| by Upul Joseph Fernando
( May 1, 2013, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Just a few days before the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) was scheduled to meet for business, President Mahinda Rajapaksa made a special announcement regarding the much touted election for the Northern Provincial Council. He categorically stated that the election will be held in September and his astrologers are working on the auspicious dates for it.
Drawing publicity
Interestingly, a few days before the CMAG meeting was to take place, Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, had a meeting with the former LTTE stalwart, Daya Master, in Jaffna. The meeting, held with a lot of fanfare, gave the impression that the former Tiger rebel would in all probability be the government's nominee for the Chief Minister of the Northern Province. Needless to say, the meeting drew a tremendous amount of publicity. Meanwhile, in the immediate aftermath of the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Secretariat, Kamalesh Sharma, confirming that the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) will be held in Sri Lanka as scheduled, Minister Basil Rajapaksa issued a statement saying: "We will conduct the election to the NPC for sure. We need to select candidates for it." When the Rajapaksa brother's pronouncements on holding the Northern election as promised are considered in the backdrop of the CMAG meeting that was scheduled for last Friday, it stands to reason without a doubt that there was a distinct connection between the two developments. It was India's hand at work. External Affairs Ministry sources have revealed that, if as promised, the Northern Province elections are held in September, India had assured it would ensure Sri Lanka would come out unscathed at the CMAG meeting. In this matter, India's ability to enrol the co-operation of Bangladeshi Foreign Minister, who is the current CMAG Chairman, also helped in no small measure.
Canada protests
In spite of Canada and a few other member countries coming up with strong opposition to holding the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in the country, India by its manoeuvrings through Secretary General Sharma and Chairman of the Committee, the Bangladeshi Foreign Minister, delivered a favourable outcome for Sri Lanka with regard to the CMAG proceedings. The next CMAG meeting before CHOGM is scheduled for September. India thus gets ample time and space to exert its influence to keep Sri Lanka on track and ensure elections are held in September as promised. Any attempted deviation will have serious consequences with the next CMAG meeting also coming up in September. India has used Sharma very shrewdly on other occasions too in matters directly related to Commonwealth affairs. At the end of the Commonwealth Games held in India, Mahinda Rajapaksa had also been invited to the closing ceremony. Sharma was roundly criticized by the media for his role in it. Following is an extract from the 'Guardian,' a London Newspaper on the matter.
"His presence next to Prince Edward, who will close the games on behalf of the Queen, will spark anger from campaigners who have accused Rajapaksa of failing to protect many thousands of civilians who died in battles which ended the long civil war against Tamil separatists last year, and of flouting international human rights law.
In January, the 64-year-old politician won a second six-year term in a landslide
victory and recently pushed through a constitutional amendment that will allow him to stand an unlimited number of times.
Aslam Khan, Head of Protocol for the games, confirmed that the choice of guest for the closing ceremony in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi was a 'joint venture between the Indian Government and the Organizing Committee.' Rajapaksa is not expected to speak at the event, Khan said.
The presence of Rajapaksa among the senior dignitaries in front of 65,000 spectators and hundreds of millions of television viewers will renew criticism of the Commonwealth for avoiding tackling tough issues.
Last week, the Guardian revealed that the current Secretary General, Kamalesh Sharma, had told his staff that it was not the organization's role to 'speak out' against abuses by the 54 member states. David Cameron and the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, have both said they will put new emphasis on the Commonwealth in Britain' foreign policy.
India's invitation is part of a charm offensive aimed at countering diplomatic inroads made by China in Sri Lanka in recent years. The two Asian powers are both investing much effort in wooing Rajapaksa, who remains popular with the Sinhalese majority in the island state, with economic aid packages, technical help with infrastructure projects and other initiatives."
Well-known secret
Sharma is an eminent Indian diplomat, one time Indian High Commissioner to Britain and a close associate of the Gandhi family. It is a well-known secret that India is frequently using Sharma in the Commonwealth Secretariat, and Vijay K. Nambiar, who is the Chief of Staff of UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, to further its interests in both world bodies. At the latter stages of the war, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon sent Vijay Nambiar as his special envoy to this country. He stayed in Colombo without doing anything much, while civilian casualties were increasing as alleged by his detractors and human rights activists. At that time the UN had instructed the remaining LTTE cadres to carry a white flag and surrender to the Government Forces. The LTTE Diaspora has accused Nambiar of completely ignoring their plight and helping Sri Lanka by keeping silent presumably at India's instigation. Their contention is that India wanted to destroy the LTTE and used Nambiar to neutralize any UN interference. After the CMAG assured that the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting will be held in Sri Lanka as scheduled, President Rajapaksa gave his approval for the much delayed Sampur Power Project, which will be undertaken by India. Ultimately Sri Lanka got its much coveted prize of hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka, with immense help from India. I reproduce the last paragraph of my 10 June 2012 article titled 'Mahinda beckoning India again after Commonwealth fiasco,' due to its extreme relevance to the matters discussed above.
Conclusion
"The international media has already highlighted Rajapaksa's enforced failure to address the Business Council meeting as portending failure to hold the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka. Rajapaksa badly needs India's help to succeed now. But India can no longer be enticed into helping him without some reciprocal action on promises made till now."
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