Waiting for polls
Editorial-May 22, 2015
President Maithripala Sirisena’s recent statement that there will be a new government in September has fuelled speculation in political circles that Parliament will be dissolved shortly. The UNP is in a mighty hurry to face a general election and the SLFP wants the 20th Amendment to the Constitution passed before the polls.
Why the UNP is champing at the bit to contest a general election is understandable. It is obviously not keen on electoral reforms. Moreover, its minority government is becoming increasingly vulnerable vis-à-vis the SLFP’s moves to unsettle it. Its 100-day programme is over and it has nothing more to offer to the people save probes and arrests. Sri Lankans are notorious for their short memory and the UNP knows that it has to seek their votes without further delay in return for what the new government has done lest they should forget fuel price reductions, the public sector pay hike etc.
President Sirisena is in an unenviable position with pressure being brought to bear on him by both sides to accede to their demands. If the proposed electoral reforms are ratified as promised and the SLFP agrees to a general election the dissolution of parliament will be in conformity with one of the most important democratic principles underpinning the 19th Amendment; the President should not have the power to dissolve Parliament arbitrarily and undermine the position of the legislature. Now that the President has announced that there will be a new government in September he will have to dissolve Parliament in a few weeks, electoral reforms or no electoral reforms. He is still empowered to do so in respect of the present parliament in spite of the 19th Amendment. But, if the 20th Amendment does not see the light of day and the SLFP opposes an election, the exercise of that particular executive power to dissolve Parliament, without two thirds of the MPs backing that move, is sure to make a mockery of the President’s much advertised commitment to the principles on which the newly passed constitutional reforms are based. What is legally right is not necessarily morally and ethically right!
Meanwhile, who will decide the date of the dissolution of Parliament? In this country people do as politicians say and politicians do as astrologers say. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is believed to be in the present predicament because of the court astrologer who misled him into going for a snap presidential election. He lost two years of his second term.
Superstition to religions is said to be what astrology is to astronomy—the mad daughter of a wise mother. Our politicians are enamoured of the mad daughters! The leaders of the present government tell us they do not take astrology seriously. But, the truth is otherwise. They are as credulous as their opponents. Look at the charmed, gem-studded rings they are wearing. Their talismans are hidden under their kapati suit.
It is popularly believed that the on-going tussle between the UNP and the SLFP over when the next parliamentary election should be held is more astrological than political. For, a particular planetary combination expected shortly is said to be favourable to some politicians in the Opposition and they want the general election delayed until such time; their political enemies want it advanced to beat the stars––so to speak.
The exact date of the dissolution of Parliament and who will win the next general election may not be known, but we are sure of one thing. The interval of hell we are enjoying at present will be over after the election of the next parliament in September; we will suffer the torments of inferno thereafter.
