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© Insight By Sunil Kumara For LankaWeb

Sept.11th 2007

The current path being followed by the Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremasinghe merely increases his transparencies as his desperation to topple the Sri Lankan Administration seems to be growing by the day. He seems to be pulling all stops in his campaign towards this agenda and is probably digging himself a hole from which neither he nor his UNP allies as participants to his puerile, irresponsible, non Nation friendly schemes laced in skullduggery would ever climb out of as he seems to be forgetting many conventional ethics which make an honorable leader and seems to be sinking deeper into a quagmire of his own insecurities.

Not only is the man pulling out all stops towards his agenda but seems to be getting bolder by the day in whom he takes on towards his cause while a bemused Nation in all probabilities is having a hearty laugh at his antics intermingled with the angers of some who believe he needs to be deposed from political office together with those of his cronies who are causing public commotions by their garrulous demonstrations and taking on the guise of a bunch of typical disgruntled losers which in all probabilities they are and will get them nowhere and drive them further away from Sri Lanka's political arena while driving a deep wedge between them and the voting public.

His latest track record entails high handed bravado suggesting combined ignorance and folly rather than wisdom of any net worth in pleading with the international community to condemn the Rajapaksha administration, requesting foreign intervention in Sri Lanka's internal affairs, heated confrontations with the High Buddhist Clergy who have in turn condemned him unequivocally pointing out his lack of responsibility and sense of patriotism towards his motherland in any realistic sense and now he has taken on the joint Banking conglomerate of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank( HSBC), JP Morgan and Barclays merely because they are supportive of the present Administration and have pledged their fullest Financial support towards Governmental ventures which are not only perfectly legitimate but in all probabilities very beneficial to the Nation.

So what does this make of the Wickremasinghe image beyond being duplicitous and disoriented while not forgetting his own shady past track record of many indiscretions which includes according to many observers and analysts his role in the Batalanda Massacres, colluding with the terrorists of the LTTE, granting carte blance to the Norwegians involved in the Peace Agreement to step beyond their mandate as observers and monitors towards clandestine support of the terrorists, and making a hash of the Sri Lankan Administrative infrastructure from many perspectives before he was literally ejected by the then President Kumaratunga who at the present time quite ironically appears to have curiously thrown in her lot towards shamefacedly supporting her once sworn enemy where there can be no averting her stark objective which is perhaps to sneak back into Administrative power even in some insignificant means even if it means hanging onto the coat tails of her former adversary and palavering to the imbecilic antics of the likes of Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathy Sooriyarachy in the manner of a bunch of circus clowns!

Relative to the HSBC scenario and the accusations levelled at it by the leader of the opposition ~ HSBC one of the largest banks in the world which has been established for over a 100 years in Sri Lanka has responded almost in disdain and contempt to the allegations of Sri Lanka’s United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremasinghe over a somewhat inconceivably alleged conspiracy involving the Bank and the President and has struck back at the opposition leader that that it practices highest standards in its operations and adheres to all laws and regulations in every country it operates. Something which the Opposition leader was expected to be aware of but has chosen to ignore or view through myopic vision! whatever the case may be and denigrate the long standing financial institution in a somewhat apathetic manner merely to discredit the President for which he will obviously pay a price and earn the contempt and disdain of the entire nation if perchance the bank and all its associates pull out of Sri Lanka based on the harm such a move would do to the Nation which stands to gain from such institutions contrary to the myopic vision of Wickremasinghe who prefers to antagonise sources benevolent to the Nation towards his own ends rather than recognise their integrity and sevices rendered over the years!

For the record and according to very reliable sources ~The Bank has responded to the Wickremasinghe accusations suggesting that the bank is violating the country’s laws in the government’s bond issue of USD 500 million. (56.5 billion Sri Lanka Rupees) Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) along with JP Morgan and Barclays are lead managers in the bond issue. In a statement issued in Colombo the HSBC said as one of the largest financial organizations in the world it has a major footprint in the international capital market based on integrity and commitment. The statement added that the HSBC has a long and proud history stretching back more than 100 years in Sri Lanka. It would seem hardly likely that anyone with intent to ursurp such a wonderful relationship a financial institution has had with Sri Lanka for generations has any credentials to be a leader of that nation ! case in point for all concerned to note!

In a recent address to the media in Colombo, Wickremesinghe is quoted as saying that " when his party comes to power the HSBC will have to run back to Hongkong or Shangahai." He said a future UNP government would cancel the Bank's operating license to do business in Sri Lanka. While the ignorance of such an unqualified statement is rife it also portrays the mentality of an individual who has the absolute nerve to make idle threats to a financial giant such as the HSBC without prior consideration to the ramifications involved and on this count alone Ranil Wickremasinghe may have punched himself out towards any future consideration as leader of Sri Lanka relative to the gross irresponsibilities involved in making such a statement.This was broadcast by the state owned TV channels where Wickremesinghe has further said that "the Bank is violating the country’s laws and the bond issue contravenes the laws. He did not substantiate by specifying what sections of the laws contravene the bond issue either because it was beyond his capacity to do so or had no tangible means to do so!

Summing up this entire scenario and aptly quoting features writer and columnist Mr Walter Jayawardena in his astute presentation to LankaWeb, it is noteworty to re-assert that" President Mahinda Rajapaksa while addressing a public rally in Galle in obvious reference to Wickremesinghe has said that certain leaders' protests and threats against the HSBC is similar to the separatist insurgent group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who are protesting against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund demanding that those institutions should stop giving loans to Sri Lanka. Like those leaders the LTTE have demonstrated in front of the IMF and World Bank. Ranil Wickremesinghe has stated that the Government is using those funds for other purposes than stated publicly. But the Central Bank has asserted that the money is being used for the country’s infrastructure development."

The UNP led by Ranil Wickremasinghe appears to have directed these accusations against the HSBC as a part of a campaign to oust the incumbent Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa but is more than likely to fail in the venture as the general public and even those who may have once supported his direction in a divided Parliament are now beginning to realise that this individual is hell bent on ousting the Government in a bid to take over using all the wrong means to make his presentation and in doing so could compromise the integrity of the Nation beyond repreive towards posterity and bring it to discredit.It could only lead to his falling from grace in a Nation which may have once held him in esteem but now views him as a betrayer and a traitor who may stop at nothing to regain power albeit perhaps a futile bid as refered to earlier!

This desperate sounding Opposition leader's futile bid to topple the Administration seems to stop at nothing! So what will he cook up next? seems to be the question on the minds of many discerning observers!

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