Seeing the world as a parliamentary official and some Premadasa anecdotes

(Excerpted from Memories of 33 year in Parliament by Nihal Seneviratne)

Even though my early ambition was to join the Sri Lanka Foreign Service and travel the world, I did not miss out by joining Parliament as it gave me many opportunities to travel to many countries and meet with important global leaders, interact closely with my contemporaries in other parliamen his clothests and go overseas for numerous conferences and training programs.

As Secretary to over 30 Parliamentary delegations, I was mostly a baggage boy, looking after the members of the delegation. I must add that this was no easy task. I recall one of our members of an Inter-Parliamentary Union delegations in a faraway Scandinavian country coming to see me with what he called “a huge problem.”

He had an hour long telephone call to his spouse in Sri Lanka. He told me she had been in a delicate state of health and he needed to speak to her. He had then been hit with a telephone bill amounting to over 100 Euros. He wanted me to settle this bill.

I then very gently reminded him that at the start of the trip, I had very politely told all delegates that any personal overseas telephone calls would be on their own accounts. He wanted me to speak to our ambassador in that country and ask him to foot the bill which I politely refused to do. He finally had to pay the bill himself.

Another problem arose when just before an official dinner, the delegation was asked to dress up to meet some foreign Members of Parliament for a drink. I had asked the delegates to dress smartly and come to the lobby of the hotel by 8 p.m. One parliamentarian turned up in a pajama coat and sarong and asked me “Am I not properly dressed?” I was totally taken aback and approached my close friend from school days, MP Mangala Moonasinghe, and asked him to tactfully get his colleague to change his clothes.

Another incident, again involving Mangala Moonesinghe was when in the Soviet Union as guest of the USSR Government, both of us were enjoying a coffee in the lounge when two or three Russian ladies joined our table. A few minutes later, four well-suited Russians approached the ladies and whispered something in their ears. The ladies immediately vanished from the table. Later, we were told that they had been shooed off by KGB agents. There ended sadly Mangala’s and my friendly chat with the Russian ladies.

Apart from these, I had the great opportunity to meet well-known world leaders. Among these I recall vividly meeting with Fidel Castro himself in Havana. We were part of a Sri Lanka Parliamentary Delegation attending the Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference hosted by Cuba and were welcomed at the entrance to the meeting place by Castro himself, He gave each of us a bear hug saying “I love your country and your President. He sends me your good tea and I send him our cigars.”

My only regret is I do not have a photograph of being hugged by Castro. A visit to the Copacabana Club which had earlier been a renowned night club was located in a garden with towering trees and what was memorable was the sight of dancers come down from the trees on ropes to entertain the guests.

Another remarkable occasion was in Peking, China, where the Sri Lankan delegation led by Speaker Hugh Fernando were hosted to a 15-course banquet where we were introduced to China’s leader Mao Tse-tung. The other Chinese leaders who greeted us included Prime Minister Zhou En Lai and leading figures in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) including Sun Yat-sen’s widow Madam Soong Ch’ing-ling, Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi.

At a meeting with Zhou En Lai, where Sri Lankan Ambassador S.F. de Silva was also present, Zhou talked about the Sino-Indian border and the Silk Route used by the Chinese which was a delicate issue between China and India. He explained how the Chinese had a historical right over this route and added “Ask your own Ambassador, he is a good historian, and he knows all about it.” We all felt immensely proud of the compliment paid by the Prime Minister himself to our Ambassador. I had a personal relationship with him as his son Artie was a very close friend of mine at College and he said he was happy to meet one of his son’s friends.

The Chinese Prime Minister had been well aware that Sri Lanka and India had some delicate issues to settle ourselves and took this opportunity to give us the Chinese point of view.

There was another meeting that was truly historic. It was the only time I had set out on a journey without knowing the final destination. It was on a visit to North Korea with a delegation headed by Speaker Stanley Tillakaratne. In Pyongyang one evening, the entire delegation was asked to pack our clothes for two nights, taken out of the hotel and bundled off to a Railway Station with no idea where we were headed.

The North Korean staff accompanying us refused to divulge details of the trip. With their not being fluent in English, we were also unable to ask too many questions. We left around 6.00 p.m. and by 6 a.m. the next morning, we reached the station where we detrained and from there, we were again driven by limousine on a two-hour ride through mountainous areas to finally reach a high-altitude resort.

All this time we were unaware of where we were being taken, our communication with the North Koreans limited due to the language barrier. Finally, we arrived at a palatial building and were all escorted to a waiting room. We sat for over 45 minutes during which time we were served breakfast. All of a sudden, all the doors opened and in walked the North Korean leader Kim Il Sung, surrounded by a tight circle of security guards.

He welcomed all of us, chatted through an interpreted about our two countries. After that meeting, he invited us all to lunch with him at the end of which he presented each of us with an ornamental statue and books on North Korea.

On different Parliamentary visits, I had the honour of being introduced to the Queen Mother who graced the Isle of Man Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference. I also had the opportunity of meeting Mrs. Sonia Gandhi when visiting the with Anura Bandaranaike and was introduced to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi when New Delhi hosted a Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference.

Other tours included a visit to the Bundestag in Germany with Dr. N.M. Perera, on the invitation extended by the German Parliament. There was also a visit to the Parliament in Canberra, the only Parliament I have seen with a swimming pool for MPs. I also had the privilege of visiting Parliament of Pakistan in Islamabad during which we were taken over the Khyber Pass to Kabul.

Another opportunity was visiting Parliament in Ottawa, Canada where we met Pierre Elliott Trudeau, father of the present Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. During the visit to the Parliament in Zambia, we had the good fortune of being introduced to Kenneth Kaunda, who with a white handkerchief in between his fingers, proudly declared the country’s motto, “One Zambia, One Nation.” Another meeting was with President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos.

Some of the other memorable visits to foreign legislatures included visiting the Nepalese Parliament in the capital city Kathmandu; the National Assembly in Paris, France; and the Russian Parliament or the State Duma in Moscow, Russia.

Some Premadasa anecdotes

Ranasinghe Premadasa, from his early days as a MP was a keen learner and was someone who sought advice when he needed it. I recall when he first came to parliament in the early sixties, he walked into my room and told me, “Nihal, I didn’t know anything about parliamentary procedure. Can you tell me?”

Given his quick knack for learning, he grew to be an excellent parliamentarian serving in important parliamentary positions such as Leader of the House and Chief Government Whip. Despite our close personal relationship, I maintained my independence and was firm in my dealings on official matters and avoided over familiarity given that it could prejudice me where my work was concerned. He respected my position and accepted it.

One evening Prime Minister Premadasa summoned me to his Chambers in the Parliament building. He then told me that with immense difficulty he had been able to get a Tamil MP to Colombo at the height of the insurrection and wanted him to take oaths as a Member of Parliament that same day around 2 p.m.

I told him that it was impossible for him to take oaths the same day as Standing Orders had specifically prescribed that the administration of oaths to new MPs must be at the start of the daily sessions. He insisted that this be done as the Member had to go back to Jaffna the next day. I told him that I cannot do it, adding that if I accede to his request, not only will I get into a serious trouble in Parliament when an MP raises a Point of Order, but that he too would have to answer for not following the rules.

I added that if he had told me a day earlier, I would certainly have helped him, but not at that time. Mr. Premadasa raised his voice with me, which I had not experienced before, and said it must be done but I replied with a firm “No”. He finally agreed with my position and withdrew his request and I left his room.

On another occasion, he said he wanted to see me on a holiday in the Parliament building at 11.00 a.m. When I arrived, it was 11.03 a.m. and he remarked, “You are late”. I apologized saying traffic held me up. Thereafter, I learned to be sharp on time always. Yet another occasion he wanted me to see him, I politely told him that I will not be able to see him at the time he requested as I was due to see the doctor in hospital since my young daughter was hospitalized and said I will see him a little later. He agreed.

When I visited Shanika, my daughter at Durdans Hospital, she was in a state of surprise as the Prime Minister had found out where she was and sent her a bouquet of flowers, wishing a speedy recovery. I saw to it that my daughter soon after leaving hospital sent him a thank you note.

Early morning calls from him were usual. On one occasion, he called me around 5.00 a.m. soon after reading that morning’s “Lankadeepa” newspaper which carried a scathing article on the administration of Parliament. He said he wanted to see a reply by 10.00 a.m. the same day. In my sarong, I rushed out of home and walked to the nearby junction to get a copy of that day’s paper. By 8.30 a.m. I was in Parliament and by 9.30 a.m. a typed four-page note was hand delivered to him answering all the queries raised. He later rang and thanked me and said there was no issue.

On another occasion, there were very heavy torrential showers and the driveway leading to the Parliament building was completely covered by water and to my horror I found that the rains had inundated the building and even flooded the ground floor. The House was due to sit the next day on some urgent business.

Mr. Premadasa rang me and said it was imperative that the MPs attend the next day’s sittings and that I had to ensure that they all could attend. He then offered me help with the Navy, Police and Disaster Management Centre and said whatever else I needed, I should ask him, and it will be made available.

My staff of 800, headed by the Sergeant-at-Arms and Director Administration rallied round me and worked tirelessly throughout the night with the Armed Forces flushing the water out and by 10.00 a.m. next morning, Members attended, and the House sat as usual for its business.

I had known Mr. Premadasa’s passion and dedication for his projects like the village reawakening program or Gam Udawa. Each time such an event was held usually coincided with his birthdays and I used to have at least five or six messages and invitations to attend these events with the prime minister asking me to see the model Parliament building he had got constructed at each Gam Udawa site.

Since these events tend to have a political flavour, I was reluctant to attend. But after those many calls, I approached the Deputy Speaker Norman Waidyaratne, (MP for Balapitiya) and inquired if he was attending. I had become quite close to him and his family and we often chatted about the country and ourselves and he promptly answered, “Nihal, we can go together, and we can share a room at the Rest House.”

I agreed and felt accompanying the Deputy Speaker would ‘sanitize’ my visit. We were received by Mr. Premadasa who, proudly showed us the miniature model Parliament he had got constructed, never failing to add, “Nihal, this building will serve a better purpose for the village people than your building”. Mr. Waidyaratna and I returned to the rest house for a chat before returning in his car to Colombo – an outing which we both enjoyed very much.

Another small incident I recall relating to Mr. Premadasa. He used to park his Morris Minor car (I distinctly remember its EN 1925 registration number) under the steps of the old Parliament and I had to request him to move his car out as we had reserved that place for the Speaker’s car. He was very obliging and did so with no fuss.

A brief word about Mrs. Hema Premadasa. When I was in office one day, I received a call from Mrs. Premadasa inquiring about some item of parliamentary business to which I gave a ready reply. She immediately realized that I was having a very bad sore throat and cough while talking with her. She inquired what was wrong and I told her I wsn’t feeling well.

She then said “I will send you something that will be good for you. The very next morning, one of her security personnel came into my room, saluted, and handed me a parcel of ambul (sour) oranges and a cough syrup she had wanted handed over to me with instructions to take it twice a day without fail. I was quite touched by her concern and immediately phoned to thank her.