A knuckle sandwich
Editorial-April 8, 2015, 8:43 pm
Tuesday’s defeat of a government resolution under the Local Treasury Bills Ordinance, seeking parliamentary approval to raise additional Rs. 400 bn, has sent the UNP-led administration into a tailspin. The rude shock came as no surprise; the government had taken its passage for granted and been lulled into a false sense of complacency.
The SLFP, still smarting from the defeat at the Jan. 08 presidential election and the resultant loss of power in Parliament, had been waiting to bring the UNP administration down a peg or two. Its victory in Parliament has strengthened the President’s hand at a time not-so-surreptitious moves are being made to undermine his position. The JVP has trained its propaganda cannon on him, blaming him for blocking the implementation of the 19th Amendment. Now, the UNP, with the survival of its minority government threatened, is left with no alternative but to request the President to restrain the SLFP so that it could present the defeated resolution again and secure its passage.
The UNP succeeded in having the SLFP’s no confidence motion against Minister John Amaratunga shelved presumably with the help of President Sirisena. Some UNP seniors even taunted vociferous SLFP MPs and dared them to take up the motion. But, the SLFP heavyweights not agreeable to the current political marriage of convenience between their party and the UNP have proved that there is more than one way to shoe a horse! What we have just witnessed in Parliament may be considered a foretaste of what is to come if the 19th Amendment is presented to Parliament without electoral reforms which the SLFP wants implemented simultaneously.
The outcome of Tuesday’s parliamentary vote is proof that the so-called national government set up the other day purportedly to bring about political stability has not yielded the desired result. Dark clouds of political instability are gathering over Parliament. Our thoughts are flashing back to the final days of the Kumaratunga government in 2001 and the UNP-led UNF administration in 2004. Political uncertainty is sure to have its toll on the economy which is already in the doldrums.
The country is in this predicament because the Rajapaksas never anticipated defeat at the last presidential election and Maithripala Sirisena et al did not expect to win. Intoxicated with power the former did not give serious thought to a course correction and moved at breakneck speed in the wrong direction without caring two hoots about the public interest. The latter, thirsting for power, made promises without worrying about their implementation. Promises, as we keep saying in these columns, are like babies; they are easy to make but hard to deliver.
The government is running around like a headless chicken at present to raise funds to tide it over because it has bitten off more than it can chew. The pay hike for government workers is a massive drain on the public purse. Other relief measures have also become a huge burden on the state coffers. With a general election staring it in the face, the government has had to carry out its pledges. It is naturally desperate for funds. A collective of trade unions is now demanding that the private sector employees also be given a pay hike in keeping with a request the Finance Minister made in his ‘mini budget’ speech in February. The so-called engine of growth will have a bumpy ride if the warring unionists succeed in their endeavour.
Some government bigwigs have warned that if push comes to shove Parliament will be dissolved. Only the President can dissolve Parliament and all they can do is to request him to do so. But, it is highly unlikely that he will be able to grant their request much as he is beholden to them for his election in January. He cannot antagonise the SLFP upon which he is now dependent for his political survival. It will be interesting to see how he is going handle the latest crisis in Parliament.
