Controversy Surrounds Invitation to View Sacred Tooth Relic Exposition
Tensions Surface within Pelawatta JVP and Compass Alliance
Election Commission Accused of Double Standards on LG Poll
President Takes Charge of Government’s Election Campaign
President Silent on China’s New Conditions
UNP Criticised for Lacking LG Candidates
JVP–Malimawa Divide Undermines Colombo Campaign
Sri Lanka at a Crossroads: GSP+, China, or U.S. Tariffs?
Holiday chaos
In the past, Colombo politics was melancholy during the New Year holidays, as politicians went to their villages and engaged in New Year rituals. As a result, important political events and discussions hardly took place during this period.
However, this year, Sri Lankan politics did not have a big holiday called the New Year holiday. Especially due to the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on several countries including Sri Lanka, the post-event situation arising from the visit of Indian Prime Minister Modi, and the new policy regarding Sri Lanka by Chinese President Xi Xi Jinping, many controversial events took place during this New Year period that no one knew much about behind the scenes.
In the first ‘Inside Politics’ column after the New Year, we are ready to bring information about a number of serious events that are scheduled to take place internationally targeting Sri Lanka.
In particular, the issue of tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump has created signs that it is heading towards a global trade war. Although many people are unaware of the dangerous situation here, many believe that this trade war will cause more damage than a war fought with weapons. We have reported from time to time through the ‘inside Politics’ column throughout the past that a very serious distrust and suspicion have been looming between China and Sri Lanka.
We highlighted that this distrust and suspicion is growing due to the fact that nothing that was promised to be fulfilled has been fulfilled on the Sri Lankan side, especially following the visit of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to China.
Xi Jinping’s new move
In the face of the Sino-American economic war that has arisen with the high tariffs imposed by Trump targeting China, the Chinese President last week suddenly summoned Chinese ambassadors representing all Asian countries to Beijing. There, a highly confidential discussion was held between the Chinese President and the Chinese ambassadors, during which it is learned that there was a lengthy discussion on how China should act in the face of Trump’s imposition of tariffs and how China should help countries that are facing serious crises due to Trump’s tariffs.
The Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mr. Qi Zhenghong, also participated in this discussion, and he has taken steps to provide a lengthy explanation of the situation that Sri Lanka has found itself in in the face of Trump’s decision. Following the discussions held on how to exchange policies with its neighbours and how to help neighbouring countries, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was provided with a special proposal prepared by China last week regarding Sri Lanka. Our information indicates that the President has studied the Chinese proposal but has not yet decided on his response. Accordingly, one of the crises that Sri Lanka is set to face is the proposal sent by the Chinese President.
Looming Ship Issue
The next crisis that the government has to face is from China is the stance on the security agreement that was allegedly signed between the two countries during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka. According to our sources, China has information that a special clause has been included in this security agreement regarding Chinese research vessels. The Chinese government believe that a clause has been included if a Chinese research vessel is to enter Sri Lankan waters, permission must be obtained from India.
Before Anura’s visit to China began, Chinese research vessels were not allowed to enter Sri Lankan waters. Although Chinese research vessels entered Sri Lanka during the administration of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, former President Ranil Wickremesinghe had banned Chinese research vessels from entering Sri Lankan waters for one year due to immense pressure from India.
Proposal from China
China saw this as an attack on its pride. Therefore, when this request was made by China during Anura’s visit to China, the President had given his word to grant the necessary permission so as not to harm China’s pride. However, it is still seen that the government has not fulfilled that promise. Accordingly, the ban on any Chinese research vessel entering Sri Lankan waters continues to be in effect.
The proposal of the Chinese President will be handed over to Mr. Anura Kumara Dissanayake under such a background. Although there is still no clear information regarding the advantages or disadvantages of this proposal for Sri Lanka, it is unlikely that it will be disadvantageous for Sri Lanka in the face of the emerging trade war. If Sri Lanka is happy with the proposal, it is unlikely that China will easily give up the issue of its pride. The relevant proposal of China will move forward on the topic of China’s pride in the research vessel incident.
Red Signal from Modi
Meanwhile, when the Chinese proposal was handed over to the President, Chinese President Xi Jinping had taken steps to begin a tour targeting countries that have been hit hard by Trump’s tariffs. Jinping visited countries such as Malaysia, Cambodia, and Vietnam, staying one night in each of them. The Chinese President also took steps to sign a large number of agreements. Through this, it can be seen that some pressure is being put on Sri Lanka regarding the Chinese proposal.
In the meantime, China is also making plans to enter into separate trade agreements with India’s neighbours, Bangladesh and Pakistan. This seems to have caused great anger in India because of the decision taken by Indian Prime Minister Modi regarding Bangladesh immediately after leaving Sri Lanka.
What Modi did was to completely suspend the shipping route running through the Indian sea border to Bangladesh. Modi also took steps to prevent Bangladesh from using Indian ports. Through this, it is possible to see that Bangladesh is currently in a major crisis. On the other hand, many believe that it is a serious warning to Sri Lanka as well.
Accordingly, Sri Lanka is gradually becoming trapped in a serious economic and geopolitical crisis due to this international crisis. On the one hand, Sri Lanka cannot abandon India and turn towards China. On the other hand, it is also not possible to create a conflict with America at this time. Accordingly, Sri Lanka is currently facing a political dilemma such as: if you stay, you will die; if you go home, your spouse will die.
Geneva is serious
As we revealed last time, another serious proposal against Sri Lanka is scheduled to be presented to the Human Rights Commission in Geneva next September. The Prime Minister of Britain’s ruling Labour Party is taking the lead. The Labour Party is considered a party that strongly advocates for the rights of minorities in the country. Accordingly, it is said that a serious proposal against Sri Lanka will be presented to the Geneva Human Rights Commission this time regarding the war crimes allegedly committed against minorities during the previous war. It is also seen that Western countries as well as European countries, have decided to support this proposal to be brought by Britain.
End of GSP?
The European Commission has already shown signs of another impending risk to Sri Lanka. A group of representatives of European countries have arrived in Sri Lanka to review the GSP Plus concession that the European Commission has granted to Sri Lankan garments so far. During the previous Rajapaksa regime, the European Commission had suspended the GSP Plus concession to Sri Lanka due to serious human rights violations. Over this, it was seen that the Sri Lankan garment sector faced a serious crisis. However, after improving the human rights situation, the Good Governance Government of Sri Lanka obtained the GSP Plus concession once again in 2017.
However, if this GSP Plus concession is to be extended once again, several special arrangements must be made by the Sri Lankan government. One of them is to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The other is to repeal the Online Security Act. Although the government repeatedly said that it would repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act when it was in opposition, it has not taken steps to repeal it even after 6 months of coming to power.
Arrest of a youth
Despite this government also took steps to arrest a youth under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. A Muslim youth was arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for allegedly pasting a sticker against Israel, and the President was later forced to withdraw the charges against the youth amidst strong opposition mounting from the public.
In addition, Sri Lanka has to implement 27 international conventions on human rights, labour rights, environment and good governance to which it has signed. Accordingly, there are many challenges facing the government authorities at present. It is the responsibility of the government authorities to fulfill these conditions within the next few days or to instil confidence in the European Commission authorities to restore the GSP Plus concession. Otherwise, the Sri Lankan garment sector, which has been hit hard by Trump’s tariffs, will have to fall into a fire from the frying pan situation if the GSP Plus concession is also abolished.
Who is the team
However, the main issue that arises here is who the government will appoint to resolve all these issues through negotiations. As soon as Trump imposed tariffs, other countries sent very high-level delegations to the United States to discuss this issue. In some countries, the presidents themselves visited the US. In others, the prime ministers, foreign ministers, and trade ministers went.
But the situation in our country was completely different. On March 18, when Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa disclosed in Parliament for the first time, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, knowingly or unknowingly, said that a team would be sent from Sri Lanka for this purpose. But the government should have revealed to the country whether a team was sent, if so, who it was, and what they discussed. However, not only does the government do so, but it is surprising that the opposition did not question the government on this so-called team.
Also, when the President called an all-party leaders’ meeting to discuss this issue, he said that there are plans to send a team from Sri Lanka to Washington in the future. But the problem is, who will represent that team? It is still unclear whether this team will include Foreign Minister Vijitha or Trade Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe, or a group of businessmen.
Since this team represents a country and carries the future of the entire country on its shoulders, the government should be very careful if it names only a businessman, as businessmen only work to protect their businesses and increase their quota. Accordingly, the government should discuss with all parties and select a team that could negotiate responsibly to the benefit of the country. If even representatives of the opposition are included in it, its value will be even greater.
Influence on the President
However, special information regarding this all-party leaders’ meeting convened by the President has also been reported to the ‘Inside Politics’ column. When Trump’s tariff issue first arose, it was Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa who proposed in Parliament to convene an all-party conference. As the government was continuously pressured for it and due to the situation that was emerging in the country, the President also agreed to it.
However, the JVP was not very keen on the President’s decision. The JVP had taken the position that the President would be prejudiced in some way through this. However, since Trump took steps to suspend the imposition of the relevant tariffs for three months in the early hours of the day the all-party conference was scheduled to be held, the party had strongly urged the President to immediately cancel the all-party conference.
All party meeting
The reason the JVP had pointed out was that inviting the same group of people who were accused by the Compass, now, after coming to power after swearing a curse for the past 76 years, would hurt the President. In addition, the party’s position was that seeking the help of the opposition in this way for a government with a power of 159 MPS would not be promising for the future of the government.
Due to the strong pressure from the party, the President was also engaged in investigating whether this party leaders’ meeting could be cancelled since that morning. However, the information we have indicates that there was strong opposition from all parties. Accordingly, in the end, the President was forced to hold the all-party conference reluctantly. Since all representatives of the opposition participated in the discussion, it was seen that it received a high-level response from within the country as well. However, the problem now is whether the President can continue to hold the party leaders’ conference under the current situation.
Tensions in Pelawatte
Amidst such a backdrop, a very tense situation has emerged in Pelawatte these days, with the local government elections scheduled to be held on May 6. Initially, the JVP head office in Pelawatte thought that it would be able to win this local government election handily, but due to certain events that have occurred in the past few months, they have also realised that the election battle has heated up unexpectedly.
Accordingly, the JVP has decided to launch a national election campaign targeting the local government elections in the last few weeks, considering it a presidential election and a general election. Especially since there is a major attack on the government and the JVP on social media, the JVP has been working to obtain opinion poll results regarding the elections daily through its village network. It is reported that they have also taken steps to obtain all the details regarding the possible results and the favourable and unfavourable local government institutions for the party headquarters.
Goal of 50%
In addition, the JVP has had a big goal since the beginning of this local government election to somehow poll 50% of the vote. In the last presidential election, the JVP was only able to obtain 43% of the vote. But they managed to obtain a two-thirds majority in the general election. However, since the government has been in power for six months now, a perception within the country is that the government should obtain a voter percentage exceeding 50% in this local government election to further consolidate its existence. The JVP took it as a challenge in the early days.
However, since it appeared to be an easy target in the early stages, the JVP had not planned to include the President in the election campaign. But now, since it is becoming a difficult task, the JVP has taken steps to include the President in the campaign. Accordingly, the President can be seen addressing the people as if it were a national election, using his usual eloquence style, going from district to district.
Where are the youth and women?
Notably, in this year’s JVP campaign, only the JVP members of the village were seen visiting door to door to engage in campaign activities. In the last presidential election and also in the general election, a large number of women and youth were seen going door to door to engage in campaign activities. That is because they worked together as a compass. However, due to the serious political differences that have arisen between the JVP and the compass, no compass faces are seen in the election campaign. There are only a few fierce JVPers in the village.
So what happened to the ‘compas’ women and youth who were with the JVP six months ago?
‘Inside Politics’ column first revealed to the country the conflict of opinion which was emerging between the JVP and the Compass. Three weeks after the President came to power, a special revelation we made through the column stated that conflicts had begun to arise between the Compass and the JVP due to certain events. It was said that the Compass was being shaken, and the JVP was grabbing power.
As the culmination of this, we mentioned the incident of the nomination of the Compass mayoral candidate for the Colombo Municipal Council this time. At this time, while Prime Minister Harini was holding discussions to bring in an educated and intelligent character recognised by the whole country as the head of the Colombo municipality, the JVP suddenly appointed Vrai Kelley Balthazar, who had no political background and was defeated in the last general election. Due to this, Harini was not seen actively participating in the Colombo election campaign or the Colombo Municipal Council election campaign.
JVP’s Command
When the media once questioned Harini about the JVP and the Compass, she directly said that she was a Compass member and not a JVP member. Like Harini, Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara once publicly said that we are not JVP members, but Compass members. For this reason, an order was once issued to all MPs and Ministers from Pelawatte asking them not to make such statements and to give an alternative answer if they could not be called JVP members.
However, it is still not seen that they accepted the order received from Pelawatte or adhered to it. The representatives of Compass say that since the image required for the JVP to gain power was created by Compass, Compass should have more rights. Even when looking into the matter of MPS, there are only 60 JVP MPS out of the 159 in Parliament.
All the other MPS came representing the Compass. This has raised many doubts as to whether the Compass MPS are currently actively engaged in campaigning for the local government elections. This must be why the Pelawatte representatives were upset and took steps to immediately bring the President out into the election campaign.
Controversial remark
With some doubts arising regarding the results of the local government elections, the President has also made several statements that have drawn more attention to it during the campaign meetings held in recent days. The most significant of these was the President’s statement that he would not release funds to any local government institution that Compass loses.
With the President’s statement, not only the opposition representatives but also the election observers immediately complained to the Election Commission, saying that this was an indirect threat to the voters and a violation of election laws. Therefore, they had also requested the Election Commission to inform the President not to issue such statements.
In such a background, a news item reported by the print media last Thursday was that the Election Commission had sent a letter to the Presidential Secretary asking him to inform the President not to issue such statements.
Government Press Release
However, on the same day, the Government Information Department had issued a press release clarifying that the news item was completely false and that the Election Commission had not sent such a letter to the Presidential Secretary. It is significant that despite the Government Information Department issuing such a statement, neither the Election Commission nor the Presidential Media Unit had issued any statement in this regard.
However, the very next day, the relevant newspaper had taken steps to publish a news item on its front page denying the news item. The news item stated that when the Chairman of the Election Commission was asked about the matter, he requested him to inquire about it from the Complaints Division, and later, when he enquired about it, a spokesperson from that division informed the President and the Secretary to the President was informed about this. Accordingly, the relevant newspaper had strongly criticised the Election Commission’s double standard.
Despite this, the President once again attended a meeting in Mannar on Thursday and made the same statement again, saying that he would not take steps to provide money to local government institutions that were defeated. Accordingly, with the Election Commission receiving complaints again in this regard, the Commission decided to meet on the 21st and take a decision regarding the President’s speech.
No one in the East
The President and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa are currently involved in the campaigning for the local government elections at the divisional level. Accordingly, last Thursday, while the President was in Mannar, Sajith was in Pottuvil in the East. While talking to the SJB candidates during his visit to the East, Sajith questioned them about the candidates nominated by the UNP in those provinces and the UNP’s election campaign.
Sajith was stunned by the answers they gave. They said that the UNP had not given nominations in any other place except for one or two local government institutions in the Eastern Province. As a reason, they had pointed out to Sajith that the UNP was unable to give nominations due to the inability to find candidates.
With this answer, Sajith spoke to several places in the Eastern Province and inquired about the situation in those places as well. They also said that the UNP had not given nominations anywhere in their villages. After confirming that, while talking to the candidates after the meetings, Sajith revealed a wonderful secret to them. That was about the discussions held before the election regarding the UNP-SJB merger.
‘I now know that the UNP has not given a nomination anywhere in this area; they have not been able to find a candidate. But before the election, when these people were discussing joining forces with us, they had made big claims that we needed so many candidates. But when we finally contest separately, the UNP has fallen to the point where it cannot even field a candidate. This is what has happened to a party…’ Sajith told the SJB candidates.
Special exposition of the Sacred Tooth Relic
Meanwhile, before the start of the special exposition of the Sacred Tooth Relic last Friday, Sajith went to Kandy to meet the Malwathu-Asgiri Maha Theras. After meeting the Mahanayake, Sajith took the initiative to meet and discuss with the Anunayake of the Malwatte sect, Dimbulkumbure Anunayake. During this discussion, the Malwatte Anunayake informed Sajith that Sajith’s father, former President Ranasinghe Premadasa, constructed the golden canopy at the Temple of the Tooth, and for that reason, Sajith also had the right to worship the Tooth Relic.
The Malwatte Anunayake also said that the President and the Cabinet had separately come and made arrangements to worship the Tooth Relic, and informed Sajith to go and worship the Tooth Relic in the same way.
But Sajith responded to the venerable Anunayaka and gave a strange reply.
No ‘cut in line’
‘How can I do that, Revered? When I came, I saw people sitting in queues for two or three days. So, in that case, can I go and worship the Tooth Relic first? That is not right, Chief Venerable…?’ Sajith said.
However, this time the exhibition of the Tooth Relic began under the patronage of the President. The government had also arranged for a special train to run from Colombo to Kandy for diplomats from 17 countries to participate in it. Arrangements had been made to provide the President and Cabinet Ministers with the opportunity to pay homage to the Tooth Relic that morning.
Another special incident also occurred on Friday the 18th morning. That was when an invitation letter purporting to have been issued by the Secretary to the President informing of viewing a special exposition of the Sacred Tooth Relic began circulating on social media. As it gained wide publicity on social media, a statement issued by the Presidential Media Unit immediately stated that it was forged by some group and that no such invitation letter had been issued by the President.
