Columns

• Fears of continuous wave of hartals; any government move to use brute force could be highly damaging
• President’s supporters believe they have numbers in parliament to pass emergency; others  say they misread the vote on the deputy speaker’s post
• Prime Minister’s resignation on Monday?
• President may ask Premadasa to form the next government; but SJB won’t accept the offer

The conversation centered on the token general strike that day. It paralyzed transport services, shut down schools, business establishments and brought civilian life to a standstill. “This is causing more serious damage to the economy. Can you allow this to continue?” the minister asked. The fear was about the continuation of such a strike from Wednesday. The President, who has just recovered from a minor chest ailment, was perplexed. After more views were exchanged on the reports both had received, the conversation ended.

The minister was unaware that President Rajapaksa had by then placed his signature to a proclamation under the Public Security Act declaring a state of emergency with effect from midnight Friday. This was the second, the first being on April 1. It was rescinded since the Government did not have the numbers to pass it in Parliament.  Plans are to charge those “violating laws” and gathering in large numbers among others. It is not clear how those responsible concluded they now had the numbers in Parliament to approve the emergency. It was perhaps a misreading of the sequence of events that led to the election of a Deputy Speaker on Thursday. More on that in the later paragraphs.

Worried by what he learnt from the minister; President Rajapaksa summoned a special cabinet meeting for Friday evening. Even before it ended, a section of the media reported that the President, backed by a section of Ministers, had asked Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to step down. It was breaking news in many news channels thereafter but there was no official statement. Amidst that, one of the channels quoted Rohan Weliwita, Media Secretary to the Prime Minister, as saying that reports of the Premier being told to quit were wrong. He said no such thing had taken place. How Weliwita knew what went on in the Cabinet is not clear. Obviously, he has been asked by someone to make that statement that rhymed with the previous ones about the Premier quitting. He asserted that the Premier would not, therefore, resign. However, some ministers who took part in the event did tell their parliamentary colleagues the same night that President had asked the Premier to quit. Nevertheless, they made clear Premier Rajapaksa made no comment and listened to the conversations. This was contrary to claims that he agreed. That prompted some to ask whether the reports were aimed at testing the waters.

Highly placed government sources said last night that Premier Rajapaksa’s resignation will take place tomorrow. It is to be followed by a formal statement later. This resignation, in terms of the Constitution, will mean that the entire Cabinet has resigned. In such an event a new Cabinet of Ministers would have to be sworn in. With uncertainty over an interim government, whom such a cabinet would represent remains a critical question.

So far, Premier Rajapaksa has firmly maintained the position he would not resign and asserted that the President would also make no such request. He has been staunchly backed in this particularly by his son Yoshitha, the Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister. The President, sources close to him say, as is customary, would call upon the Opposition Leader, Sajith Premadasa, who heads the largest opposition party in Parliament, to form a government. Mr. Premadasa has publicly declared he would not accept any office under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. There is evidence that at the highest levels of the Government, the vote for the election of a Deputy Speaker has given rise to the belief that the Government had a majority in Parliament. However, it still does not have the minimum 113 seats in the 225-member Parliament. A vote on the state of emergency could therefore fail. Moreover, there are several in the 42-member group who are not in favour of the state of emergency. They argue that it is a repressive measure and was aimed at stifling democratic protests.

Already, the President has sounded out some sections after a meeting with Sri Lanka Freedom Party leader and former President Maithripala Sirisena on setting up an interim government. Later, this week, he met with another group and the talks were particularly with the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). With both these groups, forward movement was not possible. Not all parties in Parliament are willing to form an interim government, particularly the SJB and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power. They favour an election but there are no funds for it.

During the last meeting with the SLPP, his estranged brother and former Finance Minister, Basil Rajapaksa, remained silent. After 45 minutes into the discussion, he broke silence to hint at the likelihood of Premier Rajapaksa resigning. This again came because the SJB had by that time not handed in its motion of no confidence against the government. When the news of that reached him, he turned aggressive and insisted he would not quit under any circumstances.  That political bait of a resignation was swollen by SJB’s Rajitha Senaratne who told a television channel about the resignation only to be denied by Temple Trees. During the earlier meeting, former President Sirisena not only took credit for making the proposal but said it was their own one. However, the 42 group’s Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said that “all of us contributed to the proposals.” He said the second round of talks with the SLPP for an interim government followed. Other sources said several glitches were preventing forward movement though President Rajapaksa had declared on both occasions that he was willing to have the 20A replaced. However, he had insisted that the subject of national security should continue to remain in his hands. This, no doubt, raises a serious issue. Unless the President is successful in having the SLPP form a new government with a new Prime Minister, there is bound to be a stalemate. The 42-member group, contrary to the wide belief that they were colluding with the main arm, were functioning separately. How will they react remains a question.

At the bottom of this week’s developments was the election of a Deputy Speaker after SLFP’s Ranjith Siyambalapitiya resigned. An SLFPer, he was following his party’s decision to remain ‘independent’ in Parliament. However, when the re-election came, he was willing to be a candidate. There was some confusion when it was pointed out that the President had not accepted Siyambalapitiya’s resignation. It was later clarified that such acceptance was not required since the resignation letter had already been handed over.

In the morning of Thursday, the day of the election of Deputy Speaker, three different groups of MPs were meeting. One was the SLPP. They had decided on Ajith Rajapaksa (No relation of the ruling Rajapaksa family) from the Hambantota District. He was a former local councillor.

It was SLFP General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekera who told SJB General Secretary Ranjit Madduma Bandara that the 42 Group’s candidate for the post of Deputy Speaker would be Ranjit Siyambalapitiya. Even during the night of May 4, the SJB General Secretary had assured support. However, around 10 a.m. on May 5 (the day of voting), he asked Jayasekera whether Rajitha Senaratne (SJB) could propose the name of Ranjith Siyambalapitiya. He had consulted his leadership and later agreed.

The SLPP that met separately had, meanwhile, decided to support Siyambalapitiya. Sittings of the Parliament had begun when the group of 42 learnt from the SJB that they would not support Siyambalapitiya. In fact, Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris had announced in Parliament that that the SLPP would extend support to Siyambalapitiya. The group of 42 learnt that SJB had changed its mind and that their General Secretary Maddumabandara would propose the name of Imthiaz Bakeer Markar. “That was a great betrayal,” said Udaya Gammanpila from the group. He said “if they sought our support earlier, we could have extended it to Bakeer Markar. It did not happen. Their leader was suspicious about something.”

Ranjith Siyambalapitiya was elected as the Deputy Speaker with a majority of 83 votes in Parliament on Thursday. This was after 148 members voted in favour of him and 65 voting for SJB nominee Imthiaz Bakeer Markar.

Many are faulting SJB leader Sajith Premadasa for this. They said if he had, at least at the eleventh hour, withdrawn the candidature of Bakeer Markar, Siyambalapitiya’s win would not have been perceived as a win for SLPP. He had chosen not to do so.

Three of the votes were rejected while eight members – Wimal Weerawansa, C.V. Wigneswaran, John Seneviratne, S. Noharathalingam, Uddika Premaratne, Imran Mahroof, R. Sampanthan and Mayantha Dissanayake were absent.  Siyambalapiitiya’s name was proposed by Nimal Siripala de Silva and seconded by Susil Premajayantha. Bakeer Markar’s name was proposed by SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandaran and seconded by Lakshman Kiriella.

However, Siyambalapitiya sent in his resignation on Friday. He said: “I resigned from the post of Deputy Speaker in keeping with a decision by the group of parliament members including those from the SLFP and other parties to resign from their government posts and sit with the opposition. Even though the post of deputy speaker is an independent position, taking a further step I resigned from the post as I was appointed with the approval of the ruling party.

“Accordingly, our party and other parties and groups which have joined our party proposed that I should contest for the deputy speaker’s post. As the opposition which was divided in many ways came to a unanimous decision, this was an opportunity to show the strength of the opposition and create a background for interim government. I accepted the proposal.

“However, when my name was nominated for the post of deputy speaker at the last moment due to a division within the opposition there were two names nominated and a secret ballot was held. Even though the secret ballot was held the SLPP stated in pubic that they too were supporting me. Therefore the people have not seen a proper picture, and I have decided to extend my support for the struggling people.

“As a person who took to politics as a student leader at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, protest marches, slogans, tear gas, baton attacks and getting arrested are familiar experiences. However, at a time when people are facing great pressure, I cannot bear to be an enemy of their fight….”

The coming days and weeks portend a more critical period than the near 60 days since the protests began. Contrary to claims in some sections, the protests have shown signs of escalation into different sectors as Friday’s token strike has shown. Its continuance from Wednesday would no doubt have a paralysing effect and any government move to use brute force under an emergency could be highly damaging. Ironically, no effort has been made to reach out to those braving the scorching sun and humid nights. Things have been allowed to drift. And now, either based on credible reports or on exaggerated accounts about a looming threat, things are about to change. It could turn out to be a grave mistake particularly when the situation is bound to escalate further.

Gammanpila paints doomsday scenario; calls on SJB to form interim Govt Former Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila Pic by Indika Handuwela Former Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila, sacked from his post by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa last month, warns that an impending fuel shortage would have disastrous consequences and could pave the way for anarchy. When fuel supplies under Indian assistance is fully utilised, there is no means for financing fuel imports, he says in a Q & A. Securing another credit line, when the Government has declared bankruptcy, is highly unlikely. As energy minister, I forwarded eleven different cabinet memoranda. They were ignored. We propose to publish them so the people will become aware that government leaders have been sitting on this crucial issue since February 2021. He charged that they did not realise the seriousness. He said if transport services come to a grinding halt due to lack of fuel, the movement of grain, food, and vegetables from rural areas to the cities will become difficult. It will create shortages. That can reach starvation levels at some point. Thieving will increase and Police, who are already deployed, will not be able to help much. Farmers will lose their income. Neither patients nor doctors will be able to visit hospitals. Factories will be forced to shut down since they will not have fuel to power their generators. The agricultural sector is not labour intensive anymore. They need both diesel and kerosene for their equipment for harvest. Fishermen will not be able to go out to sea. What is your answer to overcome such a disastrous situation? The 42 former Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP)-led coalition members, who now sit as “independents” in the opposition have been talking to the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) about an interim government. On Thursday, we wrote to their leader, Sajith Premadasa. We told him that he could form even a minority government without us. We could, however, extend our backing. On the other hand, if they needed our support (and others too), we could all form an interim government. We learn that they are not in favour of both. They do not want to serve under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and insist that he should step down. They are seeking fresh elections. A formal response is still being awaited from them. What about the Vote of No Confidence against the government?  Here again, there was a mistake by the SJB in the timing. They handed it over last Tuesday to the Speaker, which was already declared a public holiday. It is yet to be listed in the Order Book and a date fixed for a debate. It will happen after May 17. We want to know from the SJB what they want to do? Why are they moving the motion if they are not prepared to form an interim government? They have not given us a clear answer. On joining an interim government: We are still talking to the SJB. There are several options that are being discussed. We are yet to hear a favourable response from them.

SJB’ no-faith motion against Govt: Full text The main opposition SJB members handing over the No-Confidence motion to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene Here is the full text of the Samagi Jana Balavegaya’s no-confidence motion against the Government. “Whereas the Cabinet of Ministers is collectively responsible and accountable to Parliament in terms of Article 43 (1) of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and, however, the Government, headed by its Cabinet of Ministers, has violated the collective responsibility and accountability; And whereas, in spite of the fact that Parliament has the power over public finance under Article 148 of the Constitution, the Minister of Finance has unconstitutionally usurped the monetary power of Parliament, arbitrarily seizing the monetary power of Parliament and refraining from reporting to Parliament on the financial situation; “And whereas Article 27 of the Constitution stipulates that the Cabinet, headed by the President, should be committed to ensuring adequate food, clothing and shelter, and the continued improvement of living standards, but that it has been violated by the decisions taken by the Government. “And whereas the government has approved the wrong economic decisions which are likely to make Sri Lanka the country recording the slowest growth rate in South Asia due to its failure to direct the fiscal policy; And whereas it has contributed to creation of an unbearable inflation in the country by printing over 3 trillion rupees under signature of the Minister of Finance, and whereas the government, including the Minister of Finance, has failed to inform Parliament, which has the powers of financial control, of the reason for printing such a huge amount of money; “And whereas the government has failed to take necessary decisions to protect the rights of consumers as per the Consumer Affairs Authority Act No. 09 of 2003; “And whereas the government has failed to take necessary steps, even where a price control has been imposed by setting a maximum price for essential commodities in terms of the said Act, when setting prices for customers exceeding the price so imposed; “And whereas the people have been oppressed by deregulation of prices thereby making the prices of goods and services unbearably high and the failure of the government to take necessary steps to control continuous rise in prices of goods and services according to the Colombo Consumer Price Index; “And whereas arbitrary decisions on the part of the government related to agriculture, such as the ban on chemical fertilisers, have destroyed livelihood of farmers, destabilising agriculture and creating food shortages; “And whereas the government has publicly promised to pay compensation to farmers whose crops have been damaged due to the ban on chemical fertilisers and, however, the government has not taken any decision to do so; And whereas the decisions taken by the government have caused the country’s economy to collapse severely and the Gross National Product (GDP) to decline because it did not take necessary policy and executive decisions at the right time to maintain the proper functioning and well-being of the country; “And whereas the government has taken action to create an oil queue era in the country due to its failure to provide an uninterrupted fuel supply and whereas the government has failed to take appropriate action until the powers and responsibilities of the statutory public corporations are transferred to other external parties, allowing the Presidential Secretariat to decide the filling stations that distribute fuel stocks granted to the country under Indian credit facilities; “And whereas the government has created an environment for corruption, irregularities and receiving commissions through hasty purchases by outright stoppage of importation of crude oil required for the Sapugaskanda oil refinery on an arbitrary decision of the Cabinet of Ministers; “And whereas the government has taken steps to deprive the people of five lives by supplying substandard gas by oppressing people due to failure to provide a continuous supply of gas; “And whereas the government has taken steps to oppress people by allowing an irregular power cut without providing uninterrupted power supply; “And whereas the anticipated relief could not be granted to people by reduction in the Special Commodity Levy on a kilogram of sugar from 50 rupees to 25 cents, and the report of the special audit conducted by the National Audit Office has revealed that the government has allowed more than ten businessmen including Sajjad Mohamed, the owner of the Pyramid Wilmar Company, a businessman with ties to the President, the Prime Minister and other members of the cabinet to make illicit profits. “And whereas the government has failed to issue gazette notifications to properly implement the guidelines given by the health sector during the corona epidemic; And whereas the government did not take the necessary decisions to prevent the deaths of more than 16,000 people due to the situations arisen after non-implementation of those recommendations; “And whereas the government has caused a financial loss to the Republic of Sri Lanka by not getting the vaccines when needed thereby having to get them at a higher price later, and whereas it has allowed its cronies to make ill-gotten money through those purchases; “And whereas the government has failed to make necessary decisions to supply drugs needed to save the lives of people by waiting without taking proper decisions up to creation of a shortage of essential drugs; “And whereas the Ministers of the government whose resignations have been announced by a gazette notification are still using their vehicles and other facilities, causing a financial loss to the Republic of Sri Lanka and misusing public property; “And whereas the trust people had reposed in it has been breached by violating the policy statement of “Vistas of Prosperity and Splendor” for which the public mandate was taken when the Cabinet headed by the President and the Prime Minister came to power; And whereas people across the country continue to protest with the non-partisan slogans Go Home and Rajapaksa Go Home;, demanding resignation of the government itself including the President and the Prime Minister; And whereas it is convinced that a vast majority of people in the country are of the view that the government headed by the Prime Minister should be overthrown; “And whereas the government headed by the President and the Prime Minister has to be removed and a new administration established to resolve the economic, social and political instability in the country; “That this Parliament resolves that it has no confidence in the Cabinet of Ministers and the Government including the Prime Minister headed by and consisting of the President.”