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Heated accusations aplenty but House remains in political gridlock
Even as police bullets claimed the life of a father of two and left more than a dozen injured in Rambukkana, the political gridlock in the country’s legislature remained. There were plenty of heated debates and finger pointing among MPs over who was ultimately responsible for the crisis, and sittings had to be suspended on multiple occasions as tempers flared. While several proposals aimed at finding a solution were presented, there was no consensus on how to resolve the crisis.
On Wednesday (20), after news came that one person had been killed the previous evening after police opened fire on protesters, opposition MPs attended Parliament wearing stickers inscribed with the words “Le Epa” (No Blood). Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa demanded that new Public Security Minister Prasanna Ranatunga explain what happened.
SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara hands over a draft 21st Amendment to the Constitution to the Speaker
While expressing the President’s and government’s regret over the Rambukkana incident, Minister Ranatunga defended the actions of the police. The protesters had held up vehicular and rail traffic for more than 10 hours and had set fire to three-wheelers. Police were forced to act when protesters tried to set fire to a bowser filled with 33, 000 litres of fuel, he said. “If the bowser had been set alight, there would be no Rambukkana left today. The police acted within the powers vested with them under the Police Ordinance,” the minister claimed, amid vocal protests from opposition MPs. Nevertheless, he said several probes have been launched to ascertain if police used “excessive force.”
Mr Premadasa strongly refuted the minister’s claims. “We clearly state that responsibility for the death of Chaminda Lakshan (the protester who died) rests with the Rajapaksa government and its barbaric state terrorism.” The opposition leader also asked if murder qualifies as “minimum force,” and demanded that the government reveal who gave the order for officers to open fire.
The opposition was trying to use the death of a person to take political advantage, said Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara. He rejected claims made by some opposition MPs that the bowser in question had been deliberately kept back from transporting fuel until prices were hiked. Mr Wijesekara blamed the opposition for instigating aggressive protests where roads were now being blocked, affecting supply chains. “If hospitals don’t receive their fuel stocks in the next few days, they will become non-operational. You will have to take responsibility for lives that will be lost if that happens,” he told the opposition.
The government has still not been able to find a concrete answer on how it intends to resolve the legitimate demands of the people who are currently protesting on the streets, National People’s Power (NPP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake stated. While the cost of living had skyrocketed, people’s income remains the same. This has resulted in a desperate and angry populace venting their fury. “If anyone claims that these protests are being organised to gain political advantage, then it’s the government that is making that possible. We aren’t the ones handling the economy. It is you who paved the way for this economic catastrophe,” he told the government.
Mr Dissanayake also launched a scathing attack on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, accusing him of being a man lacking any singular vision and who believes that the only way responding to a crisis is through the power of the gun. “What do you plan to do? Shoot everyone who takes to the street? You will have to go after 20 million if that’s the case. This must end now.”
The deceased victim was a former member of the United National Party’s (UNP) Youth Wing and was “not someone who set fires to bowsers,” UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe stated. “There was no politics involved here. The truth is that we don’t have enough fuel in the country right now. We are getting one fuel ship when we should be getting four. How can people survive without fuel?”
Mr Wickremesinghe warned that the situation could escalate to even more dangerous levels in the coming days if urgent action was not taken. He appealed for both the government and the opposition to work together to find solutions.
The people of the north and east have been subjected to state terrorism since the 1950s, said Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam. “How many people died in the final stages of the war in 2009? Afterwards in places like Aluthgama, Digana and Minuwangoda, Muslims too were subjected to this. But we aren’t sad that the entire country did not stand with us then. However, we Tamils are standing with the Sinhalese today against this killing. We mustn’t let people be killed from now on.”
Mr Rasamanickam called on Minister Prasanna Ranatunga to step down as a person had been killed within 48 hours of him being made Public Security Minister.
On Thursday (21) Parliament marked the third anniversary of the Easter Sunday terror attack. On a request by the opposition leader, MPs held a minute’s silence in memory of the victims.
A total of 735 suspects had been arrested in connection with the Easter Sunday attacks. Of these, 196 are in remand custody while 19 are held under detention orders. Eighty-one had charges filed against them and 453 had been released on bail, Public Security Minister Prasanna Ranatunga stated, detailing the progress of the investigations into the attack. He also said that the radical preacher known as Naufer Maulavi had been identified as the mastermind of the attacks.
Opposition Leader Premadasa, who was wearing black along with other SJB MPs to mark the anniversary, noted that whatever the government may claim, the entire country is voicing strong suspicions that there was a vast conspiracy behind the attacks. “The truth is yet to be revealed. There is strong suspicion that the government has not allowed for the truth to come out.”
Under a future SJB government, all those who were behind the attacks will be revealed and punished, Mr Premadasa insisted.
The past week also saw several proposals aimed at resolving the current political crisis being presented to the Speaker.
On Thursday, SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara handed over a draft 21st Amendment to the Constitution.The proposals include the abolition of the executive presidency, the reestablishment of independent commissions and giving constitutional recognition to the National Security Council, Mr Madduma Bandara said.
Meanwhile, representatives of the 41 MPs who have decided to sit as independents also handed in their version of a draft constitutional amendment. This draft 21st Amendment was handed over as a Private Member’s Motion by MP Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe. The amendment aims to repeal the 20th Amendment and restore core elements of the 19th Amendment, which significantly reduced powers of the President.
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