Maithri visits Medamulana as Ranil defeats him in Parliament
BY Gagani Weerakoon-AUG 26 2018As a result of the weeks- long campaign by the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe-led United National Party, the country on Friday (24) witnessed the Government voting against its own delimitation report, which may result in further delaying Provincial Council Elections.
This unprecedented move, according to political analysts and polls monitoring bodies, could be the first instance in the world, or at least the Westminster Parliamentary system, where not only the Government but a Minister who was responsible in facilitating and presenting a report in Parliament too, voted against for something he ideally should have stood by.
All the 139 Parliamentarians present in the Chamber when the vote was taken, voted against the Report. Among them was Minister of Sports, PCs and Local Government, Faiszer Musthapha, who moved the debate on the Report.
Members of the United National Party (UNP), the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Government faction, the Joint Opposition (JO) and the Tamil National Alliance voted against the report, thereby rejecting the holding of PC Elections under the mixed electoral system. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) was absent.
The report was required to be approved by a majority of two-thirds voting in its favour, in terms of Section 3A (11) of the Provincial Councils Elections Act.
The United National Party was campaigning, for the past few months, for the Provincial Council Elections to be held under the previous Proportional Representation System, as the Delimitation Committee Report, required to be passed with a majority of two thirds in Parliament enabling the Chairman of the Election Commission to announce a polls date.
Political parties representing ethnic minorities also opposed the Delimitation Report. Leaders of such parties including Ministers Rauff Hakeem, Rishad Bathiudeen and Mano Ganesan, who are all allies of the UNP-led United National Front, were against the Report. Political sources also claimed that the recent negotiations between these political leaders and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, regarding the Delimitation Committee Report, were also a result of the Wickremesinghe-led UNP’s canvassing.
Participating in the debate, Leader of the House and Minister Lakshman Kiriella said that the UNP believed the PC Elections should be held under the old electoral system.
He said that the Government wishes to hold the PC’s Elections as soon as possible.
“Preparing new laws to hold the PC Elections under a new system would take some more time. There is no consensus among the political parties regarding the delimitation process. Even the UNP MPs have raised questions on the delimitation methods.
We discussed the possibility of introducing amendments with the JO. But there is no consensus on the delimitation report. If we wait till a new method is agreed on by all, then a couple of more years would be needed before the Elections are ultimately held,” he said.
Minister and SLMC Leader Rauff Hakeem stressed that his Party would break the alliance with the Government if it would not consider forming multi-member constituencies for the benefit of minor and minority parties for the forthcoming PC Elections.
Minister Musthapha, opening the debate on Friday morning, vociferously said those who would vote against the Delimitation Committee Report would be despised by the people as betrayers of the country. However, he not only voted against the report in the afternoon but also disowned the Delimitation Committee Report.
“Everyone says that this is Faiszer’s report and that Faiszer’s report is going to be defeated. I have nothing to do with this. The report was prepared by a committee appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena and not me,” he said in Parliament.
Meanwhile, Kotte Municipal Councillor Rajika Kodithuwakku on Friday came before the media and accused Minister Musthapha of changing allegiance. Attorney Kodithuwakku, who is President Sirisena’s coordinating Secretary and was appointed to the Kotte MC by the latter in August 2015, demanded that President Sirisena seriously consider letting Musthapha continue in the portfolio as an SLFP Minister.
It is widely believed that Musthapha is seeking an organizer post from a Colombo suburb and is expecting a ticket from the UNP to contest in next General Election.
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna which was largely believed to be the only political party that would vote in favour of the Delimitation Committee Report was also miraculously absent at the time of vote.
Even though they were not present in the chamber at the time of the vote, the group was witnessed by many watching proceedings on screen seated at the lobby of the Parliament.
AG’s salary issue
In a shocking move, the Government announced in Parliament last Thursday (23) that it decided to withdraw a Motion included in the Order Paper to increase the salary and allowances paid to the Auditor General and refused to cite reasons for the decision when the Opposition sought a clarification.
The proposal in the Order Paper was to place AG H. M. Gamini Wijesinghe on the 8th Salary Step of SL- 4 Salary Scale of the Public Administration Circular No. 06/2006 with effect from 27 November, 2015 and from 1 January, 2016 the salary would be converted in line with the Public Administration Circular No. 03/2016.
At the commencement of yesterday’s Parliamentary Sitting, Leader of the House Minister Lakshman Kiriella announced that the Government withdrew ‘the Determination under the Constitution’ pending in the Order Paper to raise the salary and allowances of AG Wijesinghe.
The JanathaVimukthi Peramuna expressed its shock over the Government’s decision and demanded a clarification from the Government as to why it took such a decision.
JVP MP Bimal Rathnayake: “The proposal to increase AG Wijesinghe’s salary has already been delayed for three years. Now the Leader of the House says that the Government withdraws that Motion. We want to know their reasons for taking such a decision. The Government should inform the House as to why it decided to withdraw the proposal.”
Kiriella: “We can discuss this matter at a Party Leader’s Meeting. This is the Government’s business. It is totally up to us to decide on Government’s business.”
At this juncture, Chief Opposition Whip JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said: “AG Wijesinghe recently revealed many serious financial irregularities in the public sector. Now we have doubts as to whether the Government is trying to take revenge for that.”
Dissanayake further said that the Government should have held lengthy discussions on the matter prior to withdrawing the Motion.
“Kiriella says we can talk about this during a Party Leaders’ Meeting. But what is the point in discussing after withdrawing it? The Parliament has approved special salaries for all successive AGs in the country until now.
Everyone knows that AG Wijesinghe made an attempt to create a wide social dialogue on the State’s financial irregularities. He made many revelations on frauds and corruption related to public institutions, public officials and ministers. The AG works closely with Parliament.
Therefore, the matter of his salary is not just a Government business. Parliament also has a responsibility to give him necessary salary increments and allowances”.
Deputy Speaker Ananda Kumarasiri said the matter would be directed for Speaker Jayasuriya’s attention.
The Government on Friday (24) made a clarification, in Parliament, as to why it decided to withdraw the Motion, included in the Order Paper, to increase the salary and allowances paid to the Auditor General.
“This new Motion would raise the Auditor General’s salary and allowances to a level higher than what was proposed in the withdrawn Motion.
Actually, our effort is to give him more recognition by further increasing his salary. There is no political revenge in this situation. We would revise the determination and present it again to Parliament in the near future,” Kiriella said.
Changing politics
Rajapaksa family was saddened by another loss, as former President’s younger brother Chandra Rajapaksa who was ailing for sometimes took his last breath on Tuesday (23) at Tangalle hospital.
The remains were kept at the Medamulana house of Rajapaksas’ in Weeraketiya, Hambantota. While it is common that who’s, who’s in politics visiting a funeral house when a politician or member of his close family passes away, the funeral house of the Rajapaksa brother saw the political wind slightly changing its way.
It began with Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) leader Dr. Subramanian Swamy visiting Rajapaksa’s Medamulana residence to deliver the official invitation to attend and deliver a speech at a function, to be held on 12 September in New Delhi.
Rajapaksa is invited as a special guest to speak at this event organized by Virat Hindustan Sangam.
Dr. Swami called on Rajapaksa’s Medamulana house where he was warmly received by Rajapaksa and his elder brother former Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa.
Former President Rajapaksa always considered Dr. Swami as a close friend of Sri Lanka.
“I welcomed my good friend Dr. Subramanian Swamy to Medamulana today and am honoured to accept his invitation to speak in New Delhi. A long-time friend of Sri Lanka, who has always so vehemently spoken out against LTTE terrorism, he has always had Sri Lanka’s best interests at heart,” Rajapaksa tweeted after meeting Dr. Swami.
Meanwhile, Dr. Swami too expressed his admiration for Rajapaksa by tweeting: “It was a hugely enjoyable trip to South Sri Lanka to meet fmr SL President Sri Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family. He is a man to be admired for his decisiveness to wipe out LTTE terror and incidentally also soothe India’s hurt feelings due to Rajiv’a assassination by LTTE.”
Many view Dr. Swami’s arrival to invite Rajapaksa to New Delhi as a measure to mend relations between the Rajapaksas and Indian Government. Dr. Swami, according to sources has quite frankly admitted that his intention is in fact, to do the same. He had mentioned this to a leading Tamil newspaper as well in an interview.
Meanwhile, in a surprise move President Sirisena also visited Medamulana to pay his last respects and was seen having cordial talks with his arch political rival Mahinda, former Speaker Chamal and widely speculated 2020 presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapasa.
President Sirisena’s visit to Medamulana came as a surprise as he did not attend the funeral when Rajapaksa’s sister Gandini passed away in May 2017.
Japan’s concerns
Top defence officials of Japan and Sri Lanka have confirmed that the Hambantota Port, leased to China, should be open to all countries to ensure freedom of navigation, the Japanese national broadcaster NHK reported on its website.
“Despite the lease, there was an agreement that the port remains free of military activities,” Onedera was quoted as saying by NHK.
The statement was attributed to Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera and Sri Lankan State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene in Colombo on Tuesday.
Onodera, the first Japanese Defence Minister to visit Sri Lanka, has pointed out that the Hambantota Port is located on a crucial shipping route.
Wijewardene said his country will not permit China to use the port for military purposes.
Onodera visited Hambantota yesterday and toured the Port for half an hour, officials in the Port told Ceylon Today. He was accompanied on the tour by Chinese Embassy officials in Sri Lanka.
Japan has pledged to help strengthen Sri Lanka’s maritime security, authorities said Tuesday, in a new sign of efforts to counter China’s strategic grip on this country, AFP reported.
After meeting the Japanese Minister, President Maithripala Sirisena thanked Onodera for donating two coastguard patrol craft costing over US$11 million in total, his office said in a statement, after talks in Colombo.
“Attention has been drawn to further strengthening maritime security cooperation between Japan and Sri Lanka,” the statement said.
The visit came a week after the US State Department gave US$39 million to strengthen the island’s naval capabilities.
Sirisena said he was happy that Onodera, the first Japanese Defence Minister to visit Sri Lanka, was travelling to two strategic ports on the island.
The Government said it was forced to lease the Port for US$1.1 billion because it could not service loans from Beijing to build the white-elephant facility agreed by former President Rajapaksa. The Japanese Minister also visited Trincomalee, a natural harbour that was the target of Japanese bombing during World War II.
China has edged out Japan as a key funder of ports and other projects in the island in recent years. Sri Lanka has become a key link in its ambitious ‘Belt and Road’ international infrastructure initiative.
China has also vowed to keep on providing financial help to Sri Lanka. The International Monetary Fund, which bailed out Sri Lanka in 2016 with a US$1.5 billion loan, has warned Colombo over its debt.
