Bloodless and democratic rebellions

C.P. De Silva, 1964; Maithripala Sirisena, 2014

• From ‘The November Revolution’ by Dinesh Weerakkody

Sri Lanka’s political history, post-independence, has two instances of would be dictators toppled, due to bloodless and democratic rebellions within the ranks of those governments themselves by high profile persons of such governments.

The bloodless nature of these successful coups were in part due to the maturity of the Sri Lankan voter, with Sri Lanka firstly, being the second oldest democracy after Japan in Asia; secondly, the strength of her institutions, despite the fact that those were bruised and battered, especially in the last five years (from January 2010 to December 2014) and lastly, those peaceful revolutions took place within the democratic framework of the country, which helped to make those peaceful changes, unlike the failed military coup of 1962, which tried to oust a democratically elected government by force. 

The first of those bloodless coups took place in December 1964, the other, 50 years later on November 21, 2014 (discounting the October 2001 crossovers that led to the downfall of the then PA Government). 

In both of these instances the party that was responsible was the SLFP, Sri Lanka’s second largest political party. And, on both of these occasions, the fight against such autocratic leaders also arose from within that party and not without, a sign that the SLFP as a whole, like the UNP, the island’s largest political party, cherishes the core values of democracy, even if their leaders may not subscribe to such views.

In December 1964, the then Deputy Leader of the SLFP and the Leader of the House C.P. de Silva, who was also the Power and Irrigation Minister at that time, crossed over to the ranks of the Opposition, to the surprise of the then virtually all powerful SLFP Premier Sirima Bandaranaike and other high ranking SLFPers such as Sirima’s nephew Felix Dias Bandaranaike and Maithripala Senanayake, both ministers in the Bandaranaike Government.

CP’s crossover, which was shrouded in secrecy until the last moment was similar to that of Maithri’s 50 years later, which was also shrouded in similar secrecy.

CP’s crossover took place during the Throne Speech centred round the taking over of the then privately owned Lake House Group of Newspapers. His crossover followed by others, resulted in the fall of Bandaranaike’s Government by one vote on the Throne Speech and the subsequent defeat of the SLFP at the poll that followed three months later in March 1965.

Drama re-enacted 50 years later

Fifty years after that historic occasion, almost the same drama was re-enacted with different players on stage, when the SLFP’s effective number two or three Maithripala Sirisena, its General Secretary and the then Government’s Health Minister crossed over from the Government to announce on 21 November 2014 his candidature at the forthcoming presidential poll which was subsequently held on 8 January 2015 that led to Mahinda Rajapaksa, the then incumbent President’s defeat.

While Maithri’s seat was Polonnaruwa, that of CP’s was the neighbouring parliamentary seat of Minneriya. Sirisena’s crossover was a case of history repeating itself, though half-a-century apart, however, the results of which were two dictators in the making from the same party being thrown out due to defections from within, with those defections not being sprats, but sharks, enough to cause not just a dent, but the overthrow of such dictatorial regimes.

If CP’s 1964 crossover was due to the work of a few journalists employed at the then family owned Lake House Group of Newspapers, working under the instructions of then Managing Director (Editorial) Esmond Wickremesinghe (father of Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe) who triggered the fall of the Bandaranaike Government over the Lake House takeover bill in the Throne Speech debate of that year, similarly, likeminded politicos in the then Rajapaksa camp (not journalists in this instance!), triggered MR’s defeat by their crossovers.

Family bandyism 

Rajapaksa’s regime was his family, said Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, in an interview with Derana TV soon after the 8 January 2015 presidential election was held. In the case of Bandaranaike, her family was too young for her to practise nepotism then, while she herself had only four years of political experience at that time, having had entered politics only in 1960, a year after her husband SWRD’s assassination in 1959.

Nonetheless, she exercised family bandyism to the fullest after her party was re-elected to power at the 1970 polls. Similarly, Rajapaksa followed suit and did even better, after he was elected President 35 years later in November 2005, in his nine year rule.

MR first entered Parliament, contesting for the SLFP from the Beliatte electorate at the 1970 polls, where the Party Leader was Sirima.

If the country was heading towards a dictatorial regime under MR, according to Rajitha Senaratne, a former Cabinet Minister of the latter’s, CP, prior to his crossover, 50 years ago, voiced similar sentiments about Bandaranaike, when he told D.J. (Ira) Ameresekere, the then Deputy Editor of the ‘Ceylon Daily News’ (as the ‘Daily News’ was known then).The similarities between Maithri and CP seemingly ended there. 

While CP belonged to the so-called low Salagama caste, Sirisena belonged to the “high”, Govigama caste. In fact CP told Ira the reason why he wasn’t made the prime minister was because “I’m a bloody padda”. “Padda” is a derogatory word used to describe a low caste person.

CP’s crossover

Ira played no smaller role in getting CP to crossover from the then ruling SLFP government to the ranks of the Opposition led by the UNP in December 1964, which saw the SLFP Government toppled during the Throne Speech, a key feature of which was the taking over of the then privately-owned Lake House Group of Newspapers.

On the day of the Throne Speech, the day set for CP’s crossover, Ira got up early in the morning, to drive his Ford Prefect, EY8, to CP’s brother-in-law’s house, i.e. R.T. de Silva (father of Chanaka) at Turret Road, Colombo, where CP, a bachelor, was staying.

CP during parliamentary sittings, used to come down to Colombo and stay in a room at RT’s house. One late night, when CP had returned from Parliament, some constituents from Minneriya had come to see him. CP’s sister (RT’s wife), wanted to send them away because CP was tired. But CP dissuaded his sister from doing so, saying that ‘they have had come all the way from Minneriya to see me, because they have a need’. CP’s simple pleasures in that room at RT’s which he occupied was listening to classics, said Ira.

Meanwhile, on the day of the Throne Speech, when, early morning on that day, Ira was getting ready to go to RT’s to meet CP, Ira’s wife Gene had asked him why he was going so early in the morning. “I’m afraid that otherwise CP might change his mind” was Ira’s reply.

Ira got to know CP through a good friend of his, H.S.F. (Hilton) Goonewardena, the then General Manager of the now defunct Agricultural & Industrial Credit Corporation. The Goonewardenas were good friends of CP’s sister, Dr. Stella de Silva, a paediatrician. It was through that connection that Ira was introduced to CP.

Lake House takeover

From a micro perspective, the nine-year postponement of the Lake House takeover (it was finally taken over by Sirima in 1973 when she once more became Premier in 1970), gave its owners breathing space.

In the interim, they “fragmented” Lake House (Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd. (ANCL) by floating two parallel companies, Lake House Printers and Publishers and Lake House Investments and divested the ancillary roles of Lake House, such as printing and publishing and the famed Lake House Bookshop, to those new entities.

So, when the hammer finally fell in 1973, the owners lost only the newspapers, while their other range of businesses was however intact, coming under those new companies which they floated after 1964 and not coming under the broad ambit of ANCL, as was the case, at least prior to December 1964.

And when Ranjit Wijewardene, the scion of the then privately-owned Lake House Group of Newspapers, with happiness saw his first cousin J.R. Jayewardene being elected to power four years later in 1977, J.R. compensated him for the Lake House takeover by paying him from the General Treasury as per 1973 rates, and subsequently gifting him with the ‘Times,’ ‘Daily Mirror’ and ‘Lankadeepa’ licences, which licences at that time were held by the Government.

Divergent backgrounds, common cause

Meanwhile, CP was more senior to Bandaranaike in the party, having had been elected as an SLFP MP in 1952, eight years before Sirima entered politics. Further, CP was educated at S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia, whereas Sirisena was educated at Royal College, Polonnaruwa.

CP obtained a First Class in Mathematics and was also Government Agent, Polonnaruwa, while Sirisena who didn’t enter university, began life as a Grama Sevaka. While CP subsequently joined the UNP, the country’s largest political party, Sirisena however didn’t leave the SLFP, though he was sacked from the party by MR after he crossed-over to contest the latter.

Nevertheless, despite the divergent backgrounds of the two, they had a common cause which they cherished and that was freedom. They fought tenuously and courageously to keep the flame of freedom and democracy burning in Sri Lanka and won.

And to recapitulate their other common ground, both did their politics in the North Central Province, both were from the SLFP, both held senior positions in the party, both, at one time or another, held the Irrigation Ministry portfolio in government and both of their crossovers were kept secret until the very last moment.

Further, both CP and Maithri were considered as being weaklings by the SLFP hierarchy.

On the ever of CP’s crossover, the wife of a senior cabinet minister of Sirima’s Cabinet, namely Ranji Handy, wife of then then Industries Minister of the SLFP Government, Maithripala Senanayake told Ira that “CP will talk and talk but do nothing”. Her meaning was that he will never crossover. But CP did crossover!

Ira and Ranji had been colleagues at Lake House. In the 1952-1956 period when Ira was the News Editor of the ‘Ceylon Observer,’ Ranji was one of his reporters.

Taken by surprise

In almost a similar vein, though the MR camp was taken by surprise at Maithripala Sirisena’s crossover, they however felt that he wasn’t a threat to MR. Even after Maithri crossed the Rubicon, the MR camp didn’t consider him to be a threat, identifying him in Senaratne’s words in his interview with ‘Derana’ as a “Game Baiyya”.

But in both of these instances the opposite took place vis-à-vis the thinking in the SLFP leadership. CP crossed over, resulting in the SLFP being defeated at the hustings three months later. And, after Maithri crossed over in November 2014, that resulted in Rajapaksa’s defeat two months later, which defeat was further sealed at the general elections that took place on the 17 August 2015.

After the UNP’s win in the 1965 poll, it was unsuccessful in its bid for another term, being resoundingly defeated by the SLFP-led UF coalition at the 1970 polls. The defeat of the UNP’s Dudley Senanayake Government at the 1970 elections took place due to two reasons. Those were rising unemployment and a food crisis. Unemployment then was in the double digit range.

Sirima’s UF coalition played their cards well, appealing to the mentality of the voters by promising jobs to everyone who was over 18 years of age, coupled with the promise of two measures of rice to be given free weekly per person. It was however the 1965 Dudley Government which first introduced the free measure of rice, which Dudley implemented during his tenure of office from 1965 to 1975, by giving per family member a measure of rice free weekly.

Sirima did one better by offering two measures of rice, which however she didn’t implement, despite sweeping the polls with a two-thirds majority. Dudley’s government of 1965 was a coalition government, while Maithri’s too is a similar coalition government currently, comprising a historic cohabitation between the island’s two principal political parties, namely the UNP and the SLFP.

Youth unemployment, rising cost of living

But the twin problems of youth unemployment and rising cost of living which Dudley inherited 50 years ago, whatever the statistics dished out by the State-controlled Census and Statistics Department may say, still remains.

Dudley was fooled by his officials in respect of his “grow more food” campaign, a drive to make the country self-sufficient in rice in the 1965-’70 period by saying that the programme was working well. The lesson is that whilst in power it’s easy for the leadership to lose the pulse of the people and to be led to a false sense of complacency by those with vested interests.

Sri Lanka’s politics, post-independence, is full of several such examples.

With the US dollar currently going through the roof, the repercussions of which are being felt by the common man due to the island being an import dependent economy and a dubious first being recorded, in that the government, pressured by the world community has acceded to foreign jurists to investigate in to alleged war crimes committed by it in its war against the LTTE, those twin factors spell instability to the island’s socio-politico- economic fabric, giving time to those divisive forces who were trounced twice at the polls this year to lick their wounds and try to make a comeback.

With the island’s coffers having had run dry and government debt spiralling, the way out is to get those same forces in the international community who coerced Colombo to a corner at the UN Human Rights Council sessions at Geneva the other day by getting foreign jurists to meddle in the island’s internal affairs, to fund some viable infrastructure development projects on a quid pro quo basis, similar to the Accelerated Mahaweli Development Programme which was launched with foreign grant and concessional aid by Wickremesinghe’s uncle J.R. Jayewardene, no sooner he swept into office with a resounding five sixths majority at the 1977 polls.

This may be seemingly difficult, with the global economy in crisis and China, the world’s second largest economy reeling, the collapse of global commodity prices (including that of Sri Lanka’s), the US economy, the world’s largest, making an unsteady recovery and with central banks’ balance sheets bloated due to the supply of easy money since the global financial crisis that took place seven years ago in 2008.

The saving grace however is low oil prices, which in the not too distant past used to comprise a fourth of the island’s total import bill. In 1977 however oil prices were going through the roof, hurting the global economy, yet, Jayewardene was able to marshal foreign funding for key infrastructure development projects.

To Jayewardene’s advantage, he made all the right moves to get in to the good books of the international community, meaning the West and Japan which were the sources of capital that despite China’s current ascent, is still true today.

Jayewardene distanced himself from the then Soviet Union, the West’s arch enemy then and even now, not being so different, though stripped of its “Soviet Union” facade, but yet a potent threat to global peace as standalone Russia, as recent events in Ukraine have proved.

Further, Jayewardene opened up the economy, which was in line with the economic policies practised by the West.

In similar manner, the Ranil-Maithri duo too have partially distanced themselves from both Russia and China, the latter country, which is also looked at with suspicion by the West, Japan and India because of its expansionist moves.

These political changes have been welcomed by the international community. But the “iron fist in the velvet glove” is the threat of international prosecutions, the certainty of which was underscored in the recent US-sponsored resolution, which was passed unanimously at Geneva, which, on the flip side may lead to political instability in Colombo.

Therefore, on a “quid-pro-quo” basis, the Ranil-Maithri combination should negotiate with the donor community to obtain grant or concessional aid for a massive infrastructure development project, an example of which is to get grant and concessional funding to improve the already congested Galle Road, the island’s key trunk road. 

It’s learnt that Japan is willing to fund this project. It’s now up to the government of Sri Lanka to make this willingness a reality!

Heroes are born, not made

Maithri, like CP, was no spring chicken at the time he made his crossover. He was the SLFP’s General Secretary, effectively, the third highest position in the SLFP hierarchy, after the President and the Prime Minister. And, as history has proved a second time in Sri Lanka’s political landscape, his crossover was decisive, similar to that of CP’s 50 years ago in 1964. There will certainly be many more.

November 21, 2014 was a case of history repeating itself.

(Compiled using the notes of D.J. (Ira) Ameresekere, the then Deputy Editor of the ‘Ceylon Daily News’.)