Columns

By Sandun Jayawardana  

A total of 174 members voted for the third and final reading after amendments made at the Committee Stage. Only the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Sarath Weerasekara voted against. Earlier, the bill’s second reading was passed by 179 votes to 1, with MP Weerasekara being the sole dissenting vote.

Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe

Many MPs from both the government and opposition voted in favour of the amendment, including Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa. Along with the ruling SLPP, MPs from the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), the Sri Lanka Freedom Party(SLFP), the National People’s Power (NPP) as well as various independent groups including the Nidahasa Janatha Sabhawa led by Dullas Alahapperuma and the Uththara Lanka Sabhagaya led by Wimal Weerawansa, voted for the amendment.

Some government MPs were conspicuous by their absence however. Notable among them were former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Chief Government Whip Prasanna Ranatunga. SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam was also not present in the House. Other SLPP MPs who were not present included Johnston Fernando, Gamini Lokuge, Sanath Nishantha, Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Rohitha Abeygunawardena, Janaka Bandara Tennakoon and Sanjeewa Edirimanna. Prof. G.L. Peiris, Tamil NationalAlliance (TNA) Leader R. Sampanthan and Ahila Ilankai Thamil Congress (AITC) Leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam were among those in the opposition who were not present.

22A was not drafted solely according to his wishes or those of the government, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said on Thursday (20) as he opened the two-day debate on the draft amendment. He said the amendment was discussed with leaders of all political parties represented in Parliament and only elements that they were able to reach agreement on are contained in the draft.

“Today is a historic day for our Parliamentary democracy. We believe the step we take today will send our Parliamentary democracy and rule of law in a new direction,” he stressed.

The government has not scrapped all elements in the 20th Amendment either, Mr Rajapakshe said, noting some positive elements that have been retained. For example, 20A increased the number of Supreme Court Justices and Court of Appeal Judges and this has not changed. The clause enabling the President to dissolve Parliament after 2 ½years of its term has also been retained, he pointed out.

“Do the people want this amendment? There is no question today that the vast majority of the country is calling for it. The people are vigilant as to how many amongst the MPs of this House will honour the people’s views and how many are willing to kick those views aside,” he remarked.

The Justice Minister voted for the 19thAmendment, then again for the 20th Amendment. Now he is saying 20A was wrong and to vote for the 22nd Amendment, Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella reminded.

“We aren’t supporting the amendment because we want to save the government, but because we want to save the country. Many people are going hungry today and some are surviving on only one meal a day. Whatever government is in power will need international assistance and we are doing our duty to the country by supporting this amendment,” he claimed.  

There are MPs in Parliament who have voted for every amendment from the 17th Amendment onwards and were now getting ready to vote for the 22nd Amendment, TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran said. “They are like a pendulum. They swing from one end to the other. I have my respects for the Honourable Sarath Weerasekara as right or wrong, he stands on one end.”

He noted that what the people wanted was a “system change” and not tinkering with the Constitution. “Some tinkering happened from 1978 onwards, but this bill before us today does not even tinker with the Constitution. After it is passed, it will still retain all the powers of the Executive Presidency that the President enjoys under the 20th Amendment to the Constitution. I have challenged people for debates and no one has been able to show that it actually reduces presidential powers. This is an absolute fraud. The people  don’t want the Executive Presidency,” he further said.

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) will vote for 22A, Party Chairman and former President Maithripala Sirisena said. “Some may accuse us of strengthening the government through it but we accept that this is a very good amendment from the side of the people. We will vote for it as we stand with the people,” he said.

Mr Sirisena noted that one shortcoming that affected independent commissions passed under the 19th Amendment was that no regulations governing their functions were ever gazetted, and stressed that this must be avoided under the new amendment.

The main goal should be to transfer the primary powers of the President to Parliament, but that can only happen according to the Constitution, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena asserted.

“We should not stop here. If we can establish a Parliamentary Select Committee to study the draft of the new Constitution and move forward, that would be good for the country. It would also help strengthen the public’s trust in Parliament.”

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa questioned how the government could lecture the opposition about constitutional amendments when it was the one that adopted 20A to centralise devolved powers “because they wanted to do it best.” However, what happened was it led to a President taking arbitrary decisions that took the country on a destructive path.

Mr Premadasa also said that those involved in the Janatha Aragalaya (people’s struggle) must be given due credit for forcing the government to bring in 22A.  

“When we look at the 22nd Amendment, we can say that comparatively, it has at least some qualities that are better than the 20th Amendment,” the opposition leader added, saying that the SJB will support the amendment given this factor.

There have been five constitutional amendments brought before Parliament over the past few years and there are MPs in this House who have voted for each one, saying the previous one was bad. Is it any wonder that the people have lost faith in Parliament, queried National People’s Power (NPP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

He also charged that many ruling party MPs had laid down a condition that Parliament must not be dissolved until 4 ½ years of its term in order to support 22A. “The media has reported that the President has agreed to this. These MPs have laid down this condition driven solely by self-interest. They want to serve out their term and secure their MPs’pension.”

The mandate given to Gotabaya Rajapaksa was to introduce a new Constitution. What Parliament should be doing was to bring forward a new Constitution, SLPP MP Sarath Weerasekara insisted. He said he will not vote for 22A as it seeks to bring back 19A.

As long as the 13th Amendment remains in place, I will not vote for any amendment that dilutes the powers of the President. Even small changes made during the committee stage debate can have grave consequences,” he added.

The Nidahasa Janatha Sabhawa will support 22A as it takes back at least some powers that were seized from Parliament and will reestablish the independent commissions, MP Dullas Alahapperuma stated. He added that the government must also not introduce any amendments that go against the determination of the Supreme Court at the Committee stage.

National Freedom Front and Uththara Lanka Sabhagaya Leader Wimal Weerawansa reminded that when 20A was drafted, he along with leaders of several other political parties within the government waged an internal struggle to change four elements in the draft which they felt were detrimental to the country. “One main point was to keep the prohibition on dual citizens from entering Parliament and holding high office. Then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa pledged through his Justice Minister Ali Sabry that the prohibition on dual citizens from being MPs will be brought to Parliament again as an amendment within a year, but it never happened. So we see 22A as an opportunity to correct that wrong,” he remarked.

The 22nd Amendment will now be incorporated into the Constitution as the 21st Amendment. Parliament will reconvene at 9.30 a.m. on November 8.