SJB: President’s personal views irrelevant; only SC can decide-Request for reconvening parliament:
By Shamindra Ferdinando-April 26, 2020Top Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) spokesperson, Dr. Harsha de Silva, yesterday (26) said that the Supreme Court interpretation would be necessary to prevent an unprecedented and unwarranted Constitutional crisis over President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s refusal to reconvene parliament ahead of the June 02 deadline to meet again in terms of the Constitution.
The Constitution stipulates that the new parliament meets within three months after the dissolution of the last.
Asked what would be SJB’s position against the backdrop of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa repeatedly declaring there was absolutely no necessity for him to seek SC interpretation in that regard, former Colombo District UNP lawmaker De Silva pointed out that the Election Commission (EC) had earlier requested that the matter be referred to the highest court in the land.
SJB Colombo District candidate, at the forthcoming 2020 general election, said that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s personal stand on the matter was irrelevant.
The former MP said: "We are a constitutional democracy. Personal choice has no relevance; be it in the Government side or the Opposition. What matters is the supreme law of the land. In the case of dissolution of Parliament, holding elections and convening of a new Parliament, the constitution very clearly spells out the limitation of the powers of the Executive. The framers have obviously thought of natural emergencies and provided ways to avoid crises.
In this case, the Supreme Court will have to interpret the Constitution and advice all concerned how to move forward."
Responding to another query, the economist alleged that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his team were engaged in a high profile project to influence the electorate. A section of the media, too, played a significant role in their campaign, the ex-lawmaker said, emphasizing that whatever they said, the bone of contention is how parliament remained inoperative over three months after the dissolution regardless of specific Constitutional provision.
The Island also sought the SJB spokesperson’s views on former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya’s rejection of repeated calls by the SJB, UNP, TNA, JVP, and a section of the civil society, to reconvene parliament.
Former Gampaha District MP Jayasuriya, who declared he wouldn’t contest the 2020 general election on the SJB or UNP ticket, assured the Constitutional Council last week he wouldn’t cause further instability, amidst the on-going battle against coronavirus.
The SJB contestant said that the position taken by the former Speaker is right. There was no need for the former Speaker to create a constitutional crisis by interpreting the Constitution himself. The SJB spokesperson emphasized that the SC should determine the course of action.
Responding to another query, De Silva said that Opposition parties were working on several fronts to diffuse a constitutional crisis. "From day one, we and others have stated categorically that we would support the government to fight this pandemic. There is no change in that. We are ready to support the government to amend or bring new legislation as necessary to deal with both health and economy related issues to help our people come out of this unprecedented challenge on their very survival."
Commenting on reports that the UNP intended to expel those who switched allegiance to SJB leader Sajith Premadasa, the former MP said that at the end of the day, they were all UNPers.
Pointing out that the SJB had been established with the approval of the decision-making UNP Working Committee, the former lawmaker regretted things went sour at the very end. As a result of the unfortunate failure to reach consensus, the SJB and the UNP had no option but to submit two nomination lists, with some 80 former MPs of the UNF alliance of the previous Parliament joining the SJB and 15 going with the UNP.
"As for me, I signed my papers with a heavy heart after personally informing UNP leader Ranil
Wickremesinghe of my decision as it was my duty to do so. I am sure these matters can be resolved."
The SJB official said that the government shouldn’t exploit the health emergency to its advantage.
Asked whether the general election was possible on June 20th, as announced by the EC, the former MP pointed out that the ground situation remained tricky with the number of persons tested positive for COVID-19 quickly approaching 400 mark.
When The Island pointed out that only the President could seek Supreme Court interpretation, the former MP said that anyone could go to courts. Acknowledging that the President could decide against seeking an SC interpretation, De Silva said that GPS de Silva judgment in the 1998 Provincial Council postponed case; Varuna Karunathikale and Sunanda Deshapriya and other vs. Election Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake proved beyond doubt that the EC could and should move court if it was unable to take a decision on its own.
