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| Thousands protested in Colombo in support of the new ‘National Congress’ and opposing the government’s economic and rights records |
Thousands of opposition activists and ruling party dissidents in Sri Lanka commemorated the signing of an alliance pact by holding the first of a series of anti-government rallies over high living costs and alleged human rights violations.
But the government dismissed the rally, saying it had no reason to be concerned over ‘meaningless rallies”.
Meanwhile, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga spoke out against the government for the first time, charging that its actions were against the interests of the country.
Massive rally
Former Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera led the dissidents in Colombo last Thursday in a massive show of force with a rally starting at Colombo's Campbell Park and winding its way to the nearby Hyde Park.
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) also provided activists for the rally, marking a deal between the party and the ruling group's dissidents to mount a challenge to President Mahinda Rajapakse's government.
The estimate of the crowd at the first public show of strength of the Congress varied from 50,000 to 100,000.
Political and diplomatic observers in the Sri Lankan capital believe that it is an impressive start, reported The Hindu.
The new-born “National Congress” vowed to establish a new order in the island nation.
The Congress, forged by the UNP led by former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party – Mahajana Wing (SLFPM) leader Samaraweera, intends to mobilise all like-minded parties and individuals to fight against the policies of the Rajapakse Government.
The activists denounced the government over its human rights record as well as for the high living costs.
The leaders at the rally charged Mr. Rajapaksa with manipulating the 2005 presidential election by influencing the Tamil Tigers with monetary inducements. The contention of the Opposition is that the LTTE gave a call for boycott of the poll at the last minute as part of deal with Mr. Rajapaksa.
"When the last UNP government was (very) close to bring the LTTE leader to the negotiations table, the government was dissolved suddenly" said S.B Dissanayake, UNP chief organiser, addressing the protest rally.
"No ethnic conflict in the world has been solved by military means. Not even the East Timor issue in Indonesia nor the Irish problem. All these were solved by power sharing" Dissanayake said.
"The cost living today is unbearable. This war is not going to help" he said.
"We worked so hard to bring this government to power-day and night. Minister Jeyaraj Fernandupulle has now become the top communicator for this government!" Samaraweera said.
"I thank all the SLFP MPs who helped to organize this rally," he said.
The former Minister arrived with "large cut-outs of SLFP pioneer SWRD Bandaranaike", news reports reported.
Agreement
The UNP and SLFPM had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) the previous week.
The MoU said the parties want to protect human rights and democracy, fight corruption, strengthen the economy and end the country's more than two-decade-old civil war.
Samaraweera was a political foe of Wickremesinghe's until he was fired from the Cabinet in February. Last month, Samaraweera joined the opposition, saying the hawkish president was taking the country in an "extreme direction."
As per the arrangement, in the event of the combine capturing power, Mr. Wickremesinghe would be the Prime Minister and Mr. Samaraweera is to be designated as Deputy Prime Minister.
The pact also provides for sharing of ministerial portfolios between the two parties.
No snap polls
The rally was the first in a series challenging the government and cames after Rajapsakse said he will not hold snap elections despite the pressure mounted by dissidents.
Rajapakse ruled out snap elections and early dissolution of parliament, claiming that his ruling coalition was commanding a ''comfortable majority'' in the 225-member House with more oppositions legislators defecting to the government.
Rajapakse said he was keen that the current parliament serve its full six-year term. It was elected in April 2004, while the president came to power in November 2005.
Addressing a political rally at Nawalapitiya in the central Kandy district, Rajapakse said, “There will be no parliamentary polls till 2010 and the presidential poll till 2011.”
"I am not interested in calling a snap election," the president said July 22 on the sidelines of his first public rally in Nawalapitiya.
Refuting the allegations by the Opposition parties that his government was so fragile that it depends on the 17 breakaway members of the opposition parties to survive, the President said his government did not face the risk of fall.
''With the military victory of capturing the entire Eastern province from the LTTE, we can easily go in for a quick election now and win handsomely,'' Rajapakse said.
"But I don't want to go for another general election and spend $18 million to conduct that election," he said.
''Instead, I can use the money for development projects in the East,'' he said, adding that the government has undertaken a 180-day rapid development programme to rebuild the war-ravaged Eastern province.
"I can build a few more roads with that money. We have a stable government and I want other parties too to unite and move forward," he added.
Local media reports had speculated that Rajapakse may opt for an early election to capitalise on the government’s recent military successes in the East.
Government reaction
In response to the National Congress protest, the ruling combine has planned to host a series of meetings all over the nation to educate people on the achievement of the Government in the “liberation of the east” by ousting the Tigers and various other “pro-people” programmes.
The Rajapakse Government also put a brave face declaring that it had no reason to be concerned over “meaningless rallies with narrow political objectives”.
Chief Government Whip Jeyaraj Fernandopulle claimed at a news conference the day before the rally that the President who obtained a “great victory over the LTTE” was not going to lose sleep over such demonstrations.
The government attempted to portray the alliance as a grouping of political elements jealous of the military successes.
Separately, the dissident group within the UNP which joined the Rajapaksa Government in January questioned the MoU reached between the UNP and the SLFPM.
Dissident UNP member and Minister of Media Lakshman Yapa Abeywadana told a news conference that his group had already legally challenged the validity of the MoU.
Chandrika supports
Meanwhile former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, hit out at the policies of the Rajapakse Government as being inimical to the interests of the country.
The newly-formed National Congress led by Wickremesinghe and Samaraweera was the need of the hour, she said.
In a letter to Samaraweera, Ms. Kumaratunga said, “The stated objectives of the Alliance seem to reflect the essential need of the hour. I have believed for a long time that the country’s problems can be solved effectively, only through a Grand Alliance of all honest, patriotic forces.”
In her first elaborate public statement through the letter on the Rajapaksa regime, Ms. Kumaratunga complained that the SLFP had changed several important policies which were followed since 1993 and lead the country to “great, new heights”.
“This is a style, wholly alien to the SLFP.”
She recalled that her Government in 1994 succeeded to a great extent in bringing into the Government or to support the Government, all parties representing the minority groups, and all major parties, except the UNP and the JVP.
“I made continued efforts to bring the UNP too, to work with us. So, I am very glad to see that the UNP and an important section of the SLFP, have agreed to work together in a formally constituted Alliance.”
Ms. Kumaratunga said the “strange new policies” that were being implemented with regard to the economy, the Tamil question and rampant corruption would not resolve the prevailing problems in any of these spheres and might even worsen the situation to a point of no return.
