Samagi Jana Balawegaya parliamentarian Dr. Harsha de Silva said that he was “shocked” and “disappointed” by the sudden U-turn made by the party’s Assistant Secretary, Diana Gamage to vote in favour of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution.
The 20A was passed comfortably in Parliament on Thursday (22) with the votes of several opposition parliamentarians.
Gamage joined fellow SJB MPs Ishaq Rahuman, M. Raheem, Nasir Ahmed, Mohomed Harris, Faizal Cassim, Aravind Kumar and M.S, Thowfeek to vote for the 20A which was rejected vehemently by their party.
On Friday, MP de Silva said that the party immediately took steps to expel the members who went against the party’s decision from its parliamentary group. He said disciplinary action will also be taken against these members.
All other members of the SJB regret the decision made to give a slot of the National List to Gamage, he said.
“We held multiple group meetings and went through clause by clause of the proposed amendment to the Constitution and unanimously took the decision to vote against the 20A,” he said.
Claims
He also rejected the claims that Gamage and her husband Senaka Silva owned the SJB.
“That is absolute nonsense. They do not own nor do they fund the SJB,” de Silva said. Gamage told the media soon after the vote that she used her vote according to her conscience. The MP said that she was not given monetary benefits to vote in favour of the 20A.
“If that is the case, then, we could have taken money for creating the SJB. We did not do that,” she said.
“We spent millions of public money on the Presidential election. The President of a country should have power. If not, why do we need a President? I have trust in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. I trust that he will build this country as the President. I will continue to work as the Deputy Secretary of the SJB. But I gave my vote to him with my whole heart to go on this journey. The UNP was trying to destroy him,” she said.
Gamage questioned if other persons would vote against receiving such powers if the tables were turned.
“Would we still oppose the 20A if Sajith Premadasa became the President. Will he refuse this power? If Fonseka or an some one else became the President, would he say that he will remain as a scarecrow and tell others to rule the country? Then why do we need a President? We shall then get together and abolish the presidential system by making a new Constitution,” she said.
Action
In a bid to take action against members who followed the foot-steps of Gamage and fellow MPs, The Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) suspended the membership of Badulla District MP A. Aravindh Kumar on Friday.
TPA leader, Mano Ganesan, told the media that the decision was made when the party Parliamentary Group met and it was unanimously decided to suspend Kumar’s membership. The decision was forwarded to the party’s Politburo which is expected to remove the MP permanently from the party.
Ganesan also said that the Up-Country People’s Front, sister party of the TPA, will meet on October 26 to take action against the MP as his actions contradicted the TPA’s decision to vote against the 20A.
On Friday, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress said that action will be taken against its four MPs who supported the 20A. The four MPs are Nazeer Ahamed, Faizal Caseem, H.M.M. Harees and M,S. Thowfeek, while only the party leader, Rauff Hakeem, voted against it.
SJB members called for the suspension of the memberships of MPs Rauff Hakeem and Rishard Bathiudeen of the All Ceylon Makkal Congress claiming that they used a strategy to aid the government from securing a two-thirds majority to pass the 20A.
MP de Silva said that he does not believe that this claim was true.
Former President Maithripala Sirisena was not present during the vote, which saw 156 voting in favour, while 65 opposed it.
Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella requested for a division on Clause 17 which was was related to dual citizenship of parliament members. The clause was voted in with a majority of 93 votes.