Sri Lanka needs to examine the Indian intervention here in the early 80s. The origins of terrorism here cannot be studied or properly presented unless a no holds barred inquiry is conducted into the Indian military misadventure here that cost it nearly 1,500 officers and men and double that number wounded between July 1987 and March 1990. The assassination of one-time Indian Premier Rajiv Gandhi, in May 1991, just over a year after the Indian pullout from Sri Lanka, is a grim reminder of the New Delhi’s overreach gone very wrong, with terrible consequences. Those demanding accountability on Sri Lanka’s part in its war against the LTTE never asked for India’s culpability in launching a terrorist war here with a view to creating an environment for its direct intervention. That is the ugly truth. Or was it a case of the same West drawing India into a quagmire here by making her believe that if she does not look after Tamil interests here there could be growing repercussions in Tamil Nadu as the Western media continued to stir the pot with exaggerated accounts against Sri Lanka.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was among the guests, at the Nelum Pokuna theatre, recently. at the launch of Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. (retd.) Kamal Gunaratne’s ‘Rajali Sandeshaya,’ a poetic reflection of experiences from the times of Sinhala kings to the eradication of terrorism in May 2009, The author of the widely read ‘Ranamaga Osse Nanthikadal’ and Gajaba Regiment veteran also dealt with his battlefield experiences through his latest literary work declared as the longest kavya sandeshaya, written entirely in Sinhala verse (2579 poems).

During the fourth phase of the Eelam War IV (Aug 2006-May 2009), Maj. Gen. Gunaratne served as the General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the 53 Division that was stationed in the Jaffna peninsula at the time of the outbreak of the final phase of the war in 2006. Present Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Shavendra Silva, who was then the GoC of the celebrated Task Force 1/58 Division and later GoC of 57 Division that was tasked to regain Kilinochchi, were among the invitees.

Among the notable absentees were war-winning Army Commander Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda, Marshal of the Air Force Roshan Goonatilleke and wartime Defence Secretary and former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, another pioneer combat veteran of the battle proven Gajaba Regiment, who has literally accused the military top brass of failing in their duty as Aragalaya mobs chased him and his government out of power with plenty of covert and overt foreign inputs in the form of funding, intelligence, outright diplomatic interference, etc.

Ven. Induragare Dhammarathana and Prof. Praneeth Abeysundara briefly discussed the importance of ‘Rajali Sandeshaya’ authored by Maj. Gen. Gunaratne who serves as the Secretary, Ministry of Defence since Nov 2019.

The event held on Sept. 06 coincided with the author’s 63rd birthday and was meant to be a glowing tribute to the sacrifices made during the conflict. During his brief remarks at the event, the author dealt with the final phase of the war. Without hesitation, the author contradicted the primary accusation directed at the then Lt. Gen. Fonseka’s Army that 40,000 Tamil civilians perished, while pointing out the successful reintegration of thousands of LTTE combatants, who surrendered, back into the society.

Against the backdrop of the Defence Secretary’s latest public denial, let us examine the status of the controversial UN Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1 co-sponsored by the then Yahapalana government wanting to please the West and settle scores with the war-winning Rajapaksa administration, which achieved a dream victory against “the most ruthless terrorist force on earth”, on Oct 01, 2015. Without doubt some of the leaders, who led the Yahapalana lot, were the types who could not even say boo to Tigers. In terms of 30/1, Sri Lanka was humiliated as it was made to pledge before the entire world to undertake promotion of reconciliation, accountability and human rights as if we were under an Idi Amin when the war victory was achieved. Sri Lanka repeated these commitments in the 2017 and 2019 Resolutions.

Now that the Defence Secretary referred to a high profile claim of 40,000 civilian deaths, in a matter of weeks, in 2009, it would be pertinent to reproduce the relevant paragraph from the UN Secretary General’s Panel of Experts (PoE)…was more like a kangaroo court all out to fix the war-winning Army and the country…on Accountability in Sri Lanka, released on March 31, 2011.

The following is the relevant paragraph bearing number 137: “In the limited surveys that have been carried out in the aftermath of the conflict, the percentage of people reporting dead relatives is high. A number of credible sources have estimated that there could have been as many as 40,000 civilian deaths. Two years after the end of the war, there is no reliable figure for civilian deaths, but multiple sources of information indicate that a range of up to 40,000 civilian deaths cannot be ruled out at this stage. Only a proper investigation can lead to the identification of all of the victims and to the formulation of an accurate figure for the total number of civilian deaths.”

The UN had no qualms in making this uncorroborated declaration that 40,000 civilians perished in just a matter of weeks on the Vanni east, while acknowledging that a proper survey conducted by UN Colombo, that dealt with the period from August 2008 to May 13, 2009, placed the number of dead at 7,721 and the wounded at 18,479. The PoE, in paragraphs 134 and 135, discussed how meticulously the UN-led project involved the ICRC and, what it called, ‘networks of observers operational in LTTE- controlled areas’, to gather information. The PoE report could have easily been the basis of Sri Lanka’s defence. Unfortunately, Sri Lanka leadership lacked post-war foresight to cleverly use the UN report to counter their obvious anti-Sri Lanka project. It begs us to think whether we have capable diplomats or diplo-muts to speak on our behalf. In other words, the UN contradicted its own report but President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government simply squandered an opportunity to expose the much propagated lie of 40,000 civilian deaths, despite ironically having an illustrious law professor serving as his Foreign Minister.

Fatal omission

Less than three months after the release of the PoE report, the US, unintentionally, contradicted the UN report, thereby presenting Sri Lanka with further opportunity to build its defence on the basis of the UN report and the US declaration that countered the very basis of the primary accusation.

The first sign that uncorroborated war crimes accusations can be successfully countered was seen at the first ever Colombo Defence Seminar, conducted in late May-June 2011 during Lt. Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya’s tenure as the Commander of the Army (July 2009-July 2013).

On the first day of the seminar, the then US Defence Advisor in Colombo, Lt. Col. Lawrence Smith, questioned the very basis of war crimes allegations, including the execution of surrendered terrorists directed at the then Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva’s Division.

The US official was responding to a query posed by retired Major General Ashok K. Mehta, formerly of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) deployed here (July 1987 to March 1990), to Major General Shavendra Silva. Silva was there in his capacity as Sri Lanka’s then No 02 at the UN. Smith’s voluntary and spontaneous revelation, made just weeks after the PoE, aka the Darusman report, embarrassed the US (Sri Lanka Defence Symposium: Now, US suspects credibility of LTTE surrender offer with strap line…dismisses K.P. Nadesan as ‘mouthpieces’ with no real authority – The Island, June 3, 2011)

The US State Department had no option but to declare in a face saving exercise that Smith hadn’t represented the US at the seminar. The political leadership and Army Headquarters never exploited the US official’s forthright statement.

In fact, Smith’s statement made six years before Lord Naseby’s disclosure, based on the then British Defence Advisor Lt. Col. Anthony Gash’s similar wartime dispatches, should have been the foundation of Sri Lanka’s defence.

It would be pertinent to examine why the first Rajapaksa administration never bothered to examine the US official’s statement. In fact, the Army never really pursued the matter during the tenure of Army Commanders – Daya Ratnayaka (Aug 2013-Feb 2015), Chrishantha de Silva (Feb-2015-June 2017) and Mahesh Senanayake (June 2017-August 2019).

The politically motivated US decision to slap a travel ban on the then Army Commander Lt. General Shavendra Silva in Feb 2020 should be examined against the backdrop of the criminal negligence on Sri Lanka’s part to counter lies propagated in spite of having powerful ammunition. The US ban on Gen. Silva and members of his family remain in force while shameless UNHRC, at the behest of the West, contemplates further action against us, even in foreign jurisdictions, while it literally turns a blind eye to continuing outright genocides elsewhere.

Actually a Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) is necessary to ascertain the shocking lapses on the part of successive political and military leaderships that led to ‘Accountability Resolution 30/1’ in 2015 and the expansion of relentless and continuing Western campaign.

Lord Naseby made his disclosure during Mahesh Senanayake’s tenure as the Army Commander. But, the Army never examined/exploited Lt. Col. Smith’s statement and that of Lord Naseby as part of Sri Lanka’s overall defence in Geneva.

Impotent Sri Lanka political leadership conveniently failed to set the record straight at the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council. Sri Lanka never bothered to officially mention in Geneva that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), that recognized the LTTE as the sole representative of the Tamil-speaking people, backed Fonseka at the 2010 presidential election. The TNA delivered all predominantly Tamil speaking electoral districts, including Vanni, comprising Mannar, Mullaithivu and Vavuniya, to Fonseka, though he lost the contest by 1.8 mn votes as he was rejected by an overwhelming majority in the rest of the country.

Sri Lanka discards Naseby’s disclosure

Treacherous politicians, some sections of the media, and the diplomatic community, and the civil society, worked overtime to suppress Lord Naseby’s disclosure that threatened to undermine the devious Geneva project. The Geneva operation was meant to introduce a new Constitution that did away with Sri Lanka’s unitary status in the guise of addressing accountability issues.

The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration spearheaded the despicable project. The then Joint Opposition co-operated in that endeavour by being part of a parliamentary process to draft a new Constitution, spearheaded by the then Premier Wickremesinghe. President Sirisena remained an onlooker whereas his parliamentary group participated in the process. Wimal Weerawansa’s National Freedom Front (NFF) subsequently quit the process though his efforts to convince the Joint Opposition to do so failed.

Lord Naseby’s disclosure threatened to weaken the Yahapalana project. The Foreign Ministry, under Ravi Karunanayake (RK received the appointment in the wake of Samaraweera’s removal as FM in May 2017), ridiculed Lord Naseby’s statement.

Did the Sri Lanka High Commission in London bring Lord Naseby’s statement to the Foreign Ministry’s attention? For want of a Foreign Ministry response to Lord Naseby’s very important statement, even a week after it was made, the writer, on Oct 20, 2017, sought an explanation from the Foreign Ministry. The Foreign Ministry response really disappointed a vast majority of people, who expected the government to use the House of Lords disclosure to counter lies that had been propagated by various interested parties.

Instead of taking advantage of Lord Naseby’s statement, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mahishini Colonne declared: “The Government of Sri Lanka remains committed to the national processes, aimed at realizing the vision of a reconciled, stable, peaceful and prosperous nation. Engaging in arguments and debates in the international domain over the number of civilians who may have died at a particular time in the country will not help resolve any issues, in a meaningful manner, locally, except a feel good factor for a few individuals who may think that they have won a debate or scored points over someone or the other.”

The writer also raised Lord Naseby’s disclosure with the then four-party TNA, one-time mouthpiece of the LTTE, and the main Opposition in Parliament. The TNA refrained from responding to The Island queries submitted to then TNA leader R. Sampanthan.

In spite of over a dozen calls/SMS to Raghu Balachandran of Sampanthan’s Office, The Island never received the TNA’s response. You may want to know when the set of questions regarding TNA’s response to Lord Naseby’s disclosure was submitted to that party. The Island submitted the following questions to TNA and Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan on Nov. 27, 2017 and repeatedly reminded the Opposition Leader’s Office of the delay on its part to respond: Have you (TNA) studied Lord Naseby’s statement made in the House of Lords on Oct. 12, 2017? What is TNA’s position on Naseby’s claims? Did TNA leaders discuss Naseby’s claim among themselves? Did TNA respond to MP Dinesh Gunawardena’s statements in Parliament on Naseby’s disclosure? And did TNA take up this issue with the UK High Commissioner James Dauris?

False declaration

In late Feb 2020, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government perpetrated a major propaganda exercise to deceive the public. On behalf the government, the then Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena declared at Geneva session that Sri Lanka withdrew from co-sponsorship of the UN Human Rights Council resolutions ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka.’

This was nothing but a meaningless declaration meant to hoodwink the public. In spite of that declaration, Sri Lanka fully cooperated with the Geneva process but what is really baffling is why the government continues to hesitate to set the record straight.

Over 15 years after the successful conclusion of the war, Sri Lanka is yet to build a solid defence on the basis of official information available in the public domain.

Gajaba Regiment veteran Chagie Gallage, who retired in the rank of Maj. Gen. in late August 2018, in his farewell address delivered at the Saliyapura Regimental Centre, explained the pathetic failure on the part of utterly irresponsible and useless political leadership to defend the armed forces.

“Gajaba was engraved in golden letters in the annals of the history of the Sri Lanka Army, if not in the history of Sri Lanka … and I’m certain it will never be reversed by any. So, I’m happy to be retired being a tiny particle of that proud chapter of history, though designated as a ‘War Criminal.”

The writer revealed Gallage’s predicament on March 23, 2017 edition of The Island in a front-page lead story, headlined ‘Chagie denied Australian visa over ‘war crimes’ allegations’ with strapline ‘Unsubstantiated UN claim cited as reason’

War time Special Forces Commander Major General Nirmal Dharmaratne in a superb piece on Gallage, published in The Island, called the brother officer a ‘meticulous man’. For Australia, Gallage was nothing but a potential controversial visitor. The Foreign Ministry turned a blind eye to Gallage’s plight. The Gallage issue was largely ignored by the media. Australian insult never received the coverage it deserved.

Our parliamentarians were too busy to take up the issue. Parliament shirked its responsibility. The failure on the part of Parliament to address accountability issues finally led to the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government co-sponsoring the damning Geneva Resolution in Oct 2015 directed at the previous political leadership and the military.

President Maithripala Sirisena, in spite of a plethora of promises, did nothing to address the issue. The author of ‘Rajali Sandeshaya’ Gen. Gunaratne, Gen. Jagath Dias and Field Marshal Fonseka are those targeted by the Western agenda.

For some strange reason, all political parties represented in Parliament appeared to have succumbed to Western pressure to accept war crimes accusations by conveniently ignoring the issue. The issue hadn’t been seriously addressed by the four major presidential contestants – namely independent candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe, SJB leader Sajith Premadasa, JJB leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and SLPPer Namal Rajapaksa.

Their election manifestos, too, hadn’t dealt with this issue though usual phrases relating to post-war developments were used.

Presidential candidate Dilith Jayaweera of Sarvajana Balaya is solidly behind our war heroes, while assuring equality to all.

With Geneva declaring that whoever won the next presidential and parliamentary election should abide by the process now taking place, all major political parties should take a common stand on accountability issue.

By Lynn Ockersz

The candidates on a winning streak,

Having decided to stop at nothing,

Are pledging lamb-like followers,

All that could delight their hearts,

Including eye-popping pay rises,

Daily goods at slashed prices,

Fat proceeds from the sale,

Of all that’s left of the Family Silver,

And numerous creature comforts,

Savagely smothering in the process,

The Voice within them that says;

‘You are cruelly deceiving your people,

For what may be a Mess of Pottage.’

Continuing political unrest and economic crisis will encourage foreign powers to seek to consolidate their position here. Instead of blaming external interventions, Sri Lanka should take meaningful measures to thwart such interferences. However, bankruptcy status has placed the country in an extremely vulnerable situation. Mawbima Janatha Pakshaya (MJP) leader and presidential contestant Dilith Jayaweera said so commenting on altogether seven US, Indian and Chinese warships, including five destroyers, visiting Colombo harbor since the closing of nominations on Aug. 15. The Indian destroyer was followed by their National Security Advisor Doval whose interventions during previous administrations are too well known. Many eyebrows were raised over his visit to Colombo last week where he met three contestants, presidential Wickremesinghe, Premadasa and Dissanayake, followed by denial of him attempting to make a last ditch effort to bring about a reconciliation between the above-mentioned first two.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Having served President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s despicable political agenda since May 2022, till August this year, parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa entered the fray in a last-ditch attempt to save the SLPP’s nationalistic vote, Mawbima Janatha Pakshaya (MJP) leader Dilith Jayaweera declared.

The highest taxpaying presidential contestant Jayaweera tore into SLPP candidate Namal Rajapaksa as he questioned the motives of the eldest son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to seek the Office of the President.

Business magnate and Attorney-at-Law Jayaweera said so in response to The Island query during an interview with him last week at Triad Advertising (Pvt.) Ltd., where he acknowledged that the SLPP candidate was eyeing the nationalistic block vote at the expense of his (Jayaweera’s) campaign.

In a no holds barred interview, we sought an explanation from Jayaweera who. in spite of being a close friend and associate of the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. accepted US Ambassador Julie Chung’s invitation for a lunch three weeks after the ‘Aragalaya’ movement launched a public protest campaign outside the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s private residence at Pangiriwatte, Mirihana, on March 31, 2022, the first definite inkling of Aragalaya materialized outside the private residence of the then popularly elected Head of State. Ambassador Chung, widely accused of playing a significant role in a high profile project that overthrew Gotabaya Rajapaksa, will remain in Colombo till early next year though we erroneously believed she would leave before the Sept. 21 Presidential Election. Even as widespread violence erupted across the country almost simultaneously against the elected representatives of the then government on May 09, 2022 Ambassador Julie Chung steadfastly maintained that it was a peaceful protest movement and urged the police and the armed forces not to take any action against them. How did an Ambassador get such sweeping powers to order about the armed forces of the country she was serving in?

Asked whether the entry of Namal Rajapaksa troubled his campaign, Jayaweera, without hesitation, acknowledged that he felt so. “Namal Rajapaksa entered the fray to cause a problem, to undermine my campaign. Obviously, the Rajapaksa camp believes Namal will be sort of isolated among the nationalistic electorate hence the bid to challenge our move. The electorate will not accept their strategy,” Jayaweera said.

Sipping a hot cup of coffee, at one of his spacious rooms at the Triad office, Jayaweera alleged that the SLPP founder Basil Rajapaksa and Namal Rajapaksa fully cooperated with President Wickremesinghe’s strategy to bring about the downfall of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, both in and outside Parliament. They pursued a common strategy at the expense of national interests, Jayaweera pointed out, adding that their original plan was to go along with UNP leader Wickremesinghe.

“The bottom line is that Namal Rajapaksa, in his capacity as an SLPP parliamentarian, threw his weight behind Wickremesinghe,” Jayaweera alleged, pointing out that the SLPPer, under any circumstances, couldn’t absolve himself of the responsibility for ensuring enactment of laws inimical to the country during the UNP leader’s presidency.

Jayaweera again held the Basil-Namal duo directly responsible for Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s predicament. Jayaweera alleged that they promoted businessman Dhammika Perera, MP, as an alternative presidential candidate as their original plan to reach consensus with Wickremesinghe went awry. Perera, who had been brought into Parliament in late June 2022, amidst a public protest campaign, wasn’t involved, at any level, with nationalistic politics. “Actually, Perera never understood the concept of nationalistic politics and was never interested in it at all,” Jayaweera alleged, asserting that the businessman lacked even the basic knowledge of politics.

Jayaweera questioned the rationale in even considering MP Perera as a tool to disrupt or undermine the nationalistic camp. The controversial, yet patriotic, businessman who played a significant role in the government efforts to attract fresh recruits to the armed forces as unlike previous presidents, the Mahinda Rajapaksa government embarked on a fight-to-a-finish with the LTTE terrorist, with Sarath Fonseka as the Army Commander, a type of General that a country gets maybe once in about a thousand years. He was backd by the then Defence Secretary, retired Lieutenant Colonel Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and a band of tested frontline commanders.

Jayaweera, who then wholeheartedly backed Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s successful presidential polls campaign, said that MP Perera’s sudden pullout and Namal Rajapaksa’s entry into the presidential race should be examined against the backdrop of post-‘Aragalaya’ politics.

Responding to the query whether Jayaweera felt that MP Perera quit the contest in line with the strategy pursued by the Basil-Namal duo, the MJP leader said that wasn’t the case. “I believe MP Perera realized that he is going to suffer a devastating defeat. His friends and relatives, too, appeared to have advised him against going ahead with risky political adventures. MP Perera got lost in politics and suffered the consequences.”

Jayaweera alleged that the Rajapaksas must have sought to use MP Perera’s wealth to achieve their own immediate agenda.

Over 17.1 mn people are eligible to vote at the Sept. 21 Presidential Election. Of them, over one million are voters who are qualified to exercise their franchise for the first time, in a national election called the after removal of a President through unconstitutional means.

Jayaweera said that Sarvajana Balaya he is contesting from would definitely contest the next parliamentary polls.

CP candidate

We sought an explanation as to why Jayaweera submitted his nominations through the Communist Party (CP) in spite of having his own registered party and a coalition called Sarvajana Balaya as some questioned the move that they felt confused the electorate, particularly the nationalistic vote base.

“There is absolutely no basis for that assertion. There cannot be any ambiguity over our selection of CP, one of the constituents of Sarvajana Balaya. We picked CP as its symbol ‘star’ to attract the electorate, regardless of political differences.”

Jayaweera dismissed the assertion that he contesting the election, under the CP symbol, somewhat undermined his campaign. Dr. Geeganage Weerasinghe, in his capacity as the General Secretary of CP, paid the deposit for Jayaweera on August 13, the day before the final day for the acceptance of nominations. The Mawbiba Janatha Pakshaya leader is one of the 38 candidates in the fray after ex-parliamentarian Sarath Kumara Gunaratna failed to submit nominations after paying the deposit and independent candidate Muhammad Ilyas, 78, (ex-parliamentarian) died of a heart attack.

Jayaweera said that they agreed on a common agenda and was pursuing it vigorously. As a constituent of Sarvajana Balaya, CP, played an important role in the coalition, Jayaweera said, adding as the leader of MJP he led the strategic planning.

Weerasumana Weerasinghe (Matara District) represents the CP in the current Parliament. The first time entrant and the only CP MP, Weerasinghe entered Parliament on the SLPP ticket. The SLPP won 145 seats, including 17 National List slots, at the last parliamentary election. However, of them, as many as 130 switched allegiance to major candidates – President Wickremesinghe, SJB leader Sajith Premadasa and MJP leader Jayaweera with the UNP leader being the main beneficiary. As many as about 100 elected on the SLPP ticket and appointed on its National List back Wickremesinghe, whereas Premadasa received the support of about a dozen and several pledged their allegiance to Jayaweera.

Jayaweera said that those parliamentarians, who had been closely identified with the nationalistic camp, joined Sarvajana Balaya. The group included parliamentarians Wimal Weerawansa (National Freedom Front/NFF), Udaya Gammanpila (Pivithuru Hela Urumaya), Gevindu Cumaratunga (Yuthukama civil society group), Weerasumana Weerasinghe (CP), Gamini Waleboda (NFF) and Jayantha Samaraweera (NFF).

However, Mohammed Muzammil (National List), Jagath Priyankara (Puttalam district) and Nimal Piyatissa switched their allegiance to President Wickremesinghe at the expense of the NFF. Weerawansa’s party, that had seven MPs in Parliament at one time, lost another when their actor-turned-politician Uddhika Premaratne resigned his seat a few months ago. The SLPP filled Premaratne’s vacancy as the next highest preference vote taker happened to be S.C. Muthumumarana who contested the Anuradhapura district at the last election.

A meet during Aragalaya

Asked whether him meeting US Ambassador Chung, three weeks after violent demonstration at Pangiriwatte where ‘Aragalaya’ tested President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s defences, in some way suggested that he, too, cooperated with the conspirators, Jayaweera emphasized that it was a totally wrong interpretation of what he was trying to do.

Jayaweera explained how he sought to set the record straight as various interested parties quite comfortably, at the expense of the war-winning country, pursued an anti-national line in their conversations with foreign envoys and other senior representatives of international organizations. Alleging that Colombo-based coffee drinking, wine sipping cocktail going groups with NGO mentality propagated a false narrative with the international community, Jayaweera stressed that he honestly tried to clarify what was happening.

Some Western envoys, too, for obvious reasons, found the company of their local ardent admirers trying to curry favour with them quite endearing, Jayaweera declared, asserting that such conversations never helped them to understand the ground situation and the genuine grievances of the people, regardless of their ethnicity.

Referring to several cases of high profile external interventions over the past several years, both before and after the 2022 Aragalaya, Jayaweera said Western powers adopted a hostile strategy here as advised by those who immensely benefited from foreign funded projects.

In the absence of a cohesive State policy to counter false narratives propagated by various interested parties hell-bent on doing away with our unitary status, especially in the wake of the eradication of separatist terrorist power in May 2009, external powers could advance their strategy without hindrance. Jayaweera cited the ongoing Geneva project as a glaring example of Sri Lanka’s failure to address false accountability charges that led to the co-sponsorship of 30/1 resolution in October 2015, with Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister.

Jayaweera emphasized the responsibility on the part of the powers that be whoever was in power to counter false narratives at different levels.

Key challenges

Commenting on challenges faced by the post-Aragalaya situation against the backdrop of the government accepting bankruptcy status, the country couldn’t progress as the vast majority of people live without hope. The economic-political-social crisis perpetrated by those who wielded power over a period of time not only the two years under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the country was in a bind. “That is the ugly truth those exercising political power do not want to admit for obvious reasons.”

The hapless people have to be inspired, Jayaweera said, adding that restoration of public confidence would be the key to overcoming economic ruin, political uncertainty and social issues.

Jayaweera declared that Sarvajana Balaya manifesto addressed the daunting challenges experienced by the country with specific recommendations/proposals to gradually overcome the issues. “Different segments of the populations, ranging from the student community to professions ,should be ready to bear difficulties for a year, perhaps a little more than a year until Sarvajana Balaya proposals can be implemented.”

The outspoken political party leader said that political and economic objectives have to be achieved in an environment where all communities could live together and not in any way divide them on ethnic lines and be forced to take up extremist stands. “In such an atmosphere, regardless of diverse political opinions, people will invest, gradually as they face the challenges with confidence,” Jayaweera said, adding that he proposed UNIQUE identity numbers at birth to improve social security. That would deliver a knockout blow to corruption, Jayaweera said, adding that the banking system would be part of the whole operation to monitor transactions at all levels.

During a recent interview with the writer, active citizen L. J. Udukumburage discussed how the existing banking system could be utilized to curb corruption through an effective control on cash transfers (Prez polls 2024: Passage of Economic Transformation Bill strengthens Ranil strategy (The Island, July 31, 2024).

Responding to another query, Jayaweera pointed out that the much publicized agreement with the IMF that had been repeated like a mantra should be examined taking into consideration the failure on the part of the government to take remedial measures over two years after Wickremesinghe received premiership and the finance portfolio in May 2022.

Those who talk proudly of moratorium on the payment of foreign debt till 2028 should explain why at least revenue collection hadn’t been streamlined yet, over two years after ‘Aragalaya’ and the same corrupt lot allowed to continue gleefully as repeatedly revealed by revelations made in Parliament.

Sri Lanka announced suspension of debt payment in April 2022, a few weeks after the Pangiriwatte protest.

Jayaweera alleged that in spite of the economy still being in intensive care, the executive and legislature continued on the same path. Recent disclosure regarding the failure on the part of a key revenue collector to fulfil his obligation underscored the requirement for total overhauling of the revenue collection system. The present day leaders would happily continue with this corrupt system as they were only interested in spending the rest of their lives in luxury, at the expense of the public.

A proper investigation would reveal that many political party leaders, ministers and ordinary MPs are living way beyond their means, Jayaweera alleged. He named two political party leaders as utterly corrupt though they pretend to be paragons of virtue.

Too many candidates

Jayaweera expressed the urgent need to amend existing laws to prevent major political parties fielding proxy candidates. According to him, of the 39 candidates in the fray, there were at least 20 proxies fielded by independent candidate Wickremesinghe and SJB leader Premadasa. Referring to the last Presidential Election conducted in November 2029, Jayaweera said that the situation was equally bad that time, too, with so many proxies.

Six contested the 1982 presidential poll followed by three in 1988, six in 1994, 13 in 1999, 13 in 2005, 22 in 2010, 19 in 2015, 35 in 2019 and 39 in 2024.

Jayaweera said that having special provision to grant special status to ex-MPs and serving MPs couldn’t be justified under any circumstances. In terms of the Presidential Election Act, any elector and even unregistered political parties could nominate only ex or serving MPs. “This ridiculous law should be done away with. In fact, the government should have addressed this issue in 1999 after 13 contested the presidential election won by PA leader Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga in that year.”

Jayaweera said that as far as he knew JJB hadn’t fielded at least one proxy candidate. Wickremesinghe and Premadasa should be held accountable for criminal waste of public funds caused by proxy candidates. The Election Department has said that election expenditure could have been drastically reduced if only ‘serious’ candidates contested.

A smiling Jayaweera said that they clearly identified whom the proxies served but couldn’t still correctly get at the allegiance of two independents, both former parliamentarians. Declaring the JJB, too, followed the policies of the Wickremesinghes and Premadasas, Jayaweera alleged that Rathusahodarayas, too, benefited from the black economy and the conduct of that party over the past couple of years proved that essentially all three operated on the same lines.

Warning over post-poll violence

Commenting on MP Weerawansa’s recent high profile accusation that the JJB would resort to violence to disrupt counting of votes on Sept. 21, thereby create a situation that may allow Wickremesinghe to continue, pending a decision on the election, Jayaweera said that particular allegation echoed Sarvajana Balaya thinking, as well as the former Minister’s personal opinion.

Pointing out that the JVP polled 273,428 votes (4.19%) at the 1982 presidential poll and 418,553 votes (3.16%) at the 2019 poll, Jayaweera said that over the past several years the JVP has expanded and it was now a far bigger setup. The JVP leadership could find it difficult to keep those ‘newcomers’ under control. Therefore, the JVP/JJB was in flux. There could be trouble, serious trouble at short notice unless the powers that be maintain a close watch on the situation.

Declaring that unprecedented divisions in Parliament didn’t really reflect the mood of the electorate on the eve of the Presidential Poll, Jayaweera said that approximately 40% of the votes of those who exercised their franchise in support of Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the 2019 Presidential election remained undecided yet. Jayaweera is convinced that block vote, regardless of Namal Rajapaksa’s intervention, would stand by the nationalistic camp, hence he could be the beneficiary.

Jayaweera is of the opinion that the contest is so fierce no candidate could secure 30% of the vote. Jayaweera also discussed the transformation of the Marxist JVP leadership to a rightwing political force serving the interests of the West.

He dismissed assertions that those who lacked political experience at lower level (Local Government, Provincial Councils and Parliament) shouldn’t aspire for the President’s Office. Those with administrative experience should receive the preference over politicians who ruined the country, the leading businessman with a definite patriotic background asserted.

Jayaweera accused President Wickremesinghe of causing further destabilization by refusing to adhere to Supreme Court directives or trying to circumvent SC orders. A continuing dispute between the President and the judiciary could cause quite an explosive situation, Jayaweera alleged, asserting that the President’s response to recent SC directives and rulings that he may have considered disadvantageous to him didn’t do him any good.