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President Maithripala Sirisena took the unprecedented step of addressing Parliament on two successive days this week as the Committee Stage debate of the Budget got under way on Thursday, while his predecessor, Kurunegala district MP Mahinda Rajapaksa, finally stepped out of his comfort zone in the environs of Abhayaramaya and spoke in Parliament. However, the views each of them expressed clearly illustrated the disconnect between the two on how the country should move forward in the postwar scenario.

While President Sirisena reiterated his commitment to build bridges between different communities and bring about reconciliation, the former President once again fell back on the fears that he and many in his camp harbour about a return of the LTTE, due to polices adopted by the present Government. In addition to Sri Lankan soldiers having to face war crimes charges at an international tribunal.

“This Government will never compromise on national security,” said President Sirisena, when he spoke on Friday, while the former President who spoke shortly afterwards said, he is concerned that, “the polices adopted by the Government would put national security under threat.”

And while Mr Rajapaksa defended his government’s attempts at reconciliation, saying that, the big development projects he had launched in the north and the east, after the end of the war, were part of the process of moving forward in the postwar environment, President Sirisena said that the overwhelming support he got from voters in the two provinces, at January’s presidential election, was a clear signal that physical development alone is not enough to win the hearts and minds of people or ease suspicions that have built up over the years, within the communities in the north and south.

The two also had different views on the release of LTTE suspects. President Sirisena said that some in the previous government, who saw no problem with the release of 12,000 rehabilitated LTTE cadres, now accuse this Government of compromising national security due to the recent release of 38 LTTE suspects. The former President, however, said the LTTE suspects who had not been released by his government, were involved in serious crimes, and their release would pose a threat to the country.The differences of opinion between the two senior members of the SLFP was also reflected when the vote on the Second Reading of the Budget was taken on Wednesday, when it became clear that, not all members of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) were willing to toe the line of party leader President Sirisena.

Among the 52 MPs who voted against the Budget were several senior members of the SLFP, but a notable absentee on the day was the former President.Even though President Sirisena had initially urged all SLFP MPs to vote in support of the Budget, he had relented to a “free vote” when he was unable to reach a compromise. The vote went overwhelmingly in favour of the Budget, with 159 including the members of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) voting for it, but the JVP which is playing the role of new antagonist towards the Government, voted against it.

With the promise of delegating all the powers vested in the Executive to Parliament, and a firm commitment to build national reconciliation, President Sirisena seemed confident that the Government is on track to putting right many of the wrongs of the previous regime. But there is no doubt that, the man whose job President Sirisena took over, will continue to stand in the way of his plans in the days ahead.