Sarath Amunugama Autobiography

Volume Three (1992 – 2022)
Reviewed by Nigel Hatch, P.C.

 Dr. Sarath Amunugama in the final volume of his autobiographical trilogy entitled “In the Political Arena” covers the period 1992 to 2022 which is the contemporary period of politics in Sri Lanka and his frontline role in it.

This memoir covers the presidency of R. Premadasa, the abortive impeachment process against him, the rupture in the UNP and the formation of the DUNF by Lalith Athulatmudali (LA) and Gamini Dissanayake (GD), the author’s sidelining by Ranil Wickremasinghe (RW) in the UNP and his support of Chandika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (CBK), his Ministerial roles under her presidency and that of Mahinda  Rajapaksa and Maithripala Sirisena.

Amunugama in his Introduction observes that as “the modern history of Sri Lanka is full of paradoxes,” asks how did Sri Lanka which at independence had surplus sterling reserves, and one of the most promising States in Asia year marked for modernization and economic growth, end at the bottom of the pile? How is it that a country predominantly Theravada Buddhist could be engaged in fratricidal warfare for almost half the years since independence; and despite a high literacy rate and vibrant intellectual life become reduced to a second rate cultural backwater? One recalls even Lee Kwan Yew trenchantly remarking how we as the envy of Asia had squandered all the positives we had at Independence

The author goes on to explore these tragedies as a failure of a process of modernization and that Sri Lanka 75 years after independence has yet to discover the growth model that suits us. He quotes David Riesman, “The hatred sown by anti-colonialism is harvested in the rejection of every appearance of foreign tutelage. Wanted are modern institutions but not modern ideologies, modern power but not modern purposes, modern wealth but not modern wisdom”.

The failure of economic development is attributed to statist nationalization after 1956 primarily by the SLFP and its “toadies in the left”, the welfare measures commencing from 1933 and rapid population growth which cast an enormous burden on the national exchequer. This led Joan Robinson to sardonically comment “Sri Lanka is trying to taste the fruit of the tree without growing it”.

We are now witnessing the present NPP/JVP Government which has at its core a Marxist orientation, continuing at present with the open economy and the IMF framework for economic stability after the economic meltdown during the Gotabaya Rajapaksa (GR) presidency. The present Government’s continuation of these policies may prove to be more significant than the PA/SLFP’s rejection of the statist model under the leadership of CBK.

Amunugama’s Chapter on R. Premadasa is fittingly entitled “Premadasa Rex (1988 to 1993)”. Although admiring his discipline and his rise to the leadership of the elite dominated UNP, he refers to his “disdainful treatment of Ministers and MPs”. The sidelining of LA and GD, which led to the formation of the DUNF, and the abortive impeachment motion is the subject of a separate chapter.

The abduction and murder of Richard de Zoyza immortalized in the recent film “Rani”, the terror unleashed by the JVP despite Premadasa’s initial sympathy towards them, the testy relationship between Premadasa and Rajiv Gandhi and the withdrawal of the IPKF are discussed.

GD’s return to the UNP under the leadership of President Wijetunga despite obstacles placed within, and the difficulty in finding a place for him on the national list to enter parliament is recounted. Amunugama who had excellent relations with Wijetunga played a seminal role in this endeavor. He states, at first those national list members were unwilling to resign “for love or money”. But persistence prevailed and GD entered parliament and was inducted into the cabinet. GD was assassinated by the LTTE whilst campaigning on the final night for the presidency against CBK. This reviewer accompanied Amunugama and Wickreme Weerasooriya to the President’s House for the meeting with Wijetunga and CBK to discuss funeral arrangements. Amunugama notes that the latter who was PM was extremely gracious, in contrast to her mother’s approach  with regard to the funeral arrangements of Dudley Senanayake.

This was a bloody period in Sri Lankan politics, which claimed the lives of Premadasa, Lalith and Gamini and many others , all of whom were assassinated by the LTTE.

Amunugama whose political career commenced as an elected Member of the Provincial Council from the Kandy , and his subsequent election to Parliament in 1994 from the UNP is perhaps the last man standing who could recount with personal knowledge and as an insider and participant to the momentous events of that period which were unparallelled in Sri Lanka’s political history.

The author’s political career as a Minister commenced with the decision that he, Wijayapala Mendis, Susil Moonasinghe, Nanda Mathew and a few others took to support CBK over Ranil Wickremasinghe at the Presidential Election of 2000. Their purported expulsion from the UNP under Ranil Wickremasinghe led to the constitutionally significant decision of the Supreme Court which held that expulsion unlawful is of personal significance to the reviewer whose role as Junior Counsel to the late Elanga Wikramanayake is recounted in this memoir in some detail.

The author’s first portfolio was as Minister of Northern Rehabilitation under the CBK presidency. He records how the Government funded and maintained the infrastructure of the Northern Province, despite the LTTE controlling large swaths of territory. This is perhaps unparalleled, in that, despite the separatist war waged by the LTTE, the GOSL continued to ensure that food, medicines, fuel and other essential supplies reached the citizens of those areas under LTTE control.

The reviewer recalls Amunugama telling him that when he visited New Delhi as an emissary of the former President J.R. Jayewardene, he was told that India would remain indifferent if the Government decided to accelerate its military campaign and bomb strongholds of the LTTE even in built up areas of the northern province. This strategy was never pursued, and the fratricidal warfare continued until the military defeat of the LTTE in 2009 under the leadership of Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Amunugama recounts his subsequent portfolios. His tenure as Minister of Irrigation reflects his love for the land and the people, which undoubtedly commenced when he was a civil servant and served in several parts of the country which is brought out also in Volume 1. His sense of humour is replete even in this volume. Anuruddha Ratwatte, who held this portfolio earlier, was unhappy that CBK did not appoint him to this Ministry. He told the author that he had “looked forward while returning from the war zone to landing his helicopter near the NCP tanks and enjoying a country rice meal wrapped in a lotus leaf. He lost both the war and his lotus leaf wrapped lunch.” (pg. 251).

Sri Lanka experienced the politics of cohabitation between CBK as President, and RW as Prime Minister with a cabinet of his choice, when the latter’s coalition secured the largest number of seats in Parliament at the 2001 elections. She faced a torrid time at some cabinet meetings particularly from those who were at one time trusted lieutenants and had defected from her party and joined the UNP.

 Politically these were trying times and CBK who made the mistake of conceding the defense portfolio to a UNP Minister, had to seek the first ever opinion from the Supreme Court under Article 129 as regards these powers. The reviewer appeared for her with the late HL de Silva PC and Raja Goonesekere (RKW) and succeeded in that case. The court held that defense was an integral part of the powers of the President.

Events swiftly ensued and CBK exercised her powers and removed some UNP Ministers and dissolved parliament. The reviewer was involved in strategizing these events and recalls a weekend at the President’s house in Nuwara Eliya where Lakshman Kadiragmar (LK) and Mangala Samaraweera were also present.

Amunugama was one of CBK’s representatives in talks between the SLFP and the JVP represented by Tilwin Silva, Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD), Bimal Rathnayake and Sunil Handunetti. He states, “very often I was the only one from our side while all JVPers diligently attended discussions”, exemplified by AKD once attending a meeting after coming from Ampara after skipping his meals to be on time (282).

At the ensuing general elections in 2004, CBK’s party in coalition with the JVP secured power and formed a government. Amunugama became the Minister of Finance, a portfolio which had been the domain of several former presidents. He recounts his experience in this portfolio with extensive references to the challenges faced and negotiations with international lending agencies. He comments positively on the four Ministers from the JVP.

He states that the alliance with the JVP ended when CBK, persuaded by the World Bank and the IMF, negotiated a power sharing arrangement with the LTTE for the rehabilitation of the North and East after the devastating Tsunami of 2004 called the P-TOMS. This initiative was challenged in Court, and this reviewer and RKW led for CBK’s government in separate related cases, whilst HL de Silva, a friend and confidante of CBK, led for the JVP. CBK’s genuine desire for a peaceful negotiated settlement of the ethnic conflict is indisputable. Nevertheless, she had no hesitation on several occasions of directing the navy to blow up LTTE cargo vessels that attempted surreptitiously to smuggle arms during that cease fire.

Amunugama refers to the significant contribution made by Lakshman Kadirgamar PC who was an outstanding foreign minister, and at one point a serious contender to be PM backed by the JVP. The reviewer worked closely with LK on several legal issues including the Ceasefire Agreement that RW as PM unilaterally agreed with the LTTE, difficulties arising from the Norwegian facilitation and required constitutional amendments. LK too was assassinated by the LTTE.

Amunugama unflinchingly refers to the politics of the judiciary when the mercurial Sarath N Silva (SNS), was Chief Justice. He refers to the “Helping Hambantota” controversy, which was a fund set up by MR to collect money in the aftermath of the Tsunami, for the rehabilitation of, “presumably, as its name indicates, the Hambantota district”. He states, “The UNP which worked hand in glove with Mahinda to embarrass CBK, now discovered that their favorite SLPer (MR) whom they nurtured could become a formidable candidate” at the forthcoming presidential election “(p-319).

Kabir Hashim, a UNP MP, challenged the legality of this Fund. Sarath Silva, the then Chief Justice who clipped a year off the term of office that CBK enjoyed in her second term, a decision which he states “was tailor made for his friend Mahinda Rajapaksa”, dismissed that case. Silva subsequently expressed remorse for this decision after he left office, noting that if MR was found guilty, he could have faced imprisonment. Amunugama to his credit admitted in Parliament that the Fund was not properly constituted.

The political ascendancy of Mahinda Rajapaksa, first as the SLFP candidate, and then victorious in the 2005 presidential election by the narrowest of margins over RW, also makes fascinating reading. This was the closest that RW had ever come when he contested the presidency reminiscent of R. Premadasa’s narrow win over Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 1988. This writer recalls Amunugama’s prescient prognostication that with MR’s nomination “CBK had signed her political death warrant”. Relations between the two (CBK and MR) had deteriorated over a period of time, and when The UNP had commenced a long march from the South demanding a presidential election which presaged SN Silva’s judgment on her term of office, she appointed RKW and this reviewer to meet with MR at President’s House. At this meeting MR rightly pressed that a delay in nominating the party candidate would be prejudicial and we duly communicated that to her.

Amunugama was appointed Minister of Public Administration by MR, a portfolio he was happy to get due to his antecedents as a public servant and working with Felix Dias Bandaranaike earlier in that ministry, recounted in Volume 1.

 He recounts succinctly the inner politics of the MR administration during that period, including the disaffection of Mangala Samaraweera, his indefatigable campaign manager,  due to not being appointed PM, and CBK’s efforts to cause problems for MR. MR faced a potential revolt orchestrated by Anura B and Mangala ostensibly with JVP support, but at the last moment unbeknownst to Anura the JVP pulled out of the arrangement, leaving Anura who crossed over in Parliament,  with egg on his face. MR removed Mangala and Anura from their posts and Amunugama notes that Anura never returned to parliament and it was “an ignominious end to a career tailor made to take him to the top.” (348)

 His knowledge and experience in economics and finance served him well in his next portfolio, Investment Promotion. As with his other portfolios, Amunugama takes the reader through important events and initiatives that he introduced, including meetings with foreign dignitaries.

 The high point of MR’s second term (2009-2015) was the military defeat of the LTTE. He rightly identifies MR as a national hero. The ensuing rift with General Sarath Fonseka, part of the troika with MR and his brother Gotabaya that strategized that victory, could have arisen due to Fonseka’s own plans for the military to bolster his image. Fonseka was wooed by the opposition as a presidential opponent to MR but went on to lose that election in 2010. Instead, he was elected to parliament, and was unsuccessful at the recently concluded presidential election, where he cut a forlorn figure at rallies which were poorly attended.

 Amunugama notes that after the war there was a commendable level of economic growth under MR, attributable as in most countries that come out of a long war to budgetary realignments to development projects and donor funding agencies being more receptive and forthcoming. “Accordingly, several highway projects, work on ports and airports, transport and power were undertaken adding to a rapid growth of GDP.” (p-387). Amunugama was given the additional responsibility as Deputy Minister of Finance, and after the parliamentary elections of 2010, was appointed Senior Minister and resumed his role as chief interlocutor with the global financial institutions.

But the decline in MR’s popularity due to the “shenanigans of his relatives” manifested itself in the results of the presidential election of 2015, where he ill-advisedly ran for a third term and lost to Maithripala Sirisena who was nominated by the joint opposition. As a precursor to this maneuver, MR sought an opinion in 2014 from the Supreme Court as to whether he was eligible to run for a third term. A full Bench of the Supreme Court presided over by Mohan Pieris, CJ determined that he was so entitled. Amunugama ruefully states that as regards the removal of the two term limit for a president by the earlier 18th amendment by MR that “however we have to admit that our reluctant vote for this aberration is an unforgivable black mark in our parliamentary record.” (p-416)

Amunugama deals with “The One Term President Maithripala Sirisena (2015-2020)”  in the penultimate chapter. The deterioration in the relations between Sirisena, described as an “unreconstructed Marxist with strong socialist views” and RW due to the bond scam, and RW’s sacking as PM, MR’s reinduction as PM for a short period and the ill-advised dissolution of Parliament which was struck down by the Supreme Court  are recounted.

This memoir concludes with an Epilogue which covers the political ascendancy of Gotabaya Rajapaksa (GR) , the split in the UNP and formation of the SJB under Sajith Premadasa, and a succinct analysis of the economic debacle under the GR presidency and the resulting Aragalaya .  GR was forced into exile due to that popular and peaceful uprising and the “bargain basement sale” of the office of PM, which RW ultimately secured. This catapulted him as the unelected president for the remainder of GR’s term by a vote in Parliament with the backing of MR and his party. The Supreme Court has now held by a majority that the Emergency Regulations he used to end the Aragalaya were violative of Fundamental Rights.

This three-volume memoir is an indispensable reference for the post-independence socio-economic and political history of Sri Lanka and is a rich tapestry of the life and times of a brilliant and now preeminent elder statesman whose sagacity and involvement in national affairs is sorely missed.

Amunugama has spent his adult life in the service of the nation. He has brought into public life, at the highest levels, Minister of inter alia Finance, Irrigation, Education and briefly Foreign Affairs, integrity, intellectual rigor and pragmatism. As with the earlier two volumes, Amunugama writes with clarity and effortless style. His love for culture and the arts- books, and theatre are manifest in this volume as well, which are spliced with lovely images from his personal collection of George Keyt’s art.