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With the Govt of National Unity completing two years in office, growing pains seem to be setting in with the shaky arrangement between the UNP and the SLFP becoming shakier. The euphoria of August 21, 2015, the day Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn into office, along with the Cabinet of Ministers, has long evaporated and heads have begun to roll.

Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe this week became the second Minister in the past fortnight to lose his ministerial portfolio. His removal from the Cabinet by President Maithripala Sirisena came hot on the heels of the departure of Ravi Karunanayake, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, who, under pressure over his connection with controversial businessman Arjun Aloysius, stepped down on August 10. Mr. Rajapakshe was removed by President Sirisena on the insistence of the UNP, the very party from which the former Justice Minister contested for a parliamentary seat from the Colombo District and won.

Mr. Rajapakshe who also held the portfolio of Buddha Sasana, has now been relegated to the position of a backbencher in the House, just as Mr. Karunanayake. And while Mr. Rajapakshe made some bold comments as he left his ministerial duties, he did not show up in Parliament, despite speculation he would address the House to explain the circumstances that led to his sacking.

Instead, the newly appointed Minister of Justice Talata Atukorala, the first woman to hold the post, came to the Chamber on Friday, soon after taking oaths, to be warmly greeted by members on the Govt side. She was joined by Gamini Jayawickrema Perera, the new Minister of Buddha Sasana. Ms. Atukorala will retain the post of Foreign Employment Promotion & Welfare, while Mr. Perera too will retain the portfolio of Sustainable Development & Wildlife, in addition to the new responsibilities entrusted to them.

While Mr. Rajapakshe’s sacking looked like a tit-for-tat move in the wake of Mr. Karunanayake’s forced resignation, developments in Parliament this week set the tone for more such dramas in the weeks ahead. This time the Joint Opposition (JO) group is gunning for another Cabinet Minister. The JO group which has been sympathetic towards Mr. Rajapakshe’s views that the Govt was working against national interests by the sell-out of the Hambantota port, wants to see the back of Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Seneratne.

Hence, 39 MPs in the JO group signed a ‘No-Confidence’ motion against Dr. Senaratne and handed it over to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya on Wednesday.
The motion, among others, alleges the Minister used his influence to evade an investigation against him by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery & Corruption (CIAOBAC), and also accusing him of plunging the country’s Health sector into crisis, siding with the South Asian Institution of Technology & Medicine (SAITM), while neglecting State sector Medical Colleges, and not acting fast enough to prevent the Dengue epidemic in the country. Also included in the motion are several allegations relating to the time he served as the Minister of Fisheries.

It is likely the motion will be backed by JVP MPs too, given the manner in which the Party’s leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka lambasted the Health Minister in Parliament this week.

The two locked horns after the Health Minister stood to respond to the allegations by the JVP lawmaker, that patients seeking treatment at govt hospitals, often have to buy medicines from private pharmacies and also have to get their medical tests done privately. The Health Minister’s attempts to correct this was met with a barrage of severe criticism by the JVP MP.

“If the Govt Health sector is functioning well, why did the Health Minister take Rs. 10 million from the President’s Fund and go to Singapore to get treatment? If the hospitals here are so good, why did he not get his surgery done at the National Hospital?” the JVP MP asked.

The JO has asked the Speaker to fix an early date to debate the ‘No-Confidence’ motion which is likely to be taken up next month. While there is little doubt the Govt can muster enough votes to defeat such a motion, with the 20th Amendment to the Constitution tabled in the House this week, the Govt will have to work at getting the two-third majority needed to get a Constitutional amendment approved by Parliament.

On Friday, the Govt did overcome a major hurdle to holding elections to Local Authorities, by getting Parliamentary approval for the Local Govt Elections (Amendment) Bill. There were no votes against the Bill, with the JO deciding to abstain from voting.

This clears the path to holding the polls under a mixed system, with 60% of the members to be elected under the Westminster (First-past-the Post) system and 40% under the Proportional Representation (PR) system.

In September, the Govt will seek approval for another landmark piece of legislation, the Inland Revenue Bill which will introduce a new tax structure for the country.
However, given the transient nature of politics in the country today, it is hard to predict what other drama will unfold between now and September 6, when Parliament next meets.