Former State Minister of International Cooperation Susil Premajayantha said the people hold the opinion that they should allow President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to continue for the next five years without any obstacle from Parliament. The people in their thousands will vote for the SLPP led Alliance at the upcoming General Election in an environment where the UNP is in total disarray.
Former State Minister in an interview with the Sunday Observer said the President was given mandate not to repeat what the Yahapalana Government did. The President has not interfered with Police investigations or the judiciary. The Government doesn’t manipulate cases as its predecessor did. The public gave a mandate to President Rajapaksa basically to ensure national security and create a disciplined society.
Excerpts from the interview:
Q: With infighting going on, what are the prospects for UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya led by Sajith Premadasa winning the forthcoming General Election?
A: There is no question about both factions losing the election. It will be an easy game for us the way things are happening. The UNP had their Working Committee meeting on Wednesday. According to media speculation, the Sajith faction had boycotted the meeting. The Ranil faction is of the opinion that they should contest the election under the elephant symbol. However, according to the sources, the Sajith faction has informed the Election Commission that they are contesting under the telephone symbol. We don’t know whether the UNP too has informed the Election Commission. According to the election law, within seven days after the dissolution of Parliament, the recognised political parties should inform the Election Commissioner if they are going to contest the election.
Q: Although the SLPP and SLFP reached a consensus to contest the next election together against the UNP, there appears to be a tug of war between the two parties. Some former State Ministers, such as Roshan Ranasinghe are in the public spotlight in this connection. Could you explain this?
A: Of course, this is not a fight between two parties. All the constituent parties reached a consensus, have signed an agreement and registered the Alliance with the Election Commission. The Sri Lanka Freedom Podujana Front has decided that that they will contest under the pohottuwa symbol. Fourteen political parties in the Alliance agreed to it. However, in some districts you find certain issues among the politicians of the same Alliance. The General Election is not like a Presidential Election and a large number candidates is contesting. Each and every party has to field the required number of candidates plus three. To be elected to Parliament, the candidates should get the maximum number of preferential votes. This type of criticism surfaces at every general election from both parties. This is restricted to certain districts.
Q: Would you like to comment on former President Maithripala Sirisena’s controversial statement “he would attack like a hawk at the right time.” It is said that some SLFPers who had criticised this had held discussions to join the SLPP?
A: If the leader of a political party makes some comment, party members need not reply it because party leaders are above all others. Once they take a decision at the party leaders’ meeting, they should stick to that. It is better not to comment on all these things but get ready for the elections.
Q: Like at the Presidential Election, could we hope the electorate to give a landslide victory to the SLPP led alliance without the support of the TNA, SLMC and other minority parties?
A: The voting pattern of the Presidential Election is such that the North and the East voted for the ‘Swan’ symbol of Sajith Premadasa. Except Colombo and Nuwara Eliya, all other districts were won by the SLPP.
This time too I don’t see any difference in the election results. Of course, we can try Nuwara Eliya. There can be some changes in the Colombo city as well. Definitely, we will win. Everybody knows that at a General Election followed by a Presidential Election, the party which wins the Presidential Election will win the General Election.
There will be no change of that pattern. In view of the decisions by the President and the Government during the past two and a half months, such as 100,000 jobs for GCE O/L failures and 45,000 jobs for graduates and doing away with the payee tax and reduction of the VAT, this time the SLPP led alliance can secure a comfortable victory.
The people hold the opinion that they should allow the President to continue for the next five years without any obstacle from Parliament. The people in thousands will cast their votes for the SLPP led alliance at the upcoming General Election. The UNP is in total disarray.
Q: Will the TNA and Muslim parties vote en block for the UNP or Samagi Jana Balawegaya despite their disarray?
A: They don’t have any other option because President Rajapaksa won the election without any support of the TNA, SLMC or any other minority parties. These parties have no other option than joining the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. They are in a desperate situation because the Samagi Jana Balawegaya is limited only to the Sajith faction. There are two factions in the UNP. They know that they are going to lose, but they just want to try and see how many members will win the next election.
Q: Former Minister Mangala Samaraweera has remarked that the country is heading towards a military rule and he regretted the UNP is in disarray while it should remain powerful at a time like this to face the current situation?
A: It will never happen. The country is not heading towards a military rule but a disciplined country. There is a clear difference between a military rule and a disciplined country. President Rajapaksa was given a mandate to ensure national security and make a disciplined country. He is working towards that.
Q: There is a public perception that the educated people should be sent to Parliament rather than those indulge in social vices. Have those educated people made any worthwhile contribution to the country as Parliamentarians?
A: Education alone is not sufficient to enter politics. They should have political awareness and some experience in politics. My position is that there is a population of 22 million in Sri Lanka, but they all can’t get together and take decisions.
This is why we have representative democracy so that each and every sector should represent Parliament - not only the educated people but farmers, workers and various segments. However, they should be in a position to contribute to make laws in Parliament. It doesn’t mean that all lawyers alone should go to Parliament. There should be doctors, engineers and scientists as well. If we have representation from all these sections, it will be a healthy Parliament to address the issues of all sectors.
Q: The 19 Amendment is considered as an obstacle to good governance. Is there any truth in this?
A: All are talking about independent Commissions. But if you look at the past performance of those Commissions, except the Election Commission and Judicial Services Commission, there were instances that decisions were taken with an element of bias. That is not acceptable. On the other hand, as a result of the 19 Amendment to the Constitution, the Constitutional Council (CC) led to establish another power base.
The Executive, Legislature, Judiciary plus the Constitutional Council are another power bases because even the executive powers were curtailed and given to the CC. As a result, if the President makes certain appointments, such as Attorney General, Auditor General, IGP and judges for the Supreme Court, he has to send the names of the nominees to the CC. It is the CC which decides with majority as to who should be appointed to those positions.
Sometimes, there can be differences between the President’s nominees and the nominees selected by the CC. The appointment of former IGP was one such case. Three names were sent and the CC selected the second name. The then IGP was in remand custody for four months. It is a bad selection.
In terms of article 32 (c) of the Constitution, the President can dissolve, prorogue and reconvene Parliament. At the same time, article 71 limits that power. You find ambiguity in legislation, especially 19th Amendment to the Constitution.
The President should have a clear mandate to exercise executive powers. He has the mandate, but unfortunately, because of the 19 Amendment to the Constitution, he cannot fully exercise that power. It is an obstacle. That is why we seek a two-thirds majority.
We have to amend certain Articles, Acts or the Constitution with a two-thirds majority to suit the present and emerging requirements. Some laws have become outdated. It is high time that we need a two-thirds majority to amend these laws.
Q: The Easter Sunday bombings and the coronavirus have serious impacts on the tourism industry and foreign investments. What are the steps taken by the Government to remedy the situation?
A: The Government has taken measures to control the spread of the coronavirus. As a result of that, a coronavirus infected Chinese woman was detected. She recovered with our treatment. She was sent home. There were some suspected patients in the hospitals, but after 14 days, they were sent back home. In addition, 33 students and their family members who were evacuated from Wuhan, China were kept in a safe house and were handed over to their family members. It shows our medical facilities and the courage and the decision making at the right time.
According to the World Health Organization, the coronavirus has spread to over 60 countries. Even developed countries can’t control it. Compared to those countries, we are ahead of them. The Government managed the situation. The Easter Sunday attacks and the coronavirus were like a double whammy to the tourism industry. You can’t prevent it because it has become a global scenario. With the control of the virus, the situation will come back to normal within the next few weeks. All countries are facing the same situation.
Q: Has the SLPP led political alliance laid a foundation to secure a two-thirds majority in Parliament?
A: Yes, of course. The SLPP is the leading party of the Alliance. Its National Organiser Basil Rajapaksa together with party cadres and organisations have set the targets for every district with the support of the constituent parties of the Alliance. We will achieve the targets.
Q: Could you elaborate on the new political culture introduced by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the progressive measures by the Government within the short span of three months?
A: The President was given the mandate not to repeat what the Yahapalanaya Government did. He didn’t interfere with Police investigations or the judicial processes. He allowed officials to take independent decisions and as a result, some people are in custody and some have been bailed out.
It shows that the President never interferes with Police investigations. We don’t want to manipulate cases like the previous Yahapalanaya Government. The appointments to Government institutions are based on accepted criteria. The President didn’t repeat what the previous Government had done.
Q: As the former State Minister of International Cooperation, how do you look at the stance by the Government at the UNHRC sessions?
A: The Alliance supported the victory of President Rajapaksa and right through opposed the 30/1 and 40/1 resolutions. The then Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera together with the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe initiated the 30/1 resolution. According to sources, the then President, Cabinet and Parliament were not informed of this. The Yahapalana Government co-sponsored that resolution. We have not changed our stance and we stick to the original position. We had to inform the UNHRC of our position that we are not going to co-sponsor the 30/1 resolution and that is what we have done. We will wait and see the response as the UNHRC sessions will continue until March 25. The UNHRC has shown its dissatisfaction over our decision.
We are not there to satisfy the UNHRC or the countries which co-sponsored the 30/1 resolution. We have to respond to the mandate given by the people to the President. That is what we have done.