The curtain finally fell on the spectacle that was Foreign Minister and former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake’s resignation last Thursday, with the beleaguered minister opting to step down and take a seat in the back benches of the government, much to the satisfaction of the many forces that were clamouring for his resignation.
If the Joint Opposition (JO)- and some section of the mainstream Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP)- which were demanding Karunanayake’s ouster from the Cabinet had their way, Karunanayake had his say. Making a statement in Parliament, Karunanayake was defiant to the end, making the point that he was resigning “with pride” and to protect the United National Party (UNP) and ensure the continuance of the government.
Karunanayake quoted extensively from the Dhammapada, the Holy Quran, the Thirukkural and made comparisons with the Buddha and Jesus Christ, who he said, were also accused wrongly. His speech also contained a brief explanation of the financial transactions that led to his predicament, where Central Bank Bond dealer Arjun Aloysius, now the focus of a Commission of Inquiry, paid the rent for Karunanayake’s penthouse.
He took several swipes at the Attorney General’s Department and in particular at the Additional Solicitor General who questioned him aggressively at the Commission. “The Judges had to intervene several times,” Karunanayake noted, adding that there was a time when the Attorney General’s Department “was afraid even to open a file on a minister in the government” but that it had now reviewed more than 8,000 pages of documents in 48 hours.
The departing minister also took a thinly veiled dig at Governor of the Central Bank Indrajith Coomaraswamy, pointing out that Coomaraswamy was previously employed by United States based Sri Lankan born financier Raj Rajaratnam who, along with Karunanayake, was once accused of foreign exchange fraud, but exonerated of those charges.
New political culture
This significance of this reference was not lost on many observers as Coomaraswamy replaced Aloysius’s father-in-law, Arjuna Mahendran as Governor of the Central Bank, an appointment that was initiated and driven by President Maithripala Sirisena, to the annoyance of a section of the UNP. They also noted that Rajaratnam is presently serving time in prison in the United States, having been found guilty of insider dealing.
Speaking after Karunanayake’s statement, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was to observe that the minister’s resignation signalled a new political culture in the country, noting that a commission interrogating a sitting minister was an unprecedented event. “There is no similar example, we have realised a goal of good governance”, the Premier said.
Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan too commended Karunanayake for his resignation, pointing out that it was a ‘bold’ decision because Karunanayake too was entitled to be presumed innocent until he was proven guilty. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna’s Sunil Handunnetti, in his brief remarks however dissented, saying he saw no reason for Karunanayake to be ‘proud’ of his resignation.
The top minister’s resignation was the culmination of a series of behind the scenes political meetings, initially with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and later with President Maithripala Sirisena also in attendance. In these meetings, Karunanayake protested his innocence, maintaining that he had done nothing wrong, pointing out that he had not been found guilty and that he was entitled to the presumption of innocence.
However, the pressure was beginning to tell. It was pointed out to Karunanayake that his resignation would be the ‘easy way out’ for the government because, if he were to remain in Cabinet, it would trigger a series of events that could damage the National Unity government irreparably- and would probably end in Karunanayake being compelled to resign anyway.
No-confidence against Karunanayake
That was because the Joint Opposition had submitted a motion of no-confidence against Karunanayake. The motion had the signatures of thirty members of the JO which has the support of just over 50 Members of Parliament.
By itself, that wouldn’t have posed a major problem but more and more parliamentarians and even ministers from the mainstream SLFP aligned with President Sirisena were indicating their support for the motion of no confidence.
Already, Ministers S.B. Dissanayake, Susil Premajayantha, Dayasiri Jayasekera and Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena had made public comments suggesting that Karunanayake should not continue in the Cabinet. Minister Mahinda Amaraweera and even Deputy Speaker Thilanga Sumathipala had also expressed similar sentiments.
Adding to the woes of the government, even UNP stalwarts were voicing their concerns. Minister Daya Gamage had suggested that Karunanayake should step down until investigations are concluded and Minister Sajith Premadasa had hinted that he would resign from the Cabinet if he is asked ‘to vote for corrupt people’.
Faced with such an avalanche of dissent from within the government, resignation was in reality the only way out for Karunanayake, many observers felt. Had he stayed in his ministerial post, the protests against him would have escalated and the government would have lost all credibility, they noted.
This would then become a greater crisis, particularly for the UNP because Provincial and Local Government elections are looming and the opposition would no doubt raise the Karunanayake saga in their campaign. They will still do so, but now that Karunanayake has resigned, the UNP can take the moral high ground and point out that a minister has quit, even though he has not been found guilty.
Nevertheless, parliamentarians in the UNP are angry at the recent developments. They argue that while the government is still grappling with dozens of corruption cases involving politicians of the previous regime- with none of them proven in court or the alleged offenders being punished - the Attorney General’s Department has acted with alacrity to virtually prosecute Karunanayake, even though he was not the initial focus in the Central Bank Commission of Inquiry.
Thus, while the JO may have triggered events against Karunanayake with their motion of no-confidence, that may still come back to haunt them. UNPers in government are now insisting that probes into the activities of the former regime be expedited- and action has already been taken in that regard, with former First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa and her sons Rohitha and Yoshitha being summoned before Police this week, Ms. Rajapaksa and Yoshitha for questioning on the murder of ruggerite Wasim Thajudeen and Rohitha for questioning by the Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID).
Political career
Thus, the clamour for justice from both sides of Parliament will intensify over the coming weeks. It must be noted that while Karunanayake has resigned, the Commission of Inquiry that led to his departure is still continuing investigations. More inquiries and investigations into alleged misdeeds can be expected to dominate the headlines in the coming weeks as the UNP makes its claim for justice for the misdeeds of the previous regime.
In what could be the conclusion of the Karunanayake saga, Tilak Marapana was sworn in as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday. That itself is ironical because Marapana, a much respected lawyer, had himself previously resigned from the Cabinet after he had made a statement in Parliament defending a client of his in an ongoing investigation, which was considered improper conduct.
Marapana was re-inducted to the Cabinet in the recent Cabinet reshuffle as Minister of Development Assignments and has now been elevated to the top post of Minister of Foreign Affairs. Among other things, it will no doubt give hope to Ravi Karunanayake that his political career too could be resurrected some day.
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