Untitled Document

19th Amendment beats malefic Rahu effect
The subdued manner in which Parliament sessions progressed during the week could be best described as the calm before a very likely political storm brewing with the nineteenth amendment to the constitution set to be taken up for debate when Parliament re-commences on October 8.

In addition to the constitutional amendment which was presented to the legislature on Thursday, the opposition sponsored no-confidence motion against Defense minister Tilak Marapana and a government sponsored vote of confidence on Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe and his Cabinet are also on schedule for debate.

Leader of the House W.J.M..Lokubandara presented the much anticipated 19th amendment but the presentation itself proved no easy task. The day had been set aside for votes of condolence and opposition members used the unrestricted speaking time allowed to frustrate the government by filibustering and delaying the presentation for as long as they could.

The move seems to have been instigated by the JVP members to a great extent even though none of them spoke on the condolence vote on former Puttalam district MP Saddatissa Widigamangawa. The reason for the delaying tactic was that Mr.Lokubandara was keen to present the amendment before the "Rahu" period which fell around 3.15 p.m that day. The Minister however managed to beat the "Rahu" period and made the presentation at 3.13p.m.

"We need to do things on time, only then can we expect favourable results, " the Minister said later when speaking on an adjournment motion.

The delay in appointing a Secretary General of Parliament was raised again by former Speaker M.H.Mohamed. Speaker Joseph Michael Perera said constitutionally he was not in a position to do anything about it other than write to the President requesting her to make the appointment - which he had already done.

A resolution to give a Rs. 50,000 subsidy to tea small holders to assist in re-planting too was approved in Parliament.

Former Finance Minister Ronnie De Mel took time to explain the plight of the tea small holder who he said accounts for 67 per cent of the tea produced in the country but get little from the foreign aid that is given to this sector.

"All governments whether UNP, SLFP or PA have given step motherly treatment to the tea small holder, " he said .

Several MPs from Galle spoke on the resolution including a much -in -the news parliamentarian Richard Pathirana who pointed out that 58,000 tea small holders were there in the district alone. "There is much less unemployment in Galle than in other districts because of the tea plantations. I urge the government to allocate at least one acre each to able youth to start tea planting as it is a good source of income and will ease the unemployment problem," he said.

Plantation Industries Minister Lakshman Kiriella said the government has already decided to increase the subsidy for replanting to Rs. 65,000 shortly and would be given more aid to the small holders in the future.

Opposition leader Mahinda Rajapakse moved an adjournment motion highlighting the need to give voting rights to Sri Lankan citizens living abroad especially the migrant workers in the middle east. He said that the migrant workers alone, all of whom are eligible voters, make up around 12 per cent of the total number of registered voters in the country and could be a deciding factor in any election.

"These people must have the right to vote and we must make arrangements to put in place a system where they can vote from any country they are employed in," he pointed out. Although Minister Lokubandara saw a hidden agenda in moving the motion - namely the fact that Mr.Rajapakse was a former minister who did a great deal of service on behalf of the migrant workers and hence could expect a bulk of these votes - he said the government would need time to put such a plan in place.

"It's an expensive and complicated procedure. When we took power, the country was like a dry thorny branch on which buds are only now slowly beginning to appear. We have to wait till the tree gets stronger before we can spend on such needs," he said.

It was upto JVP MP Bimal Ratnayake to point out that none of the two main parties were seriously interested in giving migrant workers their voting rights. "Whether these people are here or not their votes are being cast. I am sure none of the two parties want that practice to end," he said.

Back to Columns