Namal Rajapaksa

Calm in Sri Lanka as President, Premier To Quit Over Economic Collapse

Thousands had descended on Colombo demanding Rajapaksa resign after months of mismanaging the crisis, a dramatic escalation of largely peaceful anti-government protests on the island.

Colombo: Calm returned to the streets of Sri Lanka’s commercial capital Colombo on Sunday and protesters were jubilant as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa agreed to resign after his house was stormed amid outrage over the South Asia nation’s collapsing economy. Soon after, five cabinet ministers too reportedly resigned.

Protesters, many wrapped in the Sri Lanka flag, swarmed into his whitewashed colonial-era residence on Saturday, jumped into the swimming pool and sat on a four-poster bed. Others set fire to the private home of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who also agreed to resign to make way for an all-party government.

Rajapaksa, a hero of the quarter-century civil war against Tamil rebels, plans to resign on Wednesday, the parliament speaker said.

Thousands had descended on the seaside city demanding Rajapaksa resign after months of mismanaging the crisis, a dramatic escalation of largely peaceful anti-government protests on the island.

On Sunday protesters were still milling about in the president’s residence, parts of which had been smashed.

Some took selfies of the polished interiors, a striking contrast to the misery many have endured. The nation of 22 million people is short of food and fuel, and inflation hit a record 54.6% in June.

Sri Lanka’s economic crisis developed after the COVID-19 pandemic hammered the tourism-reliant economy and slashed remittances from overseas workers.

It has been compounded by large and growing government debt, rising oil prices and a ban on importing chemical fertilisers last year that devastated agriculture. The fertiliser ban was reversed in November.

Rajapaksa’s “decision to step down on 13 July was taken to ensure a peaceful handover of power,” Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said in a video statement on Saturday. “I therefore request the public to respect the law and maintain peace.”

Wickremesinghe, a six-time premier also seen as part of an uncaring ruling elite, agreed to step down, his office said. Local news channels showed a huge fire and smoke coming from his home in an affluent Colombo suburb.

Also read: As Gotabaya Flees, Sri Lanka Finally Closes the Rajapaksa Chapter

Neither Rajapaksa nor Wickremesinghe were in their residences when the buildings were attacked.

Rajapaksa had left on Friday as a precaution before the planned demonstration, two defence ministry sources said. Reuters could not immediately confirm his whereabouts.

Details of a transition of power were not yet clear. The speaker had outlined proposals from a meeting of political parties on Saturday that would include parliament picking an acting president within a week.

The International Monetary Fund, which has been in talks with the Sri Lankan government for a possible $3 billion bailout, said on Sunday it was monitoring the situation closely.

“We hope for a resolution of the current situation that will allow for resumption of our dialogue on an IMF-supported program,” the global lender said in a statement.

It said it was deeply concerned about the impact of the economic crisis on the people.

(Reuters)

As Gotabaya Flees, Sri Lanka Finally Closes the Rajapaksa Chapter

How the Sri Lankan president lost a golden opportunity to exit in peace and with dignity.

If only Gotabaya Rajapaksa had understood the pulse of his people, the Sri Lankan president would not have had to flee his house the way he did in Colombo.

This is the tragedy around the world, with dictators who think – even as they start to sink – that they can manipulate events and personalities to remain in power, ignoring the shrill calls for their ouster.

If Gotabaya had not presided over the seemingly impossible military destruction of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009, it is doubtful if he would have earned a safe passage on July 9 courtesy the Sri Lanka Navy.

Sri Lanka’s former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Photo: Andy Buchanan/Pool via Reuters

When the president forced his elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa to resign as prime minister after nationwide violence on May 9 and dropped from the government his other equally wily sibling Basil Rajapaksa, he assumed he would now be able to somehow surmount the anger on the streets.

In all probability, the entire Rajapaksa clan thought on those lines. As Mahinda took shelter in a military camp in the eastern town of Trincomalee after quitting as PM, his son Namal Rajapaksa had the gumption to say that what had happened to his father was only “a bad patch”.

Also read: Sri Lankan PM Wickremesinghe to Step Down, Make Way for All-Party Government

The Rajapaksas, Namal insisted, had no intention of fleeing the country.

But as tens of thousands of determined and angry protesters marched in Colombo on the morning of July 9 after pouring into the capital from all over the country, Gotabaya had no choice but to take the same hurried exit as his elder brother – shelter in the arms of the military. The entire security and military establishment could not save the President’s ultimate humiliation.

One wonders what could have happened to Gotabaya had he remained in the President’s House when the frenzied crowds defied tear gas, gunfire and multiple security barricades to storm his official citadel. It was good for him that he had vacated the plush residence which in no time became “public property” – from the tastefully-decorated rooms to the well-stocked kitchen, from the private gym to the swimming pool.

The mass uprising to oust a president who had defiantly declared that he will not quit could have been avoided had Gotabaya heeded repeated warnings from friends and foes and bowed out of office in a dignified manner.

After all, as Sri Lankans began to get impoverished because of an unprecedented economic meltdown, with even essential commodities like food, fuel and medicines disappearing or becoming too costly for most people to afford, the anger across the country steadily mounted.

Not only the opposition parties but even religious figures (Buddhists and Christians in particular) and leaders of the civil society and professional groupings began to pester the President to resign along with his handpicked prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who came in after Mahinda quit.

The Sri Lankan media more or less faithfully echoed people’s sentiments.

Even before Mahinda stepped down, I had commented in The Wire on April 5:

“Gotabaya has lost the moral right to rule Sri Lanka. The thousands who take to the streets almost daily across the country of 22 million are united in their demand: this government has to go, Gotabaya must exit… Cosmetic changes are not going to change the mood on the Sri Lankan street. Gotabaya may or may not be the only reason for Sri Lanka’s worst economic meltdown but he cannot evade responsibility. The opposition or even an all-party government may not provide immediate solutions to the crisis. But once you lose the moral right to rule, it is best to quit, on your own. Gotabaya must do that. He will never be able to win Sri Lankan hearts again.”

Also read: For Sri Lanka’s Sake, Gotabaya Rajapaksa Must Resign

Gotabaya did lie low for a while but suddenly bounced back as if he was confident of restoring the fiscal health of a country battered by huge foreign debts and a bankrupt economy. After a brief honeymoon, the president and the prime minister began to hold meetings with officials separately, adding to the confusion and mess.

Much to the chagrin of the man on the street, Gotabaya added fuel to the fire by becoming pro-active on the diplomatic front, meeting top diplomats and even telephoning Russian president Vladimir Putin, while his clueless foreign minister flew from one country to another seeking bailouts for Sri Lanka.

The president was under pressure to go so that an all-party government could take over for at least a year to let the international community know that any aid given to prop up Sri Lanka would not end up enriching the Rajapaksas or their coterie.

Just days before the momentous events of July 9, Gotabaya almost set Parliament ablaze by making a sudden appearance in the House, sparking noisy protests by opposition MPs. The president was cleverly trying to rehabilitate himself politically so that he himself could preside over a pliant all-party government.

The tragedy with the Rajapaksas is that they killed innocent Tamils just because they wanted to crush the LTTE come what may; then, with the military victory going into their head, they ruled Sri Lanka as if it was a personal fiefdom.

Corruption, never a stranger to Sri Lanka, became a way of life. The Rajapaksas spent millions of dollars on productive projects even as the economy began to take one blow after another. With large sections of the military beholden to them for letting the army defeat the LTTE, the Rajapaksas assumed that they were secure forever.

Clearly, they had not read contemporary history very well.

M.R. Narayan Swamy is a veteran journalist.

Sri Lanka Elections: Rajapaksa, 44 Ex-MPs Defect From Party Led by Sirisena

The move comes barely two weeks after President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Ranil Wickremesinghe and appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa as the prime minister.

Colombo: Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and 44 former lawmakers defected from the party led by President Maithripala Sirisena, barely two weeks after the latter installed Rajapaksa in office.

Sirisena had on Friday night dissolved the parliament, calling general election for January 5 in a move that has drawn international criticism as it is likely to deepen the country’s political crisis.

An intense power struggle has erupted in Sri Lanka in the past two weeks following Sirisena’s sudden sacking of prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and subsequent appointment of former leader Rajapaksa, a pro-China strongman, in his place.

Rajapaksa and 44 former lawmakers of the Sirisena-led centre-left Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) on Sunday joined Sri Lanka Podujana Peremuna (SLPP), a party formed in 2016 by Rajapaksa’s younger brother Basil, a former economy minister.

Also read: The Second Coming of Sri Lanka’s Mahinda Rajapaksa

An SLPP source said 65 out of 82 former SLFP MPs will eventually join the new party.

Namal Rajapaksa, an ex-lawmaker and son of Rajapaksa, said the SLFP’s policies had not been pursued by Sirisena in the coalition government with the Wickremesinghe-led centre-right United National Party (UNP).

“We all decided that this is the right time to join the SLPP,” he told Reuters.

The SLPP recorded a landslide victory in local polls in February after Rajapaksa backed it. He did that while remaining in the SLFP.

Sirisena’s allies have told Reuters that he wants a SLFP-led government. However, the defections will weaken Sirisena’s more than seven-decade-old party, they say.

Rohana Piyadaya, the SLFP secretary general declined to comment on the defections.

Sirisena’s move to sack the parliament has drawn international criticism.

Also read: Explained: The Constitutional Crisis in Sri Lanka

Farhan Haq, the spokesman for United Nations secretary general António Guterres, said in a statement that Guterres has underlined the utmost importance of respecting democratic processes and institutions and resolving differences in accordance with the rule of law and due process.

“He renews his call on the government to ensure peace and safety for all Sri Lankans and uphold its commitments to human rights, justice and reconciliation,” the spokesman said.

Sirisena previously defected from the SLFP, then led by Rajapaksa, in 2014 to join an opposition coalition that ousted the latter.

Later Sirisena rejoined the SLFP, took over its leadership and formed a national government with Wickremesinghe’s party.

However, a rift developed over policy towards China and India – Wickremesinghe has favored Indian investment as a counter to Chinese inroads in Sri Lankan infrastructure projects – and over Sirisena’s intention to contest the 2020 presidential election under Wickremesinghe’s party.

(Reuters)

Sri Lanka: Sirisena Stares at Impending Exodus as Rajapaksa’s Son Quits Party

His bargaining power in the remaining months as President is going to weaken, dwindling his opportunity to run for presidency as a common candidate in an SLFP-SLPP electoral alliance.

Colombo: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena’s decision to dissolve the parliament on November 9 as a solution to a bourgeoning political crisis seems to be having the reverse effect. At least three political parties are now determined to challenge the dissolution in court in the coming week while Sirisena’s own party members have begun defecting to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), a new political party headed by former minister and Rajapaksa loyalist, Professor G.L. Peiris.

Leading the way, parliamentarian and Rajapaksa’s son Namal Rajapaksa obtained SLPP membership on November 10. “We will strive to create a broader coalition with many stakeholders under the leadership of Maithripala Sirisena & Mahinda Rajapaksa to face the upcoming general election and come out victorious,” Namal Rajapaksa said in Twitter post.

Namal Rajapaksa.

Immediately, there were at least two other responses from young SLFP members, Kanchana Wijesekera and Shehan Semasinghe, indicating their decision to join the SLPP, a trend that is expected to grow during the period of nominations.

Meanwhile, the news website economynext.com and several others claimed that Mahinda Rajapaksa too has renounced his SLFP membership in favour of the SLPP. Sirisena’s prime ministerial appointee is now garnering support from all parties to cobble a broad coalition to face the forthcoming general election while his very appointment is expected to be challenged in court this week.

Also read: Srisena’s Assaults on Democracy Make a Mockery of Parliamentary System

Until now, Rajapaksa, a former SLFP leader and then patron, has not severed his official link with the currently Sirisena-led SLFP.

SLPP emerged the strongest political party in the local elections held in February, pushing Wickremsinghe’s UNP to the second and the Sirisena-led SLFP to the third place.

However, observers claim that the new move by Rajapaksa loyalists is not only calculated to secure electoral victory but is also aimed at further reducing the SLFP’s footprint in Sri Lankan electoral politics. Besides, it will also weaken Sirisena’s bargaining power in the remaining months as President, dwindling his opportunity to run for presidency as a common candidate in an SLFP-SLPP electoral alliance.

But all is not well within the Rajapaksa camp. While his appointment has been a source of joy to sections of the populace, international community has responded either negatively or passively to the October 26 appointment.

Only the Chinese and the Pakistani envoys paid courtesy calls on the former president after being appointed Prime Minister.

The United Nations, the European Union and the United States have expressed serious concern over the turn of events in Sri Lanka and have called for adherence to democratic norms and respect for constitutional rule.

Also read: The Political is Personal: An Essay in Despair from Sri Lanka

Sources confirmed that the Sri Lankan foreign ministry has not received a single congratulatory message from any country over the appointment of Rajapaksa to date, an indication that the world is not eager to endorse Sirisena’s style of replacing a serving prime minister.

Meanwhile, three political parties intend to challenge the dissolution of parliament as a violation of the constitution.

Leading the campaign is the UNP’s frontliner and former finance and media minister Mangala Samaraweera, who claimed the dissolution was an undemocratic act “to suit political ambitions of a few.”

The United National Party, the northern-based Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) will challenge the dissolution, what Samaraweera termed as “tyranny” and “hitting the constitution in its teeth.”

The basis for challenging, Samaraweera said, lies in the 19th Amendment to the constitution, signed off by President Sirisena himself in the afterglow of presidential victory in 2015, which stipulates that a dissolution can take place upon completing four-and-a-half years. The November 9 dissolution comes one-and-a-half years ahead of schedule.

Samaraweera insists that since the House was dissolved while one party had a working majority, the dissolution is mala fide and undemocratic. “The election was announced to deny the party with a working majority to continue in government,” he said.

Speaking to The Wire, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kuamar Dissanayake said the announcement of a snap poll is unacceptable primarily because it violates the 19th Amendment to the constitution and second, if the desired result is not achieved, there is the threat of the president taking further undemocratic steps, causing extensive political instability.

“This is a reaction poll, not a democratic call for elections,” said Dissanayake.

The dissolution seems to have deepened the political crisis that was triggered by Sirisena’a replacing of Ranil Wickremesinghe with former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, rather than abate it.

Sri Lanka’s ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe arrives at a news conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka October 27, 2018. Credit: Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte

The ousted Wickremesinghe continues to occupy Temple Trees, the prime minister’s official residence, while the caretaker prime minister of Sirisena’s choice, Rajapaksa, operates from the prime minister’s office in Colombo.

When called by the UNP and speaker Karu Jayasuriya to face the floor test allowing Wickremesinghe or Rajapaksa to effectively demonstrate their majority, Sirisena announced a snap general election when it became clear that his side could not garner the 113 members needed.

However, even as the Gazette extraordinaire 2096/70 of November 9, 2018 was being dispatched for printing at the government’s printer, an undeterred Sirisena swore in three more Cabinet ministers.

Dilrukshi Handunnetti is a Colombo-based journalist and lawyer.

Ex-Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa’s Brother Arrested Over Suspicions of Financial Crime

Basil Rajapaksa has been arrested over allegations of misappropriation of state funds during his tenure as economic development minister.

Minister of economic development and President Mahinda Rajapaksa's brother, Basil Rajapaksa, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Colombo, April 10, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte

Minister of economic development and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother, Basil Rajapaksa, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Colombo, April 10, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte

Colombo: Sri Lankan financial crime police arrested on Monday a brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa for a third time over suspicion of state fund misappropriation when he was economic development minister, a lawyer said.

Rajapaksa’s younger brother, Basil, is on bail after being arrested twice for alleged misappropriation of state funds and a land deal allegedly involving money laundering. Court hearings into the two cases are going on.

Sri Lanka’s new president, Maithripala Sirisena, faces pressure to act on allegations of corruption dating back to the Rajapaksa era, especially from civil society organisations who backed his successful bid to oust Rajapaksa last year.

Rajapaksa, who was president for a decade until January 2015 and is now an opposition legislator, is popular among many ethnic majority Sinhala Buddhists who credit him with ending a 26-year war against ethnic Tamil rebels in 2009. He is trying to rally opposition to the current government with the help of Basil.

Basil Rajapaksa’s lawyer, Jayantha Weerasinghe, told Reuters police had taken his client to court regarding the supply of building materials to district councils when he was a minister.

“There is nothing illegal and it is an utterly false allegation,” Weerasinghe said.

Neither Basil Rajapaksa nor his family members were immediately available for comment.

Several members of the Rajapaksa family are facing police investigations for alleged financial crimes. They include Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brothers Basil and Gotabaya.

Mahinda Rajapaksa’s eldest son, Namal Rajapaksa, who is also a member of parliament, was released by a court on bail on Monday, media reported.

He was arrested on July 11 for suspected misappropriation of funds in a high-end apartment project.

Namal Rajapaksa denies wrongdoing as do his father and other relatives facing investigations.