Leader of the House Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told Parliament on Friday that the Opposition which demanded months ago that the Government should let the Rupee float, is now finding fault with the Government for doing so, adding that supporting the Government to resolve the present crisis should be the role of the Opposition.
Responding to SJB Parliamentarian Nalin Bandara, the Minister said when former President Mahinda Rajapaksa handed over the Government to the former Yahapalana Government, the value of the US Dollar was Rs. 135 and it devalued to Rs. 188 during their tenure in office.
No power
MP Bandara said the prices of petrol and diesel have gone beyond Rs. 200. He said, “Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa simply cannot keep quiet but should make a statement to Parliament. We saw him in Parliament yesterday evening but he did not make any statement. The Speaker should urge him to make a statement.”
National People’s Power (NPP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that Finance Minister Rajapaksa has to attend Parliament and make a statement on the depreciation of the Rupee and the fuel price hike.
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene said that he had no power to order Ministers to make statements in the House. Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella said that the Speaker has the right to take action and get a member to make a statement as per the Standing Orders 143. Minister Gunawardene said that MP Kiriella was misinterpreting the Standing Order and added that the Standing Orders should not be interpreted individually but along with other relevant Standing Orders.
President meets SLFP group
A meeting between President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Members of Parliament representing the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) was held at the Presidential Secretariat on Tuesday, March 8.
A list containing fifteen points presented by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party was taken up for discussion. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Ministers Basil Rajapaksa and Dinesh Gunawardena, MP Sagara Kariyawasam and Sri Lanka Freedom Party representatives, former President Maithripala Sirisena, Ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva and Mahinda Amaraweera, State Ministers Duminda Dissanayake, Dayasiri Jayasekara and Lasantha Alagiyawanna, Deputy Speaker Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, MPs Angajan Ramanathan, Jagath Pushpakumara, Shantha Bandara, Sarathi Dushmantha, Shan Vijayalal de Silva, Chamara Sampath and Suren Raghavan were present.
Following the meeting, former President and SLFP leader Maithripala Sirisena told the media that the President and the Prime Minister agreed to convene an all-party conference. All political parties representing the parliament will be invited to this conference by the end of this month.
The SLFP parliamentary group, including former President Sirisena were present at the launch of an alternative set of proposals by 11 constituent parties of the Government to save the national economy at Sri Jayewardenepura, Kotte on March 2.
The former President Sirisena was seen personally handing over the rebel group’s proposals to the Maha Sangha and has been involved with the rebel group from its inception. The SLFP group consists of a 14-member parliamentary group.
Steps down
National Organiser of the National Freedom Front (NFF) Jayantha Samaraweera stepped down from his position as the State Minister on Tuesday. Samaraweera had directed his letter of resignation to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
He served as the State Minister of Warehouse Facilities, Container Yards, Port Supply Facilities and Boats and Shipping Industry Development. His resignation came days after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa sacked former Ministers Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila from their posts as the Minister of Industries and Minister of Energy.
At a press conference at the NFF office, Samaraweera said that no final decision has been taken regarding the party’s future course of action and that his party has decided to sit as a separate group in Parliament.
Five Parliamentarians representing the NFF were present at the press conference but party leader Wimal Weerawansa was not present at the event. The NFF parliamentary group comprises six members, including one National List nominee, Mohammed Muzammil.
Former Ministers Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila, who were sacked from their ministerial portfolios, were not present in Parliament on Tuesday, March 8. Vasudeva Nanayakkara, who has refrained from attending Cabinet meetings as a Minister, was also not present in Parliament on Tuesday. The newly appointed Ministers were seen in the front row seats in Parliament.
New appointees
The newly appointed Minister of Industries S.B. Dissanayake was sitting in the second front row seat while the newly appointed Transport Minister Dilum Amunugama was seen sitting in the 30th seat in the second row of the ruling party. Many of the fellow MPs were seen congratulating the newly appointed Ministers. The 73rd seat of the ruling party was reserved for Wimal Weerawansa and the 78th seat of the ruling party was reserved for Udaya Gammanpila.
Pandora Papers
Responding to a query about the delay in investigations into Sri Lankans implicated in the Pandora Papers, Chief Government Whip Highways Minister Johnston Fernando in Parliament on Tuesday attributed the delay to a request by former SJB Parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake and the subsequent delay on the part of Ramanayake in submitting his affidavit.
The Minister told Parliament, “Ramanayake had made a request to give proof regarding the revelations contained in the Pandora Papers. Then, he had requested for some time, and subsequently, his lawyer contracted Covid-19. Due to these delays, there was a delay in finalising the investigations started by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC).”
However, he said that Ramanayake had given his written affidavit to the CIABOC a few days ago. Fernando was responding to queries raised by the National People’s Power (NPP) Leader MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake who raised concerns about the delay in the investigations, adding that the public being kept in the dark about the progress of the investigations has created a question among the public.
Kottu
SLPP Parliamentarian Prof. Charitha Herath told Parliament that Sri Lanka should apply for an international patent for Kottu which is a food which has originated from the island. MP Herath said it is time an international patents is obtained for Kottu which has originated in Batticaloa.
He said, “Pizza that originated in Italy has become an internationally popular delicacy. Italy has obtained an international patent for it. Kottu is also becoming popular internationally and it comes in many forms. Therefore, Sri Lanka should apply for an international patent for Kottu.”
MP Herath brought the attention of the House on the lack of proper patent right laws in Sri Lanka adding that artistes are affected due to this issue. He also stressed the need for laws to help an individual to ensure his or her digital presence.
Discussion
Speculation was rife that UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was in talks with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. However, some senior members closely associated with Wickremesinghe have confirmed that Wickremesinghe had discussed the ongoing issues with the Premier in a personal capacity but no official discussions had been held between the duo or even with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
However, Wickremesinghe who has been calling on the Government to go to the IMF to seek economic assistance has called on all political parties to unite with the Government and identify the root cause of the issues so that they can be resolved.
He has also called on all parties to approve a national policy in Parliament that could take the country forward and after this policy is agreed upon by all parties, then an election should be held so that a new Government can be formed. UNP Leader Wickremesinghe has informed senior Parliamentarians He had said, “We must ensure that the country does not fall into another crisis of this sort. Whoever is elected to form the next Government will then have to work based on the national policy framework.”
Tense situation
A tense situation arose in Parliament on Thursday when the Opposition asked the Speaker to summon Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa to the House. Opposition lawmakers said Minister Rajapaksa had not spoken in the House for three months.
A heated argument ensued between the Government and Opposition lawmakers after Chief Opposition Whip MP Lakshman Kiriella, raising a point of order, said that Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa had not spoken in the Chamber of the House for the past three months or answered questions posed by the MPs. Kiriella said, “There is an economic crisis. It was on December 10 last year that the Finance Minister spoke in this House. For the past three months he has not spoken a single word. The Finance Minister should be here to explain to the House the country’s economic situation. We call upon the Speaker to summon the Finance Minister to Parliament immediately.”
Leader of the House Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said that the Chief Opposition Whip should withdraw his statement that the Finance Minister was not attending the House. All the questions raised by the MPs expecting answers from the Finance Minister had been answered by the State Finance Minister on behalf of the Minister.
Even debates have been conducted in this House on documents tabled by the Finance Ministry. The Finance Minister came to the House from time to time. Therefore, it is wrong to say that he did not come to Parliament. Some of his statements have been debated here.
SJB Parliamentarian Nalin Bandara said even the Ukrainian President addressed the Parliament of that country in the middle of a war.
SLPP MP Jayantha Ketagoda said, “The Finance Minister came to the Chamber. You did not see him because you were asleep then.”
Chief Government Whip Highways Minister Johnston Fernando said “It is wrong for the Chief Opposition Whip and Opposition MPs to say that the Finance Minister did not present reports to the House regularly. How many times has the Opposition leader raised questions under the Standing Order 27/2 to be answered by the Finance Minister?
All those questions were answered fully by the State Minister of Finance as per the Finance Minister’s instructions. MP Kiriella says that this country is bankrupt. I recall the conduct of Finance Ministers during the times of your Government. One of them resigned and did not contest the election. Another lost the election. There was one State Finance Minister who did not contest the election and came to Parliament through the national list.”
Minister Fernando said Kiriella stands up at the commencement of sittings in a bid to be seen on TV but television stations are not interested in what he says.
UNHRC session
Addressing the 49th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith said the Easter Sunday carnage of 2019 had been part of a grand political plot.
The Cardinal said that despite their repeated requests and those by civil organisations, the incumbent Government had failed to serve justice to the victims. He said, “Instead of uncovering the truth behind the attack and prosecuting those responsible, there are attempts to harass and intimidate those who clamour for justice.” As a result, nearly three years after the horrendous crime, we are still in the dark as to what really happened on that Easter Sunday.
The Cardinal said the first impression of this massacre was that it was purely the work of a few Islamic extremists. However, subsequent investigations indicate that this massacre was part of a grand political plot. He said, “As this is a case of a serious violation of the fundamental rights of the aggrieved victims, we earnestly call upon the UNHRC and all its member countries to support the continuation of evidence gathering initiated by the Council last year and to devise a means to ensure an investigation to unravel the truth behind the Easter Sunday massacre.”
“SLFP will contest alone”
SLFP Senior Vice President Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said that the party will contest any upcoming election on its own. Addressing the Colombo District Convention of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party on Thursday, the party senior said that there was a discussion involving several professionals at the SLFP Central Committee on its policies.
Accordingly, the MP said, the SLFP Central Committee held discussions on the program which will be implemented if the party comes into power, solutions to the dollar crisis, solutions for the employment crisis and solutions for the issues faced by the farming community. He said together with professionals and intellectuals, the SLFP prepared a 15-part document on this issue.
The Minister said, “The SLFP is not a party which initiates blind action. We, the SLFP, will contest the next election alone. Don’t have any doubts about that.”
Reload system
National People’s Power (NPP) MP Vijitha Herath told Parliament that the Government has yet to come up with short term, mid-term and long-term plans to overcome this crisis. But the country is now running on a reload system, He said, “The people are experiencing unprecedented difficulties now and they know that there is a huge crisis in the country. The Government, however, is saying that there are no issues.” Herath said that the country is facing a grave economic crisis.
He said, “The people are standing in queues for all their essential needs. So, don’t lie to the country, be straightforward and tell the country the true situation.”
He said, “Although goods are available, the country has no money to buy them. There are two shipments of fuel in our waters, but the Government does not have money to pay for them. Similarly, the Power Minister boasted that there would be no more power cuts after March 5 but even today, the power was cut in many cities.”