News
GL cries foul over govt. misusing state machinery to fight election
By Rathindra Kuruwita
None of the actions and initiatives of the Ranil Wickremesinghe government are sincere and the state machinery is being blatantly misused for election purposes, MP G.L Peiris says.
The former law professor said yesterday that in recent months the government had established an independent Commission for Truth, Unity and Reconciliation and Community Advisory Committees (CAC).
“Usually, governments make these big gestures in the first 100 days of being elected. That is the honeymoon period of the government and there is ample time for the administration to see these initiatives through. However, the current administration is launching new grand initiatives left, right and centre in the last 100 days. It is obvious that this is an attempt to mislead people,” he said.
Peiris said that the government was attempting to attract the votes of ethnic minorities. Recently, the government had declared it would increase the daily wage of estate workers to Rs. 1,700, but within 24 hours the planters had threatened to take the government to court, stating that they were not consulted before taking this decision, Prof. Peiris said.
“Just like that, the discussion on Truth, Unity and Reconciliation is aimed at obtaining the votes in the North and the East. On the other hand, the government has not held Local Government or Provincial Council elections. Whom will the government discuss truth and reconciliation with? This should be done with the representatives of the people. The Provincial Council elections have not been held for around six years and the local council election was to be held last year. When the government tried to postpone the Local Government elections, we went to court, which ordered the government to release the funds that had already been earmarked from the Budget. However, the government even ignored court orders,” he said.
The MP said that the government had held several meetings with political party representatives about reconciliation and finding a political solution to the problems in the North and East. These meetings had yielded no results.
In 2010, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) was set up to investigate the facts and circumstances which had led to the failure of the ceasefire agreement made operational on 27 February 2002, the lessons that should be learnt from those events and the institutional, administrative and legislative measures which need to be taken in order to prevent any recurrence of such concerns in the future, and to promote further national unity and reconciliation among all communities. That was followed by the Maxwell Paranagama and Udalagama Commission.
“If anything, we must study these commission reports, identify the gaps and clearly state how we should address these,” he said.
Meanwhile the CAC, appointed to oversee the Urumaya Land Ownership Programme, the Urban Home Ownership Programme, the “Kandukara Dasakaya” Development Programme, the Agriculture Modernization Programme and the Rice Distribution Programme, was most likely to be manned by SLPP and UNP politicians, he said.
“Some of them can even be candidates for the Local Government elections, which have been postponed indefinitely. Each CAC is given allocate10 million rupees. Key decisions of the CAC will be taken by the Provincial Governors who are directly appointed by the President. So, it is evident that these will be highly politicised structures,” Prof. Peiris said.
The Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) yesterday demanded an immediate termination of what it called a “secretive and dangerous” defence agreement signed between Sri Lanka and India, during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 05 April visit.
Addressing a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Nugegoda, FSP Education Secretary Pubudu Jagoda described the agreement as a “betrayal of the nation” and a “crime against the people,” urging the government to invoke Article 12 of the deal and exit it with the required three months’ notice.
Jagoda said the document, which surfaced on social media after being published by a news portal, appears to be the actual agreement signed between the two countries. “The government has not denied its authenticity. That silence is telling,” he said.
Jagoda added that the agreement bears the signatures of Sri Lanka’s Defence Ministry Secretary Sampath Thuiyakontha and Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha.
“What’s most troubling,” Jagoda warned, “is that both governments attempted to keep the agreement under wraps. Unlike the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord, which was made public with all annexures, this agreement was hidden from the people, and even now, we don’t know how many other agreements exist between India and Sri Lanka.”
Jagoda said that a Right to Information request made on 04 April was met with a reply from the President’s Office stating that it had no copies of the agreement—raising serious concerns about transparency, even at the highest level. “One could question whether the President has seen it because his office does not have it,” Jagoda said.
The 12-clause of agreement reportedly covers areas such as exchange and training of military personnel, defence industry collaboration, classified information protection, and military medical services, including battlefield healthcare and telemedicine.
Jagoda said the definition of “classified information” in Clause 7 was alarmingly broad. “It allows India to label virtually anything as secret. Even weapons or military assets transferred under this agreement cannot be revealed—not even after the agreement ends,” he said, citing Clause 7.3.
Clause 10 prohibits either country from taking disputes to international courts or involving third-party mediators. “It’s like asking a rabbit to negotiate with a tiger,” Jagoda quipped, drawing parallels to the complications of the 1987 accord, which eventually saw Indian peacekeeping troops refusing to leave until a change in the Indian government.
Jagoda accused the NPP-led government of hypocrisy, pointing out that the JVP, the main component of the current regime, had vehemently opposed Indo-Lanka Accord in 1987. “Now they’ve gone and signed an even more dangerous deal,” he said.
Citing Clause 12, which allows either party to withdraw with three months’ notice, the FSP called on the government to act immediately to exit the pact. “We urge the people to unite and defeat these underhanded, sovereignty-eroding deals. The FSP stands ready to lead that fight,” Jagoda said.
The police yesterday arrested a group of students, including the Convener of the Inter-University Students’ Federation (IUSF), Madushan Chandradith, during a protest held by the Allied Health Science Graduates’ Union in front of the Health Ministry yesterday.
The police obtained an order from Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court, earlier in the day, to prevent protesters from invading the Colombo Hospital Square and the Health Ministry.
Inspector General of Police T.M.W. Deshabandu Tennakoon is set to face formal questioning on Monday (19 May) over serious allegations of misconduct and abuse of power, parliamentary sources said yesterday.
A special Committee appointed to investigate the claims will commence formal proceedings next week, following several rounds of preliminary discussions held within the parliamentary complex in recent weeks.
The IGP has been officially notified to appear before the Committee and is expected to face the inquiry for the first time at 2:00 PM in Committee Room No. 8.
The Committee, which met again on Thursday (15) to finalise arrangements, is investigating allegations that Tennakoon misused his official powers in a manner deemed severe and improper.
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