Co-cabinet Spokesman and Power Minister Udaya Gammanpila said the people decided to give a two thirds majority to the Government not to continue with the current Constitution ‘by adding another patch to the old shirt’ but to stitch a new shirt. The people’s mandate and the message are very clear so that we should act upon that mandate as early as possible. In an interview with the Sunday Observer Minister Gammanpila said that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has read that message very clearly and that is why he advised Justice Minister Ali Sabry to table a Cabinet paper on the proposed new Constitution at the very first Cabinet meeting. He said the new Constitution to be drafted will reflect the people’s aspirations. It would certainly take the nation tin a new direction where the masses could reap the dividends of a new economic renaissance.
People’s mandate for a new Constitution People’s mandate for a new Constitution
Co-cabinet Spokesman and Power Minister Udaya Gammanpila said the people decided to give a two thirds majority to the Government not to continue with the current Constitution ‘by adding another patch to the old shirt’ but to stitch a new shirt. The people’s mandate and the message are very clear so that we should act upon that mandate as early as possible. In an interview with the Sunday Observer Minister Gammanpila said that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has read that message very clearly and that is why he advised Justice Minister Ali Sabry to table a Cabinet paper on the proposed new Constitution at the very first Cabinet meeting. He said the new Constitution to be drafted will reflect the people’s aspirations. It would certainly take the nation tin a new direction where the masses could reap the dividends of a new economic renaissance.
Q. The Government has decided to abolish the 19 Amendment and bring in the 20 Amendment to the Constitution. Could you explain?
A. Even the founders and drafters of the 19th Amendment have acknowledged the fact that it has created many problems in state affairs. Mainly in a situation where the President and the Prime Minister are from two different political camps. Thus, the Government couldn’t move forward as evinced by the previous Government which ruled the country from 2015 to 2019.
Therefore,this anomaly should be got rid of and that is the main purpose of introducing the 20th Amendment. Basically, we want to repeal the 19th Amendment and introduce the 20th Amendment and retain the positive features of it such as the right to information. Once, we repeal the 19th Amendment, the President’s term limitation will also be removed. Moreover, the President’s term will be six years instead of five years. We don’t want that to happen. Therefore, the 20th Amendment will introduce the term restriction or rather we will keep those features of the 19th Amendment. That is the broad framework agreed upon at the last Cabinet meeting. We empowered the Minister of Justice to draft the 20th Amendment. Once he drafts the 20th Amendment, it will be reviewed by a Cabinet Sub Committee on Constitutional Affairs of which I am also a member. The other members of the Committee are Ministers Prof.G.L.Peiris, Nimal Siripala de Silva, Dinesh Gunawardena and President ‘s Counsel Ali Sabry. We will review it and with our observations and recommendations, it will come to the Cabinet for consideration.
Q. As highlighted by Government lawmakers, how do you explain the controversy around the 19th Amendment?
A. The 19th Amendment is a total failure. The main objective of the 19th Amendment is to have key Government appointments made independently and make the Government machinery independent of politics. The 19th Amendment failed to achieve that objective, for example, there was only one IGP appointed by the Constitutional Council under the 19th Amendment and he is the only IGP who was imprisoned by the court. Even when we look at the Election Commission, it is such a misery. For the first time in world history, its quorum and the membership are the same. The membership of the Election Commission is three members and the quorum is also three members.
If one member decided to boycott one meeting, it cannot function but fortunately we didn’t have to face such a situation. We noticed that Election Commission member Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole did not want to hold the election. He went to courts by making controversial statements. Frankly, I genuinely feared that he would find other alternatives. The easiest way to stop holding the election was his resignation. If he resigned, there will be no quorum for the Election Commission to hold meetings and make decisions with regard to the election, so that the election process would come to a standstill. Fortunately, that idea never came to his mind.
Otherwise, this democratic right of the people to elect the Government of their choice would have been denied by just one member of the Election Commission. Therefore, the 19th Amendment is not only a failure, it is a misery so that everybody is in consensus that it should be get rid of.
Q. The Government has stressed that the need of the hour is to formulate an indigenous Constitution without following foreign models. Your comments?
A. Our Government obtained the highest number of seats under the Proportional Representation System. We were just short of five members to reach the two-thirds majority. However, we have the two-thirds majority when we consider our grand coalition with the constituent parties which supported our Government.
The people decided to give us two-thirds majority not to continue with the current Constitution by adding ‘another patch to the old shirt’ and they want us to stitch a new shirt. Thus, the people’s mandate and the message are very clear. Therefore, we should act on that mandate as early as possible. The President has read that message very clearly. That is why he advised the Minister of Justice to table a Cabinet paper on the new Constitution at the very first Cabinet meeting.
Accordingly, the last Cabinet meeting empowered the Minister of Justice to recommend a panel of experts to draft the new Constitution. Ultimately, the Cabinet will decide on the panel upon the recommendation of the Minister.
If we take the 1978 Constitution, it is a mixture of French, US and British systems. So, it doesn’t fit to our history, culture or aspirations at all. Since 1978, there have been so many constitutional drafts prepared mainly by NGOs on the instructions given by the Embassies. We don’t want such a Constitution for our people. Our Constitution should reflect the aspirations of our nation. Therefore, we will ensure that the Constitution to be drafted will reflect the people’s aspirations and it would take the nation to a new direction.
Q. After 73 years this is the first time that an inaugural parliamentary session was convened without any UNP representation. How do you view this scenario?
A. The UNP has the fate of dinosaurs. If you can’t evolve according to the environment you can’t survive. That is what has happened to the UNP. Soon after the new Yahapalana Government came into power, actually, on the 40th day we were able to hold a massive protest rally at Nugegoda. That was unprecedented and the Government should have read the feelings of the people. They didn’t do so.
They should have read the pulse of the people by seeing the growing wave of the ‘Wind of Mahinda’. The UNP even failed to do that. They failed to read the results of the 2018 Local Government Election results. They should have adjusted themselves reading the people’s messages properly but they failed to do that.
The UNP under Ranil Wickremesinghe’s leadership tried to make this country weak, fragmentised and ‘foreignised’. The people have marked their protest against that. Unfortunately, Sajith Premadasa who is likely his successor is also following the footprints of Wickremesinghe so that he will end up being Ranil Wickremesinghe the second.
Q. The inaugural session of the ninth Parliament was convened with 223 MPs as the UNP and the Ape Jana Bala Party had failed to nominate their National List MPs. Would you like to comment on this?
A. This is not the first time that such a situation occurred. In 1989, the United Socialist Alliance had one National List slot. The coalition partners failed to reach consensus as to who should be appointed as their National List member. As a result, that parliamentary seat had been vacant for three years. After ending half of the parliamentary term, they appointed Raja Collure to fill that vacancy. So, this is not unprecedented.
Q. It seems that there is no vibrant Opposition in Parliament against the overwhelming Government majority. Some say this is not healthy for democracy. Your views?
A. The SJB has 54 members in Parliament. If you consider the previous Parliament, until we launched the ‘Wind of Mahinda’ (Mahinda Sulanga), the entire Parliament was supporting that Government. In 1977, the Opposition was restricted to only eight members. So, the situation is not a new phenomenon. But we need a strong Opposition to point out to the Government when it moves towards the wrong direction.
However, we will ensure that although we protect the Government outwardly, we intend to become the Opposition within the Parliament and severely criticise the wrong moves of the Government. We will ensure that there will be no role for the Opposition to play.
As long as the Government is delivering the goods why should somebody be there to criticise and oppose the Government? We want to have participatory development. I am confident that in the near future the entire nation will join hands with the President to take this nation forward.
Q. Eighty-one new MPs have been elected to the new Parliament. Does this mean that the people have rejected a large number of former Parliamentarians as they failed to deliver the goods?
A. Moreover, this kind of things happen when there is a change of Government. Most of the losers are from the Opposition. At the previous Parliament, the UNP had 106 members and it came down to one member. Therefore, most of the losers are from their side as well as other parties such as TNA, JVP and the parties which had directly or indirectly been involved with the previous Yahapalana Government. On the other hand, when you look at the new faces, they are young, energetic, educated and have a professional outlook. I think they have brought new colour and shape to the Parliament. I really admire that. As seniors, we are ready to guide and assist them.
Q. The Opposition says whatever the Constitutional amendment to be made should be for the wellbeing of the country and its people and not to realise the narrow political objectives of the Government. Would you like to comment on this?
A. Firstly, they should practise what they preach. They used the entire Government machinery and the legislative process for their narrow political agenda. That is why the people vehemently opposed them and rejected them at the past three elections. If they make such a statement, they should ensure their right in front of a mirror. Whatever the Constitutional amendment, the ultimate objective is to ensure that it would eventually benefit the people.
Q. Some Opposition members criticise the formation of the new Cabinet and the allocation of Ministerial portfolios. Could you explain?
A. That is because of their western mindset. Rather than criticising the ministerial portfolios introduced by our Government, they should have sat and reviewed what happened to them and as to why they had been rejected. Because they were not nationalistic in their mindset and they have not been focused on their action. We have introduced new ministries to really focus on certain issues faced by the poor people of this country. They need special attention. That is why we have introduced such new ministries. This is a novel concept of the President. Unfortunately, the Opposition can’t think out -of-the-box. That is why they laugh at these portfolios.
The President is a leader who is reputed to be an out -of- the – box thinker who introduces innovative solutions to the problems.
That is how he defeated the LTTE which had been identified as the most ruthless and most powerful terrorist outfit in the world. Ninety-nine percent of the experts said that the LTTE cannot be defeated so they forced us to go for a negotiated settlement. However, the President as the then Defence Secretary gave the leadership to defeat the LTTE within three years.
When you look at as to how the President coped with the Covid-19 pandemic and solved the waste problem in the Colombo city, he is a person who has innovative solutions for prolonged problems. So, this is another innovative solution.
The Opposition can’t think out-of-the-box. That is why they are in the Opposition and we are in power.