Intelligence services have now uncovered a new plan to topple the yahapalana consensus government while causing serious damage to President Maithripala Sirisena’s image.
According to Intelligence services, the individuals behind the scheme have now put into action a new plan for the purpose after attempting the same through distorting statements made by the President regarding the bond commission report.
The plan is said to have been put in place with the aim to create a deep rift between the UNP and the President which cannot be resolved sources say.
Attempts to arrest Ravi!
One of the main incidents of this plan is the spreading of a rumour blaming former Minister of Finance for the bond issue and claiming that he is to be arrested shortly.
However, reports show that the bond commission report does not mention any connection between Ravi K and the bond issue.
Government and AG unaware!
However while the government nor the Attorney General’s department has made such a decision, sources say the false reports are being widely spread to cause a further rift within the consensus government intelligence services said.
Bond commission recommendations distorted further
While the commission report does not refer to Ravi K as a guilty party however as this information reaching the public is unfavourable to the conspirators they are now distorting the recommendations of the bond commission by spread false rumours among the people.
The conspirators are attempting to now claim that the former Minister is expected to be arrested for giving false statements to the government while the offence false under the category of crimes where the suspect cannot be granted bail for at least three months.
Non-existent commission
The main distortion here is the question as to under which criteria was the Presidential commission labelled as equipped with ‘full power’. While there can be two types of Presidential Commissions, namely Special Presidential Commission and a normal Presidential Commission, special commissions can even abolish the civil rights of an individual based on evidence such as was done to former PM Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Felix Dias Bandaranaike. However, that too was only possible after calling for a vote in the parliament and receiving ⅔ votes in favour of it.
However, a normal Presidential commission has no power to do so and can only make certain recommendations based on the evidence gathered. The legal process or relevant action is thereafter decided by the Attorney General.
However, it must be noted that the extraordinary gazette announcing the formation of the bond commission on January 27, 2017, makes no mention of the commission being the special Presidential commission. (The Gazette can be read at the end of this article)
Do the commission's recommendations put Ravi in the wrong?
According to legal experts claiming that the recommendations name Ravi K as a guilty party and saying he is to be arrested for giving false statements is nothing but an insult to the Commission itself by the conspirators.
However, the correct relevant sections of the recommendations are as follows :
24] As stated earlier in chapter 24 we recommend that the commission to investigate allegations of bribery or corruption should consider whether Hon. Ravi Karunanayake, MP while he was Minister of Finance derived a substantial benefit from the lease payments made by Walt and Row Associates (Pvt) Ltd (Which is an associate company of Perpetual Treasuries Ltd. and which is owned and controlled by the same persons who own and control Perpetual Treasuries Ltd.) for the lease of apartment occupied by Hon. Ravi Karunanayake MP and his family, and if so determine whether appropriate action should be taken against Hon. Ravi Karunanayake, MP under the Bribery Act.
25] As stated earlier in Chapter 24 we also recommend that the Hon. Attorney General and other appropriate authorities consider whether some of the evidence given by Hon. Ravi Karunanayake MP, before us is shown to have been incorrect and if that is the case whether Mr Karunanayake should be prosecuted under Section 179 and/or Section 188 of the Penal Code or other relevant provisions of the law read with Section 9 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act. No. 17 of 1948.
Unstoppable conspiracy
Accordingly, there is no mention of Ravi K as being guilty with regards to the bond commission. The conspirators are merely trying to save face following the recommendations made by the commission.
It also has to be noted that if an arrest is to take place according to the recommendations for providing false information then it can only be done so after following due legal proceedings. An arrest cannot take place unless this process is followed. However, the commission report does not say that Ravi K provided false information to the commission.
Letter of the Secretary to the President
The letter sent by former Secretary to the President informing of the Presidential Committee is also noteworthy. According to this letter, the evidence gathering for the investigation of the commission was done under ‘S. 14’ of the Commissions of Inquiry Act.
What does S.14 say?
According to S. 14, the evidence gathered by the commission can only be used for the related investigation and cannot be used for a civil or criminal case before the courts.
However, as the functions of the commissions are similar to court proceedings giving false statements to it is a punishable offence. If the commission so believed it could have taken action to bring forward any individual found to have given false statements to the commission during investigations before the Court of Appeal.
However the commission report does not make any definite mention of it and instead says :
25] As stated earlier in Chapter 24 we also recommend that the Hon. Attorney General and other appropriate authorities consider whether some of the evidence given by Hon. Ravi Karunanayake MP, before us is shown to have been incorrect and if that is the case whether Mr Karunanayake should be prosecuted under Section 179 and/or Section 188 of the Penal Code or other relevant provisions of the law read with Section 9 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act. No. 17 of 1948.
Therefore it is clear the conspirators are attempting to bring down Ravi Karunanayake as an initial step to create a rift and topple the government. This is further evidenced by the fact that the conspirators published yet another story about Premier Ranil Wickramasinghe being found to be in the wrong according to the recommendations just 24 hours after spreading the false rumour regarding Ravi K’s imminent arrest.
Bond report on the internet
However, any party can now ascertain the truth about these false news stories with the bond commission report being freely available for reading online.
But according to intelligence reports use of statements made by President Sirisena and distorting it and carrying them along with the distorted news being spread by the conspirators to create a rift in the government are now harming the image of the President.
President’s popularity fading
While the intelligence services have done a research based on social media and several chosen fields with active public participation shows that the President’s popularity among the people and trust placed in him is now fading.
They also say this may negatively affect the votes of the SLFP in the upcoming LG polls while new votes obtained in 2015 are also said to be at a risk of slipping away.
Where are the President’s advisors?
Sources say the advisors to the President are not doing their duty with many campaigns launched to improve the popularity of the President have instead backfired on them.
Sources have also revealed that under the current situation chances to attract new votes are slipping away with the party supported by the President set to be affected negatively as a result.
President’s media team is said to also be using old Rajapaksa tactics for popularity but is instead now damaging the popularity of the president sources said.
These report also claim that President Sirisena is now facing a similar situation Rajapaksa had to face after 2009 where his popularity waned mong the general public.
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