By Walter Jayawardhana

Los Angeles:-The condemnation of the United national Party(UNP) deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya by a protégé of party leader Ranil Wickramasinghe for criticizing the party leader has turned into a hornet’s nest when other party members started lashing out at the despotic nature of the party leadership, repeating Jayasuriya more severely.

Vajira Abeywardena, the Wickremesinghe protégé, second only to party secretary Tissa Attanayaka in his loyalty to Wickremesinghe demanded stern disciplinary action against Jayasuriya that would end up in suspension or expulsion aroused the ire of many party members against his unkind words.

Many said the heated arguments for and against Jayasuriya will be reflected in a stormy session of a party annual conference, that would definitely challenge the leadership of Ranil Wickremesinghe,soon.

A former close ally of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and a cabinet minister of the then Ranil Wickremesinghe government, Vajira has lamented that the party leader’s authority has been challenged by the deputy leader of the party Karu Jayasuriya.

Vajira Abeywardena, who started a public relations campaign to woo the UNP-LTTE nexus called “Southern Peace Bridge”that took school children to Jaffna and made them praise the so called peace process and separately ordered public servants to participate in Pongu Thamil propaganda rallies as a former Minister of Public Administration has now cried that strict disciplinary measures should be taken against Jayasuriya for challenging the authority of the party leader, many complained.

In a letter written to the party and released for full publicity to the press and television stations that give favorable publicity for pro-Wickremesinghe matters Vahira Abeywardena has said ,"It is clear that Mr. Jayasuriya had challenged the leadership of the party."

Referring to Jayasuriya he said no one should be allowed to create divisions in the party. Abeywardena also pointed out in his letter publicized that stern action should be taken against Jayasuriya for speaking against the leader. But Abeywardena’s letter triggered more ire expressed against the despotic conduct of the leadership of the United National Party than what was expressed in Jayasuriya’s letter.

Inferring Vajira Abeywardena as a “short sighted” man “without a broad outlook” a senior politician of the party Gamini Lokuge said dictatorial behavior of a group of members including Mr. Abeywardene had led to the continuous defeat of the UNP in recent elections.

Others have pointed out that it was ridiculous for Vajira Abeywardena who openly flouted the laws of the country in seditious conduct and ordered the Government Agent of Vavuniya to allow leave for public servants to attend the LTTE propaganda rally, Pongu Thamil, to speak about discipline in the party and curtail free discussion.

Professor Nalin de Silva, making a statement on the directive of the Minister of Public Administration, Vajera Abeywardana to Government Agent of Vavuniya K. Ganesh to support the LTTE propaganda rally, Pongu Tamil, against Sri Lanka Army directives said, the country was going through the worst betrayal in the history of Sri Lanka.

He then told this correspondent, “It is clear the ‘government’ is in the final stages of the worst betrayal in the history of Sri Lanka,” severely criticizing the then government of Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Despite the strict discipline the Galle District politician now trying to instill in the party ,after his illegal order to the Government Agent , the highest executive bureaucrat of Vavuniya despite an earlier agreement not to engage government school children in political rallies, among other things, made busy arrangements to engage Vavuniya school children without even the permission of their parents to shout LTTE slogans at the rally. Most of the slogans were supposed to be against the army and pro-separatist. The Army opposed the move citing an earlier agreement between the army, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and the LTTE to stop engaging school children in such rallies. Vajira Abeywardena did such alleged illegal work just to show his unshaken loyalty to Ranil Wickramasinghe, many have pointed out.

Gamini Lokuge in no uncertain terms in his letter said that that Vajira Abeywardena’s letter to UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe re-affirms the current decay in the party image as a party dominated by a handful of despotic elements who brought about defeat to the party at a series of successive elections. It was rather deplorable that Abeywardena was proposing to initiate disciplinary action against Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya, it pointed out.

Gamini Lokuge letter further said that the views expressed in Karu Jayasuriya’s media release of October 31 did not represent his personal views as Vajira Abeywardena has alleged but the common view of the majority of the party emphasizing the urgency to open up a dialogue for the well being of the masses.

Attacking Vajira Abeywardena for asking for disciplinary action against Karu Jayasuriya for criticizing the leadership Lokuge’s letter said Abeywardena himself had been engaged in such activities He pointed out in his letter that Mr. Abeywardene himself had been criticizing the party leaders for many years. "He played a major role in bringing in an impeachment against President R. Premadasa back in 1991,” Lokuge charged.

Lokuge said that the condemnation of the media release spells out not only the intolerance of the freedom of expression but an open reminiscence of Abeywardena’s conduct of suppressing public opinion within his electorate

Some party sources pointed out although Vajira Abeywardena has once again jumped on to the Wickremesinghe band wagon , immediately after the defeat of Wickremesinghe in the Presidential elections , he also belonged to a group of parliamentarians who demanded that he should resign from party leadership .