The PA government is pushing itself towards political extinction for the sake of a film actor called Sanath Gunatilleke. The disrepute caused by the Channel 9 scandal to the PA government and to the President who leads the government is great. The story of that scandal shows the extent of the role played by the likes of Sanath Gunatilleke who gate-crashed into PA at the last moment.
The saga of Channel 9 has embarrassed a majority of the Cabinet ministers of the PA government. Although Sanath Gunatilleke is a powerful person in the kitchen cabinet the fact that many cabinet ministers reportedly dislike him has aggravated the crisis.
The President has reportedly been able only to get Mangala Samaraweera defend Mr. Gunatilleke. That Mr. Samaraweera did only helped aggravate the situation further. The other cabinet minister’s reported dislike of Mr. Samaraweera did not helped the cause.
Without subjecting the audio tape on which the Channel 9 scandal is based, to arrest the government declared it was a joke. When TNL broadcast the audio tape, the allegation that it was disproved, and the government indirectly says now, even if the tape is genuine there is nothing serious in it.
It was Lakshman Hulugalle who found a foreign investor for the Channel 9 TV project. For getting the necessary license for the foreign investor, Mr. Hulugalle reportedly expected to get a million Australian Dollars (Rs. 40 million). The investor agreed to pay the price if the license was secured. Because the license had to be obtained from President Kumaratunga, Mr. Hulugalle reportedly entrusted Mr. Gunatilleke with the job, on the basis that the amount would be equally divided between the two.
The contents of the audio tape points to the fact that after getting to know the foreign investor through Mr. Hulugalle, Mr. Gunatilleke reportedly tried to leave him out of the project and double his own share.
Among Mr. Gunatilleke’s friends Gamini Rajanayake was looked upon as a banker with whom he kept money for safe keeping. He was Mr. Gunatilleke’s most trusted colleague. The alleged plan that Mr. Gunatilleke implemented appears to have been to get license in the name of a Mr. Rathnayake, instead of issuing the license in the foreign investor’s name, set up a joint venture between the foreign investor and Mr. Rajanayake in such a way that Rajanayake would own 15% of the shares of the project. Mr. Gunatilleke reportedly carried out this plan saying it was madam’s (the President’s) wish.
This project has BOI privileges. According to the agreement signed with the Board of Investment the minimum investment required for that project was Rs. 500 million. The value of the share entitlement of 15% reportedly obtained by Mr. Gunatilleke in Mr. Rajanayake’s name was Rs. 75 million. Mr. Gunatilleke appears not only to have got the earlier agreed tribute of Rs. 40 million increased to Rs. 75 million, but also prevented half of it going to Mr. Hulugalle thus getting the entire sum into his hands. This was why Mr. Hulugalle reportedly fell out with Mr. Gunatilleke who had been one of his good friends. Mr. Hulugalle then summons a discussion to get his position in the business clarified and tapes the discussion for his future safety. That is how the audio tape which has now created a hullabaloo in the country came into existence.
Although Mr. Hulugalle appears to have been displeased with Mr. Gunatilleke for depriving him of the benefits from the project he does not distance himself from his good friend. Mr. Hulugalle appears to have thought that although Mr. Gunatilleke had played him out, it would be essential to have Mr. Gunatilleke with him if he wanted to make money through this kind of business. It is after the incident that Mr. Hulugalle reportedly got a tribute of 50,000 pounds to get the necessary approval for a bus project for Ravi Wettasinghe.
When Mr. Wettasinghe wanted to get the government’s approval for his bus project Mr. Hulugalle probably would have promised Mr. Wettasinghe to get the job done through Mr. Gunatilleke. It is reported that Mr. Wettasinghe apparently gave Mr. Hulugalle 50,000 pounds too for the purpose. It is possible that Mr. Hulugalle would have indicated to Mr. Wettasinghe that the sum or a part of it would be given to Mr. Gunatilleke. It is also possible that in a situation where he felt he had been unfairly left out of the Channel 9 project, Mr. Hulugalle would have thought it was unnecessary to give this sum to Mr. Gunatilleke and would have kept the entire sum obtained from Mr. Wettasinghe.
Mr. Wettasinghe, who had been troubled by the fact that the government approval had not been received by the promised date reportedly asked Mr. Gunatilleke whether he had received 50,000 pounds sent by him. Mr. Gunatilleke on hearing this probably would have been annoyed that Mr. Hulugalle had obtained 50,000 pounds from Mr. Wettasinghe using his (Sanath’s) name. Mr. Gunatilleke would have been further annoyed because he had not got half the sum as reportedly happens usually. It was at that time that newspapers carried a story that Mr. Hulugalle had given Mr. Gunatilleke a part of the sum of 50,000 pounds obtained from Mr. Wettasinghe. This would have caused more animosity between Mr. Gunatilleke and Mr. Hulugalle.
Mr. Gunatilleke then reportedly got Mr. Wettasinghe to agree to make a complaint to the CID against Mr. Hulugalle to the effect that he had misappropriated 50,000 pounds given to the party fund. Mr. Wettasinghe probably saw this as an opportunity to have a direct relationship, rather than having an indirect one through Mr. Hulugalle to obtain approval for his bus project. On Mr. Wettasinghe’s complaint the CID started a police inquiry against Mr. Hulugalle. Unfortunately Mr. Gunatilleke did not know at the time that Mr. Hulugalle had an audio tape that would be used against him.
The ultimate result was that Mr. Hulugalle gave the media the audio tape which he had been keeping safely with him. That audio tape has now turned out to be one that shakes the existence of not only Mr. Gunatilleke but also that of the entire government.