By Sarojini Dutt

While Uncle Ranil – his back this time against the ropes – was stoutly defending the professional one time HSBC  Arjuna Mahendran (privy to the whereabouts of undeclared and hidden money stashed abroad) he, uncle Ranil, was taking telling blows to the body and head. With his knees buckling under him, Uncle Ranil saw the canvass coming up when the bell went. Saved by the bell, Uncle Ranil escaped a humiliating political Knockout in Parliament.

With a wave of frustration, anger and anti UNP sentiment sweeping across the island many grass root UNPers who are far removed from the high jinx of the elite UNP financial dictatorship of Malik Samarawickrema, Ranil Wickramasinghe and Ravi Karunanayake – feel betrayed; they feel that the UNP must immediately get rid of the elite financial dictatorship if the UNP is to make an impact at the General Elections.

Battling a battery of journalists at a press conference organized by Sri Lanka’s beleaguered Finance Minister was ironically none other than Victor Ivan’s eternal Queen of Corruption! It was a desperate propaganda bid to save the bacon of the UNP, Karunanayake and Wickramasinghe with three sure- fire No Confidence motions hanging over their heads,

It appears that the Motions of ‘No Confidence, brought against what is widely regarded as an unbelievably corrupt Wickramasinghe – Karunanayake UNP financial dictatorship with close connections to the global financial underworld, obliged Kumaranatunge to emerge from her boudoir to root for this disastrous UNP leadership.

At the blighted Finance Ministry press conference Kumaranatunge ranted while Karunanayake was decidedly nervous and uncomfortable.

Given Kumaranatunge’s whimsical and capricious behavior as Karunanayake had complained to the Island newspaper in 2002, could he have been thinking that Kumaranatunge would blurt out about the unsecured mega loan of people’s money Karunanayake had doled out to the Arjuna Mahendran family from the Bank of Ceylon for the Mahendran family to make a killing on those controversial treasury bonds?

Or was he thinking that the dubious queen would talk of the Karunanayake case, in which the names of Raj Rajaratnam, Union Bank in which Malik Samarawickrema (unlawfully privy to inside information on the scandalous Mahendran Bond issue) owned major shares, had transpired and which case running for several years, was dismissed within the 170 days of ‘Yahapalanaya’ rule reportedly on the grounds that the plaint had been filed incorrectly?

Some of those who are appearing as prosecuting witnesses against Karunanayake are Karunanayake’s and Mahendran’s subordinates at the Central Bank.

In that famous ‘Island’ interview Karunanayake diagnosed Kumaranatunge to be suffering from a very sick mind; it was his considered view that she came into politics only to serve herself and that by 1999 she had run the country aground into an economic mess.

Was Karunanayake justifiably nervous therefore that Kumaranatunge may fly off the handle and drum her oft repeated accusation that Karunanayake ripped off SLR 542 Million in a fraudulent rice deal?

After all Karunanayake had articulated some grotesque logic in that 2002 Island interview when he said that Kumaranatunge, the President, was the tail and that Wickramasinghe the Prime Minister was the head; he obviously appeared to be brown nosing Wickramasinghe when he said, I bow my head only to the PM (Wickramasinghe) and not the President (Kumaranatunge) who is trying to wag the head with the tail.”

The whole press conference had a Gilbertian air about it. It was almost as if John Profumo had asked Christine Keeler for a character certificate. It was not for nothing that Kumaranatunge earned the sobriquet that people in the country commonly use when referring to her.

To touch on just one of her scandals, Kumaranatunge purchased 10 French Locomotives from France at a cost of SLR 1.8 Billion disregarding tender procedure, public safety and technical advice; it is considered by many to be criminal and downright disgraceful; Kumaranatunge has yet to be prosecuted in criminal and civil courts of law.

The locomotives within one year were found unsuitable for use in the country and are rotting away in a corner exposed to the vagaries of weather as a stark reminder of the scandal.

Kumaranatunge achieved a global first when she purchase these locomotives fitted with ship engines paying SLR 500 Million more than the closest tender competitor! Never before had a ship’s engine been fitted to a Railway Locomotive.

By purchasing these Locomotives was Kumaranatunge showing her gratitude to France for awarding her a diploma after 3 years of study? The motives for the purchase remain unclear.

The UNP financial leadership has been more than tainted by the  actions of and associations with  Arjuna Mahendran and US federal criminal Raj Rajaratnam, presently being investigated for financing and promoting terrorism in Sri Lanka via duplicitous money laundering schemes.

Given the weight of evidence available to bury the UNP leadership, knowledgeable insiders were not surprised when parliament was unceremoniously dumped on 26 Jun 15. Dissolution of parliament was, these insiders say, a safer option than risking a political washout with the dropping of massive bombshells that would have caused irreparable damage to a corrupt UNP financial leadership.

Karunanayake’s reputation goes back to the crystallized trails of ‘Roton Vander’ days a reputation which he has carelessly cultivated to the present day to rest at the footstool of Arjuna Mahendran a one time managing Director  of the HSBC.

Karunanayake’s relationship with terrorist suspect Raj Rajaratnam, a childhood friend of Arjuna Mahendran, is so strong that Karunanayake can reportedly melt the heart of the convicted rogue trader to part with 3 million USD without a hassle.

The court case against Karunanayake which had been going on for several years quite startlingly ended abruptly during the short lived ‘Yahapalanaya’ dictatorship; the retiring judge in May 2015 reportedly dismissed the charges against Karunanayake pronouncing after near five  years of trial that the plaint had been filed incorrectly.

The word on the corridors of court has it that a former influential President of the BASL has shown profound interest in the case.

The case revolves around a USD 3 Million sent by Raj Rajaratnam to a private account at Standard Chartered Bank and which funds reportedly, according to evidence, were to be handled exclusively by Rajaratnam’s confidante, Karunanayake.

Interestingly this case begs another question. Was this type of operation the modus operandi used by Rajaratnam to launder black money and fund the LTTE terrorists? It has been alleged that Rajaratnam has made several large impact forays into the share market previously.

The conduct of the Attorney General has of late come under close scrutiny. Hulfdorf watchers were wondering whether in the light of the Court direction the AG would amend the old plaint or whether he would file a fresh plaint and if so when.

Some of the Hulfdorf watchers are disappointed that the AG has procrastinated in amending the plaint thus exhausting the stipulated time limit given to amending plaints and leaving the AG just one option, that of filing a fresh plaint.

The heat is on and the public are watching closely the conduct of the government’s Chief Law officer.