A key element in President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s (MR) strategy to tackle the Opposition seems very similar to his campaign against the LTTE. The President over the past three years has developed a knack for breaking up the Opposition by wooing influential sections of antagonists. The President has brazenly exploited the weakness of his opponents to gradually undermine opposing forces.

Before dealing with the ground situation on the eastern flank where army chief, Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, is directing the largest ever ground offensive to liberate Mullaitivu before forthcoming Independence Day February 4, it would be pertinent to discuss the growing sense of insecurity in Colombo and its suburbs.

In fact, three major attacks on the media beginning with the raid on Sirasa studios at Depanama, Pannipitiya, the despicable assassination of The Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunga (LW) and Friday’s attack on Rivira Editor Upali Tennakoon had raised serious concerns.

The President’s clandestine association with LW, perhaps one of the toughest critics of the Rajapaksa, brothers didn’t surprise those who knew MR’s style of governance. While a section of the media exploited MR’s revelation of his close contact with Wickrematunga to propagate a conspiracy theory, MR’s contacts with LW would naturally trigger a range of questions.

Who initiated the contact? When did the first meeting take place? Did MR receive confidential information from LW as claimed by the SLFP leader at a meeting with newspaper publishers and some of his media team at Temple Trees close on the heels of LW’s assassination?

Did LW informed UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe of his association with MR? If Wickremesinghe was in the dark as to the true extent of MR-LW association, what exactly transpired at Temple Trees meetings? Did the UNP, struggling to meet the MR challenge, receive any benefits?

What we must be mindful is that we may never know the answers.

Basil and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa couldn’t have been unaware of MR’s association with LW. Recent reports that a mutual friend has paved the way for MR’s meeting with LW shouldn’t be taken seriously. Let me emphasize, no one would have been able to convince the two of them to meet had both parties not genuinely believed it would be to their mutual advantage.

A close contact of mine who had been in touch with LW regularly, privately admitted that he was aware of the veteran journalist’s association with the President. But he did fail to give one plausible reason to justify such an association when one considered the role LW played in the UNP. He was one man army taking on the Rajapaksas whom he accused of running a murderous and corrupt administration.

Although the Opposition hadn’t been attacked with Kfirs, MiGs and claymore mines, the impact of MR’s strategy of taking on the opposition ranks is obvious. Against the backdrop of LW’s refusal to meet MR in the company of editors of other national newspapers, the claim of their clandestine association raised many an eyebrow. The government through some Sunday political columnists leaked what MR said about LW. The President went to the extent of calling LW an informant. Naturally many would agree, had they been aware of the way MR got to know about severe criticism of him by an NGO guru.

Although Upali Tennakoon wasn’t the political animal LW was, Friday’s attack on him and his wife close proximity to their Imbulgoda residence highlighted the growing danger faced by society. The government has asserted that the attack on Tennakoon was part of a conspiracy to undermine its successful war against the LTTE. The UNP has accused the government of silencing the dissent as part of its strategy to annihilate the democratic opposition. Friday’s heavy exchange in the House was evidence that both the government and the Opposition are determined to make the maximum possible mileage out of the issue. Free media’s loss is obviously the political parties’ gain.

The war against the LTTE couldn’t have been fought to a successful finish had the political and military leadership failed to take advantage of a split within the LTTE caused by Karuna, one time commander of the LTTE groups deployed in the Ampara-Batticaloa region. The success of a combined security forces campaign in the Vanni had very much depended on a swift liberation of the Eastern Province.

That wouldn’t have been a reality had the government failed to realize the importance of a partnership with Karuna. Today, Karuna represents the ruling coalition in Parliament while Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan is Chief Minister of the Eastern Province.

Karuna and Pillayan visiting Temple Trees or paying homage at the Dalada Maligawa would have been unthinkable not so long ago. MR’s ability to win over a powerful section of the LTTE and make it work with another breakaway group of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) under M. L. A. M. Hisbullah’s leadership in the East is evidence of his skillful maneuvering in the political field. Manipulation is the name of the game MR plays best.

Unfortunately, the UNP appears to be blind to this strategy. To the credit of MR’s government, it has determinedly pursued a dual strategy of neutralizing the LTTE and the media. Unprecedented military might thrown against the LTTE caused the rapid deterioration of the enemy’s fighting capability but the overall success couldn’t have been achieved had MR not capitalized on the split triggered by Karuna.

The same way it won over Karuna and Pillayan from Prabhakaran, the government has poached media backing of the Opposition by convincing journalists and media personalities to switch allegiance to the ruling coalition. Lake House Chairman Bandula Padmakumara was Editorial Director of Lake House during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure as Prime Minister. Hudson Samarasinghe, the SLBC Chairman was radio czar for both Presidents Ranasinghe Premadasa and Chandrika Kumaratunga. He is now in MR’s media team.

MR, unlike his predecessors, has an uncanny knack of getting opponents to bat for him and this is very evident in the media field. He does not only look after his friends, he gets one time opponents to his side dispensing lavishly from the patronage barrel and the media field is replete with such instances. Padmakumara and Samarasinghe are not the only examples. TV personality Chamuditha Samarawickrema who was made by TNL and played a vital role in Ranil Wickremesinghe’s media team, has also ended up nestling under MR’s wings. The UNP is rapidly losing its media and NGO support base to the government.

Nothing could have been as shocking as MR’s association with LW who accused the ruling coalition of targeting the media. In the run up to the November 2005 presidential election, LW spearheaded a media blitz against the then Prime Minister who was accused of among other things an attempt defraud tsunami rehabilitation funds. The offensive against the President and his government continued with The Sunday Leader and its sister paper, Irudina, taking on Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa over human rights violations to buying inferior armaments.

Against the background of displayed hostility between the two parties, the revelation of a clandestine association would have surprised many. Given LW’s role in the UNP, a relationship with MR was unimaginable. The UNP leader went to the extent of consulting LW when he had to accommodate Thilanga Sumathipala as an organizer for North Central Province after the last presidential election. This transpired at a court hearing in Colombo into the controversial circumstances of a questionable character being funded by Sri Lanka Cricketto watch the World Cup matches in the UK about a decade ago.

Sarath Kongahage who switched allegiance to MR in March, 2006, publicly acknowledged that he didn’t work for Wickremesinghe at the November 2005 presidential campaign despite being with the Maharaja Organisation perceived to be pro-Wickremesinghe. MR appointed him the CEO of Rupavahini and the SLBC. Although he had moved on to a different assignment, he remained with the ruling coalition while his wife, Shanthini, contests the Central Province on the UNP ticket.

Kongahage entry to Parliament along with that of Lankadeepa journalist Dinesh Dodangoda on the widely abused National List was made possible by Wickremesinghe in the 1990s. Although many UNP stalwarts including A.C.S. Hameed and M. H. Mohammed vehemently opposed the move, Wickremesinghe went ahead with it. What I want to emphasize here is that politics, power and accompanying benefits would override any other cnsideration as repeatedly demonstrated in the past couple of years.

Although the UNP has proudly claimed a powerful media set up under its command, MR has shown that he could pick many key players. But in the case of LW, he appeared to have cultivated both MR and former President Chandrika Kumaratunga who had been at the receiving end of his cannon blasts over the years.

Kumaratunga severely criticized MR’s government after paying her last respects to Wickrematunga. She accused the government of a murderous campaign to destroy democracy. Was she aware of MR’s secret association with LW?

In fact, national cricketer Kumar Sangakkara recently switched allegiance from one cellular phone service provider to another. He went to the extent of running down his previous sponsor to the chagrin of many but ended up being handsomely rewarded by his new paymaster.

The bottom line is that politicians, sportsmen or any other professional would play ball depending on the perks and privileges. This government has obviously mastered the game and the way it is being played, the opposition would find it extremely difficult to find support among the media. An unfortunate situation, I must say.

Had an MP bothered to raise an oral question in Parliament about facilities and privileges afforded to journalists since 1977 at the expense of the taxpayer, the list would be endless. The answer is likely to be perhaps the longest provided in Sri Lanka’s parliamentary history.

The list would include houses, apartments, land and shops provided to media personalities not to mention numerous foreign trips. There would be some who had lapped up the gravy from both UNP and SLFP.

The recent controversy over the resignation of Sunanda Deshapriya from the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) following an investigation into his financial dealings revealed shady transactions in the INGO/NGO sector. Heavy overseas funding received by organizations involved in conflict resolution and media related work over the years had benefited many individuals.

Although they haven’t brought peace to Sri Lanka, many individuals have opened USD accounts and the government has taken advantage of the corruption in the NGO/INGO family to undermine the entire sector.

On the battlefront, the army continued to advance on enemy bases as the LTTE rapidly retreated on multiple fronts. But unfortunately, mayhem in Colombo had taken the gloss out of some significant victories on the ground achieved at tremendous sacrifices made by the infantry.

Ground forces conducting operations on the eastern flank have gradually pushed the remaining LTTE units to an area covering Mullaitivu, Visvamadu and Puththukudirippu. The outcome of the war seems almost a forgone conclusion with 55 and 59 Divisions now gradually closing in on the Mullaitivu coastal stretch still under LTTE control. Once they linked up north of Mullaitivu, the LTTE would find itself totally cut off from its sea access, an unprecedented situation in the Eelam conflict.

The fall of Mullaitivu before the February 14 elections to the Central and Wayamba Provinces would be advantageous to the government. With battlefield success against the LTTE becoming MR’s trump card, perhaps the only thing this government could boast of, the final PC election propaganda blitz would be on the war against terror.

Government is wide open for criticisms on many flanks. Its media strategy is to focus on its strong point: winning the war after more than three decades of fighting. The state media is under orders to play up military victories and submerge everything else. The recent attacks on the media will, however, remain a persistent thorn in its side.