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April/May 1994 Vol 2, issue 1
 

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AL-AWWA AMBALANGODA AMPARA
ANURADHAPURA
EADULLA BALANGODA
BANDARAWELA
BATTICALOA CHILAW COLOMEO Bambalapitiya
Battaramulla BOrella
Dehiwela Fort
Union Place Homagama Ja Ela Kadawata Kandana Kiribathgoda Kollupitiya
Maharagama Maradana
Moratuwa Nugegoda
Pannipitiya
Nandanasiri Stores Royal Book Shop
Delicia Mahajana Picture Palace Sathsara
Mahinda's Sunil Book Shop Leelasena & Sons Udenis Mayura Book Shop
Charles Subasinghe Greenlands Hotel Lanka Traders Liyanage
Shanthi Vihar Pubudusiri Cream House Madhawa Book Shop Pushpa Stores Ketapatha Prakashana Supipi Book Shop Sadeepa Book Shop Lakmini Stores Catholic Book Shop Colombo Hilton Holiday inn
Taprobane Lake House Book Shop Lanka Oberoi Maclium Book Shop M.D. Gunasena Book Shop Salaka Geethani Grocery PernO Stationers Srimali Grocery Jayabima Samanala Book Shop Vijitha Yapa Book Shop Malee Book Shop A. Z. N. M. Marikar Sasiri Book Shop Godage Book Shop Dayawansa Jayakody I. P. B. Book Shop McCallum Book Shop Wijesekera Grocery National Book Shop Sarasavi Book Shop Nimali Book Shop
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Piliyandala New City PitakOtte Pothgula Ratmalana Thusitha Book Shop Thimbirigasyaya Missaka Book Shop WellaWatte Windsor Book Shop Rohana Book Shop Vivian Traders EMBILIPITIYA Oueens Hotel GALLE New Aradhana Traders Vijitha Yapa Book Shop Thaksala Nalanda Book Shop GAMPAHA Hema's Book Shop
Udaya Stores GAMPOLA DavaSa Centre HAPUTALE Malikarachchi & Co. HORANA Jayathu Hotel HIKKADUWA Coral Garden Hotel KADUGANNAWA Daya Traders KALUTARA New Owen Joseph Book Shop KANDY Guneratne Distributors
Seevali Book Shop Vijitha Yapa Book Shop Sithumina Book Shop Malson Book Shop Central Book Shop KULIYAPITIYA Sastrodaya Book Shop KURUNEGALA Sampath Traders MATARA Nilmini Stores MATALLE Malaka TraderS MIRIGAMA Gamage Stores MONERAGALA Sumedha Book Shop
Sri Ramya Stores N'ELIYA Shop No. 3, (Opposite Municipal Council) NEGAMBO Nayana Book Shop, Mahabage Nayana Book Shop, Kandana British BOOK Center Negambo Printers Co-operative Sales Center NI TAMBUWA Ganga Cool House PANADURA Fernando's PILIMATALAWA Jayasekera Traders PUT TALAM Lucky Newspaper Agency RATNAPURA Pradeepa Book Shop TRINCOMALEE 470, Navy Camp Road VAWUNIYA Kavidha Stores VEYANGODA Somagiri WARAKAPOLA Ranjith Book Shop WELLAWAYA Suhanda Traders YAKKALA Vidyodaya
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April - May 1994
COWER 5
The UNP in-fighting, continuing Government corruption and its plans for presenting a new face
at the forthcoming elections are laid bare. Also included is a candid interview with the party's new General Secretary who has no illusions as to the magnitude of the task ahead.
Our Columnist discusses possible democratic options for the North-East, while emphasising the plight of the people of the war-torn areas for whom there seems to be '... : : no relief in Sight.
TAM, WIEW | 22
-- Departments SS Straight Talk .................................... 11
Expose .................... to sh so o s s se n o o u so o s 9 u D ED 16 PolítiCS .29
Media Watch ............................ as e a s s s e o u o33
Apri-yday 1994 Cour
 
 

Ao Vol. 2 Issue I
18 PERSPECTIVE Nelson Mandela has proved himself once again to be a Statesman who is above narrow partisan politics. Can we in Sri Lanka not learn from his shining example?
Richard Simon reviews the two Platforms staged so far, using the occasion to riorament on the 3, and science tie
tak shOW.
Cover Photograph Dexter Cruez
Layout Asoka Padmasiri
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Comment
/
One Man is Out, anoth
here are a number of reasons why one does the right thing. Some of these motivations are so horrendous that they negate the benefit that one's actions have generated. So it is with the entire hype on cleaning up the "underworld". The reason for the arrest and questioning of Soththi Upali has much less to do with his chequered Career as a hoodlumthan with the fact that his sponsOIS and benefactors within the party are now in eclipse,
If the logic of the recentarrestsis examined carefully, all that takes place in the purge of Upali and his henchmen is the clearing up of space for his rivals (or more precisely, the "supporters" of his sponsor's rivals) to operate Over a larger terrain with greater impunity. Let's not fool ourselves that this is the beginning of an eracharacterised by a cleaner : and more just public life. If that were the case, the questions addressed would have been very different from those that seem to have preoccupied the Government over the past few weeks. For instance, more significant than the fact of Soththi Upali's heinous personal history is the Collective culpability of the UNP Government who not merely had (have?) him in their Executive Committee while all these atrocities were allegedly being Committed, but who had, to add insult to injury, appointed him to the Reserve Police Force.
In fact, in One newspaper account Sotthi Upali is quoted as saying that he is "one of the President's men", a claim that was never refuted and must stand by default, at least. There can beno gainsaying of Soththil Jpali's
致
iiiiiipurwin-wow Innre
Managing Editor Victor van
Editor Wanna Karunatilake
Editorial Coordinator Ymara de Almeida స్థ
Layout Charitha Dissanayake -:
Cartoonist K.W..Jafaranjana
Photographer Dextei Cruez
i Circuiasion Daya Katuarachchi
G. B. Panditha
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Publisher Ravaya Publishers (Guarantee) Ltd.
Coun
 

er (Gentle?)man isin
long-standing association with the Government: this fact is even less in doubt than the allegations of Criminality against him. It appeared that these twin responsibilities meshed well together, and, in fact, the latter was the reason for his indispensability in the former. Why, then, was there this sudden parting of the ways? Only one answer canstandup to any scrutiny. Thus, Upali's connections with certain ruling politicians and nothis alleged contractkillings brought about his downfall. Is this, then, not a sad indictment of our political culture, of the system of values and norms by which we live in this country today?
The irony of a situation where there is a supposed purge of Corruption and violence in this nation, and that the UNP is now putting on a new honest face, is almost unbearable when one considers the re-entry of Gamini Dissanayake and a host of others to the inner sancturn of power. Dr. Wijesekera, the UNP's brand new General Secretary says in this context that "people change" (see Interview, but we're not so sure. Our sense -- and We hope to be proved Wrong, just Once at least -- is that people like that don't change except when it is profitable to do so. In this sense, of Course, Some people change all the time, from pro-UNP to anti-UNP, from anti-Premadasa to not-so-anti-Premadasa to pro-Premadasa to whatever is expedient. Yet, do systematically and deliberately dishonest people change overnight into "gentlemen" of honour? No more, in our view, than hired killers and the hirers of killers become victims or martyrs.
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recently activated A economicpolicy was the liberalisation of motor vehicles which essentially reduced restrictive motor vehicle procedures and Specifications, towards a more "liberalised"format(simplifying the permitsystemand the tariff structure). In consumer terms, prices of Certain private motor vehicles have thereby been reduced more than public transport type motor vehicles. And the Sermon of Sustainable development intertwined with the national NC dream continues... So One must consider, inan effortto increase social productivity to reach "NICstatus", does an increase in private vehicles in the present socio-economic Context facilitate this intended objective?
Admittedly road transport is an integral part of economic development, where labour, inputs and products are kept effectively mobile to facilitate the efficient production and distribution of the Social product. Over 80 percent are of passenger traffic, mostly by bus, and 80 percent of freight traffic, account for highway transport. However, most of the highway system consists ofold roads designed to carry neither the traffic volume nor the vehicle weights now imposed on the system, and is in serious need of improved maintenance and rehabilitation. Considering the socio-economicsignificance of the road transport system to the economic infrastructure, thepresentimport liberalisation reform seems pre-mature, more likely misguided, inappropriate and constraining. in an optimistic economic rationality, the present economicCostSofiberalisation policy is to be reimbursed, offset, byan imminent increase in productivity and economic
growth. Nevertheless, it is a policy that has currently increased dependency On imported capital, technology
and energy Consumption. In
this pretentious "green” restructuring, it is a policy to
accelerate the Consumption of imported fuel (a subsidized, non-renewable resource), adding to the negative trade bill, elusively reinstating the inevitable "restructuring". Consequently, foreign aid and expensive foreign Consultants are engaged in various transport projects, from road rehabilitation to road passenger transport, to facilitate the "green" Ng destination.
increasing private vehicles, increases the burden of ar. already neglected highway
maintenance and rehabilitation
expense. Delays due to congestion, road maintenance, etc., restrain and distort the expected increases in Social productivity. The present average increase in vehicle operating costs, due to congestion, represent a major economic cost. In the existing horde of mixed traffic (pedestrians, animal and human drawn carts, bicycles, three-wheelers, loose tivestock), increased motorized transport combined with lack of driver discipline inherently escalate traffic accidents, and the loss of life and limb. Time spent in hospitals, Courts and garages also add on to the disutilities experienced as a result of inflated traffic. The recently highlighted accident rate, even in this motorizationlow Country, is considered
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April-May 1994
 

about 10 times higher than in industrialized COuntries.
While a private vehicle may afford Comfort and convenience, it indirectly restrains the mobility of a majority, less fortunate, who
are condemned to travel by bus. For the small percentage that can afford private cars, there is a majority (over 90 percent of all urban travel) in Sri Lankathat must dependon the public transport system. Time wasted away waiting to commute and commuting, in addition te verloaded, unsafe buses, depict a degenerate collective transnortsystemand a waste, a cility; of human resources. The physical and mental drain of energy,
Commuting in an overcrowded,
busoveran extended periodof time, not to mention the negative health effects of toxic exhaust fumes that deteriorate the efficiency of a worker, all have become a decadent normalcy for a majority.
The inadequacy of the present bus transport Service to meet the travel needs of the public is obvious. These inadequacies which have been associated with shortage of buses and unavailability of many of those in the fleet, and other impediments to passenger travel should have been the key focus of import liberalisation. While the "liberalisation" strategy of a Self-supporting, self-regulating, efficient bus industry is in the free-market Master Plan, implemented policy has defied any notion of practical, responsible restructuring, Subsidizing a privileged few at
Les
the expense of a marginalised majority.
it is here that we need to focus On the Critical traffic threshold in a limiting highway system where private modes
of transportation begin to
diminish the general efficiency of road transportation, an avoidable limitation which affects the efficient Social production process and the Overal quality of life.
On the positive side of the latest reform, theadministrative Over-burden and inefficiencies associated with the permit systemandacomplicatedtariff structure will release resources towards more productive activitiestocontinuetofacilitate the growth of the private sector. Possibly various marginal monetary gains could also be expected asan Outcome of the widened base in the number of motor vehicles contributing to an increased Collection of road user charges (taxes, license and registration fees and duties).
in a more Critical view, relaxing duty charges implies reduction of government revenue. A shortage of funds which has already restrained improvement of roads and bridges, and efficient maintenance and management practices. In effect, the pronounced implication of the reform is the accelerated addition of motor vehicles on an already a congested highway system, and considering the tendency, mostly in the mode of petrol Consuming motorcycles and private cars. .
Since the banner of
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sustainable development has been emphasised in this market transition, the ecological and Cultural impact of increased motor vehicles On a limited, battered, highway system needs further examination. The adverse environmental impact resulting from a distorted road transportation re depicted in the form of increased noise, dustandairpollutionalong with susceptibility of flooding by road-side dwellers.
An increase in motorvehicle
use is inevitable, but far more emphasis must be placed On prompting and implementing an efficient mass transport system, that can effectively reduce inequity of transportation, dependence On non-renewable resources and the negative ecological impact On Our living space. All segments of society must be sensitized, especially of the well-off, toward the notion of sustainability, as an injunction to preserve the productive capacity of thissociety through sensible economic practice in the present.
The slogans of "green" development have failed to translate into practical terms mainly as a repercussion of subordinating Collective equity to the myopic, compulsive drive foreconomicgrowth. Inefficient infrastructure is a key component of the economic maldevelopment, ecological degradation and cultural disarticulation that is already set on course. The thick layer of the market which piomotes conspicuous consumption, demonstration of wealth, status, BMWS ad stær:&des, must be revealed arid registered for its degenerate effects on a productive social arrangement at . . reconstruciiriganethici. Sixia Conscience.
inferrelated to iš
in current motor transport is the misconceived Comparison of freedom of movement with Ones' claim on propulsion. Thus, one is content with his/ her mode of personal motorized transport over the freedom to travel in any part of the island, including the North and East. The freedom of movement is narrowly defined as motorized access to a "safe" destination as a Consumer rather than enabling Social conditions that provided the
liberty of unrestricted movement as a citizen,
A critical aspect of
Conspicuous Consumption is
... the fetishism of high energy,
high speed, capital-intensive mode of transportation over the self-powered, labou-intensive mode, such as the bicycle. The personal mobility offered by the bicycle uses less space; by limiting travel speeds, protects against risk and paralysis to limbs; reduces costly dependence on a nonrenewable Sources of energy; lowers negative impact on the road system; and Creates a more ecologically sound relationship with our living space. Given the predicament of social inequity, it is the bicycle that should have been promoted as a form of private transportation especially directed towards the masses. But, even a bicycia is a luxury for most in Tiiral areas while the privileged in urban areas float around in luxury aiomobiles. in the enchanted world of high-tech, and progressively paralysing
speed, rather than biasing the
suicidamiddle-ciase family of four on a motorcycie, one must critically examine the Cinstraining :FR:Cial conditions and distoried policy reforms, that have compelled the not so sei-off to take such Selflin:rig, find-numbing risks.
兹
Jiendra Basilayake
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A celebration of the fallen
T recent debacles both on land and sea in the war in the North and East are merely the inevitable conseqianras of a lark of coherent and decisive policy and an end-plan strategy in the pursuit of the war in the North. Inview of the recentpronouncements made by the President and the changes in the Army structure and operational contro, it appears that at last sone effective steps are being taken to render the LTTE impotent, and return the East and North ready for democracy. The nation now awaits with bated breadth for the successful outcome. ,
The past disasters and horrible tosses would have had a deleterious effection the morale of the forces. This will not diminish in the future either, given the kamikaze decisiveness of the LTTE in pursuit of their fascist objectives. It is in this context that would like to suggest to the nation the idea of 'Rites of National Mourning to commemorate the dead, to exto the wounded in action, to assuage the remorse of those families devastated by the ravages of war, to encourage our forces at the war front and to express the solidarity, the commitment and the affirmation of the nation that its democracy and unity will be defended by a means at the disposal of the nation. M
The recent ready response by the youth for war service is an unequivocal demonstration by them of their readiness tosacrifice their life and imbiorthepreservation of the country. it is therefore time that the country at large expressed its appreciation, and responded by instituting this celebration in every village and town.
it would be truly a celebration of the bravery of men who fought so that the others could live and die inpeace. Suchasolemn remembrance celebration does not require tamashas and money. It should be a national affair to demonstrate to the LTTE and the world at large the cohesive unity of the nation. After all, many Tamils, Eighers, Sinhalese, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and Msiris, both as service personnel and civilians, have died at the hands of the E. Their sacrifices should be the new foundation stones of a resolute nation.
hope the NGOs in this field willengender the forces wich wii kad įo this national event. Such an event should not be allowed to be hijacked by the politicians to ernance their own interests.
Durrand Appuhamy
$: .
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The Return of
(& the return of other
resident Prenadasa who was unceremoniously relegated to the dungheap of history by the very parasites who had fawned their way into power in his heyday, has now been just as unceremoniously reinstated for the samerotten reasons. In fact, the Ceremonies that marked Mr. Prenadasa's first death anniversary became thesiteofthepetty display of his family's pique, of Mr. Wijetunga's guiltridden fear of a snub, and of the old lackeys jockeying shamelessly for kudos. President Premadasa dead became, for a moment or two, almost as powerful as President Premadasaalive. Toa UNP looking for reasons for its electoral defeat in the South, the "Premadasalegacy"has become a catch-phrase and a panacea that will herd gullible voters back to the fold. To Mrs. Premadasa and her children, "it's now or never" to bargain for a slice of the pie. To Sirisena Cooray the return of Premadasa represents possibly the only hope of Salvage from another dungheap, recently unearthed, that thrived for decades beneath the Social Surface.
If we cannot with Shakespeare say that "nothing in his life became him like the leaving it," we can certainly echo the classic film in which the return of the dead proved to be much more horrible to the living than their worst fears had conjured up. None of the late President's atrocities can be wished away by this "reincarnation", nor is it conceivable that the people have such short memories. Moreover, the change ofheart of the Wijetunga administrationissotransparentlyself-seeking, that it will hoodwink nobody. The UNP has been able to fool itself that reviving the emadasa's legacy will ensure them victory at the forthcoming election. The only legacy
\
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Cover Story
he living dead sover his dead body)
that the general public is aware of is One of murder, mayhem, civil War, Corruption, censorship, poverty, nepotism, and all-round abuse of power. Perhaps, the intricate web of tactics and strategies of staying in power perfected by Mr. Premadasais what President . Wijetunga and his men are looking to emulate, and this is, literally, a deadly thought. For instance, neither Mr. J. R. Jayewardene mor Mr. Premadasa would have had any problem aboutfinding MPs who were only too "willing" to IeSigi in favour of the President's man, though the stench surrounding the chosen nominee if his case would make even the most ConfiilesiofnecrophiliaCS gagindisgust. One must not forget that many of the innovations of Mr. Premadasa are exactly opposed to the UNPGeneral Secretary's muchpublicised move to make politics a "gentlemanly" pursuit. The utter sexism and classism of this pronouncement notwithstanding, it isaeuphemisinfor Curbing "corruption, bribery, nepotismand... violence" see interview in this issue within the party. What is important, however, is the fact that at last Someone in power has admitted what the rest of the country has known for 17 long years, but the actions of the last few weeks point to the near impossibility of finding a remedy for the sickness that afflicts the UNP. The irresistible rise of Mr. Soththi Upali and his incidental fallout of favourasadirect result of the vicissitudes of power are mirrored today by the resisted rise (second coming ?) of Mr. Gamini Dissanayake over the "resurrected" dead body of his sometime arch-foe Mr. Premadasa, One Man is out, another (gentle?)man is in, but the game is still the same, and that certainly isn't Cricket
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UNP Succession St
ith almost the entire UNP coming to the President Wijetunga willosethenextpresi the battle to become the next party lea Commenced. The internal battle in the UNP is I. between the Premadasa faction and the DB/Ga) also One in which individuals Seek to be in a pos leadership if and when Wijetungaloses the electi decides to dump the President at the eleventh h absence Ofa clearSucCeSSOrOranationally recogn the battle for Control is going to be bitter and ha
Ranil Wickremasinghe
The 45 year old Prime Minister is undoubtedly the principal Contender. His succession would also be the most Convenient in terms of the hierarchy in that he is the Deputy Leader of the Party and next inline in governmental rank.
However, his major drawbacks are his Colourless perSonality and, ironically, his reputation for financial
honesty. The UNP -- from the
grassroots to the highest in the hierarchy -- see political power as a Way of getting rich quickly. They would not want a party leader who would crackdown oncorruption. The Prime Minister although considered intelligent, hard-working and Competent, is also perceived as
arrogant, shy, alo popular and as ha Speaking style an electoral setback the last Southern election will ful reputation.
However, he ha not to alienate a party, Staying factional fighti Wijetunga group clan. Yet, his cha diminish with th Dissanayake Who to keep out of t Dissanayake's Minister's influen would be reduСеC of Sirisena COOra Secretary's post ( to keep Dissanay out be the end become the Pres short term.
Mr. Dissanaya not forget WickI keeping himinth for solong and W Prime Minister d as he is in a poS
Gamini
The 51 year olc and the leadero
time, is the fav
-Cou,
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Onclusion that lential election, ler has already pt Onlya battle nini faction but ition to Win the on or if the party Our. Due to the SedperSonality, Id fought.
of, not particularly /ing an uninSpiring d personality. The in Hambantota in ProvinCial CounCil ther damage his
is been very careful iny section of the above the bitte ng between the and the Premadasa nces WOuld greatly e entry of Gamini m he has tried hard he UNP. With Mr. entry, the Prime ce Within the party greatly and the exit y from the General his ally in the party ake out) could turn of his ambition to dent, at least in the
e for his part would amasinghe's role in political wilderneSS ould want to Cut the DWn to Size as SOOn tion to do so.
issanayake
ex-Cabinet Minister the UNP for a short urite of some UNP
old-timers who prefer to think of the attempted impeachment and postimpeachment politics as an aberration. Among younger MPs and the UNP's grassroots leadership too Mr. Dissanayake has Some support. He does have the advantage of once being a major political figure, of having a goodspeaking style and of affecting a perSonable nature. His ability to move freely among all sections of the people and his ability to charm those he Wants to win over will be major advantages over Mr. Wickremasinghe. However, his many political Summersaults since 1991 have left him with a reputation for desperate opportunism and an obsession with Searching for the shortest cut to the top which so far has eluded him and, therefore, he is saddled with an immense Credibility problem. Also, the Premadasafaction will do anything to keep him out. His reputation for COIruption would be anotherincentive among the UNPers. If the UNP decides to dump the President, Dissanayake can be counted on to back Such a move if he is the replacement. In the Case of a UNP defeat, the party would calculate that Mr. Dissanayake Would overcome the negative aspects of his reputation in the six years in the opposition. But they would also have reservations about Mr.Dissanayake's ability to bring together and rebuild the party after an electoral defeat. His biggest problem, however, would be to overthrow Mr. Wickremasinghe who will automatically become party leader when President Wijetungaloses
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the presidential election. Mr. Dissanayake's first priority Once he enters Parliament and the Cabinet would be to topple Wickremasinghe and take up the number two slot in
the party.
Wijetunga-Dissan the principal obsta takeover the UNP. be the most Conve all the UNP at IOCit
Sirisena Copray
In view of the overwhelming Consensus within the UNP after its Southern disaster that it must fully embrace the Premadasalegacy, Some Contended that the most Credible exponent of Premadasapolitics would be the late President's closest political disciple and friend, the Minister of Housing, Construction and Urban Development and General Secretary of the UNP. However, Mr. Cooray's attempts to project himself as the successor to Premadasa's legacy has been hotly contested by the late President's family. His position within the UNP has weakened after losing the internal battle with President Wijetunga to such an extent that Mr. Cooray is now in the political wilderness. Certainly, Mr. Cooray demonstrated himself to be a very good organiser during the 1988 and 1989 elections. However, some of the UNP leaders give Credit even for this to the lateRanjan Wijeratne for putting together the UNP's powerful Organisational structure. They see Mr. Cooray more as a man Without any ideas of his own, who was only capable of carrying out President Premadasa's instructions. He was targeted by the
Anura Bar
There are those after watching Campaigning in t
immense enthusia
was greeted at enthusiasm often President or the Contend that it tak to stopa Bandara as apossiblePrime under Wijetunga
Candidate in the election. Those W
strong nationally
necessary to Wijetunga feel til designated as PM running mate it However, many i Premadasa, ol Wickremasinghe tribes would not Bandaranalike CanC Mr. Bandaranaike of the fact that t Comfortable being candidate for Prin Old friend Rani W has also let it bel back his new frie
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April-May 1994
 

Cover Story
ayake Combine as cle to their plan to He will Continue to nient scapegoatfor ies and lapses.
|daranaike
in the UNP v.
his energetic he South and the Sm with which he UNP meętings (an greater than for the Prime Minister) es a Bandaranaike naike and see hin Minister designate or any other UNP next Presidential ho believe that a accepted figure is Campaign. With hat he Should be and be made the h the campaign. In the UNP in the d-guard, Ranil and Dissanayake accept an Anura tidacy. In any event,
has made no Secret
he would be most running mate (as (he Minister) to his ickremasinghe. He known that he will nd Sirisena Cooray
for the Prime Ministership instead of
himself, should the latter indicate a willingness to accept. This has made
him many enemies in the Wijetunga/ Dissanayake Camp and as long as they are in control of the party Mr. Bandaranaike would not rise higher than a mere Cabinet minister.
Anura Bandaranaike has the greateI advantage of being a national figure and an astute speaker on the platform (which is where it counts in an election) as well as in Parliament. But he would be unable to Credibly identify himself with the Premadasa development and socio-political agenda which could be crucial to the victory of the UNP. On the other hand, his good relations with minority politicians Could help.
Mrs. Hema Premadasa
Her ambitions are well known. She Sees herself as the natural succeSSOI to the Premadasalegacy and believes that she should lead her husband's party, citing the example of Mrs. Bandaranaike. She wouldnotbehappy being a mere cabinet minister and Would stake her claim for the party leadership at the first opportunity. She can count on most of the Premadasa wing in the UNP, but is yet to prove her capabilities as a campaigner. At the worst she would bide hertime topush her SOn Sajith, who also has political ambitions, forward.
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UNP self-destru
Wijetunga-sty
venone hour before the fateful classes, who
bomb explosion in Armour stories of his E Street on 1st May 1993 which astonishing ig killed President Premadasa, and even his a his Prime Minister, D.B. asleep in the II Wijetunga was a man Sri Lanka did True to the sy not take Seriously. Mr. Wijetunga was Lankan society a favourite joke among people of all the Presidenc
8 UO
 
 

enjoyed hugely the mazing faux pas, his Orance of basic facts, parent Capacity to fall idst of a Conversation. ophantic nature of Sri with his elevation to f such stories about
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D.B. Wijetunga came to a rapid halt. Instead, a new Spate of stories began doing the rounds, that he was an exceedingly shrewd and fin leader who had intelligently bided his time, that he was a genial and democratic President who would bring to public life an openness which had notexisted under his self-willed and autocratic predecessors. Indeed, very soon Colombo Society which had had such Íurn inventing appropriate termS ÍOI his initials began reporting enthusiastically that the D.B. in Mr. Wijetunga's name stood for "Doing Bloody Well".
On the 24th March 1994, the people of the Southern Province changed all that. Suddenly all classes of Society are moving rapidly back to their original assessment. Following the landslide defeat in the South many UNPerstoo have woken up to this fact triggeIing off an internal power struggle unprecedented in the UNP since the early 50s following the death of D.S. Senanayake.
Shortly after his appointment the UNPhierarchy who saw Wijetunga as a stop-gap leader and were looking for other options came up with two pOSSible Scenarios. One was to adopt as the UNP's Presidential candidate a more electable person than President Wijetunga. The other was to abolish the executive presidency and return to a Parliamentary system in which the perSonality of aparty leader WOuld not be as Crucial as in a presidential System. However, all calculations went haywire when President Wijetunga changed his mind and decided that he wanted another term after all . Knowing full well that he was on thin-ice and if given time the UNP leadership will find a consensus Candidate to replace him, President Wijetunga forced the UNP to accept his candidacy at the end of last year, a full year before the election. This is Where Mr. Sirisena Cooray who led the anti-Wijetunga wing blundered. He happily went along with nominating Wijetunga as candidate to block any attempts by the antiPremadasa wing of the party to nominate GaminiDissanayake as the Candidate.
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Page 11
Soon after, President Wijetungaalso dropped the idea of substantially changing the constitution. After flirting With Constitutional reform of a wholly marginal and for the most part unacceptable character (except the proposed reforms on the electoral system) the UNP now seems to have reconciled itself to maintaining the Status quo Vis-a-Vis the Presidential System.
On 24th March all the UNP's Chickens Came hOme to IOOSt. The principal argument of Senior UNP Ministers was that Mr. Wijetunga lacked the stature of his predecessOIS. In the thirty four years since 1960 the UNP has had three leaders before President Wijetunga. Dudley Senanayake, J.R. Jayewardene and Ranasinghe Premadasa. They were very different personalities, and each led the UNP according to his own distinctive style, but it is Overwhelmingly obvious that each of them was a major national figure before obtaining the leadership as Well as Subsequently, in a way that President Wijetunga was and is, not. The President's difficulties, however, have now been Compounded. It is not merely the fact that a less well known and less attractive perSonality may have to Contend with a better known (in the case of both Mrs. Bandaranaike and Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge) and more attractive personality (in the case of Mrs. Kumaratunge). President Wijetunga has also shown himself to be an exceedingly poor political strategist. Whether one loved him or loathed him (and usually it was the one thing or the other) one cannot but acknowledge Ranasinghe Premadasa to have been a major national figure anda COnSumatepoliticalstrategist. He knew that a majority of the votes in Sri Lanka lay in rural areas where economic issues, as they affected the daily lives of underprivileged people, predominated. For them he offered a mixture of bringing enterprise and industry to the Village, Welfarism with fanfareasin the housing programmes, rural development schemes, Janasaviya etC. It did not really matter
that less than wh Was delivered. His Went on the premi the lie the more pe spent more money On the programme
All this his has beem ob Indeed it i. likely thu итаиare o) importantt of the e mimorities
victory of
Premadasa Calculat Section of the url Would remain faith opportunities gener eCOnomy, COnSume of improved Standa be maintained. To make victory certai built up a formidab ethnic minoriti Premadasa was On the CWC leader S. any previous leade the Muslim Congre Ashraf had been t gave him Victory in and Violent Presid DeCember 1988. He a wedge between eX-militantS the TE (EDF) and the EN Parliament Mr. K. Thondaman, Mr. A: the Tamil politician role insupport of Pre during the attempt There Can be little delivered to Presid Substantial quantu areas of their influe All this his SuC Oblivious to. Indeed that he is unaW important the Sup minorities is for til UNP. In both the Pre
Соитte
April-May 1994

at was promised publicity experts se that the bigger ple believe it and On tamashasthan S themselves. But
SCCSS01 livious to. s perhaps at he is fjust hou he support thnic is for the the UNP
ed that a sizeable pan Constituency ful as long as the
ated by the Inarket,
rism and the Ope Ids of living could Ound this off, and In for the UNP, he le COalition Of the tes. President Closer terms with ThOndannan than I. His wooing of SS leader M.H.M. he One factor that the closely fought ential Election of Successfully drove the LTTE and the ILO, DPLF, EROS, IDLF Member of Sirinivasam, Mr. shraff and many of
is played a CIucial
sident Premadasa ed impeachment. : doubt that they ent Premadasa a m Of VOtes in the
}]]C€.
CeSSOI has been
itis perhapslikely.
are of just how dOrt of the ethnic he victory of the sidential Election
Cover Story
of 1988 and the Parliamentary election of 1989, the proportion of votes polled was highest in the Provinces in which the CWC had the most influence Nuwara Eliya, Matale and Badulla. In the Nuwara Eliya District, the area where the CWC has its greatest concentration of support, the UNPCWC alliance has obtained Over 60% of the vote in every election from 1988 (the Presidential election of 1988, the Parliamentary Election of 1989, the Local Election of 1991 and the Provincial Election of 1993). In every district where the CWC has strong Support -- Nuwara Eliya, Matale, Kandy, Badulla, Ratnapura, Kegalle - - the UNP-CWC list obtained over 50% of the vote at every electoral Contest since 1988 (and even before). In the Presidential Election of 1982 President J.R. Jayewardene obtained 47.60% of the vote in the Eastern Province and 45.2% of the vote in Vavuniya. In the Presidential Election of 1988, President Premadasa obtained 50.1% of the vote in the Eastern Province and 48.5% of the vote in Vavuniya. In contrast, at the recent local election in the EasteIn PrOvimCe and Vavuniya, although the UNP performed Ieasonably in the border villages, it obtained only 36.7% of the Vote in the East and 23.4% of the vote in Vavuniya. Holding other votes Constant, this decline in the Eastern Province and Vavuniya is itself sufficient to deny Victory to the UNP at a Presidential election.
The votes of the ethnic minorities, Tamil, Muslimand Burgher, elsewhere in the Country, largely belonged to the UNP Corner at the Presidential Elections of 1982 and 1988 and indeed in Parliamentary Elections whetherin 1977 or 1989. The extent to which the minorities have been antagonised by the racist and inept politics of President Wijetunga should not be under-estimated. First he attacked the CWC leader Mr. Thondaman and humiliated him by encouraging a disloyalty in the CWC ranks and even ordered the arrest of his grandsOn and political heir Mr. Arumugam Thondaman, a piece of unparalleled political stupidity which has not only irreparably damaged the UNP's
point
9

Page 12
relations with the Indian Tamil Community but also pushed another minority towards radicalism in the long term. Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe's intervention on behalf of Mr. Thorndaman somewhat eased the situation. Then the President sought to build up Mr. Sellasamy as an alternative leader of the Indian Tamils not realising that when confronted with a choice between Mr. Thondaman and Mr. Sellasamy, the latter would not be able to Command any degree of Confidence. Now that he has been humiliated in the South, nowbelatedly when he has disCOVered that MI. Sellasamy is a horse that will not run, the President has shamefacedly met Mr. Thondaman to whom he arrogantly refused an appointment formany months. Thus, in his Current electoral and, hence, political desperation, has so debased himself that he has kissed Mr. Thondaman's hand and begged forgiveness! His hostility to the minorities and his apocalyptic pronouncements that the Sinhalese will have to jump into the Sea as a Consequence of a rapacious advance of vicious minorities, has, not surprisingly, antagonised many of them who have been life-long UNP supporters but have now declared they will not vote for him for the presidency. In the Southern Provincial Council election, the defeat of a former UNP Provincial Minister whose base was among the Muslims of Galle and who had won comfortably in 1988 and in 1993, as well as the sharp fall of the Indian Tamil votes for the UNP
in Deniyaya and Bentara-Elpitiya
amply demonstrate how disastrous was Mr. Wijetunga's political misCalculation.
AS was suggested at the OutSet, the troubles of the UNP at present, in the post-Southern Provincial election phase are not owed only to Mr. Wijetunga's racism and narrowness of outlook, his obvious delight in spreading his largesse vis-a-vis government funds, his lackofstature, his lack of ability as a speaker on the platform, his totallack of appreciation of the feelings of his audience, his paranoid concern with security and
distancing from Iemote, letilargi presidency, his iu lack of consisten revengeful obses memory and th
Then, when confro lo this orchestra Minister and UMP Sirisena Cooray, the On his assurances This in umgme Dissanayake's cr anticipation of his had publich pral
revengeful predec Which have con Contribute to the U after 17 long years
It is a hackn nothing succeeds Converse of this is like failure. Now th the Southern PIO decisively, with t massive 54.5% of oppositionto the U anywhere outside for well over thirty" of President Wijet have really Come The indecis Wijetunga, has harmful both to h were hoping to ris his Coat-tail. His Dissanayake's ret case in point. W. faction and the Ra
group Were Dissanayake's ret Mr. Wijetunga ga an assurance that back to the UNP Iole. Then, whe resistance to this Prime Minister Secretary, Siris Presidentwentba to Mr. Dissanay gravely ԱIՈ(
10
Coun

the people, his : and laid back decisiveness and :y, his petty and Sion against the e family of his
led with resistance led by the Prime General Secretary, President went back O Mr. Dissanayake, y undermined Mr. dibility since, in eturn to the UNP, he ed Mr. Welunga,
2SSOI, are all factOIS tributed and Will Lndoing of the UNP
in power. eyed phrase that like Success. The that nothing fails at the UNPhaslost vincial Election SO he PA obtaining a the Vote, a vote the NP has not Obtained the North and East years, the negatives unga and the UNP home to IOOSt. veness of Mr. been politically im and OtherS WhO e up with the aid of handling of Gamini lIn to the UNP is a hen the Premadasa hil Wickramasinghe opposing MI. urn to the UNP fold, ve the Dissanayake he would be brought and given a major in Confronted with Orchestrated by the and UNP General ena Cooray, the ckOn his assurances ake. This in turn leImined Mr.
terpoint
Dissanayake's Credibility since, in anticipation of his return to the UNP, he had publicly praised Mr. Wijetunga. When Mr. Dissanayake then associated himself again with the Opposition and in view of the President's antagonising of Mr. Thondaman, was able to work with the CWC in an attempt to capture power in the Central Province, Mr. Wijetunga adopted an aggressive and ultimately unhelpful stance With Mr. Thondaman. When he did hring Mr. Dissanayake into the UNP, it was shortly before the Southern Provincial Election Campaign and in a manner that was disruptive of that campaign. Even more importantly, the long delay in bringing Mr. Dissanayake into the party and the President's lack of political strength to make the ExDUNF leader welcome in the UNP, denuded the latter of his last shred of political credibility. Indeed, Mr. Gamini Dissanayake has Mr. Wijetunga's inept handling of his return to the UNP to thank for his being present in the worst possible limbo -- for having lost the support of much of the DUNF, for not being able to satisfy his lieutenant, the North Western Chief Minister Premachandra who is again drifting towards the Opposition and for being in the UNP but notina position of power. At least in this Case the ineptness of the president exposed Mr. Dissanayake for what he is.
The last episode in this litany of pathetic non-leadership Was MI. Wijetunga's assurance to MI. Dissanayake that he would be nominated to Parliament by 7th April. The date has Come and gone and poor Mr. Dissanayake is still awaiting eVentS.
Even if he gets into Parliament and into the Cabinet Mr. Dissanayake's image has been damaged to Such an extent that his chances of ever achieving his ambition of becoming the country's president is dim to put it mildly.
If the UNP does not OverCOme its sycophancy towards its leader, and that is what the UNP has always been, the day of the Opposition is very much at hand.
April-May 1994

Page 13
CP: Why did you leave the UNP in 1986?
GW: I left the UNP in 1986 because -- unfortunately, I don't have that letter of resignation with me now, where I said that I was very impressed with the maCIOSCOpic development that has taken place in the Country, but that I was not very happy with the insidious introduction of bribery and COIruption and also the COncept that the division of the Country should have been done after Consulting the people -- basically, I maintained that the 13th Amendment should have been implemented after a referendum.
CP: You had cited bribery and Corruption as a reason for your leaving the party. When you rejoined the party under President Prenadasa, do you mean to say that there was no bribery and corruption then?
GW: Certainly, not. I don't for a moment say that bribery and corruption had been eliminated under Mr. Premadasa, and as to whether it is more or less I cannot say because I wasn't in the party during that period, but certainly I Can tell you One thing that we realised that -- Mr. Rukman Senanayake and I when we went out and formed the new political party -- Certain principles for which I had dedicated my political life, such as justice, fairplay and Service to the masses... We realise that getting a new party off the platform was virtually impossible, mainly because of finances in Our Case, and I decided we shall not go for big business to finance us because then you have to be the servant of those people when you are in power or even before you are in power. Then, there was also the logistics of getting a political party organised arid we virtually failed. We had three alternatives: One WaS to give up politics and get back t our professions, the other was to join the SLFP, and the third was to Iejoin the UNP. Now, we had an offer from Mr Premadasa who was in my opinion the most dedicated
and the best Organise or the Country ever ha absolute dedication te sincerity in the cause of poverty was somet totally enamoured by offer and the fact that that there was no Oth as a new political par don't say that there w and COIruption then CP: If your aims politics is to have á Society, how cany. party which has pl last 17 years that i anything but this? matter Since 1970? GW: Or for that m: 1948... No, let's not S I was a kid in 1948. A talk about and remer with you on that. Wł Can't form my own p. into a party in which IOots. And now that position, not that I a leader, where I could leadership and Wher own way help to forI and methods and na which Could, even tC take us towards that think the people of t it the UNP Or the SL political party, the p of politics, they are s nepotism, bribery, c. insincerity I think pe change and We can to them... My philos You See, if I take an is a muddy pool. Yol water and you put it pool you are not goi but you are going to 0.000001 per Cent. B
April-May 1994
Соитter1
 

I that the UNP ad. His
work and his of alleviation hing I was
That and the , we realised er way for us ty... but I as no bribery
in entaring
fair and just ou, join H 'ovedi iii . . :: t believes in Or for that
Atter SimCe ay 48 because After "56 could nber... I agree Lat happens if I arty. Let's get
I have my I am in a in the party
influence the 2 I could in my nulate policies
OeVeS Some extent, goal. And I his Country be P OI another 'ople are sick iCk of −
Iruption, ople want a Žertainly give it phy is this. example there have a little to that muddy g to change it dilute it by ut if others Can
Counterpoint interviews
Dr. Gamini Wijesekara,
the UNP's new General Secretary, who has claimed that he wishes to reintroduce the politics of "gentlemen" to the UNP. He identifies this aS a Herculean task, an assestment with which "gentlewomen" and others
cannot but agree
oint
II

Page 14
66
But I totally agree uith you, I'm suimming against the tide.
There may be a time uphere your oun ideals may conflict with the party. You have one of tuvo alternatives. I aluays believe that your basic principles should never be sacrificed, but there are times when you have to be in the party for the party to go on. I think in the position that I am here today, I uill be able to, to an appreciable extent, influence the decisions taken by the party in the future as far as bribery and corruption iт сотсerтеd.
follow your exam
drop by drop may years when I'm di Inlight pe able tO contry where th think are going tC COuntry, up to no that politics is a c want to do politic dirty. If you want you have to do al may never go hig if I can prove to t Country that you And that no One against me. I hav Cent. I am a Virtu for my practice. I house. I started house, I laid the ten years ago, an Come up to IOOf l Set that trend the years later that C Wijeyasekera is a But I totally ag SWinning again: CP: Now you of influence. I do everything into Parliamen GW: Certainly CP: Can you your first act w Ganini Dissani Parliament, an and so on...?
GW: I WOuldn peISOmaiitieS, bu ITOVe Was tО Пe CP: But, let's GW: Gamini II Ronnie de Mel, t group, the Premi
CP: But ther allegations of c against Mr Gal and Mr Ronnie you yourself in the Court and by Mr Gamini
GW: No, not I CP: I'm sorry nake Such a p didn't finally. the document. GW: Yes, that CP: NoVV, su
Cour
2
 

ple by putting
be in 10 OI 15 ead and gine we Se a tend in this e youth who I ) take over this w the feeling is irty game. If you S you have to be to get to the top l the dirty things. I her than this, but he youth of this can be honest... can hold anything 'e not earned One all paupe, eXCept
live in a rented building my Own foundation Stone ld now I have evel.... But if I Can >y will say 100 amini
martyr. ree with you, I'm st the tide.
are in a position 2xpect you will to bring honesty
.
explain Why vas to bring in ayake in to di Ronnie de Mel
't mention t, yes, my first ind the pieces...
be specific, DisSanayake, he Athulathmudali adaSagIOup, all... 2 is Widespread corruption mini Dissanayake
de Me. In fact, 1987 petitioned isted corruption Dissanayake.
e. , you Wanted to etition but you
et you prepared
's right. rely, if your
principle in life is to stand up against Corruption, given that you are now in a position of power, isn't there a contradiction between What you say and What you do? In not suggesting here that Mr Dissanayake is corrupt, but merely that there were allegations of such corruption, even made by you yourself.
GW: Yes, Certainly. One is that people can change. The other is that there will always be a Contradiction. ... You See, there are the policies Of the party, there are your individual likes, dislikes and ideals. There may be a time where your own ideals may conflict with the party. You have One of two alternativeS. I always believe that yOur basic principles should never be sacrificed, but there are times when you have to be in the party for the party to go On. I think in the position that I am here today, I will be able to, to an appreciable extent, influence the decisions taken by the party in the future as far as bribery and Corruption in COncerned. CP: The fundamental problem, however, is that if the strength of the party lies in bringing in people With, let us say, a bad track record, then that party should not run a country, because the strength of the party is corruption.
GW: IF you look back at the history of this COuntry, there is no top politician who against whom allegations of COIIuption have not been levelled, even Dudley Senanayake.
CP: There's a difference here. Allegations of Corruption have to be distinguished from general public belief. Allegations may have been made against D. S. Senanayake, S. W. R. D. Bandaranalike, Dudley Senanayake and Mrs Bandaranaike, but no one ever believed these allegations.
GW: There was a Sizeable population who believed at that time that, for instance, Dudley Senanayake was COIrupt... Yet,
terpoint
April-May 1994

Page 15
today the entire county believes that he is ot. :"in inct trying to give a "sudu reada“ for Camini Dissanayake.
CP: In not reering to individuals here, but to a general principle about UNP politicians.
GW: Yes, of course. I agree that I will be under mental stress and strain on this question. But I can tell you one thing. Whoever comes into this party, I will ensure, with the concurrence of the President and the Prime Minister, because I have implicit faith in the integrity and the honesty of the President and the Prime Minister ... I will assure you that We Will not allow any chance for any of those in the party to partake in those activities. CP: But if you say that your entire Stand is based on the believe in the integrity and honesty of the President and the Prine Minister, what would happen if that faith is Shattered?
GW: Well, if it is shattered, I will have to take a very difficult decision either to leave the party or to say goodbye to politics, because don't hope to join any other political party in the future.
CEP: Vinen you took over this; job you said that you want to clean this party of crimina eler:ents. Can you be more specific?
{W: You mean in the press interrviaevAy8... Well, What J Said Was not exactly that... What I said was that believed in noiConfrontational ard NON - Violent politics. said that I was a follower of Mahatma Gafidhi. I think jy example we can set it right. Identifying the Crimina elements Could be rather difficult, but certainly if there is an allegation, if there is an incident where Criminai assault is brought to my notice I will certainly ensure that the maxifraum punishinent is given to those people and discipline is maintained in the party.
CF: Regarding the currsniť controversies stirro inding
Soththi Upali an. instance, as Gen what do you fee thoá Sothổhi Upa Met-rown nd being a member working commit
GW: HE WaS Ine the Working Comn
CP: Wasn't he the Executive C.
GW: Well, a poli especially a democ party like ours or til doors are wide Ope Come into a party e the Executive Com that difficult. Yet, i evidence that there
holding high office
is involved irr Crimi think the party mu immediate action a from the party. The alternative to that.
CP: The founda agenda to clean in the party is yo the President is a honest....
GW: Vje}}, let's p havo tris i: the Fi Prine řvinister, i Ca Frine Minister is at and i Peieve that t honest ..., But, you to work as a tear.
'P: Høyer do Fø! out yiew of hor, ife, ard the Presi bi “kicking sidietw Erifiery Cominiss dernarding certa. individual invest {A: Yes, I've be arri it involved in foment, ut I wil into this and discus СР: “cil fria, vyi ic je 1:ť tietorfiore. yř još: is G erns
WiFi ya IS, WYåÉ weaknesses of th have to is Gvard
{GW: "There arge 3 yựeakeSSES SEfimi the fact titat We ha iri pov^ver, lt, makes
Ari-Äfay S94
- Counte;
 

others, for Pra Secretary, about the fact
Who is a rWorld figure of the party ee? ver a member Of ittee.
member of
mittee? ical party, atic political e SLFP, their n. Anyone can nd getting into mittee is not
there is is anyone in the party who halactivity l it take nd remove if in re is no
tion of y if up corruption ur belief ti : bsolutely
ut it this way! : esident, and the
In 'j'ai :: that te oscitely horrest, he President is know we have
: te:C's:cile sty is public diet reno vireg a ys“ čhe or FGF Fai ni Eiies of gatitis?
r; toid this. his at the 2ertainly Ook S it... is six assifs , aci siste ur: Elizat he ze te * JJP yogie: Žije?
lot of ng mainly on e heen 27 years
Jeople imri iline
Straight Talk|
66
CP: Hou do you reconcile your view of honesty din public life, and the President removing or "kicking sideuvays" the Bribery Commissioner and demanding certain files of individual investigations?
GW. Yes, I've been told this. an not involved in this at the nonent, but I to ill certainly look into
烹 必 受
this; tud discti SS if...
99
ноінtt
3.

Page 16
66
I th.rea ue n çue to change an appreciabie number of our candidates because if there are any serious allegations against whoever it is of bribery, corruption and in activities of a violent nature or of aiding and abetting I think deterrent disciplinary action must be taken against thет.
... but in the eyes of others I may be a pain in their neck ... This is the real danger, from
uvithim mot outside. I
don't think I have much
danger from outside....
I've aluays done decent
politics and I've aluays had their cooperation,
to the realities, ki think that everyt
and all human be , so the only way
electioS is to gi the UNP. I think an appreciable in candidates beca Serious allegatioI it is of bribery, C activities of a Vic aiding and abett deterrent discipli be taken against hoping to have a from the graSSIO electOIate -- I We independent peo politicians, peop. to me and the pa know the ground Prime Minister, t are going round organisations, foi be going individ graSSIOOtS OIgan plan where eithe houses (I have to out) will be hand person who will supervision. He Iegularly, give a out who's With u check the electo who are dead or that sort of thing " CP You Said new face? Wha you planning time?
GW: What the to be is a littled
but I hope it wo
ugly as minel., of the statement up to now that gentlemainly pol it is easy to talk have said these until I deliver th going to believe that I profess to that fresh air, th made people br especially the e people... Of Cou deliver the good us, but at least
Сои
14
 

makes people ing is tickety-boo, ings like change, JS Can Lyil the E a ney face to We have to change imber of our se if there are any S against Whoever Iruption and in ent nature or of ng I think nary action must them. And I am network of data ts in each nt to send ple, not active e who are faithful rty -- then I will situation. The he President and I the District lowed by this I will lally to revamp the isation... I have a I fifty or a hundred ) work the logistics led Over to one be in total has to go there l the literature, find LS and who's not, ral lists for those
have gone abroad,
... the UNP needs a at kind of face are o give then this
2 face will turn put ifficult to predict, n't turn out to be as By the sheer fact S that I have made would like to see tics ... I know that
and a lot of people things before, and 2 goods no one is that I am the mana be, I know this. But at little wind, has ath a little freer, lucated intelligent Se, We if we don't s they will reject Ne have got a foot
in. This is the sot of new face that I'vant: by certain changes, by what we say, and a disciplined way of doing politics and Our personal life, I think by these we can achieve Something. But it's an absolutely Herculean task. I think I've got he toughest job in the country and the most dangerous.
CP: Why do you keep saying that it is the most dangerous? GW: It is the most dangerous because politics has over the last few years -- I'm not blaming anyone, there are a lot of organisations, trends, people that are responsible -- become a gun culture. That's the first reason. Number two is if you look at the history of the General Secretaries of the UNP it's not all that comfortable. And number three, power is a thing that generates enemies. It generates jealousy, and I've been a shooting star in the political firmament. First of all, I came from nowhere, I don't Come
from a political family ... except for
my grandfather who was a secretary to DB. It was JR who brought me, then suddenly One day made me Secretary, Ministry of Transport and CTB Chairman. I didn't know which end of a bus had the engine, but anyway I delivered the goods to a Certain extent. Then I went off politics, I lost the elections and then I left the UNP, and now suddenly -- no one knew about this, my name was never mentioned, everyone was caught unawares, including InySelf -- SOI suppose that SOIt of Sudden rise to power that I have today. I, of Course, in great humility accept it, but in the eyes of others I may be a pain in their neck ... This is the real danger, from within not outside. I don't think I have much danger from outside. ... I've always done decent politics and I've always had their cooperation. And I think the future of this Country is politics at a national level, and I'm convinced the final Solution is a national government where we all get together at least for this Crisis period.
terpoint
April-May 1994

Page 17
CP: If you talk to many UNPers, from those in the Cabinet to those at the grassroots, they all feel that President Wijetunga is not their bets candidate at the election. This is a fairly widespread feeling. What do you think about this?
GW: The reason for that is We've always had leaders who were very egoistic and also tough -- the examples are J. R. Jayewardene and Premadasa -- for the last 17 years. Suddenly We get a man whose ego is not as big as that whose main strength or attribute is his simplicity and largeheartedness. So it may be Construed that he's weak. ... But I think at the moment he's the only unifying factor and I feel that we have to go with him. This is my peISOnal OpiniOn.
CP: You have repeatedly said that your job is "to heal the wounds." What exactly are these wounds now?
GW: One, I sincerely believe that the DUNF are part of the UNP. They are pure, solid UNP votes. We must get them back. Getting Mr Gamini Dissanayake alone is not the Solution. There is the Lalith Athulathmudali faction, and Lalith was the dominant figure in the UNP, in my opinion. I have had preliminary chats with my friends in the DUNF who were in the Provincial Council... They now feel that in me they a have a person with who they can talk on an even keel and someone who is not going to Say Something and let them down. So I'm going to Continue With this dialogue. I haven't yet met Mrs. Athulathmudali, but if I do have the chance and if things work the way I want I will Certainly meet her. That's One group.
Then, of course, the Premadasa family and supporters are still UNP, though there have been little little misunderstandings... I have already met Mrs. Premadasa and had a very cordial chat with her though nothing definite has come out of it yet... and I think in Sajith we have
Someoi.se ("joro has potentia.... Then, where I cai really in the old stagers.
CP: What can the election plat are they going to honest governm GW: NO. I think say is that if you le bribery, nepotism Out, you will agree development that this country is abs It's unbelievable in these problems, ar reCOId of the UNP government can C. feel that is Our StrC ... It was very fooli back Some of the S
Schemes initiated
Premadasa after hi
have seen this and
Correcting it.
I think We have
economic develop) that this Will be a process. The other business of the Op Now, Chandrika h busineSS Communi that she's going to Open economy, bu people are going te far as the PA is co. this specific questi Provincial Council Soysa and he was COmmittal. And I h. that the Communi LSSP are having SE about this open ec What I say is if it i: between the UNP Would be alright... to be so easy for th feel that for a deve Such as Ours trying status in an intern atmosphere which and rapidly changi only the free mark ... Yes, I think that will be fought on v Credibility on the C and, of Course, on the cost of living.
April-May 1994
Соитte

a lot of here's an area help in oringing 66
he UNPsay at
forms? What Getting Mr Gamind gy us? An Dissanayake alone
what we have to is not the solution. ave corruption, There is the Lalith and the violence رwith me that the P Athulaithmudall has occurred in faction, and Lalith
lutely fantastic. Olutely fantastic avas the domaintanat
a way with all
ld that track figure in the UNP, no other tona. I ompare with. I in my Op mion. ingest argument. have had
sh for us to push preliminary chats
;Ocial Welfare by President with my firiends in
s death, but they the DUNIF uUho avere
We are in the Provincial to StIeSS the Соитсil... They VOZ)
ment aspect, and feel that in me they COIntinuing
thing is this a have a person en economy, utth uho they can as met the talk on an even ty and vowed
COntinue the keel and someone
t I don't think the uho is not going to
O SWallow that as ncerned. I asked say something and
On in the let them douin. from Mr. Bernard
very non- 99 lear, very reliably, st Party and the cond thoughts onomy thing. San alternative and the SLFP it but it's not going he PA. I sincerely loping Country f to achieve NIC
tional global is very nebulous ng, I think it is sts that will last. the next election iho has more
pen economy, the question of
point
15

Page 18
In late October 1993 Cabinet was informed by the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Research Of a proposal to establish a Fairnes' Lottery Trust Which WOuld Opeiate a COmpaterized Oli-line Otte System. The poposal was initiated by the Berjaya Group a large Malaysian corporation with eytensive experience in lotteries in vialaysia as well as elsewhere. The proposalinvolved Berjaya investing around US $ 15 to 20 milioia, with exclusive rights of management undera Management Agreement for 20 years. The Ministry of Agricultural Development and Research was to be paid 25% of turnover for the Farners' Fund, 50% for prizemonies and 25% for lottery proinotion and management (YİZ. profit). The Cabinet, however, did not approve the establishment of the Farmers' Lottery Trust. On the basis that it was only the National Lotteries Board that was legally constituted to manage such ventures, allegedly based on advice from the Attorney General's Department. This decision is worth recalling in the face of the present Context which concerns another lottery venture, mooted around the same time. In this case, Minister of Housing & Construction Sirisena Cooray Submitted for Cabinet approval a proposal by MeSSIS Layar Piramid (M) SDN BHD of Malaysia for the privatizing of lotteries in the Country. ACCording to this proposal Layar Firamid would be willing to pay the Government 20% of Ievenue for the first five years of operation in return for exclusive rights for 25 years, the privilege of Converting Capital and profits into foreig: currency, a complete tax holiday, and that the Operation be entirely foreign-owned initially.
The proposal is itself a fascinating document, at once self-incriminating and selfsatisfied, yet Sophonoric in its formulation, as if the OutC)me were a foregOne Conclusion.
LAÝAR PIRAMID
the Honourable si- a cray iinists is for to & ်ဖ်ဒိနှီပီet go'yerrhmerit c}f Sír: r i a {:Ở 3 Kỳmkoč SłifR ÅNKA
in rocuct, cri
Once aga in we shoud ik *awing been given the opo
he subject. Å ut a got existing Oster operatiens
the futurę the For instance, in a proposal of ':°ನ್ಸ್ಟಿಜ್ಡ
orcosa ci tise èsvi
this import there is no profile
2. St. 3 tuis Quo
of the Organisation itself, no doubt since this would laybare the fact that Layar Piramid lackSIOven experience in the field of lotteries, Instead, are descriptions of three; individuais representing the Company, two of whoI are DirectoS and Who haven't the
čurr“ serit:y, tři W ii z tre ) a.sむ Léries. is the Devé r"un, theç Lag*n şimpery issed by the 3rd latioia. Lotteries, c łatic: Yä ? Lotte fies Bosrc, v öy třie Mí i ristry of Finance.
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in the aggregate a wide spectrum
క్ట
slightest whiff of a connection with lottery-related business. In fact, they possess inp!essive experience it real estate, retai furniture, accountancy, the lega i profession, aqua Culture, merchant banking, tinier (there's "work" to e done here for sure), Shiphiiding, the oil and gas irrustry, tracon development (terhaps there's scope frir sone future "investinert" here as well) and Consumer
Ioducts,
In fact, the garning industry is probably their only blind spot. The Solution, of Course, is to involve as "Director of Operations" a third person with Australian Lotto experience, albeit before 1984, at which time the government took Control of Lotto in Australia. But, surely, that's not cricket? How Can the government of an industrialised Country Control any venture at all, much less take Over One that was originally in private hands? The Aussies must be secret Connunists, or even woise, guys who don't have a fixed formula such as the locally axiomatic "privatise everything, and nake a quick buck to the bargain".
There are three serious preliminary concerns that even a layperson would have about this proposal. The first, of Course, is the basis or which aforeign Company Can Sunit any such proposition for the Consideration of the Cabinet, Without any kind Cf tende pIOCedlire Or public awareneSS at al. The second Concerns the Very nature of the offer made to the Government which appears, even at a cursory eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee glance, to beunattractive tiom the national point of view, to say the least. A more detailed analysis :fti: e proposai vinici follows will moie than bear out the average person's fear OI thiS SCOI e. The i third problem centres on the legal requirements outlined above which render Such a venture
untenable. a
Since the prerequisites of adherence to due process Such
ਸ . ਕcਪੰct as the Calling for tenderS and/
É* Fè courtry - Te ;iခဲ\ခံ prévမံဖွံ’’ to ’88 or the making public of the
ఫిజs it * F *ణ subm { t a t i ciri .
proposal, were observed in the breach, surely the matter stenca three lottery operations, . would have been dealt with getti?"; in Eng; Summarily by the Cabinet?
':' ??"....? More about this later.
In considering our second Concern first, We are confronted by the glaring differences between the ------------- Berjaya proposal and the
(by fee pment and, sevana
April-May 1994

Page 19
influential Layar Piramidoffer. In the fomer, Berjaya were to Surrender 25% of turnOver to the Farmers' Fund, whereas Layar Piramidonlyoffered20% which would be increased to 22.5% after five years. This too for taking over two of the most lucrative Current staterun organisations, the Sevana and the National Lotteries ཡིག་ཚང་མས་ དབང་ བས། Board, who made a combined ، sales revenue of Rs. 674 million in 1992, a33.7% increase over the past year. The Layar Piramid proposal indicates a projected revenue of 858 million rupees for 1993 for these two taken together. Yet, in their own projections for the first four years of operation under their management, they indicate a total revenue of only 500 million rupees (in 1994/95), which would be a decline in revenue of Rs. 358 million or over 40%. This would also mean a loss to the Government (at 20% rate of payment) of Rs. 36 million. Actually, this proposal was submitted to Minister Cooray in April 1993, the Prime Minister was appraised of the offer in June, and Cahihei, approval was obtained on January 19, 1994 for the Original proposal submitted by Mr. Cooray. The Prime Minister's personal Seal of approvalis what clinched matters in favour of the proposal. Under Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe's direction the Cabinet Sub Committee on Investment recommended, inter alia, that MessIs Layar Piramid's proposal for the operation of the Sevana Lottery be accepted.
Moreover, the arrangement of operating the Sevana Lottery under a Management Committee Comprised of representatives of the National Lotteries Board and Layar Piramid is perceived as an interim measure until new legislationis passed so that the Sevana Lottery can operate independently. No doubt, at this point in the not-toodistant future, Layar Piramid will come into its ownin tems of its Self-seeking proposal, and the country will lose larger and larger amounts of revenue in order to appease the greed of Certain individuals. A comparison with the Berjaya proposal will show that whereas Layar Piramid were attempting to take Over an already lucrative lottery which enhanced state Coffers, Berjaya were interested in Creating a new lottery and, thus, providing a new source of revenue with no government investment.
The CuIIent legal position as outlined by the Solicitor General Shibley Aziz on behalf of the Attorney General is that under the provisions of the National Lotteries Act No 11 of 1963, as a temporary measure, the Sevana Lottery
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Counte
April-May 1994
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Exposé I
-----' Could be restructured with . certain modifications. However, the letter dated November 18, 1993 to the Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Construction from the Attorney General's Department states "it is more appropriate that the re-structuring of the thě Šávarsoliottery: Sevana Lottery (and the is National Development Lottery) a:with Paxits täis Corde should be done by a separate အိုရွီးချိန်ရှို့လိုုဇွိုီ၌ Act of Parliament, rather than * under the provisions of the atä:3ct-oi:: Pšriisist. National Lotteries Act, if it is desired to have these lotteries šợ&& &t:ạrr:ẹỷ-öệnặràị under a scheme similar to that envisaged in the present Trust ... Instrument."
---- This raises many 下 other questions which should be answered by the Prime Minister as
\
S w l مسvg
Chairman of the
Cabinet SubCommittee OI Investment. First and foremost, what is the rationale of privatising these lotteries, since they are profitmaking and successful in economict, ins? Nowhere in the entire literature on the subject is there any reference, however Cursory, to the reason for this move. Next, why ;CH ar U3 soilicit:discheme: hatched y a fo:Gaigm CCompany Wiwiti liittiê o no ekgerient in this area słoiiiid toECtamɛ he basis for Suchiar-reaching changes that wouldiavoive new Acts of Pariiament and losses to the state of hundreds of hillions of rupees in the first two or three years, is unfathomable. Unfathonable, that is, if personal profit is not brought into the equation. The "special" nature of this proposal can be seeninits being afforded BOIstatus which, after all, is an incentive for encouraging depressed Sectors Or those that require a fillip, not money-spinners that. investors would fall over themselves to get involved in.
In an interview with , UNP General Secretary has vouched for the honesty and integrity of Prime Minister Wickremasinghe. Honesty and integrity are not to be takenlightly; nor is it merely aquestion of keeping One's hands clean but deliberately allowing others to dirty theirs by aiding and abetting or at least condoning rank Corruption in this manner. If Mr. Wickremasingheisindeed "an honourableman,"ashining example among honourable men, then he must vindicate his honour by demonstrating to the people of this country that decisions such as this Were takeningood faith with the bestinterests of the nation at stake. The entire transaction should be made transparent for all to see, not hidden under a cloak of secrecy and Cabinet privilege. This, then, is your personal challenge, honourable Mr. WickIemasinghe, a challenge as Well as an obligation towards the people. .
point 17

Page 20
History and Rol
Saint as p politician
Dr. Paikiasothy
ilary Clinton's remark that Nelson Mandela's inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa is perhaps the most important event of the twentieth century, isn't mere hyperbole. It was in this century after all that Over three hundred years of white domination in South Africa was institutionalised as the apartheid regime. The Nazis came and went but in South Africa the international Community tolerated racism as the law of the land. There was a time when liberal governments required those resisting this Crime, elevated to the status of law, to renounce Violence against it. Now it is all Over and With relatively little bloodshed. The Cry of freedom has been heeded and freedom has COme at last. Moreover, in the words of the South African President, let freedom reign. What happened in South Africa is indeed miraculous. The relatively non-violent transition to majority rule and the absence of inter-racial violence attests to this. The climate of tolerance, of reconciliation between the ANC and the National Party, the bold pragmatism of F.W. de Klerk, the eleventh hour change of heart of Chief Buthelezi and the democratic spirit that pervaded the Constitutional talks, make South Africa as unique in its liberation as it was in its hateful bondage.
What makes for events that make the world a better placetolive in? A merefortuitous configneration of events in which Contexts, systems and persons so combine to lift the human spirit? Or is it not human beings who make history and therefore are the Crucial factor amongst these otheIS? -
There is a great man/person theory that is at one level deeply flawed but at another instructive in identifying the contribution of exceptional people. The liberation of South Africa has been won by the tireless struggle of its people and those throughout the World who gave them solidarity and Support. It happened the Way it has because of the sheer Courage and magnaninity of Nelson Rolihlala Mandela.
The facts are Well known, the acceptance of armed struggle in the face of racist brutality, the horrendous imprisonment for 27 years in inhuman conditions, private trauma and tragedy, the indomitable spirit that turned that imprisonment into a remarkable learning process and defined the message of forgiveness upon which the new South Africa is founded. Like Gandhi, like Martin Luther King, Mandelahasa dream and the realisation of it will tell
Соит
18

ihulala Mamadella olitician Or aS Saint?
Sarawanamutu
as to whether he is a saint trying to be a politician or a politician trying to be a Saint. Mandela's speech at his trial in which he declared that he had fought and would Continue to fight againstall forms of domination black and white, has been widely quoted and those sentiments expressed by him many times. What marks him out as a trueliberaland freedom fighter, is thathehas demonstrated the sincerity of his beliefs in prison and out, and especially in the transition period.
Which politician in the world today would after having WOn a Victory against forces that had oppressed his people for Over three centuries and and imprisoned him for nearly three decades, declare that he is relieved that his party did not win a two thirds majority?
Mandela's rationale for this statement was that a two thirds majority would have accorded the ANC a mandate to change the constitution which would have perturbed Otherparties and thereby imperilled national reconciliation. Without a two thirds majority the ANC would have to govern by Consensus. As a historical aside, it is Worth remembering that Mrs. Thatcher who used to take the position that the ANC ought to Ienounce violence, rebuked One of her senior cabinet ministers for remarking that landslides were unhealthy for democracy and good government.
Mandela's singular lack of bitterness and his inspiring magnanimity were also exemplified in his stewardship of the ANC negotiating stance at the constitutional talks. The power-sharing arrangements at the Centre and at the Iegional level illustrate a Commitment to involve all South Africans regardless of race or political opinion in the new dispensation. The checks and balances, the freedom accorded to the regions to decide their own constitution, the position of the Zulu king, all add up to the solid infrastructure for democratic government.
There is no denying the magnitude of the challenge that Confronts Mandela and the government of national IeConciliation. Given the huge disparities inliving standards between black and whites and the desperate poverty that is the lot of the black majority, meeting their basic needs is a gigantic taskin itself. Indeed, the structural adjustment necessitated in the South African economy is by definition of a different variety to the conventional IMF/Bank type. The rest of the world will have to help and not just with moral support but with Substantial dollars.
Were the government to fail or be seen to fail, the chaos
erpoint April-May 1994

Page 21
that the host of Cassandraspedicted before the transitio and de Klerk's historic 2 February 1990 announcement could ensue. Whatstands betweenblackrevenge, anarch and white madness, is themoral authority of the Executiv President. Only Mandela amongst the political leadershi has the status to preach convincingly the gospel O restraint, of forgiveness and noderation, Were he to fai it would be a defeat for humanity and the hope for a bette vO.
--- Сои
play 1994
 

Mandela is now a part of world history, that is the Struggle of the human Spirit itself against seemingly
insuperable Odds. He is also a practitioner of the humanist
art of politics in which liberty is never confused with licence and democracy is not mere majority rule. It is almost as if at the end of this Century a man and an event have combined. Iedeem politics, theifeblood of humanity
ivi. Miandela FOI your life and your work and
9

Page 22
Photographs from Stephen Champion's book "Lanka 1986-1992"
LLLLLLLLSGSSGSSYYYLLLLSSeLeYLSLSLSYYSLSLLL "Two deaths are told", one just outside a refugee camp in Bal electric cable was used to burn a hole in the back of a man which took place on polling day in 1988 in Tissamaharama less who was responsible than that such atrocities are Con up, by the confiscation at Customs of a book that records, troubled epoch of Sri Lanka.
--- Col
20
 
 
 
 

ViOlenCC 3.S truth
icaloa where an Sneck, and the other Perhaps, it matters Oned, even covered O sensitively, this
nterpoint April-May 1994

Page 23
A young soldier at Tiriyai appears vulnerable, pensive and isola of this senseless war-though the tangible horror of this civil balance of perspective as to who pays the greater price in th
An evocatively gentle vision of children setting off to school ear through paddy fields, the enormous electric pylons Overhead future may contain an ominousness beyond their control.
Coun
April-May 1994
 

ted- another victim an's plight restores a North-East Conflict.
mages
後 毅 భ
y in the morning -- a hint that their
terpoint
21

Page 24
The Search fo
hile the truth is itself absolute, One's perception of it is often coloured by the values and things one holds dear. It is in this sense that Marx's asSociation of truth with class interests, and in particular the economic base of the class, must be understood. When the truth is unpleasant because it portends a threat, then falsehood is generally preferable. Academics, pressmen and Commentators who form part of the Colombo establishment have all Contributed to this ritual selfdeception. We see bouts of despair When the volatility and Carnage in the Country appear to overwhelm the defences of Colombo and then a euphoria, when briefly, things appear tC 3e Gracer COntIOl. Thus, following last year's Provincial Councilelections, a number of afhalysts told us that the nuing UNP had done unprecedentedly Wei in the rurai areas, beating the Opposition in its traditional Strongholds. This was also treated as a itáliai Satiction of the government's
Rajan
OpenEconomy. R of the local elect acclaimed in the p democracy to the East. In imposing Colombo, SOberan from among the p need to be ridicul
Gomarankadaw side of the UNP's
afi
Times are tOC di
appearances. Tak
local electionStoth Council -- an areas stronghold. The
against the SLFP's to Ordinay people widespread anti-g based on Official { behaviour of the a the JVP troubles. example is t
 

r Alternatives
HOOle
ecently, the results ions were Widely DreSS as a return of terrorist-ravaged such options from dcautionary voices peoples concerned ed OI Stifled.
vela & the other
success in rural
aS
angerous to go by e the Iesults of the eKantalai Regional AvhiCh WaSan SLFP UNP polled 9548 5887. But talking
OS COS COSS Overnment feeling Orruption and the (med forces during Another significant he village of
Gomarankadawela in the Kattukulampattu. West Division of TrinCOmalee District where the UNP polled 1541 against the SLFP's 1209.
This village made its appearance in the 1827 Census under the Tamilname of Comaresan Cadaway. It then had 22 inhabitants, only 4 of whom were children, Suggesting that it was a shifting or chena village. Owing to the unsettled Conditions prevailing in the Kandyan Kingdom following the rebellion of 1817-18, over the succeeding years this village was also settled by Kandyan Sinhalese from Parana (Old) Madawachchiya. The two communities enjoyed close social relations as in several such villages along the Eastern border. The 1901 Census again showed it to be a mixed village of 58 Sinhalese and 8 Tamils. Like many rural Villages in the Country, the village remained neglected. Even in recent times the position of the villageIS among the economic and political forces around them, strongly recalled Leonard Woolf's Village in the Jungle written more than 70 yeaIS agO.
April fry 1954

Page 25
A teacher who worked there about
1970 told me: "The people were very mild and easily dominated by the
unsCrupulous. A man from the South who worked for the British Navy in Trincomalee came to the village after the closure of the base. In time he became a rich trader (Mudalali) owning a fleet of lorries and used his influence to economically dominate the area. He enhanced his influence considerably by becoming the agent for the UNP. By throwing money around and corrupting the youth with vice, his position became unchallengeable. He walked into people's houses at will and took their wives for his carnal pleasure. I challenged him by trying to organise constructive activities for the young, Such as late evening English classes. Had the UNP government notfallenin 1970, my position would have become impossible..." ATULF leader from the area had similar impressions about the people. He had been instrumental in building a road there -- an area where children going to School had to often encounter elephants. He said, "These were humble people who were grateful to me for the road. They continued to look me up even after I had eased to have influence."
It is not hard to understand Why a significant section of these people feel "democratically" constrained to vote UNP as long as the forces behind itseeminsuperable. While one section of such a village passively accept the intrusion into their Small World of an oppressive order for the lack of an alternative, the sense of powerlessness drives many youth into destructive violence. Thus, the SO called support for the order represented by the UNP in such areas has been invariably linked to recruitment by groups such as the JVP.
Leading academics have used villages like Gomarankadawela to deny or dilute Tamil links with large parts of the East and to implicitly justify Colonisation policies of the state which have brought in Communal polarisation alien to Such villages.
Beyond this they have no interest or
Curiosity about the people themselves.
It is mot итаетsta significant these pe "democr constrain UNIP as lo forces behi ітsuperable section ( village pass the intrusio small и о oppressive a lack of an a the se pouverless1 татуус destructiv
The more sinister regime on their understood ev consequences thI into Colombo. Di
and repetitive nata
violence that is ideology, a nu intellectuals COnt the state had little insurgent terror
acting as agents aspect of the curre appears to Conc incipient violenc paralysis for Some
Democracy
A man whic reservations abOU pretensions COnce in the East was E For this cause the to lampoon him 6th March) sugge things that he
Соит
April-May 1994

hard to nd uhy a section of pple feel atically" ed to vote ng as the nal it seem ... While one fsuch a ively accept n into their rld of an rder for the alternative, nse of aess drives putih into e violence.
ramifications of the lives is seldom ren when the eaten to Spill Over spite the cyclical ure of the climate of integral to state mber of liberal nue to argue that choice but to meet with killer squads of state terror. This nteconomicregime lemn us to both e and intellectual
time to COme.
in the East
voiced strong t the Government's ning local elections I. Harry Miller, S.J. Observer choose editorially (Sunday sting among other Nas a "do-gooder'
erpoint
preaching politics. There was also a clear hintofa Colombo wizard putting down Fr. Miller as a provincial ignoramus. Fr. Miller's point is a very basic one: "As long as there is impunity, there can be no normality or democracy". This impunity is still being used by the forces to obviate accountability before the law even for disappearances that have taken place recently. Fr. Miller was only reflecting what he had experienced with thousands of ordinary people in Batticaloa over many years.
Fr. Miller was presentat the Eastern University on 8th September 1990 when the matter of 158 personstaken
from the University Refugee Camp
three days earlier by troops under the Command of Brigadier Karunatilleke from Valaichenai was raised. Also present were General Gerry de Silva, Eastern Commander and Brigadier A.M.U.Seneviratne, Batticaloa. There was already a rumour that the prisoners had been killed and Women were wailing for their lost ones. Seneviratne had the most glorious
moment of his career when an elderly
woman weeping for her son grabbed him by his feet and immobilised him. Karunatilleke arrived late in a blue pick up truck wearing a Cowboy-like wide bimmed hat and Swaggered in With a nonchalant look of Contempt. He had been promoted for his earlier Work in the South, including, Hambantota, which leftbehind similar asSociations. The covering up and talking was done by Seneviratne and de Silva. The latter gave the people to understand that those taken were guilty and Could not be released. This Cruel insensitivity of the state which people have been through again and again is barely hidden below the surface even today.
There are also the two letters of AMU Seneviratne Of 21/9/90 Witten after promising to look into two lists of detained andmissing personstaken upby the BatticaloaPeaceCommittee.
The first concerned 76 students. The
reply claimed that one student was taken and released to the parents, and went On: "No other student in the referred list was taken into custody by Security forces under this Head
23

Page 26
Ouarters. Signed A.M.U.Seneviratne, and tragedy, andy HO Brigade 3 Group." The second to least one could a list of 407 perSons was similar, government whic claiming three were taken and for the people is to
released.
Work towards an
Fr. Miller reflected, "I did not get the legacy of 17 y the impression that Seneviratne was rather a lot is bei really abad guy. He seemed rather to what one hopes w
be following orders. As much asitis necessary, I would hate to see him in the dock explaining how he came to Write those letters."
In having to denigrate Father Miller, the real man With a humane Vision is also
blacked out. As much as he believes in the integrity of the law for
a just Society, he has little sympathy for
homeland claims in the sense of ethnically
exclusive zones. He
would like to see an East, separate from the Nortin, become an
exemplar of COInmunal •ት co-existence and a On the ongoing war, it is not model for the rest of clear that the PA has grasped the County. All this the problem. Lakshman ooooooo || Kiriella, MP, 1 leading PA of a political Ineddler. spokesman, delivered on 29th He ;tit("; Marcha Rotarianllectureon "the tOW a S a hea debata on ama North-Eastcrisis". According to for this country's future. aa Island report of the lecture, If the press cannot fully his party's standon devolution discuss the experien- to the provinces was along the Ces of such people and lines of the Indian model. He the issues for the further said that if a new SLFP Country arising from (PA) Government came to them, they have power, it would invite the LTTE forts 2009. R || carched militarilyW S 港 * the East as a : of ийatialsa trou64áng is tfie ev democracy. Chanárikạ9Kumarutungaseems tfough it is too early to say for
The People's Alliance government. As tc
and restoring ac
We have seen two instances among cannot expect toC many of people looking for an would still requir alternative which offers them dignity roots pressure or and freesthen from acycle of violence The flow of forei
24
 

tlacking one. The
expect from a minimally Cares offer them room to alternative. Given ears of UNP rule, ng expected from ould be a new PA
Iks, and if it fails to respond, it would be
ins
ending COIruption :Countability, one much too soon. It e sustained grass the government. gn money and the
erpoint
decline of public morality have affected all sections of the intelligentsia. Diseases of the government sector are also diseases of the NGO SectOI.
What one might expect soon and should press for is a decisive move to solve the ethnic problem and a dismantling of the executive presidency. The expectation that the minorities are Safer with an executive president dependent on their votes has been shown to be illusory. Power breeds COIIuption and Corruption destroys legitimacy. When that happens, the President, to keep the appearances of power, is forced into shadowy accommodations. President Jayewardene's Complicity in the 1983 violence against Tamils, inspite of the latter Supporting him, is a fruit of such accommodations. The Sri Lankan Presidency had become a ritual of the "Emperor's New Clothes". Jayewardene's two Successors found themselves unable to do the most elementary thing of taking political measures to give Confidence to the minorities and placing the ball firmly in the LTTE's Court.
On the Ongoing war, it is not clear that the PA has grasped the problem. Lakshman Kiriella, MP, a leading PA spokesman, delivered on 29th March a Rotarian lecture on "the North-East Crisis". According to an Island report of the lecture, his party's stand on
April-May 1994

Page 27
devolutionto the provinces was alo:g the lines of the Indian model. He further said that if a new SLFP (PA2) Government came to power, it would invite the LTTE for talks, and if it fails to Iespond, it would be Crushed militarily...
This sounds disturbingly similar to the UNP from the time of Premadasa, and the LTTE is far from being Crushed. There are tWO important things.
Firstly, the main issue does not lie with federalism, the Indian model or the uitary State. The deinand for devciutionisaresponse to entrenched discriminatory practices in the central government. The armed forces and the ministries of Mahaweli Development, Lands, Rehabilitation and Public Administration are at the centre of the experience of marginalisation by the people of the North-East. If these institutions are reformed and are seen to be nondiscriminatory, a healthy balance On devolution Could be found. If not, the tension (or more accurate repulsion) would be so great that every step in devolution will be seen and feared as a move towards Separation.
Secondly, a key aspect of the
Government's failure is its inbuilt inability to distinguish between the LTTE and the Tamil people. The two were in practice treated as identical. When Premadasa ordered his troops to Crush the LTTE, the troops Crushed the Tamil people (as in Batticoloa above), and the latter were given little choice but to look to the LTTE. Thus, the Tamil people were driven to identify with the LTTE only in a pathological sense for the seeming lack of an alternative.
Does Mr. Kiriella know what he is talking about when he speaks of Crushing the LTTE militarily? The LTTE can be cornered politically, but it, or what it represents, cannot be Crushed militarily. It is too much to expect the LTTE to enter talks about power sharing with Tamils as distinct from itself, and it never did. It may however enter talks for its survival if its tenuous political base is in a state of Collapse. If it could in that event Ieform itself, it would be a happy Occasion, indeed.
ff( live in de assigned 25 familie hanlets v diseases defied d: people te victim of
Anoth decline.) particula ACCOrdir been 124 ... 68 chi health of resistanc populatic
These conditio
progress country's century. this state the for inexplica Governn is able to Deen ad East, bej
Соипі
April-May 1994
 

Tam Wey
he displaced in
Jaffna
centreport from Jaffna reads: "In recent times enounting spate of epidernics has instilled in e people a previously unknown sense of Iror. People displaced from the Islands and om the coastal regions of the peninsula now 2nsely packed communities on vacant lands to them by the LTTE, in groups of about 20S. Following the recent floods, these crowded vere overtaken by allmanner of communicable fron malaria and fire' fever to fevers which agnosis. A newly discovered fever which irmed 'killer fever resulted in much panic. A this is sure to die in a Couple of days..." ir NGO reports reads: "Cholera continues to However, the incidence of malaria is still high, rly in Vadamarachchi and Thennaratchi. g to Jaffna Teaching Hospital, there have 4 positive cases this year (January to March) w dren have died of septicinia this year, which ficers say is symptomatic of a lower level of e amongst vulnerable groups within the in..."
descriptions are reminiscent of harsh is which resulted in high death rates and ve depopulation of several parts of the dry zone, which continued well into this The LTTE is surely not a little responsible for of affairs. But it could point to state terror in of bombing and shelling in addition to ble restrictions on essentials placed by the శ ent. By so shifting the entire blame, the LTTE make political capital out of what would have sability. Are these victims, with those in the ng offered an alternative? M
rpoint 25

Page 28
Trojan Horse or Em
enmark Cutoffaid to Sri Lank about the end of 1989 it response to the massiv violations of human right during the JVP troubles. Tw local employees of DANIDAincludin a sociologist were also affected. On disappeared after being taken by stat forces. Another was held withou charges for several months. Danis International Development Assistanc (DANIDA) is part of the Foreign Office In the Course of 1990 When th resumption of the North-East conflic healded a new bout of violation b the State, a demarche was made b the remaining Nordic Countrie Norway, Sweden and Finland. The sharply Curtailed aid by not renewin funding for several projects, givin technical reaSOnS Such as an Overa aid Cut, Citing global recession. But visiting Senior Sri Lanka officials Wer told the real reason -- human right: That themessage was taken Serious
26
in Colombo is evident. During 19 PresidentivPremadasa setup a Huma Rights Task Force on the advice of h Personal Private Secreta Paskaralingam who had just return from a visit to Northern Europe. T same year Sri Lanka accepted seve of the recommendations made Amnesty International, and all acceded to monitoring by the Commission for human Rights a the AI, apparently for two years. E
C
محA
 
 

powering the people?
the renewed attack of democratic institutions and the preSS, the absence of tangible accountability before the law and Continuing, albeit reduced, disappearances left the Nordic Countries evidently unimpressed.
The task falling on the Foreign Office in Sri Lanka was to Sell the , accommodation with respect to human rights as having gone far enough, and to thus expedite the resumption of aid. This does not seem to have been a problem with major donors like the US, Japan and Britain, Who in effect Continued normal relations With token reservations. Although Nordic Countries proved more difficult, Ambassador Neville Jayaweerain Sweden thought he was close to success -- OISO it seemed until the Iepercussions of the "Tamil it Gate' affair in Denmark took effect. e The affair involving the exposure of S. government complicity in the use of y unlawful pressure on Tamil refugees led to the Prime Minister's resignation. In the aftermath new personnel were brought into DANIDA leading to a shift from Foreign office bureaucrats to those formerly in the NGO Sector. The latter often came frOmatradition Ofan activistapproach to human rights. The responses of representations to resume Danish Aid were deemed positive by Ambassador Jayaweera. In January 1993, a Danish Foreign Office team spent two weeks in Sri Lanka, and made their report Some months later. A Set of proposals was framed by DANIDA and a copy was sent to Mr. Jayaweera, leading to alarm in SOme Circles and mixed reactions in others.
We place the importance of Danish Aid in context. Denmark had previously provided US$ 10 million a year for the Coast conservation project which was stopped in 1991. Denmark in IeSunning aid proposed to upgrade Sri Lanka to "Country Programme' ut status. The indications were that
у
s
unterpoint April-May 1994

Page 29
budgetary provision had been made for US$30 million aid to Sri Lanka for the year 1994. This figure amounted to US$20 million over and above the Coast COnservation programme. It was about 3 percent of what was annually pledged to Sri Lanka at the Paris donors meeting and formed about 60 percent of what was spent annually by the Mahaweli Authority. m
Denmark is bowever a Small country. But its importance far exceeds the value of its aid package. Denmark Wields Considerable influence as a member of the Nordic Council and also of the European Union. The Nordic Council is mostly Outside the ambit of big time global power politics and tends to take an independent and sometimes radical line On issues. Sri Lankan foreign Office circles were deeply concerned that alienating Denmark Could hurt them badly at the annual Geneva t Sessions Of the UN Commission On 1 Human Rights and at the Paris Aid p GIoup meeting, also Convened D annually.
It is in this Context that DANIDA's t proposals led to SOme interesting exchanges within Sri Lankan C diplomatic circles. The proposals i coming from a state ministry, had many original features.
:
The Danish proposals
The proposals, while formally acknowledging that Sri Lanka had taken some positive steps with regard to human rights, said that much yet Iemained to be done. Denmark proposed to 'assist' Sri Lanka in bringing about a happier Condition of human rights and democratic freedoms. In stated in diplomatic language that aid would at first be directed primarily towards this end, and that are-direction of aid to normal developmental projects would take place in keeping with improvement in the former. ܫ
The novel feature of the proposals . was thatDANIDAproposed to identify and support work by individuals and perSons closer to the grass-IOots in areas such as the following: Activity intended to promote ethnic harmony; Providing advice intended to groups
Counter
April-May 1994

ranting to raise issues in the general ameWork of rights; Helping those those activity enhances press eedom and the freedom of formation; Helping those who have uffered displacement, losses or loss f income as a result of the Ongoing thnic COnflict.
Human Rights
A visit to Sri Lanka by a DANIDA eam was proposed for November 993. Mr. Jayaweera got this visit Ostponed to February by telling the )anish Foreign Office that time was eeded for Sri Lanka to respond to hese proposals.
Inhisadvice to the Foreign Office in Solombo on these proposals he was indignant. He described the DANDA IOposals as a "Trojan Horse' for installing a permanent mechanism in 'ri Lanka to monitor and meddle in Human Rights affairs'. Mr. Jayaweera went on to point out that the Irangement Sought was a bilateral ne, whereas the previous ones with AI and UNCHR were multilateral, and heir monitoring ended in 1993. Moreover, he said that this would blige the Sri Lankan government to ransport Danish Foreign Ministry )fficials to Batticaloa, Trincomalee und Jaffna, where they would befree O meet individuals. The move, he aid, was a foot in the door through which many others would enter. The old foreign ministry officials, he said, Nere sympathetic to restoring aid Without conditions. He blamed the foungblood from the NGO sector for his new direction, which hedesCribes Salicence tOinsurrectionist activity.
Neville Jayaweerasought clearance O put forward Counter proposals to he DANIDA and go on talking to the
point
27

Page 30
Danish FC, last a break OCCurs with the axe descending at Geneva and Paris.
Mr. Jayaweera's Suggested COunterproposals were along the lines of shifting proposed assistance from the grass-roots to established NGOs in Colombo which purported to deal with similar Concerns. For example, shifting assistance to groups and individuals say in areas of freedom of Speech or ethnic harmony to formally Constituted organisations with Such aims; or shifting those who suffered as a result of the conflict to victims of torture, Iequiring specialised and organised activity.
Instead of the team meeting those whom it chose informally Mr. Jayaweeraproposedaformalmeeting. That is the Sri Lankan government to first obtain applications from NGOs who would like to take up projects in the specified areas and then when the DANIDA team arrives, for these organisations who will assist the work. In this Mr. Jayaweera showed himself to be astute and experienced. Having himself being a director of a well-known Colombo based NGO, he understood that world very well. He knew the difference between fighting a cause as part of the establishment and doing the same in a village or provincial town where Violations are a part of life.
Official doth in Colombo was evidently not so alarmed. Replying nearly two months later, the Director General of Economic Affairs felt that a formal response was not necessary. He opined, unlike Mr. Jayaweera, ta?: the DANIDA Sent the draft proposals to the latter as a matter of Courtesy and not, officially. Mr. jayaweera, it was suggested should go on talking. Mr. Jayaweera disagreed and felt the danger was KE.
For the vase majority of the people in Sri Lanka, however, DANIDA's ideas offer hope and new responsibilities. More than the money spent, sustained concern in the grassroots would help the potential to usherina new quality of democracy. Several prominentlocal groups which were either silent when Sinhalese youth were being killed
recently On a large Conflict doesote which too many ( the majority Comm. violations (given present are relate Denmark of int SOvereignty.
Indeed, there Sovereign nation, passed through In member of the No Lanka was asSOCi: of Third World imperialism. Such longer exists. Anin today appears to human rights wiC people. The DAN treated as one side with issues which international COnV having no national a State With deve
such as is Denmar minority Concerns well established. through devolved centre of state-pC available to Citizer
. available to her OV
On Conspiratorial g kind of closed poli IOot in Colombo, the Centre of powe, In the meant increasingly clear despairing of work that a schedule indefinitely is to b: Perhaps, it is time) as Concerned og push the Lankan Serious COIìSideỉ proposals.
28
Count
 

Scale, for whom an ethnic kist, whom any activity in f the beneficiaries being unity Could be counted as that most violations at i to the war) will accuse 2rfering in Sri Lanka's
are many ironies for a
Sri Lankan diplomacy bbler times. As a leading Im Aligned Movement, Sri ited in causes Supportive liberation and against
spirit of sovereignty no nportant role of diplomacy pe to provide a shield for lations against its OWn DA proposals Cannot be dor interfering. They deal Sri Lanka as a party to entions acknowledges as boundaries. Moreover, in loped Welfare traditions,
(, government funding for and grass-IOOtS activity is Such funding is made bodies delinked from the wer. If Denmark makes is of this Country what is In, she cannot be faulted Iounds. Of Course, to the ical culture that is taking anything that questions becomeSinSurrectionist. ime, it is becoming
that DANIDA may be ing in Sri Lanka, if the fact i visit was postponed Ieiled upon as an index. OI ordinary people as well Inisations to step in and government into giving ation to the DANIDA
2point
April-May 1994

Page 31
AMUNUGAMAS "RADICAL
FAMILAR O
OPPORT
r. Sarath Amunugama,
the new chairperSon of the government Controlled Lake House Group of Newspapers, former chief government CenSOI, Chief strategist and Vice-President of the DUNF, gave a clever but unconvincing interview in the January 1994 issue of Counterpoint. In the interview captioned The Radically New Liberal Optionism, Amunugama tried to justify the decision of the DUNF to merge with the Wijetunga UNP on ideological grounds arguing that the DUNF Was a neo-liberal party which had after a seasonably Successful stint of political activity. On its OWn, had COme to the realisation that ultimately the choice before the Sri Lankan electorate was between the pro-liberal UNP and the statist, anti-liberal
Rohan |
(Rohan Edrisin member of the its Deputy Se until his resig National Comm in protestag decisionfo su the Provincial 1993. He resigr
earlier
SLFP. He said
"If you look a let's say take th SLFP, Which ha potential to be authoritarian? I were authoritar you look at it, C
What is the essence of Libera Respect for individual freedo; dignity, diversity, pluralism; til that the state exists for individa mot the other uvay round; a secu the belief that the role of thes limited and that its powers m subject to effective checks and b the primacy of the private secta есототуsийfect, иlhere тeces regulation by the state.
Cound
April-May 1994

Politics
NEW LIBERAL OPTIONSM'.
O POLOCAL
UNSM
drisinha
na was a founder Liberal Party and cretary-General nation from the tee in April 1993 inst the party's port the UNP in plections of May ed from the party his year.)
t the future -- Le UNP and the is the greater antiBoth parties ian. So When ne is in the
lism? ni amad ce belief als and air state; late is ust be alances; r in the airy, to
?
Socialistic model, the statist model, which increasingly the SLFP is getting saddled with because the liberal wing is moving away from the SLFP. We have only two options, that is to go along with the statist model and see whether it can be anti-authoritarian OI the new liberal model and See
whether it can be anti
authoritarian....
...So today I think the only place where a liberal can go is the UNP despite all its defects."
It seems much more plausible however that the decision of the DUNF was motivated by a combination of realpolitik, lust for the perks of power and patrOnage, the Iealisation that Without the leadership of Lalith Athulathmudali the DUNF support would fade, and the fact that the raison d'etre for the DUNF, Ranasinghe Premadasa, was no more. The Annunugama thesis is therefore unconvincing on the facts. However even if the thesis were to be given consideration as an argument, it remains fundamentally flawed for two main reaSOns: 1. The argument implies a hopelessly inadequate definition of Liberalism. 2. The characterisation of the UNP as pro-liberal and the SLFP as statist/socialist is simplistic and false. What is the essence of Liberalism? Respect for individual freedom and dignity, diversity, pluralism; the belief that the state exists for individuals and not the other
AA

Page 32
way round; a Secular state; the belief that the role of the state is limited and that its powers must be subject to effective checks and balances; the primacy of the
differ in a vari how this Shou. aCComplished. in the USA, ar the minimal st
private sector in the economy subject, where necessary, to regulation by the State.
It is important to remember, however, that Liberalism as a political ideology is broad enough to embrace different emphases and nuances, and has changed and
evolved Over time and in different parts of the World to adapt to new COntextS, problems, and even the challenges posed by Competing ideologies. AS SenatOr LOIna Marsden of the Liberal Party of Canada observed at, a Seminar On LiberalisIn in
Colombo in March 1991:
"The key virtue of liberalism as a political philosophy is precisely that it provides a basis for political action in many different settings. Across time and space, the ideas of liberty, tolerance and diversity have had wide appeal but many different applications. All liberals try to Create the Conditions of opportunity and incentives for all people to make their Own choices, to develop their talents fully and to bear the responsibilities of Citizenship but modern liberals
advocate dist How people a fIOn the haza sickneSS and how people it minorities rea liberty - thes moulded and ways."
Despite Lil broad church and indeed S the UNP are that it would difficult to di liberal Or prC
Co
30
 
 

y of Ways about
i ba Some especially
present, favour te. Others
has encouraged State intervention in a number of areas where Such intrusion is totally unjustified. Furthermore by paying lip-service to
liberalism. While
practising antiliberal, Crony capitalism, the UNP may indeed be discrediting liberalism and, therefore, Contrary to the Amunugama aSSention, a liberal should be Vigorously Opposing the UNP and distinguishing
its activities
and philoSophy from genuine liberalism.
There are Several areas Where the UNP's record is manifestly illiberal.
The Economy The manner in Which the privatisation process has
been Carried
ibutive justice.
re to be protected
(ds of age, unemployment; dividually and as Ch equality and
ideas have been shaped in many
ralism being a the anti-liberal atist attributes of o pronounced pe extremely scribe the UNP as liberal. The UNP
out in this Country with state assets being Sold to Cronies of the gOVernment and Where the
process is not transparent, not
Only fosters MarCOS-style Crony Capitalism but also disCredits the principle of privatisation which ultimately works to the advantage of the Opponents of liberalism. Furthermore it encourages a pliant and sycophantic private Sector Which is terrified of displeasing the government for fear of falling outside the charmed
nterpoint
April-May 1994

Page 33
circle of government beneficiaries. This was clearly demonstrated by the fear of a number of prominent chairpersons and directors of Companies (many of them Vociferous drawing IOOm Critics of the government) to accept the invitation of Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga to hear her Views On the economic policies suitable for the Country at a luncheon meeting
State control
There are nun ways by which unwarranted inf Control over peC types of activitie dominance Over One impOrtante state monopoly electronic media not COmpatible of any variety! TI
in March this year. In all liberal
democracies,
dinC t ရှီWom alkS Perhaps Dr. Amu pIOIminent DUNF colleague i thiaat under the UN pOil Llclans lS a IOutine have there been OCCurrence. The holding so татту fact that the many bizarre der invitation Caused So much anguish constitutional.pro in the minds of Our ito tauman righ private sector elite constitutions
indicates the degree of power and patronage still wielded by the state despite 17
democratic aworld to curtail those rig as there are no r
years of a so- the restrictdo called open Ve SO1 economy.
What about the
manner in which both Presidents Premadasa and Wijetunga have ordered reduction of prices of food items, electricity rates, and interfered with the market in many other ways ? If the SLFP refers to the high cost of essential items it is immediately characterised as socialism by stealth, but the UNIP constantly intervenes in the economy, for blatantly partisan reasons, and escapes Such Criticism. Yet Dr. Amunugama says that the UNP is anti-statist and pro-liberal.
government has to permit "privat channels subjec Condition that th telecast local ne programmes. Th which reference on BBC news pl blacked out, is r fascist Or COmn certainly not a lj Amunugama no over the illegal Newspapers of which in blatant Of the law whic)
newspaper grou 70s, Continues it
April-May 1994
Соитte

nother areas erous other he state Wields luence and ple in varied es. The state the media is xample. The Of the
is Certainly With liberalism he UNP
Politics
The law Contemplated a
giadual reduction of the quantum of State shares as the Public Trustee divested the shares to the public. Both the SLFP and Several UNP administrations have flouted the intention of Parliament with impunity. Yet DI. Amunugama states that the UNP is proliberal.
The UNP's Constitution of the
DennOCratic
Enugama and his have forgotten WP regimes never
Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (even the United Front did not label the Country Socialist in its Constitution of 1972) Continued
the illiberal
a so many MPs practice of .
ministries of so politicising the zonadnations. The (ifińဇို့ by
li ensinninning tne ovtstons relating E. ts, unlike most degrading in the liberal and
p lp permitt the state E. hits almost at audl unchecked
equirements that ns should be
zable.
powers in the
Office of the
Executive | President.
Perhaps Dr.
Amunugama and
the audacity e" television t to the hey do not
WS Le manner in S to Sri Lanka
Ogrammes are eminiscent of unist regimes, beral One. Dr. W presides ASSOCiated Deylon Ltd.,
COntraVention took over the p in the early
State Control.
rpoint
his DUNF colleagues have forgotten that under the UNP regimes never have there been so many MPs holding so many ministries of SO many bizarre denominatiOnS. The Constitutional provisions relating to human rights, unlike most constitutions in the liberal
democratic world, permit the
state to Curtail those rights almost at will as there are no requirements that the restrictions should be reasonable.
Again, unlike all Constitutions in the liberal
31

Page 34
ulemocratic World, the Sri Lankan Constitution does not recognise the right to property, a right Considered paramount by liberals' as it constitutes a bulwark for the protection of individual autonomy from State intimidation and tyranny. Indeed when a distinguished group of intellectuals and Ieligious leaders Were preparing to issue a Statement shortly before the Southen Provincial election, One eloquent retired career diplomat declined to sign the statement on the ground that he feared that his property might be confiscated by the state. When the All Party Conference Considered reform of the fundamental rights provisions of the Constitution, the Liberal Party proposed the introduction of the Iight to property subject to the qualification that the State Could acquire property for a public purpose upon the payment of just Compensation. Every other political party at the conference, including the "pro-liberal" UNP, opposed the pIOpOsal.
The pervasive power of the state fortified by successive UNP regimes manifests itself also in more absurd Situations. Today under the liberal UNP, Vice-Chancellors of universities are appointed by the main political actor in the Country, the President of the Republic. If a university academic is invited to present a paper at a Conference abroad or to participate in a training programme or seminar, or even On a private Visit, S/he has to give 40 days notice, fill in 10 Copies of a leave application form, prepare a letter of justification, all of which then travel from the Head of the relevant Department via the
Dean, Registrar, Chancellor, aSSO bureaucrats in th GrantS COmmiSS Higher Educatio: which one) and Minister's office the Prime Minist for academic fre autonomy.
The fact that M Republic, includi
Amunug
libera
imp suppor scrири princip discre uwhich
the President, ai the Selection of: andther feature Lanka unique in democratic WOrl Can One desCrib
that the Ministe
approve the sele national teamSh unwarranted int State in an area
left to non-state asSociations? In Major or his cab
do not have to a
selection of the team. It would Yet recently, Pre Wijetunga, Mini Mathew and Mi Fernando were Various WayS in Over the Selectic Lankan Crickett Annunugama in: present regime
It must not be
32.
H -Count

Vice
ted e University ion, Ministry of h (I'm not sure he Prime and finally to er. So much >dom and
Ainisters of the ng sometimes
ama's thesis that the UNP is proand anti-statist, therefore, is lausible. Liberals, far from ting the UNP, should rather be lous in affirming what liberal les are so that liberalism is mot dited by association with that i is not liberal or anti-liberal.
Annunugama and the leadership of the DUNF, past and present, were key players in the UNP Of 1977-1989 Which was responsible for many historic developments, which were not only anti-liberal but perhaps unparalleled in the liberal demoCratic WOrld. Depriving the main opposition leader of her civic rights, the infamous Referendum of 1982,
e involved in sports teams is hat makes Sri the liberal d. How else 2 the practice
of Sport must Ction Of
ut aS an (usion by the that should be voluntary Britain John inet Colleagues pprove the England Cricket e unthinkable. Sident Ster Nanda mister Tyronne nvolved in the Controversy in Of the Sri eam. And Dr. ists that the S anti-Statist.
forgotten that
intimidating the judiciary by StOning judges' homes, locking them out of their ChamberS and appointing Committees of MPs to sit in judgment over their Conduct, and enshrining the illiberal principle that MPs should not vote according to their COnSCiences but in accordance with the diktats of the party leadership, are SOme of the undemocratic, illiberal actions of the UNP, which the DUNF leadership was closely identified with.
Amunugama's thesis that the UNP is pro-liberal and antistatist, therefore, is implausible. Liberals, far from supporting the UNP, should rather be SCrupulous in affirming what liberal principles are SO that liberalism is not discredited by association with that which is not liberal OI antiliberal.
erpoint -
April-May 1994

Page 35
t happened many deCades agO, even before the UNP was formed. It was the election in 1937, which brought Dudley Senanayake, now held high as the symbol of gentlemanly politics and the epitome of the liberal thinking, to the State
Council. The tactic for Victory was -
both Crude, Vulgar and wholly COIrupt. The Botale Walauwa, through its Control over the village headmen, stationed the local thugs of the Dedigama area at the "maha niyaras" along which the rural people came to vote. AS groups of Village Voters, including women, Suspected of supporting the other side Came along, the thugs raised their sarongs in indecent exposure. As the dirty message ofvulgarintimidationspread, both women and men who were opposed to the Senanayakes preferred to stay in their villages. Dudley Senanayake, Son of D.S., Senanayake, the alleged Father of the Nation, arrived at the State Council, and later succeeded his father as the Second UNP Prime Minister of independent Ceylon.
It is a story worth recalling When there isso muchtalktoday about how the UNP hopes to usher in a new era of gentlemanly politics in Sri Lanka. Almost Crushing such hopes was the comment by Mr. Sirisena Cooray, at the height of the political-Criminal manhunt for Soththi Upali, that many people were forgetting the good work done by UpalifortheParty. Mr. Cooray, although not party secretary, was still in the Cabinet of Ministers when he made that statement. It was more than abroad hint that a man who was wanted in Connection With an attempted murder in a Courthouse, should notbehunted because, among other things, he put up posters for the party during difficult times. The times indeed are arresting.
The Soththiepisode, if you pardon the cross-lingo pun, is at mostalame expression of the UNP's desire to cleanseitself of the Criminal COIruption of the past 17 years. It is a corruption from which no section of the party leadership has been left untainted. Which makes the task of the new doctor who has been brought to give
Greel that c
WAW
it the necessary Wash, all the mOI nigh impossible.
WhatismOreint takes place at a powerful section calling for the Premadasa policie the defeat in t
departure from th
not surprised to
being said by the
President. The lac be terrible. One Ca of pity and COnt Country dancer burgher gratitude Only role as Memb to pave the way fo Widow to sit in C
Whatever the party objectives of in getting the pol in the hunt for Sot
As the dir of v. imtimdidat both uo
17627 ) oppose Seтат preferrea their 1
Coun
April-May 1994

In diri
ann0
Ish
arunanayake
enema and bowel e difficult, nay well
eresting is that this time when SOme s of the UNP are estoration of the S, and even blaming he South On the Ose policies. One is hear such things 2 family of the late ck of privilege must in also feelamixture empt for the low and preacher of 2, who think their pers of Parliament is I their late patron's abinet.
immediate innerthe UNPleadership Ce highly activated hthiUpali, the man
ty message Tulgar som spread, тетата ho uvere d to the ayakes
to stay in illages.
terpoint
Who Once gave most of their top ranks clear directives on how to soft-peddle On Organized Crime, and also got them . houses throughthe housing ministry, there is one fact that screams out for recognition. Soththi Upaliandall what he is being hunted down for, is what was at the Core of the UNP/Premadasa Policies in the politics of Sri Lanka.
AS much as the UNP/Premadasa policies made journalism in Sri Lanka fetid with the likes of H.L.D. Mahindapala and Anuruddha Thilakasiri, it dragged our politics, which was never very clean, to the Worst depths of Criminality and Corruption. The situation became SO bad that today, an inner-party power struggle cannot be conducted without getting the key players of the underWorld of political-Crime out of the way, and behind bars.
It's time we laid the ghost of these UNP/Premadasa Policies, to rest and went ahead with the task of strengthening democracy, much to the Chagrin of those who believe that What we need for the liberal economy to bear real fruit is more than a little bit of dictatorship -- a la Singapore. Let's get this straight, the dictatorship of the UNP, of which Premadasa was the last exponent, was one where the wheels of politics were enmeshed inextricably with those of Crime, violence and COruption. It was not directed at the welfare of the country or its people. It was one big sham, and there are still not enough people who are ready to admit that in the Open.
There is nothing that Worked in that dictatorship of Crime and fear, not even the clocktowers which latterly marked the hours of catastrophe for the Country. All the
largesse of the State distributed at the
President's fancy made no change in the lives of the people. Poverty was not alleviated. So much for the widow who now wants to set up a fund for poverty alleviation. She should take that to the Courts, and start a fund through the estate she inherited from her husband, who boasted of his barefoot SOCCer.
The war in the North and East Was not Over When he was assassinated,
33

Page 36
in fact it was worse over there, than wher; he took over. If the economy did click, in the figures of growth and investment, it was not due to a peculiarly Premadasa intervention, it was despite him. Eventhere he made things WOISe With the garment Cavalcade. Premadasa did not make capitalism the engine of growth in Sri Lanka. He, his family and his great defenders of today, made it an even worse form of Cronyism than what existed in the Philippines under Ferdinand and Imelda
politico-Criminal C UNP leadership re space to detail. Mo the pardoning of Kuliyapitiya, ComV homicide, even h serving their sent the repeated d contempt for the C accused and the F The need today against the alleg Soththi Upali, his
MarCOS.
Not all, the flowers Carried into temples, all the offerings made at churches, the many coconuts broken and ash put. On at kovils, and the fake Service of Seva Vanithas Could hide the fact that the policies of Premadasa were those of the enthronement of family bandyism and Criminality in politics. It was corruption at the COre. In-laws Can now miss Saying it with flowers on the National Carrier, but let us not forget that it was unde the
eadership of Rana-,
singhe Premadasathat Soththi Upali was appointed to the
Пт-Паиссат тот
National Executive with flowers O Committee of the UNP. Carrier, but let a
It certainly follows the tradition of t иvas итder th extending clemency to Ramasinghe P ဦါး"ဖြိုးဖြိုး Soththi Upali u
llll., ... . . making him an all the Nation island Justice of the
Peace; of ministers
Соттittee
interceding for
Criminals who tapped petroleum from the pipelines of the Petroleum Corporation. Of having the houses of Supreme Court judges stoned, and promoting policemen found guilty, by the courts, of human rights violations. The examples of the
and police protect Cleansing operatic as the inevitable thieves falling ou people who have
of their Wealth, th
Coffers, and fixed
34
Count
 

*Onnections of the Yquire much more st recently,itled to two persons from icted for culpable before they began ence, and despite emonstration of Ourts, by both the Police.
is to see the action red Criminality of political patrons
Media Watch
undervalued land and Overloaded invoices. They have been through the whole gamut of CIOokedness, and to make it worse they have robbed us of our decency as well.
Soththi Upaliwas the contractor for the supply of grass sods for the thousands of acres that covered each Gam Udawa. He won the Sod Contact for the Gampaha Gam Udawa too. He was also the man who held the COIntract for the Inain publicIestaurant at every Gam Udawa. He may well have been a front for
Others who made the
real money. It is naturalthat thOSe Who lose such great opportunity would lament the departure fIOm UNP/PreradaSa policies.
The merry-goround of Crooked UNP politics has Come to a temporary halt. The brass band is not playing the same tune to please the "catchers" who ride the woodenhorses. It does not mean the UNIP is cleansing itself. It may shed a few embarraSSInents, and tell the band to play a different tune.
But the beat will
U miss saying dit remain the same. The merry-go-round Wili in the National go on the same rails. is not forget that That is the danger of believing in the te leadership of Carnival of the UNP. It remadasa that Was Conceived in S appoiтied O corruption. It wallowal Executive ed in Corruption through 17 years. That
is the Crisis. Let's not
be fooled by the new
of the UNP
OIS, not as a great on of the UNP, but Consequence of t. All of these are robbed our people rough the national
tenders. Through
talk of gentlemanly politics. Even a searchlight won't bring out the gentlemen, who are said to be lurking under the green canvass. Good luck to you Dr. Wijesekera. Thereisnoknown emetic that can do the cleansing that is needed.
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April-May 1994

Page 37
(UNP LN) (LfG)
(GSI) (erate
fit can be said that the
assassination of President Premadasa. On May Day 1993 had irrevocably shaken the foundation of the Continued political dominance of the ruling United National Party, then the May day of 1994 can be regarded as having almost Sealed the party's fate. For while the UNP struggled miserably to save face following the boycott of President Wijetunga and family members of the late President at Ceremonies to Commemorate him Organized by the departing Secretary-General of the UNP Sirisena Cooray, the May Day showing of the Peoples' Alliance left no one in doubt as to the nation's mood. After many long years it was a welcome change to See the Opposition well Organized --
Or
The Sri Lanka E its allies have bee since their victory
Provincial Counci
Chandrika's atten dialogue with the busineSS COmmu no "fire breathing rather flaming rec achieved limited Confused rhetoric from the Alliance no indication as t future SLFP-led C government will i regard to the eco question, Constit foreign policy an Reports of disenC Setting in anong alliance, SOme all
The UNP's multi-pronged strategy fo back thepeople has several stran Wijetunga's benevolent May Dayl followed by other price reductio concessions to the lower and middle unlikely to fool anybody, in a coun, people are all too familiar with the gimmicks adopted by politicians 0. seeking to come to or hang on to
not only being able to get its leading to Suicid supporters to the rally, but more so advertisement in taking the trouble to ensure that regarding One's C after the rally these large gIOupS Country Out of th stuck together and followed pilot yearsits of continue vehicles from each of the placedit. The su electorates to their respective buses is a serious diffe in order to get back home safely. within the SLFP
۔ ‘‘ -
April-May 1994
Соит

straits takGS
GéSUGS
acle
reedom Party and n riding high ever 7 in the Southern l election. While
pts in her Colombo hity to prove she is
dragoness of a
hue" may have objectives, the
that One hears Camp still gives o the policies a oalition implement with nomy, the ethnic utional reform and ong others. hantment already the partners of the egedly even
ruinning ds. But
01(2( ns and
classes is try where tricks and fall hues pouver
e, is no
gaining Credibility apacity to lead the e IneSS in which 17, 2d UNP rule has ggestion that there ence of opinion as to eventually
who its Presidential Candidate should be -- Whether mother Or daughter -- will also weaken the opposition from taking full advantage of the verdict of the South. While the fact that academics like G.L. Peiris who have decided to Cast their lot with the SLFP and technoCrats like former GCEC boss Lakshman Watawala awaiting the call to service, may strengthen the SLFP in the skills department and also have a salutory effect On the upper middle class voter, that both these individuals as Well as a number of others like Lal Jayewardene who are Currently guiding the leaders of the opposition have until recently been singing the praises of President Premadasa and been party to J.R. Jayewardene's misrule of the nation, is a disturbing thought.
Reconciling the interests of the elitist Bourgois' classes with the
aspirations of the lower classes
while at the same time Cutting through racial and caste barriers is no doubt a major challenge faced by all politicians particularly in the third world. Until recently, the UNP managed to Create the perception among the people that it was capable of straddling this hurdle, by attracting and permitting the likes of Ranasinghe Premadasa to rise
to the very top. Further,
permitting greater Soeial mobility through the adoption of an open economic policy even before the term became SOIt of a
panacea in development also made it possible for the UNP to command unquestioned Support among the marginalized sections of Society. In contrast, the Opposition despite its slogan of a 'balanced economy has shown no such capability and the
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35

Page 38
a snate emphasis it has been giving in its Critique of the present regime to the people in the South and to the businessmen who gathered at the Taj, leaves one with the impression that it is trying to run with the hare while hunting With the hound. The task before the SLFP and its allies is to reconcile these interests and to comeup with
Ar, Wickrema Weerasurva
a COInprehensive policy package that takes care of all Sections.
În Contrast to the Opposition, the verdict of the people of the South appears to have helped the ruling UNP in diagnosing its problems. But as to whether the medication prescribed is the correct one, and even if it is, whether it is too little tOOlate Iemains the pOSer.
The UNP's multi-pronged strategy for winning back the people has several strands. But Wijetunga's benevolent May Day bonanza followed by other price reductions and concessions to the lower and middle classes is unlikely to fool anybody, in a country where people are all too familiar with the tricks and gimmicks adopted by politicians of all hues seeking to COme to Orhang on to power.
Toning down his 'anti-minority rhetoric and trying to kiss and make
up with Thondama a few minority vote can decisively altei arithmetic the UNP Counted on in Wins doubtful. Further, t the President seeks through the much down on Crime anc naturally raise eye. impress nobody an Some party Support the Crucial role the has played. The UN miss them in the fo
Srsena
hustings. Alternati
Can also persuade
party to return all )
unlawfully acquirec lives taken during in governance, he President but hes the history books. However, them 'medication' on th preSCIiption appea reshuffling of the Context Sirisena C have been an easy stripping him, Wij making a pre-emp his detractOIS Wit is also appeasing family whom he w
Count
36
 
 

Politics
might reverse but whether it the electoral has traditionally ng elections is Le puritan image to Cultivate ublicized Crackvice will IOWS but will
in fact depress ers Who know "Siri kOtha' mafia P will surely thCOming
Cooray
vely, if Wijetunga all those in his monies they
and resurrect all ihe UNP's period may not become
rely will enter
ost significant
UNP S to be the
ack. In that }oray seems to 'scapegoat'. By tunga is not Only ive strike against in the party, he he Premadasa ants to win over
desperately, While at the same time pitting the heirs to the 'Premadasa legacy" one against the other. While the new appointments of Dr. Gamini Wijesekera as SecretaryGeneral of the UNP, Sarath Amunugama as CEO at Lake House and Dr. WikCIema Weerasuriya as Secretary in his old haunt' cannot be questioned in terms of capability, they Surely can in terms of timing.
The bottom line the people of this country will have to ask themselves come election time is whether they
can trust a party which has been in
power continually through 3 different Presidents and administrations, just because it tactically acknowledges that it has done wrong and pretends to telescope into less than 170 days, What it should have in any case
ADr. Sarath Amunugama
been doing over the past 17 years. At the same time, unless the Opposition comes clear On its policies as to how it intends to redeem this land from the Curses of
these long years of "Dharmista' rule
and can truly prove that it is different, they too will have to be judged on their past record, that of promising rice from the moon and leaving the poor starving.
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April-May 1994

Page 39
Uiew yucat bes
en Sunil Situnayake first told me he was planning to produce a talk show, I was intrigued but pessimistic. People are still afraid, I said, you'll never get them to come out into the open and speak their minds. The paranoid shadow hangs over us yet. A talk show, in which a group of well-known figures from widely differing backgrounds comes together in public to debate controversial subjects on which they all hold different and often Conflicting views, is a profoundly democratic entertainment. We Sri Lankans seem to prefer more tyrannous sports. And besides, I said, you'll never get it. On television.
"Oh, that's all right," said Mr. Situnayake. "I'm planning to hold it live.' I told him he was crazy. The premiere of Platform, held at the BMICH on 4 March and hosted by Mr. Manik Sandrasagara, proved me Wrong. Times, it seemed, had changed: people were brave enough to appear On the show and speak their minds. Not only that, but the audience itself was a Willing participant in the debate. Towards the end of the show, when Contributions from the house were solicited, the problem was not how to encourage people to get up and speak, but how to make them sit down again when their time was ԱՕ.
It looks, then, as if the talk-show Concept does have a future in Sri Länka. Platform has ShOWIn the
April-May 1994
Richar
way. What a pity the premiere and (held at the Lione on 20 April) were produced and SO hosted.
Teething troub expected with Su venture. The aud BMICH on 4 Mar to be sympatheti for teething troub Some of these -- furnished set, the microphones -- in mentioned in pas truly unpleasant production was t provided by two floods which spill white glare all ov and threw ugly sl Stage.
The performanc COIrect tenn, Was The topic selecte discussion was "W information?" The Maya Sittampalar information techn. Dr. Arjuna Parakr
academic, Mr. M.
Senior journalist, Amunugama, a p spread of professi to Cover the brea and did SO rather fact, that When t actually got dowI matter, they were
On What SQrt of ir حجمجم ... ۔
 

Arts
w ke Platout
Simon
then, that both the Second show Wendt Theatre so indifferently inCOmpetently
les were to be ch an innovative ience at the h was dispOSed c. Good thing, too, les there were. the bizarrely
big floor-standing eed only be sing. The only aspect of the he lighting, gigantic barrel ed a blinding, er the audience hadows on to the
2e, if that is the : another matter. i for the evening's Who controls
guleStS Were DI. n Rainford, an - ology Specialist, ama, a literary ervyn de Silva, a and Dr. Sarath olitician. The OnS WaS intended ith of the topic, Well, so well, in le participants
tO discussing the "
unable to agree formation was
being Controlled, never mind who was Controlling it.
Mr. Sandrasagara wasn't much help. Rather than bringing the discussion to a focus as a good talk-show host should, he let his guests amble at leisule till Uuga the dense thickets of their own memories, dreams and reflections till everyone was hopelessly lost. He began the show with a long prefaratory speech, then invited each of the guests to introduce themselves at equal and unnecessary length, SO that the proceedings much more resembled a formal Seminar than they did a. talk-show. Anyone who has
watched a good chat-show on TV
(as we all have, by now, thanks to our Wonderful new media options, Godbless them) knows that the way tọ hold an audience's interest is to give each guest no more than a minute to introduce their initial position, Cutting in as Soon as Something they say provides an Opportunity for the host to pass the Conversational ball on to the next participant. Instead of this, we were treated to five tedious speeches, more than an hour's Worth it seemed, before any actual discussion Commenced.
But as soon as the guests began talking to each other rather than pontificating at the audience, things began to liven up. DI. Parakrama, in particular, gave fine value for money: his contributions to the debate were short, pithy, Controversial and frequently hilarious, and his dissection of the
37

Page 40
* - piring Dr. Amunugama was everything One could ask for from a good chat-show. Dr. Sittampalam made perhaps the only intellectual Contribution to the debate worth recording: according to her, advanced information technology will soon impose democracy on the world as a kind of Side-effect. When everyone has a Computer, a Fax modem, video imaging equipment and a satellite feed, she said, the
ich and powerful will no longer be able to control what we see and hear through the media. And since free exchange of information (or, if you prefer, free speech) is the lifeblood of democracy, the spread of information technology adunbrates the universal triumph of democracy. The idea is not original to Dr. Sittampalam, but it is the first time I have heard it publicly expressed in Sri Lanka. Perhaps that is because, to the average Sri Lankan, all this wonderful technology is still very much the preserve of the rich and powerful, who use it to Consolidate their grip on Society without the Smallest pang of Conscience; nevertheless, Dr. Sittampalam gave us a vision of a future WOrth having, even if it never COInes true. I am also indebted to her for the only quotable remark made Onstage at either this or the Subsequent show. Government," she said with heat, "is an antiquated Concept.' Hear, hea.
The other tWO participants were a disappointment. Dr. Sarath Amunugana appears to have perfected the art of speaking at length, often quite passionately, without saying anything at all substantial. As for Mr. Mervyn de
Silva, who so bravely carried the
torch of intelligeht journalism in English through the night of oppression and ignorance, I should like to be able to pay him compliments, but honesty Compels me to admit that I found him rather dull. s:
Eventually, Mr. Sandrasagara turned the discussion Over to the house, and it was the audience's
turn to make spee Fonseka shared sc experiences as a S lover of freedom til room for his love i abhorred her; Mr. POnnambalam alS( speech, of which
Perhap because average S. all this u technolo very m preserve
and poue tuse it to c their grip uvithout th pang afc
neverthe Sittampala a vision a uworth ha
ifit neve
lo
himsaimnimminimimmuna
forget the Substan two stock Outrage to let off steam. Fi Chanmugammad up, Cutting out Mi work for hin, SOt was that.
Later, I asked M
why he had been
uncharacteristical replied that he ha be quiet and let hi talking. Fair enoug hosting then in hi but that is not wh about. Every othel to after the show speechifying had
andboring, that t
Count
38

ches. MI. Gamini me of his !elf-professed yiIng tO make In Company that Kumar ) made a bit of a 'm Sorry to say I
that is , to the Pri Lankan, 'onderful gy is still uch the of the rich rful, uvho onsolidate on society e smallest отsciетсе; less, Dr. um gave us fa future ying, evem 2 CO2S
le,
Ce; and One Or 2d Citizens got up nally Mr. Mano e a fine Summing... Sandrasagara's O Speak, and that
fr. Sandrasagara SO ly reserved. He d felt obliged to is guests do the gh, had he been is drawing-IOOm; at a talk-show is person I spoke agreed that the been oppressive he subsequent
discussion had been fun but haphazard and inconclusive, and that the whole thing would have benefited from a stronger hand on the tiller.
I know for a fact that host and producer were both well aware of these Criticisms, yet the second edition of Platform repeated many of the eIIOIS of the first. This time the topic was "How to end the war -- possibly the most important question animating Our SOCiety today. The guests were Mr. Mangala Samaraweera of the SLFP, Mr. Kumar Ponnambalan, Mr. Gamini Fonseka, Brigadier Ranjan de Silva, Mr. M.H.M. Ashraf of the SLMC, and Mr. Wauna Karunatilake, who edits this magazine.
The topic was formulated precisely enough, though in his introductory speech Mr. Sandrasagara attempted to widen the scope to include the fight against narcotics, the battle against poverty, etc. Fortunately, no-one took him up on this, and discussion was confined to the war (the One in the 'north and east', in case anyone needs reminding). Once again we sat through several endless "introductory' speeches. The only interesting One Was Mr. Samaraweera's, because he used his time to explain the SLFP's stance on the issue in greater detail than I had ever heard before. For the rest, nothing new was said. Most of the guests were concerned with reiterating the causes of the war rather than discussing hoW to stop it, Mr. Karunatilake attempted to bring things back to the point, but his inexperience as a public SpeakeI went against him, and he Could not make himself heard. Each guest amplified at length the Opinions and positions aSSOciated with them, with which every intelligent Sri Lankan is already familiar to the point of nausea. The time spent in actual discussion (in other words, the talk-show proper) was reduced almost to nothing. The whole exchange was so pointless and boring that at one point I got
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April-May 1994

Page 41
up and walked out, though Conscience recalled me to my duty . before I was halfway down the foyer of the Lionel Wendt.
After I returned, the discussion was thrown open to the house. Chaos ensued. This, after all, was a not topic: everyone had an opinion and they all wanted to air it. At first the production Crew attempted to control the discussion by handing a nicrophone around the audience (if you had the mike, you had the floor), but all too Soon people were belowing at each other any old hOW, mike Or no mike, host, guests and audience all together, and the quality of mutual insult was rapidly deteriorating. Some of the belowers were folk prominent in SOciety, business, and the media; I shall spare them the shame of personal identification, for it was a truly ugly scene. I walked out again, and this time I did not return.
In a letter to the Ceylon Daily News of 29 April, one Ken Alex asks, apropos the second Platform, how can we find a way to end the war when a discussion on the topic ends as a noisy exercise of (sic) futility?" Good question. But Mr. Alex is forgetting something very important. We weren't at the Lionel Wendt that night to find a way to stop the war, any more than we went to the BMICH last March to learn who Controls the media. We went to be entertained, and we paid a hundred rupees perhead for the pleasure. What we hoped to see, I think, was a group of important people responding to difficult questions on an issue of national interest -- without the benefit of speechwriters, censors, videotape editors and the other defences behind which important people usually hide. Chat shows are only peripherally about issues; the focus of interest is actually the person, not the issue. We wanted to see those folk put one another on the spot, with a little help from Mr. Sandrasagara. We hoped to see then reveal a bit more about themselves and their true
motivations. And I entertainment''S Sal people are, in their capacities, represe servants of the pec me) and we have a them betteI than tl Well, we didn't get
i Whatue ho I think, was importan responding questions o of national without the speechu censors, v editors and defences bel importan
usually hi shows a
periphera, issues; the
iniejest is a
persoт, тоt
Platform.
All We got, in the hundred people arg to stop the war. W. to another point: a I have pointed out, the views and pers public figures. Aud participation, there in it. Ken Alex app Chacuna SOn gOut of thing is to his ta more appropriate V indulging it.
Credit where Cre spite of my Carping that Sunil Situnaya through Platform, Can Work in Sri Lar
April-May 1994
Соитte

ot just for ke, either: these VariOuS ntatives and ple (i.e. you and
right to know hey want us to.
any of that from
L
Dedio see, a group of tpeople to difficult r an issue interest - benefit of riters, ideotape
the other ind which tpeople de, Chat re only
lly about focus of ctually the
the issue,
2 end, was six suing about hoW nich brings me Chat show is, as an insight into
AS
even help us get a little more confortable with the idea of free expression for everybody. He has broken new ground (I do not count the sycophantic fanragoes slopping about on the state-controlled media as proper talk shows), and he deserves to be Congratulated.
However, Platform in its present form will not Work, except as a monthly SCreaming-match enjoyed by a few hundred vociferous people, completely irrelevant to the rest of us. If a talk-show is to make any himpact at all, it has to go On the media -- preferably On television.
And before this happens, Platform has got to clean up its act drastically, The thing has to be produced as a show, not as a Cross between St. John's fish market on a busy morning and a seminar Conducted by some obscure NGO. Above all, the host -- Manik -- has to function better as a moderatOI.
This means applying a clear and analytical mind to the issues beforehand. It means finding out Where One's guests stand -- what they can be expected to say and why. It means formulating strategies to promote Controversy and self-revelation among them, and then applying those strategies intelligently. It means planning the show in such a way that it cannot be hijacked by the guests. It means remaining attentive and responsive throughout the performance, butting in tactfully but decisively whenever intervention is required.
Last, but not least, it means staying uninvolved, and keeping your head. AGV
Onalities of Like the small boy in the fairy ience tale who made everyone see that fore, has no part the Emperor was naked, the 2ars to disagree. function of a good talk-show host is
but if this sort to strip away the illusory robes of Ste there are ambition, self-importance and enues fOI flattery, enabling us to recognize
these superior beings as flesh-anddit is due. In blood mortals like ourselves. It is a , I cannot deny role for which Mr. Sandrasagara ce has shown us, would seem ideally suited, but hen that talk-shows have to work a lot harder if he ka, and could neans to Succeed at it.
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orpಿತ್ರ: April-May 1994

Page 43
THE BENEFITS
GNORANG
The trigger was pressed and the bullet spun Out The man leaning through the window doubled O' Sound.
The trigger was pressed a second time. The bull the air, puncturing the Water-carrier's goatskin. He f blood, mixing with the Water, began to flow across t The trigger was pressed a third time. The bullet itself into a mud Wall.
The fourth felled an Old WOman. She did not eve The fifth and sixth were wasted. Nobody got kille WOunded.
The marksman looked frustrated, when suddenl appeared on the road. He raised his gun and took a "What are you doing?" his Companion asked. "Why?" "You are Out of bullets." "You keep quiet. What does a little child know?"
PRECAUTIONA ARRANGEME
The first incident took place in front of the small Corner. A sentry was immediately put on duty there. The second incident happened the next evening local general store. The sentry was moved to the sit OCCUrresCe,
The third incident took place at midnight just inf The sentry was Ordered to stand guard at the mt post me where the next incident is going to take pla
Saadat Hasan Manto
(translated from the Urdu by K
Cou,

Last Words
OF
ill-temperedly. "er without making a
et Swished through ell on his face and his he road. missed, embedding
TSC'ea. d and nobody got
la running child im.
RY
NT
YOtel in the Street
not too far from the e of the new
Ont of the laundry. rder spot."Can you ce, Sir" he asked.
halid Hasan)
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