Maithri spearheads campaign to ensure 2/3rds majority for President Gotabaya
Dec 15 2019The Gazette was issued by the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa setting out the subjects and functions allocated to Departments, Public Corporations, and Statutory Institutions coming under the 15 Cabinet Ministers who were appointed last month.
According to the Gazette, 31 State institutions including the Police Department, State Intelligence Service (SIS), Department of Immigration and Emigration, Department of Registration of Persons, National Dangerous Drugs Control Board, as well as the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC), will come under the purview of the Defence Ministry.
Even though there is no Cabinet Minister of Defence being appointed so far, the President's Office is likely to seek an interpretation from the Supreme Court on the issue of the Defence portfolio. Chamal Rajapaksa has been appointed as the State Minister for Defence and Maj. Gen. (Rtd.) Kamal Gunaratne as the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence.
Prior to the enactment of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, the Defence portfolio was held by the President, but this constitutional enactment prohibits the Executive from holding a Ministry. President Rajapaksa has said he would abolish the 19th Amendment if his party gets a two-thirds majority at the next Parliamentary Election.
A total of 48 institutions have been brought under the Minister of Finance, Economic and Policy Development Mahinda Rajapaksa, including the Central Bank of Sri Lanka , all State Banks and their subsidiaries and related institutions, the Employees' Trust Fund, the Security and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka, the National Lotteries Board, and the Development Lotteries Board.
Rajapaksa, who is also the Minister of Buddhasasana, Cultural and Religious Affairs, has another 23 institutions under this Ministry including the Department of National Museums, Department of Archaeology, and the National Performing Arts Theatre (Nelum Pokuna).
The Department of Government Office for National Unity and Reconciliation, Office of Missing Persons, the Office for Reparations, and the Government Analyst's Department will function under Minister of Justice, Human Rights and Law Reforms Nimal Siripala de Silva.
Minister of Foreign Relations Dinesh Gunawardena, who is also the Minister of Skills Development, Employment and Labour Relations, will have the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) under his Ministry, while SriLankan Airlines Limited and its subsidiaries will come under the purview of Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation Prasanna Ranatunga.
Maithri's advice to SLFP
Former President Maithripala Sirisena addressing a meeting held at the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Headquarters last week said former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as his greatest hindrance during his tenure as President as he had adopted several misleading policies.
He also said several Ministers and Members of Parliament were in favour of Wickrememsinghe and therefore no decision was made against him.
"When the situation worsened, I called upon Speaker Karu Jayasuriya to take up the position of Prime Minister, but he refused to do so following which I requested Sajith Premadasa who also turned down my request following which the Leader of the Opposition, Mahinda Rajapaksa was approached and he faced several obstructions before he could assume duties, '' he added.
By noting that he had to take up the challenge of ruling the country without the support of Parliament, he said SLFP should support President Gotabaya Rajapksa in the upcoming General Election to ensure that there is a 2/3rds majority as he understands the difficulty of ruling a country without the support of Parliament.
Sirisena also said, the United National Party (UNP) made a mistake prior to the Presidential Election by naming Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka as the Defence Minister if they gained power and this led him to sever ties with Premadasa.
Speaking on the agreements entered into by the SLFP and SLPP, Sirisena said there were three agreements signed between the two, one of which was between the parties, the second agreement was between President Gotabaya Rajapksa and SLFP and the third agreement was for the formation of the 'Sri Lanka Nidahas Podujana Sandanaya' under the symbol of a chair together with 17 other parties adding that there have been several difficulties faced in the implementation of the first and second agreements.
He also stated that disciplinary action will be taken against members of the SLFP who act against the party policies irrespective of the position they hold.
The General Secretary of the SLFP, Dayasiri Jayasekara, Treasurer Lasantha Alagiyawanna and the Senior Vice Chairman Prof. Rohana Lakshman Piyadasa were also present at the meeting.
He also said, the responsibility for building national unity in a future Government under the leadership of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa lies in the hands of the SLFP. He said this when he met the SLFP organisers in the North and the East.
"The SLFP must extend its fullest support to the President to form a strong Government. To meet that goal, the confidence and the cooperation of Tamils and Muslims in the North and the East is extremely vital. Therefore, SLFP electoral organisers must work hard to ensure the support of the people in those areas at the forthcoming election," he affirmed.
UNP Leadership
United National Party (UNP) Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe pledged new faces would get nominations at the upcoming General Election as the second level leadership of the party gets more authority, while parliamentary affairs will be handled by Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa.
"I have handed over the task of handling Parliament affairs to the Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa who has been named as the Leader of the Opposition," he said, addressing the UNP Youth Wing members at the Party Headquarters Sirikotha.
He also said, if the same number of votes secured by the coalition during the recent Presidential Elections was won at the General Election UNP will be able to make the 19th Amendment secure.
"It will be possible to safeguard the 19th Amendment to the Constitution and human rights if the entire Opposition obtains a total of 105 seats at the General Election," he said, explaining that if the campaign was run effectively there was a possibility of securing a majority in Parliament.
Wickremesinghe called on the Youth Movement to attract new young voters citing the need to attract the majority community towards the party. He pointed out that blaming individuals and debating the Presidential Election loss will not get the party anywhere.
Recalling how UNP leaders in the past went back to work after tough election losses and redoubled efforts to strengthen the party, he requested the youth present to follow the example.
The UNP last week decided to appoint Sajith Premadasa as the Opposition Leader in Parliament and pledged to appoint a committee to consider the Party Leadership as well as other issues.
UNP General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam announcing the appointment of the committee by Party Leader Wickremesinghe said, it will decide how to face the upcoming General Election and urged all party members to unite to move forward.
If everyone in the party speaks in one voice and if we go forward to the General Election together we can get the necessary 113 seats to form a Government, he claimed, pointing out that the people were more politically conscious and would vote against the Government if the UNP exposed their weaknesses.
"We are a democratic party and we should debate differences of opinion. However, there is a place to debate such opinions and once discussed and agreed upon we should speak in one voice," he said.
Kariyawasam pointed out Party Leader Wickremesinghe had appointed a committee comprising a cross section of party members to look into the future of the UNP. "We should move forward based on the decisions taken by that committee," he stressed.
Meanwhile, the Sajith Premadasa faction, in the UNP, says they will take legal action to expel Ranil Wickremesinghe from the party, if he does not resign as the Party Leader.
They emphasised that the party should be completely reorganised to create a favourable environment for victory at the upcoming General Election.
Parliamentarian Hesha Vithanage said, if the UNP decides to contest the next General Election under the Leadership of Ranil Wickremesinghe without having realised who the real leader should be and who could revive the United National Party from grassroots level, they will face a more humiliating loss than that was experienced by them at last November's Presidential Poll.
He said that the Sajith Premadasa faction of the Party would soon issue a statement having discussed with Premadasa regarding a remark made by Party General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam on 10 December.
He added that it would be impossible to steer the party to victory without strengthening it at the grassroots and village level.
He further said that what was being dreamt of by Kariyawasam was not at all visible at the village level concerning the party.
Meanwhile, a special discussion was held at party headquarters between the factions supporting UNP Leader Ranil Wickemesinghe and Sajith Premadasa yet both parties failed to agree on a number of points which were brought.
The meeting was held to iron out differences between the two factions and to plan the party's campaign for the upcoming General Election.
The factions had disagreed on a number of points and are hence, scheduled to meet for two-day round of talks to sort out these matters.
MPs Lakshman Kiriella, Vajira Abeywardena and Professor Ashu Marasingha attended the discussion from Wickremesinghe's side while MPs Malik Samarawickema, Ranjith Madduma Bandara and Thalatha Atukorale attended from Premadasa's side.
Meanwhile, Madduma Bandara addressing media at Sirikotha said Sajith Premadasa should be given the leadership of the UNP, if he is to contest the upcoming Parliamentary Election as the Party's Prime Ministerial candidate.
Recalling that the Presidential Candidate and the Party Leader were two different individuals in the last Presidential Election, he said such a situation was inappropriate.
Madduma Bandara also said Premadasa's supporters could win about 104 seats at the upcoming Parliamentary Election.
"There are reports of the rising price of goods under the present Government and damage to democracy. Therefore, we can take advantage of that and win a majority of the seats. Premadasa is also a mature political leader. Therefore, we hope that UNP Leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe will give a hearing to our request and make the right decision," he added.
MP Thalatha Atukorale said although there was talk of establishing a leadership council within the party, they did not agree to that at all. Emphasising that the UNP has been under a single leader throughout its history, Atukorale said it was not necessary to appoint a leadership council and they hoped that Wickremesinghe would work towards appointing Premadasa leader of the party.
"We are well aware of the reasons why he was defeated in the last Presidential Election. We will not allow such a situation to recur. He was nominated as the Presidential candidate just 40 days before the election. It is difficult to carry out all the work required for a Presidential Election within such a short period. We couldn't even make a proper manifesto," she added.
She further said, the Working Committee should be tasked with promptly taking steps to give the party leadership to Premadasa before the end of this month.
Nearly 26 United National Front Parliamentarians in a letter to UNP Leader Wickremesinghe are requesting him to summon the Working Committee prior to his scheduled overseas visit.
Speaking to Ceylon Today, Thalatha Atukorale said the Working Committee should discuss the party Leadership and matters regarding the re-organisation of the party.
Meanwhile, the UNP re-organisation committee made an official statement that both Opposition Leadership as well as the Prime Ministerial Candidacy for the General Election was handed over to Parliamentarian, Sajith Premadasa.
The committee comprised MPs Lakshman Kiriella, Vajira Abeywardana, Professor Ashu Marasinghe and Malik Samarawickrama. MPs Thalatha Atukorale and Ranjith Madduma Bandara who were also appointed to the committee subsequently stepped down.
Wickremesinghe had advised the committee to accelerate the re-organisation of the party. The committee said all reforms must be finalised soon and they were looking forward to enacting reforms by 20 December 2019.
Meanwhile, the committee criticised MPs Atukorale and Madduma Bandara for stating that the Prime Ministerial Candidate should also be the Party Leader.
This creates a misconception about party reforms, the committee noted, claiming that they had violated collective responsibility.
MR on China
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in an interview with Xinhua news agency said that his Government is looking forward to continue the development of friendly relations with China.
The two countries enjoy a strong, long-standing friendship, which has laid the foundation for practical cooperation, Rajapaksa said during his visit to the Colombo Port City, a project jointly developed by the Sri Lankan Government and China's CHEC Port City Colombo Ltd.
Rajapaksa visited the project along with Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Cheng Xueyuan and other Government officials to officially declare the 269-hectare land reclaimed from the sea for the project as part of the Colombo District.
Rajapaksa also said his Government will never forget China's strong and long-term support for Sri Lanka's development.
He said that he did not believe that Sri Lanka's engagement with the China-initiated Belt and Road Initiative amounted to a "debt-trap" as portrayed by some Western media.
"We are very confident that Sri Lanka can very clearly repay the loans for the Hambantota Port and other development projects. Today, the economy has collapsed but when we rebuild it, paying back loans won't be a question," Rajapaksa said.
The Prime Mnister also described a recent spate of media hype of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's remarks on the Hambantota Port deal as "quoting out of context."
"The President didn't mean there is any problem about sovereignty. What the President meant was that our Government, unlike the previous one, has a principle of not privatising State assets," he said.
"If Sri Lanka and China have any problems, we can easily discuss and resolve them as friends," Rajapaksa said.
According to a statement by the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka on 2 December, the two countries have agreed to further strengthen political trust between the two countries and upgrade their pragmatic cooperation.
The two countries will speed up the implementation of cooperation on big projects, including the Colombo Port City and the Hambantota Port, under the existing consensus, and on that basis draw up and promote a new blueprint for future cooperation, the statement said.
