community or ethnic group to face oppression or harassment because of its religion or ethnicity.