{"id":134716,"date":"2014-12-12T00:35:08","date_gmt":"2014-12-11T19:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=134716"},"modified":"2014-12-16T00:55:39","modified_gmt":"2014-12-15T19:25:39","slug":"sirisena-sinking-in-corrupt-deals-of-unp-and-chandrika","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/sirisena-sinking-in-corrupt-deals-of-unp-and-chandrika\/","title":{"rendered":"Sirisena Sinking In Corrupt Deals Of UNP And Chandrika"},"content":{"rendered":"

By H. L. D. Mahindapala<\/span><\/a> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"H.<\/a>

H. L. D. Mahindapala<\/p><\/div>\n

Though there are several peripheral issues the main issue, whipped up by the Opposition, is to change the presidential system and revert to the parliamentary system. This is another of way of the Opposition saying: Get rid of the Rajapaksas. But changing of the constitution, in itself,\u00a0 is a non-issue. It\u00a0 has failed\u00a0 to cut much ice with the voters so far. Ultimately the election will\u00a0 boil down to a contest of personalities, I think,\u00a0 between President Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/span><\/a> and Maithripala Sirisena<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

As for the election itself, it lacks the fire and passion of major issues stirring the political pot. So far it has been rather a tame event, other than, of course, the musical chairs played mainly by Chandrika Kumaratunga<\/span><\/a> who is hoping to sit in a chair of\u00a0 her own as the power behind the throne, if and when the opportunity arises.<\/p>\n

On the issue of personalities Sirisena\u2019s election campaign so far has been focused on projecting his image on three main bases: First, as a man with a clean and incorruptible record. Second,\u00a0 he claims to be a man who came from the \u201c al-lay, (channels) vel-lay (paddy fields) and pal-lay\u201d (huts) man\u00a0 – meaning a rather simple man though the\u00a0 rustic image he proposes\u00a0 to project is somewhat misleading because his brother Dudley has amassed a fortune of Rs. 3 billion and counting.\u00a0 Third, he\u00a0 is claiming the Bandaranaike legacy with Chandrika Kumaratunga sitting next to him, which seems to be his tactic\u00a0 of wooing and\u00a0 winning\u00a0 the SLFP vote.<\/p>\n

\"Ranil<\/a>Take for instance, his claim to be a clean man, which is his main political plank. If he is really averse to corruption, and if he is the clean man he claims to be, how come his campaign is handled mainly by the most corrupt political woman\u00a0 of our time,\u00a0 Chandrika Kumaratunga. This is not what I say. This\u00a0 is what her best friend and political supporter, Victor Ivan<\/span><\/a>, Editor of the RAVAYA, said in print. What he wrote about her in his book titled Queen of Deceit<\/span><\/a> is sensational.<\/p>\n

He says, and I quote:\u00a0 \u201cPresident Chandrika Kumaratunga. has been the most corrupt and inefficient of all the corrupt and inefficient politicians who have come to power since Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948.\u201d Now everyone will agree that this is a damning statement that should\u00a0 have made her hide from the public for the rest of her life. Like Hamlet\u2019s Ophelia she should have gone into a nunnery. But not Chandrika Kumaratunga. The reason is also explained in a way by Victor\u00a0 Ivan.. He says and I quote : \u201cTo her lying was a gift from the gods, granted to her to make her life easy. She was not afraid to lie, not even in the official bio-data presented as President of Sri Lanka. \u201d says Ivan.<\/p>\n

He goes on to say:\u201c She let it be known that she had a degree in law from one university, a degree in political science and economics from a Paris University and was qualified to read for a doctorate. While she had not even passed her AL Exam she proudly proclaimed to a forum of medical associations that although she earned sufficient grades to enter Medical College, she did not make use of that opportunity because she was not interested in becoming a doctor.\u201d \u2013 p. 67.<\/p>\n

Victor Ivan also quotes her late husband Vijaya Kumaratunga<\/span><\/a> who had told him to leave her alone as Victor was pushing her to provide her certificates. She was running upstairs to escape Victor. Then Vijaya explained to Victor that \u201cshe felt the need to pose as an educated person though she did not even possess the qualification to sit for Law College. (p. 68)<\/p>\n

As far I know, the only qualification she can claim, mainly because of her wide experience, is that of a sommelier \u2013 a trained wine taster. This too can be challenged because guzzling wine at Sorbonne does not qualify anyone to be a be an expert in fine wine.<\/p>\n

But what undermines and questions Sirisena\u2019s claim to be an\u00a0 honest man is once again Chandrika Kumaratunga\u2019s unexplained fortune found in safety deposit boxes. Victor Ivan says on p. 42 that Anuruddah Ratwatte, her uncle, told the CID investigating his millions that safety deposit boxes of Chandrika Kumaratunga were in the Suduwella Branch of the Hatton National\u00a0 Bank. To quote his again: \u201cThe vault was not in the name of Chandrika Kumaratunga but in the name of her sister Sunethra<\/span><\/a>. \u2026According to his (that is Ratwatte<\/span><\/a>\u2019s) estimate there was (hold your breath, dear readers!) —\u00a0 Rs. 1.2 billion in these safes. (p.42),<\/p>\n

When Sirisena is dependent, primarily on corrupt Chandrika Kumaratunga, it leads to the inescapable conclusion that birds of a feather flock together. The very close alliance\u00a0 with \u201cthe most corrupt and inefficient of all the corrupt and inefficient politicians who have come to power since Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948\u201d questions the\u00a0 integrity and the honesty of Sirisena who promises to establish a clean administration. Sirisena cannot say that she\u00a0 is Bandaranaike\u2019s daughter and, therefore, she is pure. In fact, Victor Ivan deals with this aspect and says that of all the Bandaranaikes only S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike was pure. This is a damning indictment of Chandrika Bandaranaike who is now directing even the UNP policy from her house near the Parliament, according to Tissa Attanayake.<\/p>\n

Besides, like a general in the army, Sirisena should shoulder total responsibility for what takes place on the main issue of corruption. As they say in law, the leader of the Opposition alliance, like\u00a0 the general in the army, should accept command responsibility. Sirisena in all respects is the general leading his political army to clean up the administration. So can he do that with a the most corrupt woman leading his campaign?<\/p>\n

The corruption talked\u00a0 about\u00a0 is not somewhere way down the line. It is right next to him, sitting next to him and leading his campaign. If\u00a0 he\u00a0 tolerates corruption at that level \u2013 corruption taking place under\u00a0 his very nose — then\u00a0 he loses his claim to be a clean man. His alliance with corrupt Chandrika Kumaratuga is sufficient\u00a0 to prove that he is neck-deep in corruption even before he can take office.<\/p>\n

Even if one\u00a0 accepts\u00a0 that Sirisena is a clean man can anyone seriously believe\u00a0 that he will lift a finger to clean up his stables with corrupt politicians like Chandrika Kumaratunga directing operations in his name. She is not manipulating behind\u00a0 the scenes for nothing. She will demand\u00a0 her pound of flesh and Sirisena has already promised it to her. In fact he announced it to the media saying that she will be given a \u201cdeserving place.\u201d She says openly that her children do not want her to enter politics. So why is Sirisena admitting her\u00a0 through the backdoor? In any case, does the \u201cmost corrupt and inefficient\u201d woman in Sri Lankan politics deserve a place in any respectable place in public services?\u00a0 It is her\u00a0 failure\u00a0 to serve the public with honesty and integrity that makes her the most corrupt of the Bandaranaikes.<\/p>\n

She is\u00a0 not the only corrupt one in his stables. Sirisena\u2019s MOU with the UNP too makes you wonder what\u00a0 his standards are in maintaining\u00a0 the high values of running a clean administration. Being in politics for 37 years Sirisena ought to know\u00a0 that anybody aligned to the UNP\u2019s corrupt and anti-national deals under Ranil Wickremesinghe<\/span><\/a> can never be clean. Sirisena can\u2019t pretend to be ignorant of UNP\u2019s heinous corruption because it is an open secret. For instance, Tissa Attanayake, the former Secretary General of UNP, has confirmed something more than corruption in\u00a0 the UNP. Rejecting\u00a0 the accusation of corruption against him he says in his letter of resignation to his leader, Wickremesinghe: \u201cActually it is Ravi Karunanayake<\/span><\/a> who has obtained money illegally from Raj Rajaratnam, a well-known LTTE supporter from America. Ravi has cases pending against him for violation of foreign exchange regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is a serious\u00a0 issue raised by the one of the most high-ranking\u00a0 UNP insiders. Tissa Attanayake<\/span><\/a> should know\u00a0 at\u00a0 first\u00a0 hand the\u00a0 insider trading because he was until the other day the General Secretary of the UNP. Besides, when he raises the issue of Ravi Karaunayake accepting money from billionaire everyone knows that it has serious consequences to the nation\u2019s future. In short, it spells doom to the nation\u2019s peace, security and territorial integrity. So the Ravi-Rajaratnam deal is more than corruption. This is the conduct of traitor who is taking money from the enemy to sell the nation down\u00a0 the river, like the way Wickremesinghe did with his deal with Prabhakaran<\/span><\/a>. Nothing of this magnitude can take place without Wickremesinghe knowing it.<\/p>\n

What is more, Rajaratnam did not give money to Ravi Karunanayake because he liked\u00a0 his elephantine girth. No. He gave money because he cut a deal with the UNP. What is\u00a0 this deal? What is the UNP going to give Rajaratnam in return for\u00a0 the money? What happened to this money? It is the leader of the UNP, Wickremesinghe, who is answerable to these questions, now that he has pledged with Sirisena to be transparent and accountable.<\/p>\n

Sirisena too owes it to the nation to reveal the inside story of this deal that threatens he security of the nation. Has Sirisena asked any questions about this UNP deal with Rajaratnam? Will Sirisena and Wickremesinghe answer these vital questions ASAP? The nation has a right to know about this $300 million deal. The response to these question will be a credible test of the honesty and integrity of Sirisena \u2013 the man who promises transparency.<\/p>\n

But will Sirisena dare ask the UNP which is supposed to deliver him the votes he needs to win? So how honest is honest Sirisena? It is now quite clear that both Chandrika Kumaratunga and\u00a0 Wickremesinghe sitting on either side of Sirisena have more than one political skeleton hidden in their cupboards. They have to answer many questions regarding the political\/personal deals.<\/p>\n

Despite the crooked past of Chandrika Kumaratunga, Sirisena has gone on record saying that he would give her a \u201cdeserving position\u201d in his government. How can Sirisena claim to be an honest man when one of his key decisions announced even before the election is to give this crooked woman a place in his government? After she lost her last election she juggled and through her French connections got a job in UNICEF as some kind of educationist in South Asia. The public protest against the appointment was spontaneous\u00a0 and strong that UNICEF had to dump her unceremoniously. So if she is not fit to hold a job in the UN how can she be fit hold a job in any clean administration in Sri Lanka?<\/p>\n

Being a party man who was close Chandrika Kumaratunga, \u00a0Sirisena knows her record perhaps as good as, or even better than Victor Ivan. So if he gives her a job \u2013 undoubtedly a top job in payment for political services rendered — what is left of Sirisena\u2019s integrity?\u00a0 He might as well take Kudu Naufer out of jail and appoint him as Minister with responsibilities to oversee drug trafficking.<\/p>\n

The tragedy is that Sirisena has gone too far down the road to elections with these two corrupt leaders to dump them. It is too late now. He is stuck with them and he has to live with them. He can only sweep their corrupt practices under the carpet and pretend\u00a0 that the \u201cMy3-pala-naya\u201d is the cleanest in the\u00a0 world. Of course, remember Sirisena has had enough practice of sweeping his son\u2019s attack on a DIG\u2019s son at the Malu Malu beach under the carpet. There has been no official inquires nor judgment meted out to the guilty criminals.<\/p>\n

So including corrupt Chandrika, Wickremesinghe, Ravi Karunanayake \u2013 all peas from the same rotten pod —\u00a0 would be a piece of cake for honest Sirisena. What is unacceptable in this charade is his claim to occupy the high moral ground. If Sirisena is leaving Rajapakse because of corruption what\u2019s the difference\u00a0 in shacking up with Chandrika Kumaratunga, Ravi Karunanayake\u00a0 and Wickremesinghe? They are not offering Sirisena a pure white paradise of Christs, Buddhas and Mohammeds, are they?<\/p>\n

So the nation is back to square one as far as corruption goes. Sirisena is stuck in the mud. He can\u2019t change the constitution within the time specified by him. He can\u2019t chuck out his corrupt\u00a0 partners. He has already promised a prominent place to the most corrupt woman in his Cabinet. He has already reneged on handing over his \u201cExecutive Powers\u201d to an \u201cExecutive Prime Minister\u201d within 24 hours.<\/p>\n

He is also back peddling as fast as he can. Now he says he will retain the presidency with some critical powers. He now\u00a0 says that he will retain the Defence Forces under his\u00a0 grip. He has already made arrangements to keep Chandrika next to him which will be a safety valve. She will be a counter weight to Wickremesinghe.<\/p>\n

All this will be fine by Sirisena. But where \u2013 where, O, where? \u2013 will all this leave Wickremesinghe? When he was Prime Minister under Chandrika Kumaratunga when she was president his bone of contention with her was to grab the defence forces and keep it under his wing. Now that Sirisena has decided to keep the forces under his wing, after promising\u00a0 to hand over all executive\u00a0 powers to the prime minister, Wickremesinghe is back to where he began with no real powers to be in command of all the mighty forces.<\/p>\n

Poor fellow! At the end of the day he is always left with holding the wrong end of the stick!<\/p>\n

Sirisena and Chandrika Bandaranaike have already mapped\u00a0 out their share of power leaving Wickremesinghe to hold \u201cMy3\u201d all by himself.<\/p>\n

C\u2019est la vie, Ranil!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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