The political chaos that lasted for 50 days and 50 nights is expected to come to an end this morning with the swearing in of United National Party (UNP) Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister before President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat. The two key events last week were the delivery of the Supreme Court verdict on the President’s move to prematurely dissolve Parliament and the stepping down of Mahinda Rajapaksa from the disputed post of Prime Minister. Sirisena held United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) group meetings on four consecutive days from Tuesday (11). On Tuesday, the meeting focused on the parliamentary proceedings the following day where a Motion of Confidence on Wickremesinghe was to be moved in the House. After the motion was passed with 117 votes, on Wednesday (12) the discussion was on the Supreme Court verdict on the early dissolution of Parliament that was expected to be delivered before the weekend and its implications. Once the verdict was delivered on Thursday (13), the UPFA group met to discuss the way forward. At the meeting, Sirisena has noted that he had to appoint a government that commands a majority in Parliament since elections were not possible until 2020. The President has however observed that the UPFA should prepare to sit in the Opposition benches in Parliament without looking at forming an alliance with the United National Front (UNF). The Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP) members in the UPFA group had agreed, but the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) group had not accepted the President’s message. After concluding the UPFA group meeting, the SLFP MPs (the 21 MPs who remained till the end of the Yahapalana Government) met with the President. They explained that the President needed to allow the group of SLFP MPs to make a decision on their future role in Parliament as a group. They explained that the President could not object to their request since permission had been granted in 2015 for a group of UPFA MPs to sit in the Opposition and eventually form a separate political party. Sirisena finally gave his approval and assured that disciplinary action would not be taken against SLFP MPs who decided to form a government with the UNF. Meanwhile, later that night, Sirisena met Wickremesinghe and Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. The meeting was held at Sirisena’s official residence. The meeting lasted for about an hour and the trio discussed the current political situation in the country and then broached the subject of a new Prime Minister. It was Jayasuriya who spoke mostly at the meeting requesting the President to reinstate the status quo that prevailed prior to 26 October and the country’s return to normalcy. Following the assurance that the UNF would be able to work peacefully with the President without any moves to push for an impeachment against Sirisena, the President agreed to appoint Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister. Stepping down Another key political meeting took place last Thursday (13) night. The meeting was of United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) coalition partners, held at Rajapaksa’s Wijerama residence, to decide on a way forward following the Supreme Court determination on the dissolution of Parliament. UPFA MPs Dinesh Gunawardena, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Wimal Weerawansa, Udaya Prabath Gammanpila, Tissa Vitharana, Bandula Gunawardena, Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Gamini Lokuge, Ranjith Soysa, and Basil Rajapaksa attended the meeting. Rajapaksa, at the meeting, announced that he would be agreeable to a compromise, hinting at a possible step down, in order to not place President Sirisena in any predicament. Gammanpila, Gunawardena, Wanniarachchi, Lokuge, and Soysa have expressed views in support of Rajapaksa’s. However, the two notorious comrades in the Rajapaksa camp – MPs Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Wimal Weerawansa – have vehemently opposed the move, saying that this was the opportune moment to hold the UNP hostage, as it too didn’t have a clear cut majority in Parliament. “Without the support of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) how can the UNP muster 117 MPs?” retorted the two parliamentarians. Although the meeting ended without UPFA partners reaching a consensus, Rajapaksa comprehending the ground reality, decided the next day (14) to call it quits and announced his decision to step down from the disputed post of Prime Minister. Being the seasoned politician that he is, Rajapaksa understood that without the hope of an early general election, he would not be able to hold on to a government without numbers and also the support of SLPPers. It was SLPP theoretician Basil’s constant claim that the party’s strategy should be to push for an early election to ride on the momentum gained at the local government elections held early this year. After hearing of discussions being mooted between members of the group of 15 SLFP MPs who defected the Yahapalana Government and Rajapaksa on forming a partnership with Sirisena, Basil, who at the time was overseas, made an early return to the country. Basil’s wish was to prevent Rajapaksa from forming an alliance with Sirisena and taking over the government from the UNF. He believed that the SLPP had earned the right of passage to secure a government through a people’s mandate at an early general election. However, Rajapaksa was convinced by the likes of MPs Thilanga Sumathipala, S.B. Dissanayake, Dilan Perera, and Lakshman Wasantha Perera to assume the post of Prime Minister and form a government while being assured that they would help Rajapaksa secure the 113 majority in Parliament. Basil met with SLPP local government representatives last week at the Battaramulla office, and after discussing the current political situation, it was unanimously decided that any alliance formed by the party should contest under the “flower bud” symbol. Interestingly, this decision is likely to cause a stir in the SLFP since a majority of the SLFP organisers are opposed to contesting under the flower bud symbol. A dampener indeed for Sirisena’s plans to ally the SLFP with the SLPP. New Government While the SLPP was drawing an election roadmap, by Friday evening, discussions on forming a new government started to take place at various locations in Colombo. Rajapaksa informed the UPFA group meeting on Friday evening that he would be stepping down and the Cabinet of Ministers along with it. Following the announcement, Sirisena informed Wickremesinghe that arrangements would be made to swear in the latter as Prime Minister today (16). Members of the UNF immediately started to announce that they were not ready to accommodate every SLFP MP from the group of 21. They claimed that some of the MPs among the group of 21 stood by the disputed Prime Minister and Cabinet and hence were not ready to accept them. The UNF said they were ready to accept SLFP MPs individually and not as a group. Even at the time of going to print, the SLFP MPs were discussing on how they would move forward as a group. Nevertheless, the new Cabinet is set to be limited to 30 since it would not be a national government, thereby limiting the number of portfolios up for grabs. The President has also requested the group of SLFP MPs not to sign any MoUs with the UNF to form a national government. A question then arose on whether the interim order issued by the Court of Appeal restraining a group of UPFA MPs from performing duties as cabinet ministers had an impact in the event such individuals were to be appointed to portfolios of the new government. Upon inquiry, legal experts in the UNF and SLFP camp noted that it would not be an issue since the controversial Cabinet stood dissolved with Rajapaksa stepping down. Therefore, new appointments would not be a legal issue and the petitioners are likely to move a motion and withdraw the writ applications once courts reopen after vacations. It is learnt that the new Cabinet of Ministers is likely to be sworn in on Tuesday (18). Rallies continue Meanwhile, the rally planned by the UNF for tomorrow (17), which was initially to be held under the theme of winning democracy, has now been converted to a rally to celebrate the victory of democracy. The UNF MPs, last morning, met at Temple Trees and later made quick visits to their respective constituencies to discuss plans for the rally with electoral organisers in the district. The MPs communicated to their organisers the plan to convert the rally into a celebratory one where participants would hail the victory of democracy. On the other hand, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) last week decided to launch a series of political campaigns to create public awareness on the real issues that are in need of public attention. At the party’s politburo meeting last week, Party Secretary Tilvin Silva noted that while the JVP played a key role in ensuring victory for democracy in and outside Parliament, the campaign needed to be continued until a true people’s victory was achieved. Firebrand JVPer K.D. Lal Kantha said that regardless of who sits on the prime minister’s chair, the people would not gain anything until a people-friendly government was in place. Accordingly, the JVP decided to commence a two-week islandwide political campaign to create awareness among the public about the need for a true people’s victory next year.