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People’s trust in parliament was shattered on October 26: Ranil in Kandy
View(s):The Sirisena-Rajapaksa partnership admitted in Parliament, on Friday, that they have no majority, UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said at a protest rally in Kandy yesterday. Mr. Wickremesinghe addressed the massive crowd in Kandy town after meeting the Chief Prelates of the Asgiriya and Malwatte chapters. He praised Speaker Karu Jayasuriya saying he had faced hurdles that no Speaker in the world had faced.
“They destroyed the chamber on the third day,” he said. “The Speaker’s chair was taken out. They tried to steal the mace. The table on which the mace usually stands was toppled. But now, the Sirisena-Rajapaksa partnership has had to accept that they have no majority because of the steadfastness of the Speaker. The world was asking why they were afraid of a vote,”Mr. Wickremesinghe said.
“What did Lord Buddha tell the subjects of Lichchavi?” he continued. “He said convene in peace, discuss in peace and disperse in peace. What happened under our King Dutugemunu who had pledged to protect Buddhism? Did they convene in peace? Did they discuss in peace? Did they disperse in peace?”
“The people had some faith that, if something goes wrong, we will go to parliament,” Mr Wickremesinghe said. “That we will summon parliament, obey the will of parliament, follow the constitution, that there’s media freedom and you can say whatever you want. “It was this trust that was broken on October 26,” he maintained. Referring to his removal and the fracas in parliament again, he asked: “Are we going to hand over power to people like this to govern the country? Public trust was destroyed.”
The majority of people in the country wanted Mahinda Rajapaksa removed. “They brought him back and put him there,” the UNP leader said. “How do you give power to a rejected man? Is that democratic? If he has no majority, how do you secure it for him?
“If the situation continues, the power of the vote will no longer be there, the power of parliament will be lost and the future of the young and old will be lost. We are not scared of an election but it must be held under a legitimate government,” Mr. Wickremesinghe said.
“Parliament can decide by a two-thirds majority whether to hold a presidential or a parliamentary election first. To protect the rights of the people, you have to protect the constitution and to protect the constitution, you must hold a constitutional election,” he stressed.
Champika Ranawaka, Rauf Hakeem, Mano Ganesan, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, Sajith Premadasa, Rajitha Seneratne, Chandrani Bandara and the Ven Dambara Amila Thera were among those who addressed the rally.