Mervyn’s merry go round machinations

In recent years, Mervyn Silva has been synonymous with controversy. There has hardly been a time when he was not making news. This week, he was the focus of attention again following the killing of Kelaniya Pradeshiya Sabha member Hasitha Madawala who was assassinated by unknown gunmen.

Madawala, previously a Silva loyalist who once served as his coordinating secretary was killed when gunmen on a motorcycle sprayed him with bullets outside his home on Saturday night. He was a close associate of Kelaniya Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Prasanna Ranaweera who is challenging Silva.

The rivalry between the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) controlled pradeshiya sabha and Minister Silva has been longstanding. Ranaweera and a majority of pradeshiya sabha members accuse Silva of running a network of illegal activities in the Kelaniya region.

Such disputes have never been far from the political life of Hewa Koparage Mervyn Silva, now 68. Silva often proudly traces his roots to the Hambantota district, the home of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and claims a friendship with the Rajapaksa clan dating back to their childhood.

Details of his early life are sketchy. He does not boast of academic achievements although he has been awarded a honorary doctorate by Medicina Alternativa, an organization that promotes acupuncture.

Silva’s entry to politics was relatively late. His first political mentor was Anura Bandaranaike. When Bandaranaike, after a dispute with Chandrika Kumaratunga, crossed over to the United National Party (UNP), Mervyn followed him into the UNP.

Ironically it was the United National Party (UNP) which offered Silva his first political opportunity, nominating him as a candidate for the Hambantota district at the 1994 general elections. Among his opponents were Mahinda Rajapaksa and Chamal Rajapaksa! Silva entered Parliament in that election.

However, Silva soon changed his loyalties, returning to the SLFP, and staying there since. Known for his blind allegiance to the party leadership, Silva was quick to mend fences with Kumaratunga. He was equally astute in shifting allegiance to the Rajapaksas, when they wrested control of the SLFP.

He suffered a mild setback when, at the general elections in 2004, contesting from the Colombo district, he emerged last in his party’s list of candidates polling just over 2000 preferential votes when the UPFA polled over 400,000 votes.

That didn’t deter Mervyn. He was still able to make it to Parliament because he enjoyed enough clout with the then party high command to have his wife, Mary Lucida, nominated on the much sought after National List. With his spouse resigning, Mervyn was back in the legislature.

At the 2010 general election Silva demonstrated that despite his public image as an egotistic politician with no scruples, he was still popular. He finished third in the SLFP stronghold of Gampaha with only Basil Rajapaksa and Sudarshini Fernandopulle securing more preferential votes than he did.

Despite a series of petty incidents, it was in December 2007 that he hit the national headlines when he walked into the offices of the state owned Rupavahini, and assaulted an official. Angry employees held him hostage and assaulted him, the melee being broadcast live on television.

This was followed by the assault on a television cameraman at Kelaniya in August 2008 and the infamous incident where he tied a government official to a tree for not being present at a meeting summoned by Silva in August 2010. The official later recanted, saying he ‘tied himself’ to the tree!

Even after the ‘tree’ incident, Silva was briefly stripped of his post as SLFP organiser for Kelaniya but later exonerated following a disciplinary inquiry by the party and his privileges were restored. No charges were pressed against him, despite the event being witnessed by the public.

More recently, Silva’s son Malaka has been in the limelight for allegedly assaulting an Army intelligence officer. Although Malaka Silva was produced in court, the charges against him were withdrawn and the officer himself later faced disciplinary action in the military.

Despite public outcries whenever there is an incident involving Silva, he has managed to escape censure or legal consequences. This is attributed both to his  loyalty to the UPFA leadership as well as his ability to be the ‘hatchet man’ whenever the party finds itself in a tight political corner. Silva has been known to organise ‘street protests’ on behalf of the ruling party at short notice when it needs to flex its political muscles. His constituents from Kelaniya were recently observed to be active participants in demonstrations against Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake.

Silva also has an abrasive style of public speaking threatening anyone who dares to cross his path. These-along with his role as a judge on a television reality show-however ensure that his is a name that is not easily forgotten.

The killing of Madawala is in an entirely different league. Silva has of course denied any involvement and in typical Silva style cited how the late Ranasinghe Premadasa was wrongly accused of killing Lalith Athulathmudali, his defence being that the ‘obvious’ enemy is not the true killer.



Nevertheless, coming just over a year after a shoot-out between supporters of Duminda Silva and Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra in Kolonnawa left Premachandra dead, President Rajapaksa would want to see a quick end to the enmity between Silva and the Kelaniya Pradeshiya Sabha.

The President visited Madawala’s residence and promised a speedy investigation. Silva-who accompanies the President whenever he visits Kelaniya-was conspicuous by his absence. Madawala’s funeral will also be an emotionally charged event where anti-Silva sentiments will come to the fore. The question for many within the SLFP is how far will Silva be allowed to go before he is reined in? Regardless of whether Silva was involved or not in recent events , most are not optimistic. They say that is because Silva is as indispensable to the ruling party hierarchy as they are to him.