KAMALIKA PIERIS

Premadasa made political changes which were not for the   good of the country. A political party had to get a minimum number of votes to be eligible for representation in Parliament. Premadasa reduced this cut off point from for  12.5% to 5 %.This law was introduced in 1988 by then President the late R. Premadasa to appease Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader M.H.M. Ashraff, said critics. This permitted the entry of small ethnic parties into Parliament.

Sarath Amunugama called it the unleashing of a Pandora’s Box of small ethnic parties which could bargain for ministerial position, ambassadorships and state corporation jobs in exchange for support in Parliament. These transaction or deals have become a regular feature of Sri Lanka politics and have added to the corruption which is now endemic in Sri Lanka politics.  

Premadasa also made changes in   public administration. Premadasa replaced the Village Council with Pradeshiya sabhas, holding much wider powers.  In 1992, Premadasa promoted all Agricultural Overseers to Grama Niladharis, resulting in a loss of valuable extension services in the Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Overseers were trained in extension and they cannot be replaced.

Premadasa upgraded the Assistant Government Agent offices to Divisional Secretariats, and increased these secretariats to almost 150. The Divisional Secretariat functioned under the Divisional Secretary. Premadasa appointed senior Class I SLAS officers to these posts and for this he increased the cadre of Class I officers.  The Divisional Secretary (the old AGA) was not under the Chief Minister.

 Most of the functions carried out by the GA or Kachcheri were decentralized to the Divisional Secretariat.  These included land matters, registration of motors, birth certificates. The District Secretariat or Kachcheri became virtually powerless. Even funds went directly to the Divisional Secretariat. 

While the results of the 1989 General Elections were being announced,  Premadasa came into his Secretary’s office  and told the top officials there, We will now appoint the Cabinet” ,said Chandra Wickramasinghe who  functioned as Additional Secretary to the President. President Premadasa made the selections of individual ministers for the new cabinet, exactly as he wanted. The entire Cabinet was selected by President Premadasa.

 After selecting the Ministers to head the new Cabinet portfolios, the President directed them to immediately assign subjects and functions to the newly created Ministries. This was no easy task. Subjects and functions assigned to a particular Ministry, had to be determined, and made into a perfectly integrated whole. We had to constantly consult the President whenever certain doubts arose in making these allocations. We had to literally work round the clock for two full days to make sure that there was no overlap with Ministries that held related subjects.This would have been a very welcome pruning of Ministry activities and should have received praise at the time.

 Premadasa had top officials as Secretary, they were R Paskaralingam, Bradman Weerakoon and KHJ Wijedasa. Premadasa  also had the ability to spot  promising officers. Premadasa had plucked out Sarath Amunugama  at a comparably young age  to head the Department of information.

During Premadasa’s tenure in office as President, the Presidential Secretariat became the hub of administrative governance.   The  Secretary to the President and the four Additional Secretaries to the President had to work at a cracking pace to keep up to the near impossible deadlines given by the President and the exacting efficiency levels expected by him. They often worked till the early hours of the morning. Premadasa had arranged for dinner to be supplied by Galadari Hotel, next door.

 It was easy to work at the Presidential Secretariat as all the Secretaries to Ministries and other high level officials were only too eager to co-operate with us in getting things attended to expeditiously, said Chandra.Critics would probably reply that this was because public officers were scared of Premadasa.

 Each Additional Secretary had to oversee six Cabinet Ministries. No Minister could submit a Cabinet paper on any important project without first obtaining clearance from the President. Each Additional Secretary had to study the Cabinet papers relating to the Ministries he was overseeing and submit them with appropriate recommendations to the President via Secretary/President. This meant that the entire system of governance was highly centralized, with all important policy matters having to be first cleared by President Premadasa before they could be submitted to Cabinet.Additional Secretaries had to take turns to attend the weekly Cabinet Meetings and brief the President on the concerned Cabinet papers.

 Premadasa created an imposing new Prime Minister office at Srimathipaya in Colombo 7. This  mansion had been given to the Ministry of Education.  Premadasa converted this to an efficient and impressive secretariat, said Bradman. This is still in use as the Prime Minister’s office.

 Premadasa   also had a private office at Sucharita. The Sucharita  office had a satellite dish for CNN and there was a 24 hour world TV service coming in. Premadasa was well ahead in news, said Bradman. 

At Sucharita and elsewhere a sense of order and discipline is very marked, said Bradman. He was a   stickler for discipline. All officers had to be properly clad, saris for women. All wore identity cards and had name boards on their desks.All except the big guns had to punch the clock on arrival and departure. All letters had to be replied within three days.   His daily mail was enormous. It was methodically handled by a small army of clerical officers.   

Premadasa was an early riser. He got up at  4.am and went to sleep at around 10.30 pm, with a power nap in the afternoon.He met his officials sharp at 7 am. His day began by reading all the newspapers. Premadasa paid attention to vernacular press which differed from English press.  Tamil new papers were  translated and ready in the morning. 

In the newspapers, he looked particularly for criticism of his ministries and departments. . He also looked at Letters to the editor. He took note of news items that highlighted various shortcomings in villages, such as dilapidated roads and called ministers and officials demanding prompt remedial action.And officials learned to be ready to answer his questions when his call came early in the morning.  He would follow through a few days later and sometimes even visit the village in question to see the progress.

 It was normal for him to ring officials at 5 am.  Officials and  MPs l received these early morning calls even if the problems were a pothole in a minor road, lack of dressing in a peripheral hospital, the  hole in the roof of a rural school.

Premadasa was a quick reader and could go through a file very fast, absorb the issue, and Issue a crisp short order in his clear handwriting,said Bradman Weerakoon. He would detect flaws in letters prepared for his signature.  KHJ Wijedasa said that Premadasa would not look at anything which had not been  initialled by Wijedasa.

Premadasa  tried to establish total control over  the entire shebang, ( everything relating to a project). He cracked the whip.  For Jana Saviya there was an organization that extended through the 195 electorates. His personal involvement was immense, he personally looked at every aspect of the project from the concept, to researching low cost supplies, fundraising for Sevana and monitoring the progress on targets at the Op Room in the Department of Housing, said Bradman. 

President Premadasa    never took” no” for an answer   and  expected government servants as well as the private sector to have a can do” attitude.    A senior civil servant refused to provide funds for  Janasaviya. He had said he cannot accommodate such a largesum in the Budget. Premadasa replaced him with a more complaint Secretary who ordered, Find the funds, this is a big man’s requirement.”

Premadasa wanted the assignments given to Ministers and Officers done in double quick time. The expenditure aspect did not bother him over much  ,  as long as the work was completed to his satisfaction.  Khettarama Stadium  needed a high voltage underground cable extending  a few miles from Maradana. Premadasa said CEB must bear the cost and recover it by provide electricity to others on the way.

Neil Perera said he was  the  AGM of the CEB, when a Gam Udawa was planned for Hanguranketa. He gave the cost of the electricity for the event, and Premadasa noted that it was more than for the earlier Gam Udawa at Embilipitiya. He had glared and said, ‘I will not pay you anymore than for the last Gam Udawa’.  Neil had tried to point out that  for this Udawa they needed to construct a fairly long high voltage line and a transformer substation and it was not possible to reduce the cost. Later the cost had been reduced by lowering the  power  which meant dimmer lights for the show.

Premadasa rewarded those who supported him. When Gam Udawa started we received a request for a generator to provide electricity at the Gam Udawa grounds, said GAD Srimal. The CEB being a commercial operation, we said that at least the cost must be met. This was not to the liking of the President and his staff.  They contacted the Workshop Engineer of the CEB and got the generators without approval.

When I visited the Gam Udawa site at Buttala, I saw the generators being operated by CEB employees, continued  Srimal. On my return  I made discrete inquires and came to know  that the Prime Minister’s officers had contacted the Workshop Engineer and had unofficially obtained these generators. The department had decided that it was best to keep silent.The Workshop Engineer was later appointed Chairman of CEB .

President Premadasa was certainly not an easy person to satisfy. He was very exacting and punctilious in ensuring that even the minutest detail met his exacting standards, said Chandra Wickramasinghe. He was a hard taskmaster ,but gave credit  to his staff who implemented his order without question, said Sarath Amunugama .

Officials who worked for him were all the time on tenterhooks trying desperately to work out practical solutions to problems which prima facie, seemed impossible to be solved. What facilitated matters in seeking solutions to such virtually intractable problems was the fact that all concerned officials in Ministries, Departments, State Corporations and Public Authorities at the time, were only too eager to chip in and help.

 Officers managed to complete the  work Premadasa  wanted done in whatever manner possible to avoid unpleasant repercussions..”President Premadasa could  be very nasty to officials. I know of instances where he castigated certain Heads of Dept. at conferences so devastatingly that some fell ill and left the institutions concerned, on their own, said Chandra Wickramasinghe.

Tilak Fernando speaking of his elder brother M. R. Fernando said that MR, due to extensive pressure from . Premadasa, who was then the Minister of Highways,  had to resign from the Director of Highways position prematurely. He then sought an appointment with the Hong Kong Government as a Highways Consultant.

One month before he was assassinated   Premadasa sent for Chandra Wickramasinghe. There are two MPs who are fighting to get an unused paddy store. One of the MP’s wishes to use the store to rehabilitate 32 ex-JVP cadres while the other is keen on converting the store into a vocational training centre to train the youth in the area in vocational skills. This has become a big headache to me, settle the matter.

Chandra decided that the vocational training centre was the correct idea for the store,  but  what  about the JVP. This is what Chandra did. I phoned the Secretary/Ministry of Mahaweli Development and enquired whether land with a perennial water course was available in one of the border areas in Mahaweli H Division. He promptly said No, but  when he was told that  President Premadasa wanted to settle  JVP cadres in a suitable border area he rang back within 15 minutes to say that there was a suitable land available with a perennial stream running through it.

 The normal allotment was two and a half acres  of land. Chandra asked for five acres for each JVPer, to which the Mahaweli Secretary reluctantly agreed,  thinking  that Premadasa wanted this. He also agreed to increase the  money for building a house which was normally Rs 5000 to Rs 20,000, thinking once again that these were President Premadasa’s instructions.  This meant that  these JVPers would  get much better facilities than what the normal Mahaweli settlers were entitled to.

The blocking plan of the land showing the stream and a report on the extent to be allocated and the amount of money that would be given to build a house, was sent quickly,  via fax. The MP concerned meekly accepted the plan thinking it was Premadasa’s wish. The President however examined my report very carefully, going into all the relevant details including the availability of water,   concluded Chandra.(island     3.10.21 p 9 )

In 1980 When Premadasa was Prime Minister  he used to visit  the small Colombo Central Government Hospital at Maligawatte. Premadasa was a frequent visitor to the hospital .The hospital was informed in advance  that he was coming and the staff washed, mopped and cleaned the hospital and cut the grass around the buildings.

  On one occasion Prime Minister Premadasa wanted to know why expectant mothers were bypassing this hospital  when it came to deliveries and was told that there was no resident doctor, the PM had ordered the immediate construction of quarters so that the doctor would be on site day and night.On his next visit to the hospital, the first question   asked whether the doctor was occupying the quarters.

He saw that the garden had a  withered patch and was told that was where the ambulance was  parked.  Prime Minister   instructed his building officials to construct  a garage, and wanted to know where and when it would be done.Follow-up was crucial for the PM who had to be informed in a few days whether the matter had been attended to or not, by a team which would come later to video the action or non-action.

Premadasa  next visited the OPD where he saw some small patches on the wall .This was the room where usually the staff would give treats to each other on special occasions such as birthdays, and crepe would be hung as bunting during these festivities. The crepe was affixed to the wall with gum and even though the walls had been cleaned, the PM spotted a few small patches.Demmama sudda karanna,” he had said, reiterating that it should never be done again, as it was an eye sore and also damaged the walls. Social events are  part of the informal system  within an institution and are permitted and encouraged.

Looking up at the two-storey building from outside, Mr. Premadasa had also spotted a tiny plant which had taken root on the roof. Pointing out that it will gradually destroy the whole building, causing cracks et al, he had instructed his staff to get it out and treat that section so that no other invasive plants would grow there

Premadasa also said that while he was on the way along Jayantha Weerasekera Mawatha, he had noticed that a sign board was ade and alevela thiyanawa. Seeing a poorly put up board with instructions on how to get to the ward, the PM told his officials to change all the boards in the hospital. Premadasa’s comments on signage were  spot on. Signage in this country is very poor.(Sunday Times 24.6.18 Plus) ( CONTINUED)