OPPOSITION RALLY DRAWS SIGNIFICANT CROWD AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001048

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS
MCC FOR D NASSIRY AND E BURKE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/27/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE
SUBJECT: OPPOSITION RALLY DRAWS SIGNIFICANT CROWD AND
GOVERNMENT ATTENTION

REF: A. COLOMBO 1020


B. COLOMBO 883

Classified By: Acting DCM Michael DeTar, for reasons 1.4(b,d).


1. (C) Summary: On July 26, the newly formed United National
Party/Sri Lanka Freedom Party-Mahajana Wing alliance, now
called the National Congress, held its first public rally at
Colombo's Hyde Park with the theme "Country is ruined. Come
forward." Rumors that the Government would try to prevent
potential protesters from reaching the rally proved to be
untrue. Several alliance leaders addressed an enthusiastic
crowd and encouraged others to join them in defeating the
Rajapaksa regime. Our contacts tell us this rally helped
create momentum for the new UNP/SLFP-M alliance, and that
they expect to see more support for the group emerge. End
Summary.


2. (C) On July 26, the newly formed United National
Party/Sri Lanka Freedom Party-Mahajana Wing alliance, now
called the National Congress, held its first public rally at
Colombo's Hyde Park. The event, named Janarala or People's
Wave, featured the theme "Country is ruined. Come forward."
Estimates of attendance vary widely, but most observers agree
there were at least 50,000 protesters involved. Most
participants were UNP members, but observers estimate that at
least 10 percent were SLFP members. Some Sri Lanka Muslim
Congress and Ceylon Workers Congress members also
participated.


3. (C) Rumors that the Government would try to prevent
potential protesters from reaching the rally proved to be
untrue. Some claimed the Government had fabricated stories
about security threats to scare away potential participants,
including the announcement that a lorry and car packed with
explosives were located in Colombo. We also heard that the
Government planned to close all major roads into Colombo for
"road repairs" to prevent additional participants. However,
participants told POL FSN that the police were actually quite
helpful throughout the day as the procession made its way to
the main rally point, and there were no security incidents
during the rally. The Government's only response was to hold
its own series of smaller meetings throughout the city and in
Nuwara Eliya, Gampaha, and Matara, Mangala Samaraweera's home
district.


4. (C) Several alliance leaders addressed an enthusiastic
crowd. Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe repeated the
now-familiar charge that the President had come to power
illegitimately through a secret deal with the Tigers to
prevent residents of the North and East from voting. He
commended the stand taken by SLFP-M leader Mangala
Samaraweera in leaving a corrupt government. Samaraweera
apologized for brokering a deal with the Janatha Vimukthi
Peramuna (JVP) to support President Rajapaksa in the 2005
election, and invited the JVP now to join forces with the
National Congress. UNP National Organizer S.B. Dissanayake
invited other SLFP members to join with the SLFP-M in
toppling the Rajapaksa regime. SLFP-M co-founder Sripathi
Sooriyarachchi spoke about the money the Rajapaksa campaign
reportedly gave the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
just before the 2005 election, and highlighted other illegal
transactions the President's brother Basil had allegedly
negotiated. Other prominent parliamentarians who spoke
included Western People's Front MP Mano Ganesan and UNP
Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Spokesman Ravi Karunanayake.


5. (C) SLFP Provincial Council member Ruwan Kulatunga told
POL FSN that the rally helped create momentum for the new
UNP/SLFP-M alliance, and that he expects to see more support
for the group emerge. He said SLFP participants were
enthusiastic about the rally and happy to have a safe venue

COLOMBO 00001048 002 OF 002


to voice their discontent with the SLFP Government. Minister
of Transport Dullas Allahaperuma told POL FSN that the
Government is taking the new alliance seriously and sees the
National Congress as a formidable opposition group. He
conceded that the SLFP now regrets the loss of Samaraweera
and Sooriyarachchi. Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremenayake
said publicly yesterday that the opposition had a right to
protest if they disagreed with the Government's policies, and
that the only way to win the confidence of the people is to
develop the East.


6. (C) COMMENT: The last rally of this size in Colombo was
the UNP's rally in 2005 to demand that former-President
Kumaratunga step down and allow elections in 2005 instead of

2006. Yesterday's rally was perhaps even larger, and even
more significant, because of the participation of a
significant number of SLFP members. It seems clear that the
government now faces a more cohesive, determined and vibrant
opposition than it has had to deal with since it took office.
It is also apparent, in retrospect, that the government's
popularity peaked several months ago, early in 2007, and is
now on the wane. The UNP/ SLFP-M strategy is calibrated to
deprive the government of a parliamentary majority by the
time the budget must be passed in October-November. It will
likely take several more weeks, however, to determine whether
the new grouping has developed the momentum to induce other
small parties to desert the governing coalition, or to
attract a sufficient number of crossovers from the SLFP
parliamentary delegation.
MOORE