Parliament sittings wound up for the year last week with the government securing a comfortable victory in the final round of voting on the Appropriation Bill by a majority of 42 votes, with 126 votes in favour and 84 against.
Although there were rumours of rumblings among some members in the the Up-Country People’s Front ( the UPFA’s constituent partner) who wanted assurances of a pay rise for estate voters to support the Budget, they toed the government line when it came to voting. The voting day was also rife with the rumour that UNP breakaway group leader Minister Karu Jayasuriya would crossover during the vote but this too did not happen and he voted with the government. It was only the day after that that Mr. Jayasuirya handed in his resignation and rejoined the UNP.
Conspicuously absent on voting day were Petroleum Minister A.H.M. Fowzie who has been embroiled in the controversial oil hedging deal as well as the son-in-law of Mr. Karu Jayasuirya, Naveen Dissanayake , SLFP (M) leader Mangala Samaraweera and Wijeyadasa Rajapaksa.
The last Parliament day of the year however did not end without some drama even though it was nowhere near the ‘wreath-laying’ drama of the previous year. The UNP submitted a no –confidence motion against the government over the “oil hedging” fiasco but Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara was non committal on whether he would place the motion on the Order Book of Parliament for next year or not. Instead, he said, he would study it and then decide on what was right.Earlier Chief Government Whip Dinesh Gunawardena asked the Speaker to declare the motion null and void as it referred to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and was in contravention of Standing Orders of Parliament. Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe however argued that the motion did not refer to the conduct of the President but was against the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
All in all, this year’s Budget was smooth sailing for the government-side with no danger to its survival, unlike the previous year when a serious attempt was made to topple it by the UNP-led opposition. Things have changed in favour of the government a great deal since then with the split in the JVP being a major contributory factor. With the Wimal Weerawansa faction of 12 MPs now clearly entrenched in the government, the three of the main opposition parties the United National Party (UNP), the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuma (JVP) and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) opposing the Budget posed no serious threat to the government.
The ongoing military operations against the LTTE dominated much of the discussions in the House during the month-long debate of the Budget with government members relying heavily on the military victories to ride over opposition allegations of the high cost of living or nepotism by the government. The oil hedging deal becoming public knowledge towards the latter stage of the Budget debate, was used by the UNP in particular, to lambaste the government while the TNA MPs were critical of the government’s military efforts and the impact it was having on the civilians in the Wanni. The JVP which has lost some of its lustre in the House without its fiery former propaganda secretary Wimal Weerawansa at its behest, did however, contribute meaningfully to several important debates.
As parliament sittings ended for the year, it is likely that the military campaign against the LTTE would dominate sessions at least for the next few months of the new year. It seems to be the only salvation not only for the government but also for opposition political parties that are keen to associate themselves with the victories on the battlefront. With the next general elections due by April, 2010, if parliament is not dissolved earlier, this is one issue that could well decide which party takes control of the next one. |
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