Seeking An Opposition Leader

By Camelia Nathaniel and Waruni Karunaratne-Sunday, April 12, 2015

R. Sampanthan, Nimal Siripala de Silva and Dinesh Gunawardena

With the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) formally informing Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa last Friday that it wants the opposition leader post, the fight for the post has become a three -way battle.

In a letter to the Speaker on Friday the ITAK said that they are entitled to the post, because they have 14 members of parliament (MPs).

The ITAK letter shows that no MP elected from the UPFA or the UNP can be the Leader of the Opposition. “This clearly is the legal position as well as one that accords with parliamentary tradition, both of our country and the Commonwealth.”

Consequent to the conclusion of the Presidential Election in January 2015 the Leader of the UNP was appointed the Prime Minister and a number of UNP MPs were appointed Cabinet Ministers constituting the government.

However since the President is also the leader of the UPFA and the head of the Cabinet and a number of UPFA members are holding Ministerial positions, some of them in the Cabinet, a member of both the UNP and the UPFA is ineligible to hold the post. Therefore the next in line in terms of the number of seats in the parliament is ITAK as they have 14 MPs.

In the current circumstance, the SLFP-UNP led ‘National Government’ cannot field an opposition which rules them out and those belonging to other parties that contested under the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) or later joined the coalition are also a part of the Government.

ITAK, which is part of the Tamil National Alliance, supported Maithripala Sirisena at the last Presidential Election but refused to hold any ministerial portfolios.

On the contrary, many members of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party of which current opposition leader Nimal Siripala de Silva is a member, are now holding ministerial portfolios in the new Government.

Meanwhile, earlier this month about 50 MPs of the UPFA have submitted a letter to Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa demanding that MEP Leader Dinesh Gunawardena be made the Opposition Leader. The Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa was scheduled to announce his decision, but instead he passed the ball onto the UPFA court and asked them to decide who should be the leader of the opposition.

Commenting on the issue, General Secretary of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) Patali Champika Ranawaka said that there are only around four parties of importance in parliament and that it is up to the speaker to decide the leader of the opposition.

“The selection should be done in compliance with the parliamentary traditions and according to the rules laid out in the Constitution.” he said.
Ranawaka, however, stated that in some countries like India has no opposition leader as their constitutions stipulate that an opposition leader to be appointed, there should be at least ten parties.

But since they do not have that number, they do not have opposition leaders, he said.

It is also believed that the president has called for a meeting with the leaders of the parties of the UPFA to discuss the issue.

MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara said that there is nothing to consider about a different opposition leader as they have already proposed the leader of Mahajana Eksath Peramuna Dinesh Gunawardena as the most suitable opposition leader at this juncture. “He is the best choice for the post.

There is nothing to look at about the proposal of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). They have been part and parcel of the new government,” he added.

He said that he would not want another opposition leader who supports the government and added that ITAK members and Tamil National Alliance leader R. Sampanthan is clearly a part of the government. “It was Wimal Weerawansa and I who proposed to the Speaker that Gunawardena should be the opposition leader,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, leader of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party Douglas Devananda added that his party has already extended their support to MP Nimal Siripala de Silva. He reiterated that he will not support TNA MP Sampanthan or MEP leader and added that his decision is only based on national interests.

“No, I will not back Mr Sampanthan to be the opposition leader because we should not think only of one political party.

In 1977, Appapillai Amirthalingam of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) became the leader of the opposition. look at where it ended,” he questioned.

He further added that his policy is to support reconciliation whereas the TNA seems to be taking a totally opposite stand.

Secretary General of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress MP Hassan Ali said that R. Sampanthan is the most eligible candidate for the post. “We are in favour of Sampanthan as he has the required number and all the right to take on this post.

His nationality cannot disqualify him. When you take the opposition, Sampanthan commands more members other than the UPFA.  However the UPFA cannot field an opposition leader because they have accepted posts of the government,” added Ali.

Sampanthan is as senior as Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, both were first elected in 1977. Currently Sampanthan (age 82) is the most senior of the oldest MPs if not the oldest.

Sambanthan’s selection as Opposition Leader is similar to TULF Amirthalingam’s where in 1977 he became the Opposition Leader from 1977 until 1983 with 18 seats in his favour. Dinesh Gunawardena, a classmate of Ranil Wickremesinghe, was seen recently participating at a ceremony held at the Royal College to pay tribute to the new Prime Minister and other Royalist Ministers.

Earlier, speaking in Parliament Wimal Weerawansa said that the mandate given to President Maithripala Sirisena had been ‘hijacked’.