Rajapaksa eyeing an amazing comeback

Making a determined comeback bid, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is re-positioning himself as he only strong Sinhala leader who is capable of taking on the devious Tamils, and hopes in the process to weather away the scams that are tumbling out of his past, says the writer.

It is time for India to turn its attention to the unfolding developments in Sri Lanka. Former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa is making an amazing re-emergence on the political scene prompting a commentator to compare his feat to Richard Nixon’s bounce back after suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of young John F Kennedy in the US Presidential election in 1960.

Nixon waited for eight years to enter the White House. Rajapaksa has not taken that many months to begin his ‘return’ journey. He maintained low profile just for a few days after his health minister Maithripala Sirisena trounced him in the 8th January election by aligning with the Opposition United National Party (UNP) of Ranil Wickramasinghe. What has helped him is the presence of cheerleaders in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) even after Sirisena managed to take control of the party and formed the New Democratic Front government with Ranil as the Prime Minister.

While Sirisena- Ranil combine is focusing its energies on holding an early parliamentary election, Rajapaksa is concentrating on emotive issues like national security. Perfect opening for his pounding came his way accidentally though. Just days before Sri Lanka celebrated its Eelam War Victory Day on the 19th May, the LTTE flag was reportedly seen flying in the Northern Province. Jaffna also rocked by violence around the same time.

Latching on to these two incidents, Rajapaksa thundered that national security was in danger. Jaffna violence is a symptom of revival in Tiger militancy, he declared. State Minister for Defence Ruwan Wijewardene was quick to dub Rajapaksa’s statement as “malicious” but it did not deter the former President from continuing with his harangue in his bid to refurbish his image as the only strong Sinhala leader, “who is capable of taking on the devious Tamils”.

Lingering doubts about his plans and planks were set at rest on June 12 evening. His acolytes and some 76 SLFP lawmakers staged a “Bring back Mahinda” rally at Matara (about 160km from Colombo) in the Southern Province, which is his strong-hold. It was the second such rally in as many months, and has acted as a booster dose to his camp.

By now it is clear that the former President wants to contest the forthcoming general election as the SLFP’s PM candidate. Sirisena is in no mood to oblige him. Both met on 28th May to ‘iron out their differences’ but failed to break the ice.

“I do not think Mahinda is so mad to contest a Parliamentary Election and in the process loose the privileges that he enjoys as a former Executive President”, Government Spokesman, Rajitha Senaratne, who is also the Health Minister, told reporters in Colombo shortly afterwards. His logic has no takers in the rival camp.

WEERATUNGA-GATE

Rajapaksa attacks have since become intense indicting that his camp sees his quick rehabilitation as the manna to avoid “troubles lurking in the shadows”. The reference is to the Weeratunga-gate, allegedly perpetrated by his cousin brother Udayanga Weeratunga during his stint as envoy to Moscow with concurrent accreditation to Kiev. The charge is that Weeratunga had supplied weapons to pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine.

The Weeratunga-gate took place between 2011 and 2012, according to the investigations carried out by the Ukraine government. It was the period when the Rajapaksa regime faced the ire of human rights Ayatollahs at the UN Human Rights Commission. By 2010-11 the prospect of an International Tribunal investigating “inhuman brutalities” of the Lankan Army became real. The probe could have ended up at the door-step of Rajapaksa himself, since, as the President, he was the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. Around this time Russia was under NATO pressure.

“Thus it was a perfect setting for a trade-off between Moscow and Colombo”, assert Rajapaksa critics though the charge that his regime had tried to curry favour with Moscow by supplying arms to Pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine appears unbelievable at the outset! But the allegation refuses to die ever since the Sunday Times of Colombo broke the “story” some months ago. The fact remains that Moscow backed Colombo at the UNHRC meetings even when New Delhi voted against it. As of now the needle of suspicion in Weeratunga-gate is pointed at Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was the all-powerful defence secretary of the day.

Gotabaya figures in another mega scam as well, which, in essence, was setting up an “unofficial” Floating Armoury off Galle harbour at the height of final assault on the LTTE den in the North of the country. He stands charged with making unauthorised import of fire arms, possession of fire arms and ammunition without valid licenses, and transporting these weapons in merchant ships and fishing trawlers.

A consignment of more than 3000 guns (including AK 47) and over 700,000 rounds of ammunition were found in a ship (of Avant Guarde Maritime Services) docked at Galle harbour. What thickened the plot is the ‘discovery’ of an official diktat issued in September 2012 to “let Avant Guarde deploy a Floating Armoury off Sri Lanka”; and direction to the Navy Commander that weapons loaded Avant Guarde ships should get “a free run”, according to Colombo Telegraph.

Now cut back to Udayanga Weeratunga; He used to run ‘Club Lanka’, a restaurant serving Sri Lankan dishes in the Ukrainian capital. He is fluent in local language and Russian as well. And when Mahinda Rajapaksa became the President of Sri Lanka, he stars began to shine as never before

His arms-gate actually broke out last September itself with the Ukrainian authorities formally making a complaint to Colombo. They even sent a list of weapons which Weeratunga allegedly gave to ‘19 Ukrainian nationals” and provided the names of the recipients, besides description of the weapons and the order numbers’, according to Sunday Times. But the matter was quietly hushed up by Foreign Minister Prof G L Peiris as President Rajapaksa was getting ready for his third term bid.

Weeratunga is the architect of Rajapaksa’s Bofors saga, according to the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) which is probing the purchase of MiG-27 ground attack aircraft from Ukraine. While two orders for these MiGs were a government –to-government deal, one contract signed on July 26, 2006 for four MiG-27s was routed through Weeratunga; the charge is that his deal went through an unknown offshore company, Bellimissa Holdings Limited.

“The cost of the four MiG-27s, freight and other charges went directly to this offshore company to an address in London though it had no designated office”, investigators say. The price paid was “much higher than the two previous purchases” and was “for aircraft which were much older”.

Rajapaksa’s youngest son, Yoshitha Kanishka studied in Ukraine as a local government “sponsored” candidate even after he “got selected” into the Sri Lanka Navy. So it has become another stinking scam. While Weeratunga made all “arrangements” for the study, Gotabaya ordered “payment of daily allowance, and travel and phone bills” to his brother’s son. After change of guard in Temple Trees, Weeratunga was recalled but he has gone ‘missing’, it is said.

The charges of bribery, nepotism and corruption the Rajapaksa brothers are embroiled in is too long. These range from permission to casinos as strategic enterprises, a go-by to tender process in award of several key projects, and international retreats in high security zones, to abductions by the white van gangs who had enjoyed official patronage, and assaults on journalists.

China-aided projects are also under the lens of anti-corruption police. This follows complaints that the Chinese assistance came with a price in the highways sector in particular. The cost of laying a kilometre of highway has turned out to be the highest in the world under the Chinese aided projects, officials say.

All those keen on Rajapaksa’s return will do well therefore to grapple with the question: “What aspects of his corrupt, despotic and authoritarian rule, they desire to foist on people again?” Of course these cheer leaders expect to alleviate their own political orphaned state.

— By Malladi Rama Rao

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