US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO924

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, Political Parties 
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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SIPDIS 
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