Generally speaking, the PA has been more fortunate than the UNP vis-a-vis the LTTE’s terrorism. The LTTE was able to remove the entire top leadership of the UNP - Premadasa, Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake, leaving the party in the hands of the second eleven. The PA had until this year, managed to avoid such damage to their party. During twelve years of rule, the PA lost only C. V. Gooneratne to the LTTE. Chandrika Kumaratunga managed to escape by the skin of her teeth, losing one eye. Until 2008, that was the all the damage that the party suffered at the hands of the LTTE. But this year, they lost D. M. Dassanayake, once a terror to the UNP, but a reformed man in the latter stages of his life who had mended fences with many of his UNP opponents (Except of course his bete noir Palitha Range Bandara). Despite a predilection to resort to thuggery in his early days, Dassanayake was a man of the people, who was very popular among the ordinary folk of the Puttalam district.

Irreparable loss for SLFP

The same is true of Jeyaraj Fernandopulle who was assassinated last week. Fernandopulle was a man who had an incredible memory for faces and names, and even addresses. If some one went to see him just once, Jeyaraj would always remember the individual and who he was associated with and who brought him to see him, what he came for and all other details. He actually knew most of his constituents by name, where they lived and details of their families as well. Needless to say, this photographic memory extended to his political opponents as well. Once an acquaintance of the present writer had gone to Fernandopulle to get something done and when he told Fernandopulle where he lived, he had wanted to know the number of his house. When my acquaintance gave him the number of his house, Jeyaraj had said "You’re living next door to that JVP fellow!" Needless to say, this ability to remember such minutiae endeared Fernandopulle to his constituents. Apart from this ability to remember things, Fernadopulle was a man who could get things done one way or the other. It was rarely that anyone went to him and went away disappointed.

These factors made him the quintessential politician. He was in a profession that he was cut out for. As such he was the sheet anchor of the SLFP in the Gampaha district. Most importantly, he was a Tamilian belonging to the Colombo Chetty community and a Roman Catholic by religion. He was in effect the SLFP’s Catholic leader in an area that was traditionally a bastion of the UNP. As such, his loss is a body blow to the SLFP. Within the first few months of this year, the SLFP has lost two of its most successful politicians – one at a national level and the other at a regional level. Speaking of Fernandopulle’s death, one UNP parliamentarian told the present writer, "The government is finished!" So great was Fernandopulle’s contribution to keeping the business of government going in parliament.

When the president heard of Fernandopulle’s assassination, he had for some moments been in a state of shock. The death would have brought home to the president his own vulnerability because he too like Fernandopulle, tends to go out among the people at public gatherings despite the risk of assassination. When the killer blast happened, Minister Karu Jayasuriya, was about 1.5 km away in Henarathgoda attending to much the same type of function. Upon hearing of the assassination, the festivities were cancelled and Karu J, Gamini Lokuge, Reggie Ranatunga and others rushed to the Gampaha hospital where the bodies and the injured had been brought. Thereafter, Karu J rushed to Temple Trees to attend a meeting summoned by the president, where Jayasuriya was appointed as the chairman of the funeral organizing committee.

Fernandopulle’s body had been torn in two by the blast and what was left was only his torso with the entrails spilling out; a graphic image of what Sri Lanka is up against. It may be useful for Professor G. L. Peris to have that image copied, framed and distributed to all the European Union embassies in Colombo for the Ambassadors to hang up in their offices. That picture more than any other symbolizes the predicament that Sri Lanka is in.

On the day that Fernandopulle’s body was brought to parliament, the opposition UNP held a meeting of its May Day organization committee at Sirikotha, under the chairmanship of party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and it was decided that the UNP May Day rally which was to be held in Kurunegala would be cancelled and instead religious observances would be held at the Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya. This is the first time since May Day began to be celebrated in Sri Lanka, that an opposition party has voluntarily cancelled a rally for fear of terrorist attacks. In 1987, the then J. R. Jayewardene government banned May Day rallies citing security concerns but then the opposition defied the ban and held their meetings and ended up clashing with the police. Dr. Colvin. R. de Silva suffered the injuries that led up to his death during such an incident.

But today, even without the government making the request, the opposition has backed out from holding public rallies. Even though Wickremesinghe has of late been getting involved in grass roots level party work such as distributing leaflets at weekly polas and even pasting the first posters for the Valantine’s day poster campaign this year, he did not participate in the pot smashing protest held a couple of weeks ago due to security considerations.

JVP split

Sri Lanka is a country where things always happen in rapid succession. Immediately upon the assassination of Fernadopulle, another storm broke upon the scene. That was the dramatic break away of Wimal Weerawansa, the JVP parliamentary group leader along with eleven other JVP MPs. By the time Fernandopulle’s body had been laid to rest on Thursday, Wimal Weerawansa had made his dramatic special statement in parliament about his sacking from the JVP; eleven dissident JVP MPs had held a press conference in his support; the JVP had held a press conference to counter the allegations made by the dissidents; and JVP goon squads had begun threatening and intimidating the JVP dissidents. This has precipitated a crisis in the JVP, the likes of which the party has not seen since 1971 when, following the abortive insurgency, the party split with the majority leaving it leaving Rohana Wijeweera just a rump.

At the April heroes commemoration of the JVP last week, where they commemorate the party members who fell in 1971, party leader Somawansa Amarasinghe had been in an aggressive mood, confirming that certain members were under investigation. He said that those within the party who are found guilty will be dealt with even more harshly than those outside the party. Wimal Weerawansa ducked the commemoration. Two days later, he struck back making an emotional special statement in parliament, saying that the JVP central committee had already made the decision to sack him from the party but that they were delaying the announcement until the end of the Eastern Provincial Council elections. That same evening eleven dissident parliamentarians held a press conference in support of Weerawansa with 12 JVP MPs showing up. The main speaker there was Kalutara District MP Piyasiri Wijenayake. JVP parliamentarian Ranaweera Pathirana, who was also present was at every turn contradicting what Wijenayake was saying.

When Wijenayake said that there was a problem within the party, Pathirana had said that there was no problem that could no be solved trough discussions. When one journalist had asked Wijenayake about the statement Weerawansa had made in parliament, Pathirana had said that he disagrees completely with that statement. Pathirana had remained at the press conference till the very end and after it was over and the other 11 dissident parliamentarians left, Pathirana continued to remain in the hall holding forth to the journalists present. Upon which the remaining eleven MPs told the police that one of their number was being ‘held’ by the journalists present and the police came in and ‘rescued’ Pathirana from us! In any event, Pathirana’s attempt to bring about a split among the JVP dissidents failed and all eleven stuck together. At one point during the press conference some of those present were gesticulating aggressively and telling Pathirana, "You keep quiet!"

The very next day, the JVP held its own press conference when Somawansa Amarasinghe denied that Weerawansa had been removed from any of his posts, but he said that there were certain allegations against Weerawansa and he gave examples - when the Sunday Leader office was torched, he had asked Weerawansa to make a special statement in parliament condemning the attack but that he had not complied and that earlier, when he had asked Weerawansa to speak out against the eviction of 300 Tamil people from lodges in Colombo, he had not complied with that either. So Anura Kumara Dissanayake had to be asked to make the statement instead.

JVP ‘reformist’ group

The dissident JVP parliamentarians have already begun functioning as a separate group and they have appointed MP Jayantha Samaraweera as their spokesman. He explained to the present columnist that a conspiratorial minority in the party were trying to drag the JVP on a path of their choosing, which would favour the UNP and that their fight was against this tendency in the party. About Amarasinghe’s denial that Weerawansa had been removed, Samaraweera said that at the last central committee meeting held in March, which was not attended by Weerawansa, he had in fact been removed from all posts in the party. This was not news that the party wanted to break to the ordinary members all at once, and that the strategy of the party was to break the news gradually so that the impact of it on the ordinary rank and file would be minimized.

Samaraweera derisively dismissed Amarasinghe’s statement that Weerawansa had not been removed from any of his posts and points out that in addition to his parliamentary role and politburo membership, Weerawansa played a role in certain organizations of the JVP One of these was the Socialist Bhikku Front. One day, when Weerawansa had convened a meeting of the Bhikku Front nobody had turned up and when he tried to contact the national organizer of the Bhikku Front, the monk had given various evasive answers and tried to avoid meeting Weerawansa. Then again, says Samaraweera, Weerawansa was the propaganda secretary of the party and all propaganda work was done by Weerawansa. But with regard to the EPC elections, he had been kept out completely from any propaganda work. And Weerawansa was even unaware whether he was going to address any meetings in the east or not. In other words, Weerawansa had been purged in classic Marxist party style reminiscent of the Soviet Communist Party during Stalin’s time and the Chinese Communist Party during Mao’s time.

Dissident spokesman Samaraweera says that because of the impact this news would have on the ordinary rank and file, the party wanted it to come out gradually. So they started by leaking an unconfirmed report to the press about Weerawansa’s removal. That way, it would be discussed exhaustively in the press and by the time the party broke the news officially after the EPC elections, the rank and file would have got used to the idea of life without Weerawansa. When asked about the specific accusations leveled by Amarasinghe against Weerawansa about his conduct over the Sunday Leader arson attack and the eviction of 300 Tamils from lodges, the dissident spokesman said that when situations arise various parliamentarians are assigned to speak. Special statements have been made by Weerawansa Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Lal Kantha and others, and that this depends on the choice of the moment. And even if Weerawansa had refused to make this statement, that does not constitute a reason to expel a politburo member from the party and that there are disciplinary measures short of expulsion.

According to the JVP constitution, says the dissident spokesman, if a party member is at fault, he is first warned. If that does not work, he is officially reprimanded. If that also doesn’t work, he will be demoted. If that does not work, his party membership will be suspended. If all the above fails only then should a member be expelled.

On the night that the eleven dissident parliamentarians had held that press conference, Puttalam district JVP dissident Ranaweera Herath had returned to his Chilaw home at around midnight. After he had changed and had dinner, he received a visit from three known JVP activists. They had said that they want to talk about the press conference that morning. While he was arguing with these three, the house had been invaded by around 25 JVP activists, most of whom were known to Herath. They had roughed up his two police security guards, tried to grab their weapons, and then they had mercilessly assaulted Herath’s driver who was himself a committed member of the JVP. The driver had been hospitalized in Chilaw with a broken jaw and several broken teeth.

The assailants had then decamped with the vehicle which actually belonged to a Moneragala district JVP parliamentarian (not a member of the dissident group). JVP squads have thus far confiscated the vehicles of Piyasiri Wijenayake and another parliamentarian and also that of Sujatha Alahakoon the woman MP. When Weerawansa made his emotional special statement in parliament, Sujatha Alahakoon had broken down and left the parliament chamber.

MPs question Amarasinghe

With the defection of Weerawansa and the 11 dissident MPs, the JVP’s numbers in parliament is down to just 25. On the day the dissidents held their press conference, the remaining JVP MPs had come to party headquarters and asked party leader Amarasinghe what was going on. Amarasinghe had explained that there were several issues concerning Weerawansa and that investigations were continuing. The MPs present had then wanted to know why they had not been told about this. Amarasighe had replied that this was being discussed at the level of the politburo and central committee and that a decision had not been made to communicate the matter lower down. Amarasinghe had also told the agitated MPs, that nobody from the politburo or the central committee had joined the dissident press conference and that they should not be unduly worried.

Except for a few prominent MPs, whose names we hear everyday, like Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Vijitha Herath, (and Weerawansa until he was sacked) and others, none of the other JVP parliamentarians belong to the central committee or the politburo. As far as the JVP is concerned, these parliamentarians who sit on the country’s supreme legislature, are just lower level functionaries. In this, the JVP was following the model put in place by Stalin and Mao Tse Tung whereby the supreme legislature is only a rubber stamp for the ruling party and real power reposes with the party decision making bodies and not those of the state. Thus a central committee member is more powerful than a member of the legislative assembly of the country concerned. But the problem in Sri Lanka is that the JVP is not the ruling party and the legislature in this country does make decisions. It is parliament and not the JVP central committee that makes decisions that affect the country.

From the time that the JVP began entered various elected bodies, a kind of class divide would have opened up within the JVP with the elected representatives having vehicles and other privileges whereas the central committee members who are theoretically rank higher than these MPs, having much less creature comforts and less social status in wider society. Werawansa the parliamentary group leader, represented this new type of JVPer. It was this tension between the privileged sections of the JVP and the resentful, underprivileged central committee members, that has caused the wild swings in the JVP’s position in recent years. They are either pro-government or anti-government depending on whether Jekyll or Hyde is in charge of the JVP. The decision to vote against the budget at the second reading last November was obviously due to the influence of the JVP’s ‘underclass’ central committee whereas the decision to abstain was brought about due to the pressure exerted by the members of the JVP who had joined the ranks of the ruling class.

The ruling class JVPers think of the country, and how best it should be ruled, and the underclass JVPers concentrated in the central committee, are preoccupied with class conflict and the need to bring the status quo down. The contours of class conflict can be seen in the JVP’s preoccupation with seizing the vehicles – the ultimate ruling class status symbol - belonging to the dissidents.

1980s style JVP

The events of the past few days, brings into question the extent to which Somawansa Amarasinghe and Tilvin Silva are in control of the party. Harassing dissidents is a time honoured practice of the JVP. In 1983, Mahinda Pathirana a key central committee member and party orator was sacked from the party. At the 1982 presidential election campaign, it was Pathirana who would make the speech before Wijeweera. And it was known that he was also a very close friend of Wijeweera. But five years later, when the JVP commenced its second insurrection, Pathirana was killed by a JVP death squad that came to his house. Vaas Tillekeratne, a politburo member who was sacked along with Pathirana was somewhat more fortunate. He survived two attempts to his life.

He was shot while traveling in a bus but the bullet went through his cheek. Having admitted himself to the Badulla hospital, Vaas had stayed awake all night knowing that the JVP would be back to finish the job. Sure enough an assailant had turned up that night and tried to stab him while he slept, but Vaas had managed to grapple with him and shout for help. These are two prominent examples. In the past, harassing those who leave the party was an institutionalized practice within the JVP.

The present author is aware of one instance where the student leader in charge of the Kalani Valley zone left the party along with Lionel Bopage in 1983. He was one day accosted in the Viharamahadevi Park while returning from a political meeting at New Town Hall and was mercilessly assaulted. The assault and harassment directed at the dissident MPs in the past few days, smacks of this 1980s style JVP policy. But it is unlikely that party leader Somawansa Amarasinghe or Tilvin Silva would have sanctioned such actions knowing how the public was going to look at the JVP thereafter. It is true that what has happened to the JVP dissidents over the past few days is no more serious than the thuggery practiced by any other party. But the JVP is not just any other political party. They were once a terrorist organization that killed thousands of people. And this kind of thuggery is going to frighten a lot of people. It appears that there is a dynamic within the JVP central committee which even the party leaders are not really in control of.

Wimal Weerawansa was the man who more than any other in the JVP symbolized the new JVP that came into being in the 1990s. His hair style, dress sense and oratory was part of the image of the new populist JVP. Somawansa Amarasinghe is still in control of many parliamentarians and the entire party machinery. But Weerawansa’s exit is going to have a serious impact on the JVP at the popular level. As was pointed out in this column on an earlier occasion, the JVP has been having a problem with recruitment as young people are no longer joining the party. They have very few cadres below the age of 25 – the age group which was once the mainstay of the JVP. The recent April 5 Hero’s Day celebrations was symbolic of the JVP’s decline. It was scheduled to start at 3.pm. Usually when the JVP holds a meeting, the venue is full by the time it is due to begin. But at last week’s commemoration which was not attended by Weerawansa and where party leader Amarasinghe hinted that a top level JVP leader was on the mat, there was a very poor crowd. The meeting had started two hours late because there was no crowd – an unprecedented situation for the JVP.