Sri Lanka president sacks ‘unruly’ Justice Minister Rajapakshe

After much hesitation, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has sacked controversial Justice and Buddha Sasana Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe.

This was done at the request of the working committee of Rajapakshe’s party, the United National Party or UNP.

But well-placed political sources have said that Wijeyadasa’s sacking is not an isolated step but part of a compromise. 

The compromise is that Wijeyadasa will leave the Council of Ministers, but remain an MP, and therefore will keep his prospect of returning to the cabinet open for when the dust of controversy settles.

It is believed that President Sirisena, known for being politically astute, will ensure that the Mahanayakes, the three heads of the Buddhist clergy who are strongly backing Rajapakshe, are brought on board.

Rajapakshe had cultivated and secured the backing of the Mahanayakes for his Sinhala-Buddhist-Nationalist line on national issues.

A stormy petrel

Rajapakshe had alienated the UNP’s leadership by defying the principle of the collective responsibility of the cabinet for its decisions.

He had been expressing divergent opinions on critical issues such as the leasing out of the Hambantota harbour to a Chinese company and the plan to develop the Trincomalee harbour with Indian and Japanese assistance.

Rajapakshe not only criticised the terms of the agreement with the Chinese  company, but declared that he would not rest until Sri Lanka takes back the national assets farmed out to foreign countries.

He had also openly confronted the visiting US Rapporteur on Torture, Ben Emmerson, by claiming that Sri Lanka’s steps against terror and crime were same as those being adopted by Western democracies.

He had asked Westerners advising Sri Lanka to cure themselves first.

But Rajapakshe’s approach to Emmerson ran counter to the government’s conciliatory stand on issues raised by the UN Human Rights Council.

His comments went against the government’s foreign policy which rests on cultivating the friendship of all major powers in the world.

It was also clear to the UNP leadership, including the Working Committee, that Rajapakashe, as justice minister, was not vigorously pursuing the corruption and fraud cases against the former regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Rajapakshe retorted by saying that nobody, including the justice minister, prime minister and president, can interfere with the wheels of justice as represented by the courts.

His party men suspected a nexus between Rajapakshe and Rajapaksa.

Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe also started cultivating the Sinhala-Buddhist-Nationalist constituency, Sri Lanka’s single largest political constituency.

He got close to the Buddhist clergy, including the three Mahanayakes of Malwatte, Asgiriya and Ramannya. So much so, that the three Mahanayakes issued a statement where they threatened to withdraw support for the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government if it passed a no-confidence motion or even a resolution against Rajapakshe.

The support of the Mahanayakes had made both prime minister and UNP chief, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and President Sirisena, hesitate about taking any punitive action against the unruly minister.

However, Wickremesinghe felt constrained to take punitive action after Rajapakshe arrogantly refused to gracefully resign, as Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake did recently.

President Srisena had suggested to the prime minister that Rajapakshe be given a portfolio other than Justice and Buddha Sasana, something the prime minister felt he could agree to.

But Rajakashe continued to be defiant saying his portfolio has to be Justice and Buddha Sasana or nothing.

It was at this stage that President Sirisena accepted the UNP Working Committee’s suggestion that Rajapakshe be relieved of his portfolios.

However, as part of a compromise, obviously authored by Sirisena, Rajapakshe has been allowed to remain an UNP MP.

The leader of his party, the UNP, has the power to replace him by the person next in line in terms of preferential votes in the last parliamentary elections. But this power will not be exercised in Rajapakshe’s case.

And for his part, Rajapashe has said that he accepts the president’s decision. This will allow Sirisena and Wickremesinghe to recall him to the cabinet at a later date.