• UNP leadership continues till next year; RW turns down United Bhikku Front request

• Video of Karu backing SJB creates a stir; Karu denies promoting SJB at polls

• CBK calls for restructuring of SLFP; CC decides to initiate disciplinary action

• Wigi fires first salvo in the House; ITAK to study performance at general election

The political chaos that took precedence in the weeks leading up to the appointment of a new Government and the convening of the ninth Parliament is now gradually settling with the Government setting the agenda for the next few months. Given that the Opposition political parties are yet to get their acts together after the outcome of the recently concluded general election, the Government, it seems, will have a smooth environment to carry out its agenda without much difficulty. However, looking at the political trend in the country during the past five years, it is evident that all governments need to pay attention to the verdict of the people’s court. Despite winning a comfortable majority in Parliament, there has been some distress with the governing party, mainly over the allocation of ministerial portfolios. Starting from the subjects assigned to the individuals to the title used for the portfolio, displeasure was raised among some of the recipients with some even avoiding appearing in the official photograph taken with the Head of State after the swearing-in ceremony. This displeasure was further witnessed when the newly appointed members of the Government started to assume duties in their respective offices. Some of the portfolio holders expressed disappointment in what was assigned to them, saying they hoped for an office to carry out more work. However, all is now water under the bridge with all government members expressing confidence in carrying out their duties as expected. The Government, headed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, now has its work cut out for it. After ensuring a clear victory for President Rajapaksa and giving him the two-thirds majority requested by him to govern the country, the general public has set high expectations of the Government. In fact, the change expected by the public is so great that it would also be somewhat a noose around its neck. It is in this backdrop that the Government last week embarked on one of its key tasks for this year – constitutional amendments. The proposed constitutional amendments are expected to form the foundation for the introduction of a new constitution altogether. The Cabinet of Ministers convened last Wednesday (19) for the first time since the appointment of the new Government and the main topic of discussion was the proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution. The Cabinet also discussed and approved the programme to grant employment to graduates and decided to grant 10,000 more jobs to the unemployed graduates. The next matter taken up by the Cabinet was the Vote on Account to fund government expenditure till the end of this year, when the 2021 Budget will be implemented. Minister of Mass Media Keheliya Rambukwella, who is also the official Spokesperson for the Government, announced last Wednesday that the Cabinet of Ministers had granted approval to introduce the 20th Amendment to the Constitution. The Cabinet granted approval to abolish the 19th Amendment and to officially commence the drafting of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution. A five-member committee was also appointed on Wednesday to assist with drafting the proposed constitutional amendment. The committee consists of Justice Minister Ali Sabry PC and includes Ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva, Udaya Gammanpila, Prof. G.L. Peiris, and Dinesh Gunawardena. Accordingly, the 20th Amendment to the Constitution will be drafted and presented to the Cabinet of Ministers before being tabled in Parliament for approval.

Working on 20A

Newly appointed Justice Minister Ali Sabry, addressing the gathering after assuming duties last week, said that the Ministry of Justice will not allow any harm to come to the Constitution, or the public that benefit from it. “I would like to assure you all that we will not allow any harm to befall the Constitution and the public,” Sabry said, while thanking the President for the faith placed in him. “Make no mistake, we are up against several challenges; the challenges are big. Some of the challenges you do not see often on protest placards are significant. As you know, a child gets abused every two hours and when drugs are apprehended, some of them go missing and they can end up back in circulation,” he noted. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Founder/theoretician Basil Rajapaksa recently explained that while the proposed 20th Amendment will abolish the 19th Amendment, it will also include certain clauses of the 18th and 19th Amendments as well as some fresh clauses. He also noted that the President had requested that the presidential term continue to remain as five years and the number of times an individual could contest for the presidency continue as two terms as stated in the 19th Amendment. The proposed 20th Amendment is to also include the independent commissions that are currently in operation. According to Basil Rajapaksa, these commissions will be structured in a manner in which they would carry out their functions independently unlike at present. Newly appointed Co-Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Udaya Gammanpila noted that the proposed 20th Amendment will also include the Right to Information (RTI) laws. He explained that the Government did not have any intention of doing away with RTI. “There are many flaws in the 19th Amendment and even those who formulated it have accepted this fact. Through the 20th Amendment, we hope to address this issue and do away with the retrogressive clauses in the piece of legislation,” Gammanpila said. With talk of introducing a constitutional amendment, some analysts opined that it would also result in the amendment/abolition of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. However, Minister Ali Sabry stated that the proposed 20th Amendment focuses on abolishing the 19th Amendment and would not affect the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. Nevertheless, it is evident that the Government would eventually introduce a new Constitution altogether. “The basis of the success of a democratic state is its constitution. Our Constitution, which has been amended 19 times, from its inception in 1978, has many ambiguities and uncertainties, presently resulting in confusion. As the people have given us the mandate we wanted for a constitutional amendment, our first task will be to remove the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. After that, all of us will get together to formulate a new Constitution suitable for the country. In this, the priority will be given to the concept of one country, one law for all the people,” President Rajapaksa said, addressing the inaugural sitting of the ninth Parliament. Referring to electoral reforms, the President said: “While introducing a new constitution, it is essential to make changes to the current electoral system. While retaining the salutary aspects of the proportional representation system, these changes will be made to ensure stability of the Parliament and people’s direct representation.”

A different Parliament

The ninth Parliament that convened last Thursday (20) was a unique House. One of the main factors that make the ninth Parliament a unique one is that it is the first time in over seven decades that the House met without any representation from the United National Party (UNP). The UNP’s present leadership crisis has prevented the appointment of a member to represent the party in the House through the sole seat secured by the UNP through the National List. The UNP’s National List slot will possibly remain vacant till next year until a final decision is reached on the party leadership. The UNP has decided that the party will appoint a member through the National List after a new leader is appointed. “The party seniors believe that the new leader of the party should not be sent to Parliament since the leadership will be tasked with reforming and restructuring the party. It will be the next in command or a senior member who will be appointed through the National List to Parliament. So until then, the National List slot will remain open,” a senior UNP source said. Meanwhile, another party that has failed to appoint its National List nominee is Our People’s Power Party (OPPP). Two newly elected MPs, one convicted of murder and another accused in a high-profile murder case, were elected to the ninth Parliament. MP Premalal Jayasekera and MP Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillayan, both sought court permission to attend the inaugural parliamentary session. Jayasekera was recently convicted of murder while Pillayan is accused of murdering former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Joseph Pararajasingham. Pillayan was granted permission by the Batticaloa High Court to attend the inaugural session of Parliament. After arriving at Parliament, in his speech to congratulate newly appointed Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, Pillayan expressed his desire to attend Parliament as an elected public representative and to serve the people. He explained that although he had been in the LTTE, he is now engaged in mainstream politics. However, Jayasekera was unable to attend Parliament due to the failure to get judicial clearance. Therefore, three seats were vacant in the ninth Parliament last week.

Arranging funds

The Vote on Account that was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on Wednesday was tabled in Parliament on Friday (21). The parliamentary party leaders during the meeting on Thursday (20) decided to allocate two days to debate the Vote on Account, which seeks to cover the expenses for the Government’s efforts to control the Covid-19 outbreak. The Vote on Account debate is to be held this Thursday (27) and Friday (28). It was earlier reported that the Vote on Account will be presented for the allocation of Rs. 1.6 trillion for the period from 1 September till 31 December. The Cabinet Memorandum on the proposed Vote on Account was submitted to the Cabinet last week by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Minister of Finance. A Vote on Account was passed in Parliament last year to cover the expenditure for the first four months until 30 April. However, it was not possible to pass another Vote on Account in April as Parliament was dissolved on 2 March this year. Therefore, the President authorised the Treasury Secretary to spend money from the Consolidated Fund on government since the general election was also postponed due to the Covid-19 global pandemic. Accordingly, the Treasury Secretary was empowered to allocate funds from the Consolidated Fund to cover government expenditure from 1 June to August 31. The Government decided to allocate funds through a Vote on Account as the preparation of an Appropriation Bill has been postponed due to the establishment of the new ministry. The Government is to present a fully fledged budget for 2021 in November this year.

Wigi’s salvo

Newly elected parliamentarian, former Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran on Thursday fired his first salvo in the House by making a political statement during his speech to congratulate the newly appointed Speaker Abeywardena. Making his maiden speech in the House, Wigneswaran raised the issues faced by the people in the North and East Provinces and called for the recognition of the Tamil people’s rights. He took only a few minutes to congratulate the new Speaker. Wigneswaran observed that the Tamil people have a right to self-determination. He also made a reference in Sinhala, “kala kala de pala pala de” (what goes around comes around). The following day, on Friday (21), MP Manusha Nanayakkara requested the Speaker of Parliament to direct the removal of certain statements made the previous day by MP C.V. Wigneswaran in the House from the Parliament Hansard. Nanayakkara raised objections to the comments made by Wigneswaran on the right to self-determination of Tamil people in the North and East as well as promoting the Tamil homeland concept in the House. According to Nanayakkara, it was not appropriate to promote such sentiments in Parliament at a time when everyone in the country was trying to shed differences and come together as one nation. He further stated that Wigneswaran’s statement was a violation of the oath taken by all parliamentarians at the inaugural session of the House where it was pledged that a division of the country and communities will not be promoted. Speaker Abeywardena responded saying he would look into the matter and take appropriate action.

New twist in UNP

The United National Party’s (UNP) search for a new leader faced a fresh turn of events last week. Several members of the United Bikkhu Front, led by its General Secretary Ven. Theeniyawala Palitha, met with UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday (19) afternoon at the party headquarters, Sirikotha. According to sources within the party, during the meeting, the priests presented Wickremesinghe with a letter in which he (Wickremesinghe) agrees to his removal from the post of leader and appoints Karu Jayasuriya as Leader, while Ravi Karunanayake was to be appointed Deputy Leader. Wickremesinghe refused to sign the letter, stating that he did not have the power to appoint a new leader and that the decision lay with the UNP’s Working Committee (WC). This announcement resulted in Ven. Palitha launching into a tirade over the failings of the WC and the lack of confidence of party members in decisions taken by the WC. The priest subsequently threatened to quit the party if the letter was not signed. It was at this point that Wickremesinghe informed the participants at the meeting that earlier in the day, several UNP candidates in the recently held general election had shown him a video allegedly of Karu Jayasuriya calling on the public to vote for Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Colombo District candidate Eranda Welianga. These candidates, all of whom had contested from the Colombo District, had expressed their displeasure at the fact that Jayasuriya had supposedly openly canvassed for a member of an opposing party. They have asked the leader to hold an inquiry into the matter prior to considering Jayasuriya for the post of Leader of the Party. Wickremesinghe has been engaged in meeting with members of the party since the UNP’s historic loss at the general election. The purpose of these meetings has been to ascertain who the party wishes to see succeed him as Party Leader. While a single name has been lacking, the general consensus within the UNP is that the party requires a new young leader capable of energising the core support base while winning back the Sinhala Buddhist vote bloc that had been lost. While the search for the UNP’s new leader continues, the party seniors are now looking into the complaint lodged by the party’s Colombo District candidates about Jayasuriya’s alleged backing of an SJB candidate. However, Jayasuriya on Thursday (20) issued a statement denying the allegation that he had backed the SJB and one of its candidates at the general election. Jayasuriya had stated that he had not in any way backed the SJB, but had commended Welianga upon a personal request made by the latter. He had further explained that he had decided to remain independent and unbiased during the general election after his efforts at uniting the party failed. Therefore, it had been noted that the allegations of him backing another political party during the election are the work of a few defeated and politically destitute individuals.

SJB’s invite

Meanwhile, MPs Hesha Withanage and Chaminda Wijesiri of the SJB, led by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, said that the only alternative left for the UNP was to ally with the SJB. “The electorate has shown what the UNP should do. Therefore, we invite them to join the SJB,” Wijesiri told a news conference. “We hear that the UNP is hoping to reorganise itself. These plans have ended in failure in the past,” Withanage has said at the same news conference. “We are sad about the fate which has befallen the UNP at the general elections. Parliament will be without UNP MPs for the first time in Sri Lanka’s political history. We are inviting those remaining in the party to join Mr. Premadasa.” It is in this backdrop that a statement by UNP Deputy General Secretary Ruwan Wijewardene was seen in the media last week, where he had said there is a possibility of a merger between the UNP and the SJB in the future. “We intend on having a dialogue with the SJB with such a possibility in view,” he had told journalists after making a statement before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) on the Easter Sunday attacks. Wijewardene had also said a new young leader may emerge in a few months and one has to be patient on the restructuring of the UNP during this transitional period.

SLFP-CBK clash?

Senior member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga last week called on the SLFP to regroup and take the party forward with a new leader. She made this observation in a special video statement. She also noted that she will not return to politics but was ready to support a new SLFP leader. Kumaratunga also condemned the SLFP’s decision to join hands with the SLPP and form a government. According to Kumaratunga, she will never support the kind of politics followed by the Rajapaksas, but admitted that Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was a good leader, something the Opposition does not have. She went on to say that the Opposition lost the just concluded parliamentary election as they did not have a good leader. Following interest shown by Kumaratunga over resurrecting the SLFP, Party General Secretary Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara said the decision on whether Kumaratunga’s support should be accepted or not would be taken by the party’s Central Committee (CC). He said that necessary steps would be taken to restore the party to its previous position and all those, including the members of SLPP, who left the party during the last few years were now invited to join the party. “We invite all members to come back to the party,” Jayasekara said. He also noted that it was Kumaratunga who joined with the UNP to support Sajith Premadasa during the last presidential election, causing severe damage to the party. Therefore, decisions on the future of the party would be taken after discussions with the SLFP leaders and the CC. “We have a leader, Maithripala Sirisena, and we will discuss how to strengthen the party’s grassroots levels,” he added. He also noted that Kumaratunga’s personal grudges with the Rajapaksas should not be reflected in the party restoration work. It is in this backdrop that the SLFP last week decided to initiate disciplinary action against party organisers who had failed to support the candidates fielded by the SLFP at the recently concluded general election. The party seniors who met at the party headquarters last Thursday (20) had discussed the party’s performance at the elections as well as the group of organisers, mostly affiliated to Kumaratunga, who had refrained from supporting the party and its decision. “It is clear that a group of party organisers has clearly violated the party’s Constitution by acting in contravention to the party decisions. The party will now take action against them. That is also part of party reforms,” a senior SLFP member said. It seems like the SLFP and Kumaratunga are heading for a showdown in the near future.

ITAK looking inwards

Meanwhile, the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) has appointed a committee to study the outcome of the election results of the 2020 general election, with the party losing popularity during this election. The committee will be appointed on 29 August when their working committee meets, The Black Box learnt. When contacted, ITAK Leader Mavai Senathirajah noted: “We will be selecting four to five persons to appoint for this committee to study the setback that the party and the TNA faced during the recent election. From the date of appointing the committee, we will allow them a period of one week to submit the report to us, after which we will take a decision on the way forward for ITAK and TNA.” Speaking further, the former MP said: “ITAK Founder P. Selva thought that he will be able to win the demands of the Tamil people through his party, while the deceased Velupillai Prabhakaran presumed that the freedom fight would manage to win the trust of the Tamil people. “Meanwhile, R. Sampanthan tried to win the votes of the Tamil people through diplomatic channels. All three failed. Now, the Tamil people cannot even imagine who they want to support. The Tamil people gave their full support to all three who I mentioned earlier. The election results were the doing of politicians in the North, who pulled the strings,” he said. He added that all Tamil politicians should now unite to find what the Tamil people want and must provide those solutions without blaming anyone. When the results were announced, the TNA contesting as ITAK, under the “house” symbol, got three out of seven seats in Jaffna. S. Shritharan (35,884), M.A. Sumanthiran (27,834), and D. Siddarthan (23,840) had been elected as MPs on the basis of their preference votes.