President Maithri likely to resume Cabinet meetings
By Gagani Weerakoon- Jun 16 2019The doors of Kochchikade St. Anthony’s Shrine where 54 persons were killed in the suicide bomb attack on the Easter Sunday were opened for the public after restoration work carried out by Sri Lanka Navy personnel.
Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith gracing the occasion said that the country needs strong political leaders who work courageously for the good of the country and its people and those who love the country more than they love themselves.
“The country needs honest political leaders who have a backbone, who do no wrong deeds and who do not safeguard those who do wrong deeds and take steps to punish those among them who do wrong. It is the duty of political leaders to do their duty to create a just society,” the Cardinal said at the service.
Cardinal Ranjith said that many people in Sri Lanka are living in confusion in the aftermath of the attacks and are wondering if the country will be able to overcome this situation. “Many are questioning if we can trust our leaders to do what is right,” he said.
He said, the country needs political leaders who safeguard the rights of the people, and those who provide for the economic upliftment. “These are the kind of leaders the country needs today. We pray that there will be such leaders,” he said.
The Cardinal also referred to the terror attacks. “There is nothing more valuable than a human life. Therefore, no one has the right to snatch another’s life. Every human life is equally valuable.
We completely reject the use of human life to achieve political goals. There is no place in heaven for those who carried out the attacks. They will only go to hell,” he said.
The Cardinal also said that the country has been unfortunate that in the past 40 to 50 years people have been killed to achieve political objectives.
Meanwhile, UNP Muslim Ministers who recently stepped down from their portfolios are likely to resume in their former capacities next week following discussions with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Former Minister of Postal Services and Muslim Religious Affairs, M.H. Abdul Haleem said, “We are considering the request made by the Sangha Council of the three Sects to resume in our previous posts. The situation in the country has now come back to normal and therefore, we may resume in our portfolios during the coming week.”
He further said, a decision in this connection will be taken once Wickremesinghe returns to the country. “Former Minister Kabir Hashim and I sacrificed our portfolios. We have continuously stayed in one Party and have never crossed over.
But the others who stepped down have been changing political parties. We have never made such moves and we also have a Sinhala voter base in our electorates. Therefore, we decided to consider the Sangha Council’s request.
We need to respect their wishes. I have already told Hashim that we will have to consider the wishes of the Sangha Council,” he said.
Previously, Haleem and Hashim along with Muslim Ministers representing other parties stepped down from their portfolios in the wake of Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera going on a fast and calling for the removal of Rishad Bathiudeen and the then Governors of the Western and Eastern Provinces over alleged connections to the events of 21 April Easter Sunday.
The PSC probing the Easter Sunday attacks has now become a much-talked about topic. The JO Parliamentarians are voicing their concerns of the way the PSC is operating saying putting high-ranking Government officials under spotlight and asking them to reveal sensitive information regarding national security in front of the media itself is a threat to national security.
But the members of the PSC are adamant that no such information is revealed to the public through the media. It is interesting to see that half of these accusations by the JO are directed at Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. The Speaker too is of the opinion that no information threatening national security is revealed at the PSC meetings.
SLFP Parliamentarians however, say that the PSC is trying to scrutinise the President. The General Secretary of SLFP Dayasiri Jayasekara during recent media briefings voiced this concern.
The President himself in a number of occasions has asked the Speaker and high officials of the Government to not reveal PSC proceedings to the media but his requests have fallen on deaf ears.
The conflict of opinions eventually became a conflict between the Legislature and the Executive. It came to a point where Parliament and President began to disagree on matters.
The conflict worsened so much that the President called a Special Cabinet Meeting last Friday which forced all the parliamentarians who had gone outstation to return to the capital.
The Cabinet meeting started at 7:30 in the evening and went on for about an hour. Instead of following the usual practice to discuss Cabinet Papers, the President continued to criticise the Government. Except for the few, almost all the Cabinet members listened to the President in silence.
“What is the Government doing by appointing a PSC and revealing national intelligence to the media? Who will be responsible for the lives of these officers?
There are five ongoing cases in the Supreme Court regarding this; three have connected me as well. The AG has clearly said that the actions of the PSC are interfering in the proceedings of these ongoing cases.
I sent the AG’s statement to the Speaker and as they were memorandums from me, the Speaker should inform Parliament about them. He has failed to do it.
What is this game played with the intelligence? Please put an end to this. If the Government is acting disregarding my words, there will be no more Cabinet meetings hereafter. I will not attend anymore ceremonies or events.
I will continue to do my work and that will be it,” the President said sternly.
“You appointed the Malalgoda Commission to look into this. That report, too, is yet to come. At least bring that report to Parliament,” requested one minister.
“I will send any report to Parliament,” the President said. “But remember this. So far, the PSC has brought forward either retired officers or officers who were put on compulsory leave. I will not send any one holding office before the PSC,” said the President ending the Cabinet meeting.
The President didn’t convene last Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting. This became a huge issue. Without a Cabinet meeting, decisions could not be taken and many opined that immediate action should be taken before the country went into a state of anarchy. Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa and the JO opined that the Government should go for an election.
Meanwhile, a number of UNP Ministers and Parliamentarians tried to resolve the issue but the President was of the firm opinion that he will not change his mind until the PSC is stopped.
Minister Sajith Premadasa has met the President and it is said that his meeting with the President has somewhat cleared the air over the whole issue. It is tipped that the Cabinet meeting next Tuesday is going to happen.
While things stand like this, the Prime Minister has written a letter to the President to say that the President’s actions are illegal.
Another reason to send this letter was the Prime Minister’s dissatisfaction on how the ministries of the resigned ministers were assigned to deputy ministers, disregarding his suggestions.
The Prime Minister has informed that the ministries should go to Malik, Ranjith Madduma Bandara and Rajitha. Ignoring this suggestion, the President has assigned the duties of the vacant ministries to the deputy ministers.
Hence, Lucky Jayawardena, Anoma Gamage and Buddhika Pathirana were assigned as acting ministers. This fuelled the dispute between the President and the Prime Minister.
As if to not let this standoff between the legislative and executive further continue, PSC Chairman, Deputy Speaker Anura Kumarasiri, after having consultation with PSC members, took measures to stop former IGP N.K. Illangakoon and former Law and Order Ministry Secretary Padmasiri Jayamanne from coming before the PSC.
Both were scheduled to appear before the PSC and are members of the three-member committee appointed by the President to investigate and recommend further action on those who are responsible for Easter Sunday attack.
Meanwhile, the President left the country last Thursday morning to go to Tajikistan. Faiszer Mustapha and the Governors Shan Wijayalal de Silva, Keerthi Tennakoon and Maithree Gunaratne, too, accompanied President on the tour.
MR’s advice
Muslim Parliamentarians who resigned from their ministries met MR at his official residence last Saturday. Hakeem explained the reasons behind the Muslim representatives stepping down from their duties.
“All of you shouldn’t have stepped down at once. Now, the people are suspicious of all of you. I think the problem could have been resolved without all of you having to resign,” Rajapaksa said.
“The issue was turning towards a different direction because of Rathana Thera’s hunger strike. That’s why we resigned. We thought the issue would develop into a conflict. We didn’t have any other option,” Hakeem said.
“A little more thinking should have gone into this before you decided to resign. Now wrong impressions about you have gone to the public. This could prove to be wrong precedents in future,” Rajapaksa noted
“I have never had any contact with these extremists,” Bathiudeen said.
“Then you should have supported the investigations. You could have cleared yourself and come before public after the investigations. Dodging investigations has made the public suspicious of you,” Rajapaksa said.
“Not all Muslims are extremists. Only a small minority is affiliated with the extremism,” Hakeem said. “We all know it. But because these matters are sensitive, it cannot be resolved if decisions are taken in a hurry.
It is better to act in understanding of the opinion of the majority,” the Opposition Leader pointed out.
The group led by Hakeem continued to justify their actions but Rajapaksa said the decision should have been thought over some more.
Happy Hizbullah
The Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) yesterday recorded an eight-hour long statement from former Governor of the Eastern Province M.L.A.M. Hizbullah.
Hizbullah who appeared before the PSC on Thursday (13) said that he had met alleged ring leader of Easter Sunday suicide bombers Zahran Hashim only once during the General Election in 2015, where the latter got all candidates representing SLMC, UNP and UPFA to agree to a set of conditions that they should adhere to during election propaganda activities.
While noting that Zahran was responsible for his election defeat, Hizbullah said he was in fact happy that the ring leader is no more.
Hizbullah, giving a statement before the Parliament Select Committee (PSC) on the Easter Sunday terror attacks, further said that Zahran Hashim supported Common Candidate Maithripala Sirisena during Presidential Election 2015 while he (Hizbullah) was supporting President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
He said that after giving nominations for the General Election in 2015 Hashim asked all the candidates in the district to meet him.
“During that meeting he came to an agreement with everyone present. Even the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), the United National Party (UNP) and the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) candidates signed that. He imposed some conditions such as not using music in our propaganda meetings, separate seating arrangements for men and women etc. We all signed. That is what any politician would do for votes. Hashim had the ability to influence about 2,000 – 3,000 voters and we all needed those votes.
But my supporters played music at meetings and Hashim withdrew the agreement. After that he began to work against me and I was defeated in the election. I am really happy that Zahran is no more because I would not face any trouble at the next General Election.”
The former Governor also clarified his controversial remark that Muslims are a minority only in Sri Lanka, but globally they are the majority.
“I did not say that at a public forum or a media briefing. That remark was made during a private meeting in a mosque. Muslim people are terrified after the terror attack. I wanted to encourage people to resume their livelihood and to return to normalcy.”
Gagani Weerakoon
02:00 AM Jun 16 2019
