COHABITATION TEMPERS CONTINUE TO FLARE OVER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000924

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, INR/NESA
NSC FOR E. MILLARD
LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/30/13
TAGS: PGOV PINS PINR CE
SUBJECT: COHABITATION TEMPERS CONTINUE TO FLARE OVER
CONTROL OF NATIONAL LOTTERIES BOARD

Refs: Colombo 897, and previous (Notal)

(U) Classified by Lewis Amselem, Deputy Chief of Mission.
Reasons: 1.5 (b, d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Cohabitation tempers continue to flare
over the control of the national lotteries board. In
hard-hitting letters made public this week, President
Kumaratunga has again asserted that her office should
control the board. The government, which remains in de
facto control of the board, continues to reject her
claim. The test of wills over the issue does not seem to
be going away soon. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) PRESIDENT SENDS LETTERS: Cohabitation tempers
continue to flare over control of the national lotteries
board. (Note: In early May, the president issued an
order taking over the lucrative Development Lotteries
Board, "DLB," from the government. The government
refused to honor the president's order and remains in de
facto control of the board -- see Reftels.) In her
latest moves on the issue, the president issued two
letters that were made public this week. In a hard-
hitting letter to Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, she
reiterated her view that she had the right to take over
the board and that her decision must be honored by the
government. Without going into specifics, she went on to
threaten to take "necessary corrective action" if she did
not receive an appropriate reply from the PM. In
addition, in a separate letter to the head of the DLB,
the president demanded that the board stop disbursing
funds and stop hiring personnel.


3. (SBU) GOVERNMENT HOLDS TO ITS POSITION: The
government is preparing its formal response to the
president's letters. It has already made clear, however,
that it continues to reject her claims. In May 29
remarks during his weekly press conference, chief
government spokesman and Minister of Constitutional
Affairs G.L. Peiris insisted that the president had not
acted appropriately per the Sri Lankan Constitution in
trying to take over the board.


4. (SBU) Citing an advisory opinion by the Attorney
General, Peiris went on to explain that it was clear that
President Kumaratunga had failed to "consult" with the
GSL in a correct fashion before issuing her order and,
thus, the order was null-and-void. (Note: The Attorney
General's advisory opinion was issued in early May during
the first days of the confrontation over control of the
board -- see Reftels. In another aspect of its legal
positioning, the GSL has underlined that the president's
order was never published in the official gazette as is
required -- a fact attributable sheerly to the pressure
the GSL has put on the official printing office not to do
so. End Note.) Peiris stressed that the government
wanted to see the whole matter settled amicably and
through "discussion and consultation."


5. (C) NEXT STEPS: Next steps in the confrontation over
the board are not precisely clear. The ball appears to
be in the president's court at this point, inasmuch as
the government has already made clear that it will
continue to defy her order despite her latest missives.
Contacts note that one option for Kumaratunga is to take
the matter to the legal system and charge the government
with violating Sri Lanka's complicated rules on
executive/legislative powers.


6. (C) Reflecting on this possibility, Taranjit Sandhu,
polchief at the Indian High Commission, told us that he
thought the president might be reluctant to do this
because Sri Lanka's legal system is notoriously volatile
and she may be afraid of an adverse decision. (Note:
The lower courts in Sri Lanka's legal system probably
tilt basically toward the United National Front governing
coalition. The Supreme Court and its chief justice,
however, are relatively friendly to the president, but
not all cases wend their way there.) Sandhu remarked
that he was concerned that the matter would continue to
boil, with the president and the government getting
increasingly angry. All of this would be to the
detriment of already strained cohabitation ties, he
noted.


7. (C) COMMENT: The test of wills over the DLB issue
does not seem to be going away soon. There is little
sign of either the president or the government backing
down from their respective hard-line stands. For the
GSL, the confrontation over the matter continues to be a
serious irritant, especially as it is focusing most of
its efforts toward trying to revive the stalled peace
process (and is dealing with the unpredictable Tamil
Tigers as it does so). For Kumaratunga, the issue is
another arrow in her quiver that tends to prove her long-
time contention that the government has no intention of
treating her with respect. These arrows might come in
useful as a pretext if she decides to dismiss the
government and call new elections down-the-road. END
COMMENT.


8. (U) Minimize considered.

WILLS

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