Can President send rogues to hell within two years?
President Sirisena(R) and Premier Wickremesinghe (L)
President Maithripala Sirisena has been making, for the past few months serious statements that could imperil the so-called Yahapalanaya Government or the National Unity Government, as those statements have been directly and indirectly critical of his partner in governance, the United National Party (UNP).
In last November, he had indirectly warned State Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe for accusing him of appointing the Presidential Commission on the Controversial Central Bank Bond Issuance.
That was his first open salvo against the UNP.
On January 3, he made a special statement to the country explaining the recommendations of the Bond Commission, one of which according to him, called for legal 
action by the Bribery Corruption Commission against UNP Deputy Leader and former Minister Ravi Karunanayake.
Days ago, on January 16, President Sirisena, after an emotional speech at the weekly Cabinet meeting over derogatory remarks by the UNP Ministers and MPs against him, stunned his Ministers, which mainly comprised of UNP members, with a walk-out stating “You decide whether we can go ahead in this way”.
Implying that he was frustrated over the handling of the economy by the UNP, on January 20, he said at a public rally in Kegalle that he was going to take over the economy that had thus far been under the purview of the UNP.
"It was he who during the Presidential election campaign said that the Katunayake Airport would be closed to prevent rogues fleeing ..."
And on Monday, while speaking at an election rally in Kandy about corruption that had been taken place during the last regime as well as his regime, he embarrassed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, when he called upon the latter to help him in eradicating corruption in the country, without standing in his way.
He also had told a gathering in Kosgama on January 18 that he would leave the office after sending the corrupt politicians to hell.
It is ironic that the architects of the Yahapalanaya Government who have got together against the former Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa with the lofty ideals of ridding corruption from the country are at odds now over the same issue.
President Sirisena has been accusing his partner in the Government of involving in “The largest fraud in the Sri Lankan history” and standing in the way and delaying or stalling action against high profile corruption cases against the leaders of the same Rajapaksa government. Last November he accused by name a UNP Minister for delaying and stalling legal action against leaders of the former regime which had later been denied by the Prime Minister.
Another irony is that the leaders of the former regime, who had been accused of mass scale corruption and routed out from power at the last Presidential and Parliamentary Elections partly due to those allegations are now calling the leaders of the incumbent government thieves. They have been successful in eclipsing the allegations against them with the latest household hot topic, the bond scam.
In spite of this sounding like the Pot Calling Kettle Black, they are on a sound footing after the conclusion of the sittings of the Bond Commission which said in its report that more than eight billion rupees that belonged to the Government had initially been plundered through the 2015 February bond transaction.
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If he is to adhere to this vow, he would have to go back on his pledge, not to run for another term.
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President is in a Catch-22 situation in handling corruption and sending the rogues to hell
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The UNP, by blindly denying and attempting to cover up had got its image tarnished
On the other hand, despite the Commission had not accused any political party in this regard, the UNP, by blindly denying and later attempting to cover up the scam from the very beginning had got its image tarnished. The UNP still seems to be clueless as to how the party could get out of the mess and still takes the allegations in respect of the bond scam as ones against it, not against certain individuals and sympathisers of the party.
However, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe while addressing the nation on the issue on January 18 said that the President appointed the Bond Commission after consulting him and the findings of the commission report would not be swept under the carpet. If that was the case it seems to be not known to State Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe who accused in November last year that the appointment of the commission was a conspiracy against the UNP.
The tussle between the President and the UNP has worsened at a time when the agreement between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the UNP over the establishment of the national government has lapsed and the Opposition parties are claiming that the current cabinet is illegal under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. This indicates the fragility of the Yahapalanaya Government in spite of the fact the two main parties in the government have no option other than putting up with the situation. The President’s vow to send the corrupt politicians and officials to “hell” raises two questions in respect of his anti-corruption drive. Firstly, what went wrong with his pledge to bring the plunderers of the wealth of the people to book for the past three years?
"This indicates the fragility of the Yahapalanaya Government in spite of the fact the two main parties in the government have no option other than putting up with
the situation."
It was he who during the Presidential election campaign said that the Katunayake Airport would be closed on January 9, 2015, in order to prevent the rogues from fleeing the country. But not have only the rogues fled the country but also were some other rogues of the former Government accommodated into his Government’s fold while being questioned by the newly formed Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) of the police.
Then towards the end of the same year, the President said even he did not know the reasons for the delay in the investigations against the leaders of the former regime. In October 2016 he opened a can of worms by alleging that the FCID, CID and the Bribery Commission have been politicised and only those close to him were being targeted.
When the issue of extending the term of the Anti-Corruption Committee Secretariat (ACCS) came up at the Cabinet meeting in July, last year the President had stated that there had been no cases against former President Mahinda Rajapaksa or his family, as those in the UNP had brought pressure on the investigators periodically to slow down or not to proceed.
He had alleged that even the ones probed and actions taken against the members of the Rajapaksa family have been watered- down.
He had gone on to say that if the Attorney General’s Department and the police were given to him he would catch all the culprits within three months. Then Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe had to resign as the Justice Minister in August, last year following allegations that he hindered the investigations. And now the President pleads the UNP not to hinder efforts to send the corrupt politicians to “hell.”
"The tussle between the President and the UNP has worsened at a time when the agreement between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the UNP over the establishment of the national government has lapsed"
These incidents point that the President is in a Catch-22 situation in handling corruption if he is serious onthat issue and they are also an indication that sending the rogues to hell within the rest of his tenure is going to be a hellish task for him. Going by the pace of things, if he is to adhere to this vow he would have to go back on his pledge not to run for another term.
