The Joint Opposition (JO) members once again in Parliament drew the attention of the Government on the inordinate delay of holding the Local Government elections and queried about the reason for indefinitely postponing the elections even though two years have elapsed. Responding to the JO, Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Faiszer Musthapha maintained the view that if the former Government provided a viable solution to the delimitation issue, it would not have faced this unnecessary delay in holding the LG polls.
Replying to a query raised by UPFA Matara District Parliamentarian Dullas Alahapperuma, Minister Musthapha blamed the then Minister in charge M.L.A.M. Hizbullah, over his attempt to dance according to the whims and fancies of the former bigwig Basil Rajapaksa paving the way to create a mess in dragging the issue.
The Minister attempted to convince the House that this mess was created by the former Minister who worked under the directions of Basil Rajapaksa of the former Government of which he himself was also a Minister. Minister Musthapha said he too had to depend on the reports prepared by his predecessor Hizbullah.
Much-delayed polls
However, MP Alahapperuma drew the attention of the House to the fact that Minister Musthapha repeatedly promised the House to conduct LG polls, and demanded to know why it has not materialised even after a lapse of two years. The Government has taken steps to clean up the mess, but as the Prime Minister told the House on a previous occasion, there are some political issues to be sorted out, Minister Musthapha told the JO members.
Meanwhile, Joint Opposition Leader Dinesh Gunawardena on Tuesday asked the Government to issue a notice calling upon the Elections Commissioner to hold the LG polls without further delay.
MP Gunawardena pointed out, around 15 million people in all provinces have been deprived of their franchise to elect about 6,000 representatives to LG bodies. MP Gunawardena also recalled that three months back, the Local Government Minister assured the House that the Government would take steps to hold the LG polls and queried why the Government doesn’t direct the Elections Commission to hold the much-delayed polls.
Responding to MP Gunawardena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told the House that he would discuss the proposed electoral reforms with all Party leaders and inform Cabinet of their position within a week.
However, MP Gunawardena who maintained a completely different view said, these reforms have been prepared with the consent of Party leaders so that there is no need to have another meeting with Party leaders. Gunawardena argued that Party leaders cannot decide what to do on that score, and the process should be governed by existing laws.
The racial and communal related violent incidents taking place in the country turned into a key topic in the well of the House and the JVP accused the Government of its lackadaisical attitude in arresting these incidents and added that the Government should have acted fast and nipped this trend in the bud. Making a special statement in Parliament, Chief Opposition Whip Anura Kumara Dissanayake said serious doubts have been created in people’s minds that the Government under the guise of social and economic issues is trying to make use of these incidents to divert public attention from the burning issues. Dissanayake said, the majority of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities vehemently condemn this kind of violence. MP Dissanayake drew the attention of the House on certain reports of arson attacks and damage to property including mosques and shops during the last several days.
He alleged, the Government has not done anything to apprehend the culprits. Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development Sagala Ratnayaka responding to MP Disssanayake said, the Police investigations into the recent incidents of violence are still in progress and once investigations are over, the House will be informed of their findings.
Public Finance Committee (PFC) Chairman MP M.A.Sumanthiran told Parliament about the decision taken by the PFC to withhold approval for financial allocations for purchasing new vehicles for Ministers. While tabling the Committee’s performance report, MP Sumanthiran said the Committee had requested the Director General of National Budget Department to provide the details of vehicles purchased for Ministers since January 2015.
He told the House the PFC has also asked the Director General Budget Department to include in the report the present condition of the vehicles used by the Ministers and added that the Committee would withhold its permission until it receives the details called for. MP Sumanthiran told the House, the PFC has made this decision in respect of the Supplementary Estimate presented to the House on May 5 which among other things sought Rs. 329 million to purchase vehicles for Ministers, a Provincial Governor and a Secretary to the Prime Minister.
On the following day, Joint Opposition Leader Dinesh Gunawardena also drew the attention of the House to the huge Supplementary Estimate to purchase vehicles for members and officials of the Steering Committee of the Constituent Assembly.
Chief Opposition Whip Anura Kumara Dissanayake and UPFA Colombo District MP Bandula Gunawardena also opposed the Supplementary Estimate. MP Gunawardena queried how can the Government do so when the PFC has halted purchasing vehicles for Ministers. JVP MP Bimal Ratnayake also questioned about the rationale behind this move to purchase vehicles for MPs and others from time to time in this adhoc manner. Leader of the House and Higher Education and Highways Minister Lakshman Kiriella said there was a sinister move by the Opposition to give the impression to the people that vehicles are purchased for the personal use of Ministers.
Official residences
The Minister attempted to convince the House that vehicles are bought for the Ministers, which are returned to the relevant Ministries when they are removed from their posts. However, a Supplementary Estimate of Rs.369 million was submitted by the Government on Friday( May 26) seeking parliamentary approval to purchase vehicles for several ministries and renovate the official residences of Ministers.
The Supplementary Estimate presented to the House by Minister Kiriella was referred to the PFC.
Both, the Government and the Opposition legislators on Friday (May 26) requested to finish parliamentary sessions early to assist with the rescue operations and distribution of relief to victims to flood and landslides triggered by the torrential rains.
As a result, Friday’s Parliamentary sittings were restricted to only three and a half hours enabling MPs to go to their respective districts to assist flood victims. It was decided to restrict sittings until 2 pm following an urgent Party leaders’ meeting headed by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya after temporarily suspending sittings around 11.45 am. MP Dinesh Gunawardena stressed the need to take quick action to provide emergency assistance to flood victims. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya congratulated Media and Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera and all new Ministers on their new appointments. When Speaker Jayasuriya congratulated Minister Samaraweera on his new appointment, both, the Government and Opposition legislators also joined in congratulating him during the course of the debate. UPFA Matara District MP Dullas Alahapperuma who asked a question from Finance Minister Samaraweera also congratulated the Minister saying that his appointment was a victory for the people of Matara.
MP Alahapperuma said, there was another matter relating to the Cabinet reshuffle. President Maithripala Sirisena said, he made the Cabinet reshuffle because he needed to see the country moving fast towards progress. Does it indirectly mean he could not take the country to the fore with Mangala Samaraweera as Foreign Minister and therefore decided to change his portfolio? MP Alahapperuma sarcastically queried.
Minister Samaraweera replied that his erstwhile colleague Alahapperuma would always congratulate with words of double meaning and asked two weeks’ time to respond to the question.