President claims UNP delaying major probes to

save Rajapaksas
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Ruwanweliseya in Anuradhapura on
Esala Poya yesterday. Pic by Pradeep Pathirana

By Our Political Editor-Sunday, July 09, 2017

 Cabinet meeting bombshell exposes widening crack in National Unity
Government; SLFP and UNP at crossroads amid reports
of PC polls this year Sirisena wants to bring the Rajapaksas to book; but
questions about how far he could go; Police say some important arrests
are on the cards
Survey in Sinhala-speaking areas show Rajapaksa popularity intact while
Sirisena factions standing is plunging
The first real sign that the two and half year old coalition once dubbed
harmoniously as the National Unity Government is cracking emerged last
Tuesday.It surfaced at the weekly Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Secretariat.
In a no-holds-barred speech, an angry President Maithripala Sirisena did not
mince his words. He pointedly accused his partner in governance, the United
National Party (UNP), of stalling investigations into allegations of bribery,
corruption and other acts of fraud allegedly committed by former President
Mahinda Rajapaksa, his family members, close associates and top officials. Mama
dannawa mewa patharawala pala wei kiyala. Ekata kamak nehe (I know this will
appear in the newspapers. That does not matter), he asserted.

Sirisena, who is also leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), declared that if
he were given the Police and the Attorney Generals Department, he would have
produced results within three months (finding previous Government leaders who
are guilty of bribery and corruption). Those remarks were clearly a lament that
those two subjects were assigned to UNP ministers and he had no direct role. But
that remark did raise many issues. Within hours of Sirisenas admonishment, what
he said became the talking point among both the SLFP and the UNP, particularly
their respective parliamentarians. Apart from the bouquets and brickbats,
questions were also being posed on whether Sirisena himself is under
tremendous pressure or feels cornered under various mounting issues.

The occasion for his verbal assault on the UNP, almost putting it on notice, arose
from a rather non-committal Note to Cabinet which Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe presented. He sought an appropriate decision by his
ministerial colleagues on the future of the Anti-Corruption Committee Secretariat
(ACCS) whose term ended on June 30. More on the ACCS later.

First to Premier Wickremesinghes note dated June 27, 2017.

Titled the Continuation of the Anti-Corruption Secretariat, the note said:

The Anti-Corruption Committee Secretariat (ACCS) was established on 20.2.2015
by Cabinet decision no. 15/066/602/002-1 dated 11.02.2015 to accept complaints
regarding serious frauds and corruption and to facilitate the related
investigations.

Subsequently, by the Cabinet decision no 16/2403/702/047-1 dated 22.11.2016,

approval was granted to continue the operations of the ACCS and to extend the
services of the staff attached to the ACCS until 30.6.2017.
ACCS was established to service the Cabinet-Sub Committee on Anti-Corruption.
Further, the ACCS has been forwarding the complaints received by them to the
agencies such as Police/Financial Crimes Investigation Division, Commission to
Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption etc.

Now that the Financial Crimes Investigation Division of Police is fully functional, a
decision has to be taken on the future operations of the ACCS be continued or
not. Submitted for an appropriate decision by the Cabinet of Ministers.

This note came up for discussion when ministers had finished most items listed on
the days agenda. Speaking in Sinhala, President Sirisena asked what the purpose
was in extending the tenure of ACCS. What has it done? he asked.
Wickremesinghe was to respond saying it had been functioning as a post office
channelling public complaints it received to the relevant state investigative
agencies.
Understanding with the Rajapaksas

Sirisena was visibly angry. As he spoke, one source at the meeting said, he looked
in the face of some UNP ministers including Premier Wickremesinghe. He said if
Mahinda Rajapaksa came back to power, none of the UNPers was going to be
touched. You have an understanding with Rajapaksas people. Recently the
former President said that if he were to come to power again, he would not give
up. He would continue to govern. There has been no cases against Mahinda
Rajapaksa or members of his family. Even the ones that are probed or action
taken are watered-down versions. This was because those in the UNP had
brought pressure on the investigators periodically to slow down or not to
proceed. The thoughts Sisirsena had been entertaining privately finally came out
in the open.

Sirisena lamented that it was only persons who have been identified with him
who were being dealt with. One was State Minister A.H. M. Fowzie for misusing a
vehicle (that was donated by a foreign government for tsunami related work). The
other was former Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayaratne who has been accused
of providing a job in his Ministry to his own daughter. These were the small
cases they were going after, Sirisena said.
It is pertinent to note that the cases against Fowzie and Jayaratne were filed by
the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) after
complaints were made directly to it. What about the Rajapaksas or others
associated with them? asked Sirisena. At this stage Premier Wickremesinghe
intervened to say 76 files had been sent to the Attorney Generals Department
after the States investigative arms the Criminal Investigation Department and
the Financial Crimes Investigation Division mostly had concluded their probes.

Sirisena replied that senior Police officers who were linked to the investigations
had met him and confessed they could not proceed with probes into Rajapaksa
and his associates because there was a lot of pressure from the top. A
somewhat irritated Prime Minister Wickremesinghe asked President Sirisena to
name the persons who had interfered but the President did not respond. The
President named Gamini Senarath, the former Chief of Staff of President
Rajapaksa as one of those against whom investigations have been virtually stalled.
Elaborating on what he said about the Attorney Generals Department, Sirisena
pointed out to the case that is going on now against Lalith Weeratunga, former
Presidential Secretary, for procuring sil cloth with monies from the Telecom
Regulatory Commission, as an example. He said Weeratunga had said in his
statement that he carried out the act on the instructions of the then President
Rajapaksa. Yet, he noted that the AGs Department had failed to initiate action to
question Rajapaksa on his response to Weeratungas statement.

In what was clearly an assertion to elaborate on a nexus between the UNP and
the Rajapaksas, Sirisena referred to an incident on January 9, 2015 when the
results of the presidential election were declared. He said Minister Malik
Samarawickrema (also Chairman of the UNP) and the Prime Minister had together
arranged for an Air Force helicopter for Rajapaksa and his immediate family to fly
from the Army Grounds to their ancestral home in Medamulana. Though he
named Samarawickrema, he only referred to Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister.
Sirisena asked what would have happened to him if he lost the presidential
election.

Sirisena had declared in a newspaper interview after he was elected President

that he had been hiding at an estate in Dodangaslanda on polls night. He said if he
had lost, he and his family would have gone six feet under. After the Cabinet
meeting ended,
Samarawickrema was at Sirisenas office on other business. He was heard by
officials to murmur Sirta oney nam, magey amathyansaya ganna or Sir, if you
wish you can take over my Ministry, but the subdued voice seems not to have
fallen on Sirisenas ears.

Fonseka hits out at Rajapakshe

At the ministerial meeting, President Sirisena asked again why there was no
action on the high profile cases. He said that the current situation was not
acceptable. He said if the Attorney Generals Department and the Police were
given to him, he would catch all the culprits within three months. Health Minister
Rajitha Senaratne was to allege that Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayake,
under whom the Police function, had been seen having dinner at a restaurant
with Gamini Senarath on occasions an accusation the young minister
vehemently denied.

Regional Development Minister Sarath Fonseka jumped into the discussion to

accuse Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe of allegedly interfering into cases
when they reached the Attorney Generals Department. He said he was not
casting any aspersions on the AG who is a very good man. Minister Rajapakshe
denied the accusation and said there were one or two instances where he had
asked for some details for official purposes but the AGs office had not responded.
Though the AGs Department came under him, he said he had no control over it.
He said it was not he but the Constitutional Council that appointed the AG. That
saw Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake intervening to ask what about the cases
involving Avant Garde Maritime Services Ltd., the former Central Bank Governor
Ajit Nivard Cabral and Gamini Senarath? Did you not intervene on their behalf?
Karunanayake said there was great wisdom in the remarks that President Sirisena
had made and noted that public discontent was on the rise over the inaction of
the Government in high profile corruption cases.

Finance and Mass Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera who defended the long
delays in investigations said there were complex issues and it took time to nail the
culprits. He pointed to the corruption allegations against then Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak. It took years and the probe was still continuing to determine
corrupt activity by hm. It drew a response from Megapolis and Western
Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka. He said the Mubarak probe
had gone on when Mohamed Morsi was President but later with General Abdel
Fattah el Sisi taking over, it had slowed down or stopped. Sports Minister Dayasiri
Jayasekera, not to be left out, also supported President Sirisenas assertions. He
endorsed the Presidents remarks and asked how, under these circumstances the
ruling parties could go for local government or provincial council elections.

Premier Wickremesinghe has been the principal architect of the Anti-Corruption

Committee Secretariat. He forwarded a Cabinet Memorandum on June 2, 2015 to
establish a dedicated Secretariat for the Committee to co-ordinate and direct the
investigations of the allegations on serious frauds, financial crimes and
corruption. It functioned under the umbrella of a National Executive Council
chaired by President Sirisena. Under that a Cabinet Subcommittee was chaired by
Wickremesinghe. It also served as a Progress Review Committee. Janatha
Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who was a member
pulled out of it later. Over many months the workings of this subcommittee
slowed down.

It must be said in fairness to the personnel at the Anti-Corruption Committee

Secretariat that their co-ordination work helped the investigative agencies. It
comprised experts in different fields and was assisted by a Deputy Solicitor
General (Thusitha Mudalige). It is only after they perused the public complaints
that they were directed to the appropriate investigative agency.

Though the staff there became targets for different groups, they functioned with
few or no allegations being levelled against them. Relations between the
Secretariat and Temple Trees, where the office of the Prime Minister is now
located, soured. The administration of the secretariat was being carried out from
Temple Trees. This was after allegations, later found to be unfounded, that
Secretariat personnel used state vehicles from the PMs office to carry out
surveillance. The Secretariat was a channelling agency and did not engage in any
other activity. Most of the complaints it received went to the Financial Crimes
Investigation Division (FCID) which is tasked with a fivefold objective. They are:
 To conduct inquiries on public complaints on corruption and on serious
financial crimes and unsolicited mega projects.
To conduct investigations into financial crimes committed against public
funds and properties.
To conduct investigations in to financial frauds affecting the national
economy, national security, health and environment.
To conduct investigations into unlawful enrichment and abuse of power.
To conduct investigations with regard to money laundering, terrorist
financing and large scale illegal financial transactions.

When the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers ended last Tuesday, it had left
behind some bitter if not harsh realities for the ruling coalition. What was widely
spoken among most Sri Lankans that different groups were slowing down
investigations against the Rajapaksa clan and his political allies is now confirmed
by none other than the President. Proof of such slowing down of investigations,
he has made clear, came in the form of confessions from top investigators about
pressure on them to slow down or halt investigations. One high ranking source
familiar with the goings on claimed that even those who gave the order to go
slow or halt probes were identified.

Rajitha backs Presidents position

Importantly, for the first time no decision has been taken on a routine Note to the
Cabinet from Premier Wickremesinghe. This is in the aftermath of a lengthy
discussion where President Sirisena and his ministers with the only exception
of Mangala Samaraweera spoke out and endorsed the view that the UNP had
stalled or halted investigations against Mahinda Rajapaksa, his family, friends and
officials. In the course of discussion the identity of UNP Ministers allegedly
responsible for the slowing down of investigations have surfaced though in a
veiled way. Minister Senaratne, one of the three official Cabinet spokespersons,
made a public announcement at Thursdays news briefing further concretising
President Sirisenas position. The relevant Q & A explains:

Q: Did the President say that, if he takes over the Police and AGs Department,
he could complete investigations regarding cor ruption in three months?

A: The President said all investigative units like the police like CID, FCID are under
the Law and Order Ministry. If he was given the task he would produce results in
three months.
Q: So what was your response?

A: I said the President should take them over. All protest on the streets will stop.
Everything regarding crime is known publicly.

Q: Do you say the investigations have been partial as the main investigations
were conducted only in the cases relating to Minister Fowzie and former
Minister Priyankara Jayaratne?

A: The Anti-Corruption Committee Secretariat was appointed to investigate large

scale corruption. Not small scale corruption.

Q: The investigations have been against SLFP members.

A: Yes, in most cases.

Q: The Anti-Corruption Committee Secretariat has looked into many cases. But
we have not heard about any pro gress such as filing action.
A: It usually hands the cases over to the FCID or to the Bribery (Commission). I
also want to say there has been not enough coverage for the Committees
activities.

Q: Is it correct that the President questioned as to why former Presidents Chief

of Staff Gamini Senarath had not been arrested?

A: Yes. Even we questioned that. His driver has confessed how sack loads of
money were deposited by him during the election campaign.

The Sunday Times (Political Commentary) as far back as December 4 and 11 2016
commented on this disturbing situation. The first was headlined Delays in high
profile probes: Questions about nexus between VIPs of rival parties. The other
said Delays in big corruption probes raise major questions. The first report
noted among other matters, .The current leadership vowed during the
presidential and parliamentary elections to bring them to book. It is now clear
that there are strong exceptions too and that raises the all-important question of
the much talked of nexus between the ruling political elements and those in the
opposition. Little wonder, top investigators complain that contents of interim
reports sought by some ruling politicos ended up in the hands of those under
investigation and those looking after their interests. Such documents have been
produced at legal consultations

Sirisenas dilemma

Sirisenas remarks that he would have caught the culprits if he had both the Police
and the Attorney Generals Department under his charge came in for heavy
criticism in the social media. The argument was that he was the Executive
President and wielded all the powers to take over or appoint anyone else to
ministries. Thus their remarks underscored his not wanting to assert his authority
even on promises made when he was voted to power. Though the argument is
sound, on the other hand, Sirisena has exposed his dilemma. That he cannot do so
because he does not want to be seen as meddling with portfolios assigned to
the UNP by prior arrangement with its leader Wickremesinghe. This stance has
earned for Sirisena the displeasure of the SLFPers who support him. They have
perceived it as going soft on the UNP because Sirisena had become too
dependent on the them. This is one of the reasons why a few SLFPers among
them are gearing themselves and leaking reports to the media that they would
quit later this year.

The same dilemma was the cause for a protracted delay over a Cabinet re-shuffle.
It is now known that Sirisena wanted changes to be made to four different
portfolios held by UNPers since early this year. Such changes were negotiated on
behalf of their leader by Ministers Malik Samarawickrema and Kabir Hashim. The
move only saw a change in portfolios of Ravi Karunanayake (to Foreign Affairs)
and Mangala Samaraweera (to Finance and Mass Media). The other two
ministries where Sirisena sought a change, it can now be revealed, are the
Ministry of Law and Order and the Ministry of Highways and Higher Education.
However, they did not materialise much to the surprise of some senior SLFPers
supporting Sirisena.

Like the proverbial last straw that broke the camels back, what prompted Sirisena
to go on the offensive against the UNP? According to some who are familiar with
the developments, it came hard on the heels of a survey that had been conducted
in Sinhala speaking areas. It has bared that the popularity of former President
Mahinda Rajapaksa was intact whilst the SLFP that was supporting Maithripala
Sirisena was growingly unpopular. Of course, there were many reasons for it. One
was the soaring cost of living. Adding to it now is the garbage issue, regular strike
action by trade unions, the fast spread of dengue and the rapidly deteriorating
law and order situation. Unemployment and economic stagnation were also
issues. A new controversy, that the Government was going to bring in a new
Constitution that was going to replace Buddhism as the principle state religion
and to compromise the unitary nature of the country was also a bogey being put
forward against the Government. The Governments inaction to meet these
challenges is conversely making Rajapaksa and his allies popular with the oft
repeated complaint that there was hardly any governance.

This scenario posed a serious question for Sirisena and his allies. How would they
face the upcoming local government and provincial council (PC) elections?
Though the local government polls are not likely soon, the prospects of holding
provincial council elections have been engaging the active consideration of the
Government. At a top level conference recently, a suggestion was made that
existing laws be amended to ensure all PC elections are held on the same day.
Though it was pointed out that senior officials in the Elections Commission had
opined that such an amendment would require a Referendum, coalition leaders
feel amending legislation should still be presented in Parliament.

To make matters worse, corruption at present is known to be at higher levels, say

senior SLFPers backing Sirisena. They are worried that the promises made at
presidential and parliamentary elections in this regard have not been fulfilled
though they were listed as items of top priority. Here are just two samples of
what the ruling party leaders said then:

Maithripala Sirisena, soon after being announced as common candidate for the
presidential election, at a news conference on November 21, 2014: The entire
socio economic and political systems of this country have been taken over by one
family. They have ruined this country. It is now engulfed in corruption and blatant
abuse of power. It is against this that I am coming forward as the common
candidate of the Opposition.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, UNP leader during a meeting with editors and propreitors
of media on March 27, 2015: ..There has been widespread corruption, with
some charges levelled by the UNP as well as others. More time is needed to take
proper action. We are committed to ensure the rule of law rather than rushing to
lock up people. Some of the cases need expert forensic skills and we have sought
them from the United States, the United Kingdom and India. I am asking the
country and the people to give us time.

Though somewhat belatedly, it has dawned on Sirisena that allowing a free rein
to Rajapaksa and allies, for which he has already accused the UNP, is forcing him
to pay a heavy price. All inactions on the part of his own coalition have not only
affected their credibility, particularly that of him and the SLFP, but is also
gradually lowering his own popularity. The fear of the prospects of Rajapaksa
returning to power and the consequences to him personally seem not lost on him.
Therefore, instead of sorting things out during a one-on-one with Premier
Wickremesinghe, he chose a full frontal attack on the UNP at the ministerial
meeting. One source close to the Presidency, however, said Sirisena had raised
issues over corruption investigations with Wickremesinghe every now and then.
One of his spokespersons has gone public with what transpired so the country
may know. It is now in the open.

Bond commission inquiry

Now that his verbal volleys are over, Sirisena cannot rest though he is arming
himself with a political sledgehammer the findings of the Commission of Inquiry
on the Central Bank bond scam. If UNP leaders defended then Governor Arjuna
Mahendran and claimed there was no wrong doing in the issue of bonds, the
damning evidence unfolding at the Commission speaks the opposite.

Behind-the-scene moves are already afoot to step up some of the high profile
investigations. Police sources say some important arrests are on the cards. Going
for the Rajapaksas and his allies at this time, however, also has its downside. At
least sections of the public could view the move as bogey trail to deflect or avoid
other growing issues. Thus the question is how much of credibility Sirisena and his
SLFP backers can shore up and how assertive they would become. Inaction would
only mean an exacerbation of the situation.
On the other hand, for the UNP the issues raised by Sirisena have had a strong
effect. Yet, other than the questions he asked from Sirisena, neither
Wickremesinghe nor his party has reacted. Not surprisingly since this was a
matter that concerns cabinet secrecy and involves the President. Nevertheless the
publicity the issue has generated is by no means good news for the UNP.

Thus, both the SLFP and the UNP are at crossroads. Naturally, the challenges are
more for Sirisena who wants to bring the Rajapaksas to book. How much support
he would receive from the UNP and how far he could go remain critical questions.
Posted by Thavam