the traitor and the patriot!

7/21/2019 The Traitor and the Patriot!

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The traitor and the patriot!
http://www.ft.lk/2015/02/26/the-traitor-and-the-patriot/http://www.ft.lk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/17-31.jpghttp://www.ft.lk/2015/02/26/the-traitor-and-the-patriot/


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February 26, 2015

In 2009, some months after the war ended, media

personnel were oered military tours of VelupillaiPrabhaaran!s "lu#ury! buner and swimmin$ pool deep

inside his hideout in %ullaiti&u by the defeated re$ime'

(ubse)uently, the buner was turned into a spe*ial

e#hibit on the "war tourism! trail, for +rst time &isitors

from the island!s south to mar&el at the slain i$er

-eader!s opulent lifestyle'

oday the re$ime!s own e#tensions inside the premises .

traditionally used as the Prime %inister!s o/*ial

residen*e . are bein$ opened up to *urious ournalists

and &isitors' nthusiasti* se*urity personnel es*ort

ournalists to the former President!s pri&ate bri*lined,

idneyshaped pool *ompletely obs*ured from &iew by 25

feet of tall aluminium fen*in$ all around it' 3 small tiled

sauna and massa$e room still smells of herbal oil and

4owers'

he "aapasa in$! of the old *olonial residen*e is

se&eral storeys hi$h and has no windows' 7uilt for a

President who was paranoid about se*urity, the dar and

narrow *orridors runnin$ throu$h the buildin$ ha&e $aps

alon$ the wall, *o&ered with slidin$ metal $ates, to

ensure a )ui* e#it for VIPs if the need arose'

3 ban)uet hall has been *onstru*ted on the side of this

buildin$, to hold up to 8000 people, a**ordin$ to o/*ials,

+&efoot lon$ *handeliers, thi* *arpetin$ and re$al

doors' he win$s of this ban)uet hall ha&e walls lined in

bro*ade and lar$e win$ed arm *hairs alon$ a *orridor

that leads to ele$ant washrooms' #tensions to this

se*tion for the ommonwealth (ummit in*lude a new set

of washrooms, many of whi*h are no lon$er fun*tional,

a**ordin$ to si$ns hun$ asew on many of the doors'

he same bunerstyle buildin$ has three spe*ta*ular
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*abinet rooms, ea*h of them sportin$ wallto

wall wood panellin$, wooden 4oors and

stunnin$ wood and leather furnishin$s' : to

the side, e&en the bathroom walls are

panelled in wood' (e&eral other sophisti*ated

meetin$ rooms also lie inside the buildin$,

with plush sofas, re*liners and *hairs,

featurin$ a head table and pi*tures and wall

han$in$s' ;utu$emunu at war and 3dam!s

Pea appear to ha&e been +rm fa&ourites of

the pre&ious o**upant of emple rees' he

famous "le*tions :ps oom! also lies within

this new win$, a lon$ o/*e room +lled with

*omputers in


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=ot mu*h of the "aapasa in$! *ould be *alled outra$eously opulent, but

the e#tension holds little rationale for so mu*h publi* spendin$' President

aapasa o**upied two o/*ial residen*es already, in*ludin$ the sprawlin$

Presidential mansion or former >ueen!s ?ouse in Fort'

;eep in the un$les of %ullati&u, where he hid for de*ades, the si$ht of

Prabhaaran!s e#tra&a$an*e . air *onditionin$ and swimmin$ pools . had a

arrin$ ee*t be*ause he had sent *ountless amil youn$sters to die for him

in a brutal war, while he and his family li&ed in relati&e safety and *omfort'

he story of %ahinda aapasa!s e#tra&a$an*e holds a stran$e resonan*e'

he pre&ious re$ime!s opulent lifestyle, lar$ely li&ed on the publi* dime,

e&oes an an$ry and emotional response from the ordinary *iti


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from the former President to parti*ipants and

fore&er et*hed his pla*e in the frin$e (inhala

nationalist mo&ement that is *oales*in$ around

%ahinda aapasa'

3ppropriately, the (inhala hardline 7odu 7ala

(ena mo&ement . a**used of spearheadin$ a

spate of atta*s a$ainst the %uslim *ommunity

in*ludin$ the riots in 3luth$ama, ur$ed people

to attend the =u$e$oda rally'

he *ontro&ersial mon lle Cunewansa hera,

with his *he)uered role in the 19@E ethni* riots,

was also in attendan*e' :&er enthusiasti*

or$anisers insist that the =u$e$oda rally drew a 500,000stron$ *rowd' he

+$ure is ludi*rously o&erin4ated, but 20,000 is no number to s*o at, sin*e

they were $athered to salute a defeated President'

rowds were brou$ht into the meetin$ in 212 buses hired for the purpose

and pared on ?i$h -e&el oad for the duration of the rally' he rally pro&ed

to be an important waeup *all for the new Co&ernment whi*h appeared to

ha&e $ot *ompla*ent about an opponent in the shadows, as it set about

establishin$ itself in o/*e'

;epri&ed of the (-FP leadership, any attempt by President aapasa to

*raft a postAanuary @ politi*al future will ha&e to in*lude the most rabidly

hardline se*tions of the southern polity . a $roup that *ould also in*lude the

77( and other lieminded $roups'

hat we are e#perien*in$ today is not defeat but the result of a

*onspira*y,G the ousted President said in a messa$e to "his people!,

deli&ered with aplomb by Aayatillea' n*apsulated in that one senten*e is

the aapasa *amp!s per*eption of the Aanuary @ ele*tion'

he *onspira*y of "elam amils! and other minority $roups, a sellout D=P

and handria Humaratun$a, aided and abetted by the neoimperialistest' In a &i*ious attempt to dele$itimise Prime %inister i*remesin$he

and the lar$ely D=P abinet, the =u$e$oda or$anisers ee*ti&ely sou$ht to

erode the le$itima*y of the %aithripala (irisena presiden*y' It was not a

&i*tory' It was the su**essful fruition of a *onspira*y'

In essen*e then, %ahinda aapasa is the undefeated President of (ri

-ana' #*ept that the aapasa ba*ers ha&e no interest in the
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presiden*y any lon$er' In the post*onstitutional reform set up, the *urrent

President and he aloneJ will hold some e#e*uti&e power, but prima*y will

be aorded to a Prime %inister in a parliamentary system'

imal eerawansa!s =ational Freedom Front, the %ahaana sath

Peramuna led by ;inesh Cunewardane, and a host of other small parties

now that in the battle for premiership in a Aune 2015 ele*tion, %ahinda

aapasa will fa*e o a$ainst anil i*remesin$he' his is a battle they

belie&e the ousted President *an win'

:bsta*les to aapasa renaissan*e

In the @ Aanuary ele*tion, %ahinda aapasa won 90 of 160 pollin$

di&isions, e&en thou$h he lost the ele*tion' In a $eneral ele*tion, unlie in

the presidential poll when the entire *ountry polls as a sin$le *onstituen*y,

that number will translate to a maority of seats under the proportional

representation system' his is far from an ina**urate *al*ulation' 7ut two

thin$s *ould stand in the former President!s way'

Firstly, in order to win the nomination to *ontest seriously as a prime

minister *andidate, %ahinda aapasa would ha&e to wrest ba* *ontrol of

the (-FP' Followin$ aapasa!s defeat, *hairmanship of the party passed to

President %aithripala (irisena as stipulated in the (-FP *onstitution,

amended, ironi*ally by the former President himself to pre&ent handria

Humaratun$a from *ontrollin$ the party' 3ssumin$ (-FP seniors $et behind

the eerawansaCunewardane=anayaara bandwa$on and *all for his

return . unliely in the present *onte#t . the former President would still

need President (irisena!s nod to win the nomination'

Failin$ this, %ahinda aapasa will be rele$ated to bein$ a *andidate of a

hod$epod$e *oalition of tiny politi*al parties with no $rassroots

or$anisation networ and no blo* &ote' he aapasa *andida*y *ould lend

star power to e&en su*h an allian*e, but the *ru*ial )uestion remains

whether that power will pro&e su/*ient to rout a newly ener$ised D=P

base'o mae matters worse, any allian*e thus for$ed will lead to the ine&itable

split of the (-FP, redu*in$ the party!s *han*es in the $eneral ele*tion' (u*h

a di&ision would only ser&e to bolster a D=P maority and *ould e&en see

the refor$in$ of the rainbow *oalition to ward o the aapasa threat, that

will *ontest under the swan symbol'

(enior (-FP members are aware of this threat and see therefore to


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3 *risis, pre*ipitated by shadowy for*es, may in

fa*t ha&e hastened the reshuMe in the military

establishment this past wee, and the

appointment of the new 3rmy ommander'

emainin$ loyalty

he new Co&ernment has been aware for se&eral

wees now that se*tions of the military remain

+er*ely loyal to former ;efen*e (e*retary

Cotabaya aapasa' hese se*tions $rew

a**ustomed o&er nine years of aapasa rule to a

Co&ernment poli*y of &iewin$ e&ery problem

throu$h the lens of se*urity' %ilitarisation and the

dominan*e of the se*urity paradi$m in all aspe*ts

of the aapasa (tate has in a sense *han$ed

perspe*ti&es within the military establishment

about the prima*y of demo*rati* rule'

his is a problem the new Co&ernment

en*ountered early on' he early $ae by newly

appointed ;efen*e (e*retary 7asnayae, who

sou$ht to ustify irre$ular +nan*ial a*ti&ity by his

prede*essor, was an indi*ation of the seriousness

of the problem'

ithin the se*urity establishment, the in4uen*e of

the pre&ious powerful re$ime runs deep' i&il

ser&ants had learned to obey the di*tates of

military, e&en thou$h they were te*hni*ally hi$her

in the *ommand *hain' In demo*rati* so*ieties,

*i&ilians both politi*al and bureau*rati*, tae

pre*eden*e o&er military hi$h *ommand' 7ut in

aapasa (ri -ana the *ountry!s most powerful*i&il ser&ant, was in fa*t a fundamentally military

man'

3s these lines blurred, as the se*urity state $rew

immense in stru*ture and si


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hese were the problems within the se*urity apparatus that President

(irisena, as %inister of ;efen*e and uwan iewardene, his (tate %inister

for the sube*t, inherited, when they too o/*e in Aanuary' 3n e#pose last

wee by our sister publi*ation, he (unday imes, re&ealed the e#tent of

the *on*ern when it said the Co&ernment had been warned about an

assassination plot a$ainst President (irisena durin$ the Independen*e ;ay

*eremony earlier this month'

ontd on pa$e 20

he traitorN''

=eedless to say, the )uestion of whom to trust within the se*urity

establishment be*ame a maor issue for the new Co&ernment' he dilemma

was *ompounded by the new administration!s de*ision to a*ti&ely

dis*oura$e the *reation of a paranoid state, by slashin$ se*urity

*ontin$ents and es*orts for %inisters and openin$ up former hi$h se*urity


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story! of ele*tion ni$ht last month' i*remesin$he is reported to ha&e

played the issue down durin$ the meetin$'

7ut with )uestions persistin$ as to why Aayasuriya *ontinues to be ;(,

$i&en his intense loyalties to the former re$ime Aayasuriya was appointed

3rmy ommander, after the aapasa re$ime be$an to suspe*t that (arath

Fonsea was wieldin$ too mu*h *ontrol o&er the military after the war

ended in 2009J, it remains un*lear whether his retention is part of the

Co&ernment!s strate$y to ensure they do not ro* the boat and pro&oe a

potentially de&astatin$ response from the se*urity establishment'

Insiders say there remains a de$ree of tension and suspi*ion between the

new Co&ernment and the se*urity establishment' his was e&iden*ed by an

in*ident a few wees after the ele*tion, politi*al obser&ers say'

It was an open ele*tion promise of this Co&ernment that they would return

land to former owners in the formerly embattled re$ions of the =orth and

ast' here were two ey phrases they ept usin$ on the *ampai$n trail'

he *ampai$n leaders for the :pposition said the army was buildin$

swimmin$ poolsG and $olf *oursesG on pri&ate lands'

7ut on 29 Aanuary, former 3rmy hief now Ceneral ;aya atnayae,

tra&elled to Aana to *eremonially open a swimmin$ pool inside the army

run halse&ana resort' ?e was hosted by %a' Cen' Aa$ath 3lwis, who had

*ontro&ersially been appointed (e*urity For*es ommander of the =orthern

Pro&in*e by the pre&ious re$ime ust ahead of the presidential ele*tion'

he )uestion of whether the 3rmy ommander, who the new Co&ernment

was treatin$ with id $lo&es followin$ his alle$ed refusal to parti*ipate in

the attempt to hold power by for*e on ele*tion ni$ht, had en$a$ed in an a*t

of de+an*e or whether it was a mere *oin*iden*e remains a )uestion'

7ut +nally last wee, 3rmy ommander atnayae retired without

e#tension and was promoted to the ran of Ceneral'

he Co&ernment is aware howe&er, that parts of the military *ould still be

uneasy with the new setup and any seemin$ erosion of its stren$th or*apa*ity, espe*ially in response to =3 demands, would be &iewed with

si$ni+*ant hostility'

=aturally, this puts the new administration in a supremely awward

position, as it attempts to balan*e se*urity *on*erns with pled$es made to

promote re*on*iliation with the amil people durin$ the ele*tion'

?ardline se*tions of the =3 are breathin$ +re a$ainst the new Prime


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%inister for the Co&ernment delays in releasin$ lands sei


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re*on*iliation and build brid$es . e&en thou$h pro$ress mi$ht be slow . the

=P rea*tion appeared to be o&er the top and needlessly a$$ressi&e'

Forei$n %inister %an$ala (amaraweera belie&es the =P resolution

indi*ates the *ontinuin$ la* of trust between the northern *oun*il and the

entre' It was a surprisin$ statement,G (amaraweera a*nowled$ed to the

;aily F' It shows the trust de+*it between the =orth and the entre and

shows that buildin$ trust is of paramount importan*e,G he said'

%inister (amaraweera insists that re)uestin$ the deferral of the D= report

was not a timebuyin$ measure' he Co&ernment would e#plore the

possibility of settin$ up a truth *ommission with the aid of (outh 3fri*a,

while also establishin$ a domesti* a**ountability me*hanism with te*hni*al

assistan*e from the D=, its international partners and e&en human ri$hts

$roups'

hile the hardenin$ positions in the =orth *ould also be put down to

ele*toral *ompulsions, the trend is a dan$erous one and *ould easily derail

any real mo&es to build trust between the *ommunities in the lon$ term' In

order to eep the moderates rele&ant within the =3, the Co&ernment must

ensure a *onsensus dri&en, *onsultati&e pro*ess on issues pertainin$ to the

amil minority'

anil i*remesin$he, the new Prime %inister *ertainly fa*es a uni)ue

dilemma' Dnpopular with nationalist se*tions of the south, who &iew him as

ha&in$ "sold out! to the - with his ease+re 3$reement and Pea*e als

in 2001200B, he fa*es an uphill tas winnin$ lar$e *huns of the (inhala

7uddhist maority'

7ut hardliners on the other side of the ethni* di&ide *ontinue to per*ei&e

him as the (inhala leader who heralded the defeat of the - by ee*tin$

the defe*tion of Haruna after the pea*e tals broe down' =ow hardline

se*tions of the =3 are *on&in*ed i*remesin$he is en$a$ed in a similar

$ame to end the party!s politi*al future'

Fi&e days before the presidential ele*tions in 2005, se&eral members of the=3 &isited i*remesin$he at his Fifth -ane residen*e' It was *lose to

midni$ht and the then :pposition -eader had been *ampai$nin$ in

atnapura' he alle$ed preele*tion pa*t between his opponent!s *ampai$n

and the - had already been made' 7ut the i$ers had been *on&in*ed by

*ertain amil politi*ians to brin$ their *onditions to i*remesin$he'

In 3pril 200E, pea*e tals with the i*remesin$he Co&ernment had broen


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the traitor and the patriot!

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