Thirty ministers include Prez, PM

Wijeyadasa on 19-A

By Shamindra Ferdinando-December 31, 2018, 12:15 pm 

UNP lawmaker Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, PC, yesterday said that in terms of the 19th  Amendment to the Constitution the number of ministers, including the President and Prime Minister couldn’t exceed 30.

In accordance with the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, a larger Cabinet was possible only under a properly constituted national government, the Colombo District MP said.

Parliament enacted 19th  Amendment in late April 2015.

Rajapakse stressed that there was absolutely no ambiguity as regards the relevant section that dealt with the number of cabinet ministers and non-cabinet ministers in case a national government couldn’t be formed.

The President’s Counsel said so when The Island sought his assertion as regards recent declarations that 30 MPs could be appointed to the cabinet in addition to the President and the Prime Minister.

Responding to a query, the former justice minister who played a key role in ensuring the passage of the 19th Amendment said that the claim that the UNP could form a national government with a single SLMC member was a joke. Of the seven SLMC MPs six were elected and appointed on the UNP list whereas only one entered parliament on the SLMC ticket.

Rajapakse recalled how UPFA MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara had, at the Committee Stage, ruled out their support unless the government interpreted national government. Rajapakse said that of the 144 amendments moved by the Opposition only two were accepted. In addition to those amendments, MP Nanayakkara sought an interpretation of national government, Rajapakse said, adding that Parliament had been told national government meant formation of an administration by the party securing the largest block of seats and the party with the second highest number of seats.

However, what had been put to the Speaker for approval was very much different from what had been said in parliament, Rajapakse said. The MP pointed out that the difference was instead of the union of party with the highest number of seats and the second highest being the national government, the gazette referred to the party with the highest number of seats and other parties in parliament as the national government.

The section in question is 46 of the 19th Amendment.

Parliament website posted the one with the original clause given below: "If at the conclusion of the General

Election held immediately after the coming into force of this Article, the recognised political party or the independent group obtaining the highest and the recognised political party or the independent group obtaining the second highest number of seats in Parliament agree to form a Government of national unity, then, notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), the number of Ministers of the Cabinet of Ministers and the number of Ministers outside of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Deputy Ministers, may be increased up to forty-five and fifty-five, respectively, if Parliament agrees to such increase, within two weeks of the first sitting of such Parliament."

MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara, too, recollected the then Minister Rajapakse’s reference to the party that secured the highest number of seats and the party with the second highest in response to his call for an interpretation of national government. However, the party with the highest number of seats was more likely to join hands with another with a fewer number of seats, Nanayakkara pointed out.

Rajapakse said that ongoing efforts to circumvent the limit on the number of ministers had caused an unnecessary problem. Instead of addressing vital issues at hand, particularly the state of the national economy, ways and means to enlarge the cabinet were being discussed. The former minister said that now that the 19th Amendment was in place, the Cabinet couldn’t be expanded according to the whims and fancies of political party leaders.

Responding to another query, Rajapakse said that the parliament recognised six registered political parties. In addition to the UNP and the UPFA, there were the TNA (16 members), JVP (6 members), EPDP (one member) and SLMC (one member), Rajapakse said, adding that the 19th Amendment had caused quite a problem for the government.

Rajapakse said that he opted out of the Cabinet. Rajapakse is among those left out of the Cabinet.