Columns

By Sandun Jayawardana  

As the clock ticks down to the Election Commission (EC) declaring the date for the upcoming presidential election, opposition parties continue to allege that President Ranil Wickremesinghe and his government are trying every trick in the book to prevent the election from going ahead as scheduled. These concerns have heightened to such an extent that National People’s Power (NPP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Thursday (11) moved an adjournment motion on “Holding the Presidential Election during the period from 17th September to 16th October 2024 as required by the Constitution and other applicable laws.”  

Cabinet this week approved a proposal by the President to amend Article 83(b) of the Constitution through a draft bill, justifying the move on the grounds that it is needed to “prevent any suspicion and any inconsistency,” as the Government Information Department stated, regarding the tenure of the President. Accordingly, the Article will be amended by substituting the Clause “exceeding five years” instead of the Clause “exceeding six years.”

While the government argues that the bill will erase any ambiguity in the Constitution with regard to the President’s term, the opposition has already described the upcoming draft bill as a sinister move to try and postpone the presidential election.

The reason why the opposition was bringing such a motion on holding the presidential election was due to the grave doubts that had arisen in people’s minds regarding the presidential poll, Mr Dissanayake said, as he moved the motion in the House. He said those suspicions were justified given that the local government election was postponed while provincial council elections have not been held for five years. As such, the people are fearful that the President will try to delay the presidential election in some manner.

The NPP Leader pointed out that the Supreme Court (SC) has already ruled on the tenure of the President on three separate occasions. “On each of those occasions, the Court has been clear that the term is for five years. We have even elected a President for five years. So there can be no confusion on whether the President’s term is for five or six years.”

Given this situation, the move to amend the Article now is another step aimed at preventing the presidential election from going ahead as scheduled, he further claimed. He said the opposition was bringing the resolution in order to prevent a sense of confusion from arising owing to this latest move.

The SC has clearly stressed on three occasions that the President’s term is for five years and there is no ambiguity on the matter, said Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella, seconding the motion. “So why is the government bringing another bill? I believe this is because, though such a bill cannot be presented as an urgent bill under the Constitution, the government somehow intends to try and send it to the SC as an urgent bill,” he remarked.

After the last amendment to the Constitution, an urgent bill can be presented only on two distinct grounds – either on a matter of national security or due to a disaster situation, Leader of the House Susil Premajayantha countered. “We all know that and as such, this bill cannot be presented as an urgent bill.”

While that might be Mr Premajayantha’s view, it is not the view of the President, Mr Kiriella shot back. “I believe he is trying to do this, though I am not saying it will succeed. Otherwise, what is the reason for bringing such a bill? I know the President. I know he will try to somehow send this as an urgent bill,” said the chief opposition whip. He charged that the sole aim of the bill is to create confusion within the country.

Mr Premajayantha disagreed, stating that there is an ambiguity in Article 83(b) of the Constitution regarding the President’s term, which has already seen a petition filed in the SC. “So, why not amend it to ensure that all articles refer to the President’s term as five years? You would still need a 2/3 majority in Parliament before we can go for a referendum. This can be changed no matter who is in government. Everyone will support it. There is no issue in voting to change an ambiguity in the Constitution if it does not cause any problems to others or elections.”

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa meanwhile, alleged that the government was ridiculing the Constitution in attempting to bring such an amendment and that the suspicion is that the President and his government are engaged in a “Constitutional Conspiracy.”

Mr Premadasa urged the government not to interfere with people’s democratic rights and allow the election to go ahead.

Amending Article 83(b) of the Constitution is an exercise purely designed to bring about confusion in the country and delay the holding of the presidential election, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M.A. Sumanthiran said.

He argued that Article 83(b) merely says a referendum would be required if an attempt is made to extend a term of parliament or the presidency beyond six years. There is no necessity to seek to amend that Article now. “At this point in time, the attempt to amend Article 83(b) is for the specific purpose of trying to obtain an interpretation from the SC that such an amendment requires a referendum. This is a wholly unnecessary exercise that the Cabinet is moving to do, but necessary for the incumbent to confuse and say that 83(b) needs to be amended before the election is conducted.”

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has emphasised to Cabinet that the presidential and parliamentary elections will be held as scheduled, stated Minister of Transport, Highways and Mass Media Bandula Gunawardana. The presidential election will be held first and Rs. 10 billion has already been allocated for this purpose in this year’s Budget. The Election Commission can hold the election on that date, he added.

Minister Gunawardana commented that as Cabinet Spokesman, he has been saying this repeatedly over the past three months during Cabinet press briefings whenever the question was raised. “Even then, there are those who say that the presidential election will be delayed. There is no need to entertain such doubts – the election will be held before October 17 and a new President installed in office.” He added that his belief is that Ranil Wickremesinghe is the best man for the job as he can continue to take the country towards economic recovery.