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Political crisis: ‘Polls won’t resolve current burning issues’: Udaya Gammanpila

16 Apr 2022

  • Condition to interim govt. is to not have any Rajapaksas in it
  • Crisis could have been averted if right decisions were made at right time
  • Gotabaya Rajapaksa-led Govt. has failed; it is incompetent
  • Basil may replace Gotabaya; Gota is bad, but Basil may be worse
  • Appointment of State Ministers from independent group criticised
  • Polls and PM with new mandate after reaching some stability
  • 22nd Amendment will restrict dual citizens from holding offices
By Asiri Fernando Sri Lanka this week faced its debt realities head-on and moved to notify its creditors that it would temporarily halt servicing debt, while seeking International Monetary Fund (IMF) assistance and planning much-needed reforms. Our policymakers need to act quickly, wisely, and together to bring about the political stability needed to make our proposals to the IMF, creditors, investors, and possible donors, with credibility. In an interview with The Sunday Morning, former Energy Minister and a leader of the breakaway independent faction in Parliament Udaya Gammanpila stressed the need for parliamentarians to work collectively to navigate Sri Lanka to safety from an unprecedented economic crisis which had driven the public to the streets in protest and had impacted every sector, industry, and community. Gammanpila, a key Rajapaksa loyalist until recently, played a strong role in bringing President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to office in December 2019. However, he now claims that to move forward with an interim government, no Rajapaksas can be part of it, warning that removing the President at this stage may enable another Rajapaksa to hold executive power. Following are excerpts from the interview: There has been an unprecedented uproar by the public against the President and the Government due to the economic crisis. As a former Cabinet member of the Government, do you feel responsible for the status the country is in? We did our best to avoid this crisis. This is a crisis that the Government could have averted by making the right decisions at the right time. We forced the Government to restrict the importation of non-essential goods as early as 20 October 2021. I warned the Cabinet about a potential energy crisis on 15 February 2021. On my initiative, the Cabinet appointed a Sub-Committee chaired by the Prime Minister to look into the matter. But none of the recommendations of the Sub-Committee were implemented, despite Cabinet approval.  Further, I had been campaigning within the Cabinet for a long time to seek IMF assistance and to float the rupee. I warned the public about the foreign currency crisis on 12 June 2021 during a press conference. I warned the Government about prolonged power cuts on 10 January 2022 and urged them to maintain two-hour power cuts in order to save limited water and dollar reserves and ensure sustainable power supply throughout the dry season. Therefore, I genuinely feel that I understood the incoming crisis and warned the Government and the public about it ahead of time. That is why I don’t feel guilty.   Do you think the President should step down to help build the political stability that is needed to navigate the economic crisis? This Government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has failed miserably. There is no doubt about the Government’s incompetence. However, we should deeply analyse our Constitution to understand the constitutional and political consequences of the President’s resignation. According to our Constitution, there will be no Presidential Election when the President resigns mid-term. Instead, the Parliament should fill the vacancy by electing a parliamentarian. Presently, Basil Rajapaksa is the only parliamentarian who commands an absolute majority in Parliament.  Replacing Gota with Basil is not the expectation or demand of the people protesting at Galle Face. On the other hand, the Constitution doesn’t provide a way of dealing with a situation where no presidential candidate secures an absolute majority in Parliament. Therefore, there is a high likelihood of failure to elect the president by Parliament, which will result in an anarchical situation in the midst of the worst economic crisis. We propose to expel the President in three steps. Firstly, restore essential services, such as electricity, fuel, medicine, food, LP gas, and industrial and agriculture inputs through an all-party interim government. Secondly, hold a Parliamentary Election to elect a government of the people’s choice. Thirdly, cause the President to resign and replace him with a person elected by the newly-elected Parliament. Otherwise, we may trade a known for an unknown. Gota is bad, but Basil may be worse.   What is the current status of the ongoing discussions on the proposed interim government?  Unfortunately, the President is not as sensitive enough to the present crisis as we expected him to be. Despite our animosity with the Government, we took the lead role in forming the interim government by talking to all stakeholders. This proposal was appreciated by the Maha Sanga, other clergy, the business community, professionals, and trade unions. Many political parties in the Opposition and key politicians in the main Opposition party have openly expressed support for this proposal. Meanwhile, we were to meet the President for a second round of discussions (12 April). However, the President appointed two of our members as State Ministers, causing irreversible damage to this national cause. Therefore, we withdrew from the discussions (12 April). Some politicians and parliamentarians have called for an immediate General Election. What is the stance of your party on this matter?  Frankly, do we have a conducive environment to hold an election? Candidates will not be able to go around their electorate and address the people as there is no fuel. People will not waste their time on polling queues on the polling day, because they have to spend hours in other queues on a daily basis to gather essential commodities. Even if the people are willing to vote, there will be no paper to print the ballot and other supporting documents. Finally, there will be no electricity to facilitate a poll and count the votes. Moreover, people are in misery and not in a mood to decide who is the best group of leaders to take this country out of this crisis. Further, since people are in need, the mandate can be influenced and robbed by crooked politicians who can afford to distribute essential commodities free of charge.  The President has requested assistance from all parties in Parliament to form a coalition to overcome the ongoing economic crisis. Are you ready to join another government with Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the President? We are ready to join hands with any devil to take this country out of this mess. That’s why we proposed an all-party interim government. Were you offered any positions in the four-member Cabinet which is the current Government? If asked, will you join? Well, we are not with the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) to be offered any Cabinet portfolios. Moreover, we are not ready to accept any portfolio even if they make us an offer. If the President were to step down, who among the 225 members of Parliament do you think is most suited to be appointed to the post? Firstly, the leader of the party that commands the majority in Parliament will become the president in such a situation, irrespective of whether we like it or not. I abstain from naming anybody since it may jeopardise our attempt to form an all-party interim government. Protests around the country are calling for the President to step down and the Rajapaksa family to be investigated over many allegations. What is your party’s stance on the Rajapaksas being part of an interim government? One of our conditions is that no Rajapaksa shall be appointed to the interim government. We are very firm on this. The 10-party collective said it plans to form a broad alliance to form an interim government. Who have you had discussions with and what type of alliance will be formed? We are now 12 parties with the Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC). Since there is a group of SLPP members who have declared their independence in Parliament, our group can be considered as the group of 13 parties, as of today (13). We are planning to talk to all recognised parties in Parliament to form the interim government. Presently, we have spoken to the SJB, the largest Opposition party. Although we have not written formally, we have spoken to the National People’s Power (NPP), Tamil National Alliance (TNA), United National Party (UNP), and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC). You plan to introduce an amendment to the Constitution (22nd Amendment). What will be the key changes that the proposed amendment will bring? And why? We are keen to ban dual citizens from holding political office, as parliamentarians or as the president. But there was a lacuna in the 19th Amendment, where it did not restrict dual-citizens from holding official positions in political parties. There is a myth that Basil Rajapaksa was able to indirectly rule the country because of the 20th Amendment. In reality, he was able to do so not because of the Finance portfolio given to him through the 20th Amendment but because of the majority enjoyed by his party – the SLPP – in Parliament. Sonia Gandhi was able to rule India even without being a member of Parliament when Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister from the Indian Congress. If Basil was able to rule this country through his Finance Ministry portfolio, Ravi Karunanayake would have been able to do the same in the Sirisena Government. K.N. Choksy in the Premadasa Government and Ronnie de Mel in the J.R.’s Government – none of them were able to rule the country. Basil Rajapaksa was able to do that because his SLPP held a majority in Parliament. Similarly, Ranil Wickremesinghe was able to rule the country while Chandrika Bandaranaike and Maithripala Sirisena were Executive Presidents. Therefore, we must ban dual citizens from holding any office in political parties. What will be the next course of action by the independent MPs? Our motherland is facing an unprecedented crisis. Holding a Parliamentary Election or causing the President’s resignation are not solutions to the burning issues we face today. Therefore, we will work towards forming an all-party government to make a collective effort to save the nation. Sri Lanka has declared a temporary suspension of normal debt servicing and plans to begin a dialogue with the IMF on debt restructuring this week. What key decisions should the Sri Lankan Government take to build credibility and regain the trust of creditors and investors over the next six months? I am glad that the Government decided not to service debt. You may recall that I made this proposal soon after our expulsion. The Government has made the correct decision, but it came late.   The Government should raise its income, reduce expenditure, and demonstrate financial discipline to regain the confidence of the international financial community. Financial discipline is something Sri Lanka has been lacking for decades. Our problem is that we, as a country, have spent more than our income over the years. Sri Lanka’s Government revenue is less than 10% of the GDP and there are only eight such countries in the world. Therefore, the Government cannot survive without increasing its revenue. In this regard, the Government should concentrate on collecting direct tax, since indirect taxes would increase the burden on the already oppressed low-income and vulnerable communities.  


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