Chief Government Whip, Minister of Urban Development and Housing Prasanna Ranatunga said that he personally doesn’t believe forming an All Party Government (APG) is the only way out from the current burning issues faced by the country.
In order to show the world and repose their confidence, we all should join hands and go for a common program to find a lasting solution to the present crisis. The Minister in an interview with the Sunday Observer said the common phenomenon in our political system is the Opposition that always opposes whatever good or bad move of the Government.
That is why some politicians and various people are asking to form an All Party Government so that everybody can move forward with unity. When the proposal to form an All Party Government came up both the SJB and JVP turned down the request and put forward various conditions based on their political agendas.
Excerpts of the interview
Q: Some Government and Opposition MPs are of the view that if an All Party Government can be formed, solutions to the current crisis can be found locally and internationally. Your views?
A: Various sections in the country maintain divergent views. One group is of the view that if an All Party Government is formed, it will be able to provide solutions to the current issues. When a public protest was made against the Rajapaksas, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa discussed with the then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and at that time all the Rajapaksas quit from their ministerial portfolios.
If they did not do so, the problem wouldn’t be solved. Then the President constitutionally invited all parties to join hands and form an All Party Government. At that time, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya and the JVP put forward various conditions based on their political agendas. We both in and outside Parliament made an open invitation to the SJB and the JVP to accept ministerial portfolios but they rejected.
At that time, UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe agreed to accept the Prime Minister portfolio. Actually, we had to go for that option hoping that the SJB, SLFP and the SLPP would also extend their support. If that requirement was fulfilled at that time, nobody would have leveled any allegations today.
At present, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has requested to hand over the country to them for five years so that they will sort out this problem within this period. It was in the social media that the JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake has said that solutions to these issues can be provided within six months if they are given the premiership and opportunity to appoint the Cabinet of Ministers.
We have to think about what led the country to turn into this crisis situation. Is it mainly due to the administration established after 2019 or the shortcomings of all former Governments which ruled the country? We should look into whether this situation has occurred due to the lapses on the part of the Government officials and some wrong policy decisions taken.
We should understand there was a 30 year battle against terrorism in the country and as a result, the economy had collapsed. We also had to suffer due to the 1983 Black July and 1988-89 JVP violence. As a result, over 60,000 people were killed. We also had to face natural disasters and the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks. All those incidents had a serious impact on our economy.
Q: Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has said that both the President and Prime Minister have failed to solve the day today, increasing issues of 22 million people in the country. Would you like to comment?
A: At present, we have faced several economic issues. We had an issue regarding drugs. Now we have received money rather than what we require per year to import drugs. Similarly, we have addressed five major issues. At present, the 13- hour power cuts have been reduced to three hours. If we receive fuel in the near future, we would be able to reduce this further.
Since this crisis emerged, we are addressing the issues one by one. We had to pay money for treasury bonds. If we had not obtained loans for the past three years, we couldn’t default loans. We had to pay for loans by dollars. That is why this dollar crisis was created and there is a shortage of fuel and essential commodities. We didn’t have a production economy.
That is why the President since he assumed office, attempted to create a production based economy. The dollar crisis has seriously affected us as we didn’t have a production economy. Sometimes there may be shortcomings in our policy decisions.
The shortage of fuel and the escalation of the prices of essential commodities is the major crisis faced by us now. I hope the gas issue will be sorted out after July 3. In order to move towards a production based economy, we have commenced a cultivation drive. However, this cannot be done within a couple of days. Issues have also been created due to the Government’s decision to switch into organic fertiliser. As a result, some farmers had given up their cultivation. Solutions to these issues can only be found if we all join hands and work together and not resort to set fire to houses and vehicles of politicians.
Q: The recent fuel price hike has made a serious impact on transport, health, trade and education sectors while a decision has been taken to release fuel from the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) only to essential services until July 10. How do you view this situation?
A: Similar to our economic crisis, the world is also facing an economic crisis due to the Russian-Ukraine war. It is not only in Sri Lanka but also Australia and America have also faced the consequences of the world economic crisis. Australia had recently announced to restrict vehicular movements except for essential journeys. According to Sri Lankan rupees, a litre of petrol exceeds Rs.850 in those countries. Therefore, the world economic recession has had an adverse impact on all countries. If we had discussed purchasing fuel at lower rates earlier and opened Letter of Credits (LCs) with required money, those fuel stocks would not be sent to us as scheduled.
That is why we had to face this situation. In order to manage the situation, a decision was taken to provide fuel from the CPC only to essential services such as health, electricity and export oriented products. In addition, it was decided to summon only essential workers to public and private sector institutions and grant permission to others to work from home.
Q: Even some Government Parliamentarians have raised concern as to why the fuel cannot be imported from Russia at much cheaper rates. Would you like to respond?
A: The President discussed this matter with the Russian Ambassador. They have said that the Russian Government doesn’t supply fuel and that it is handled by private companies. The Russian Ambassador had given the list of seven such companies. At present, the Petroleum Minister is discussing with them. Perhaps, they may be reluctant to provide us fuel due to the prevailing economic situation in our country. However, the discussions are going on even at this moment.
Q: The Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) has alleged that the fuel prices have been increased by the CPC when it earns profits. Is there any truth in this allegation?
A: As I am aware, the CPC is not earning profits. During the past period, fuel has been imported for certain credit periods. That is how fuel had been imported by all former Governments. Whatever the former Government imported fuel, the Government in power has to pay for it. They are being paid by now. Fuel is not a loss making business. However, we incurred nearly 60 to 70 percent or 30 to 40 percent loss from fuel that we imported. Therefore, we have to cover that loss. That is why the IMF has also requested to increase our fuel prices compared to the prices in the World market. Otherwise, if we subsidise fuel prices, we will also have to recover that loss from the poor people.
Therefore, the Government has decided to introduce a price formula in comparison to the fuel prices in the World Market. It is also being discussed to issue a coupon to provide a certain amount of kerosene to low income families per month until this issue is settled.
Q: Some Opposition political parties such as the JVP and FSP have raised concern as to why education was not declared as an essential service when several other services have been declared as essential services. Your views?
A: When the JVP and FSP launched strikes to close down schools and demanded holidays for students, even at that point, education was not declared as an essential service. They should know that education is the most essential component for children. When the country has faced an economic crisis, they want to bring children to schools and create a situation to embarrass them.
I think no Government will provide room to create any hindrance or disturbance to the children’s education. Nearly nine people including a Parliamentarian were killed due to the riot incidents which took place on May 09 and the violence created afterwards.
Massive damage was also done to the properties and vehicles. Similar to 1988-89 riots, the May 9 operation was carried out by some underworld figures, drug addicts and ransom takers with the connivance of the JVP and its affiliated political and student organisations. It is obvious, if they capture power, they will not allow even those who maintain opposition political views to survive. They attempt to create jealousy and hatred and distort the mindset of the people.
Q: Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has urged the Government to resign instead of posting an apology on Twitter. Would you like to air your views?
A: The Opposition leader is just boasting. If he has held several ministerial portfolios, he has not done anything on behalf of the people. He has faced a situation of not even safeguarding his own party members. That is why he is now asking to hand over the Government to him. When he was asked to join the Government, he refused. At present, a crisis has emerged in the SJB. The majority of the SJB front liners requested Premadasa to take over the Government. However, he was scared to accept that challenge. Leaders aren’t afraid of accepting challenges. His own party members have accepted that he is a weak leader.
Q: The JVP led Jathika Jana Balawegaya say they are prepared to take over the Government in a bid to find a solution to the current situation if given the opportunity to appoint a Cabinet of their choice, in the current Parliament. How do you respond to this?
A: Then they can bring a proposal regarding that. It is nothing new for them to work with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. During the tenure of the former Yahapalana Government, they worked together with confidence. They also worked as active members of the Anti-Corruption Committee of the Yahapalana Government. Even now they can nominate their Cabinet and submit their proposal to the Prime Minister, and then I am ready to give up my portfolio and hand it over to them.
As Parliamentarians we are ready to fulfill our duty on behalf of the country. The Opposition leader says to give him five years to rebuild the country while the JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake says to give him six months. It has not completed even one and a half months of Ranil Wickremesinghe accepting the premiership. Therefore, we have given him an opportunity.
Q: The people ask, what is the purpose of convening Parliament, when it has failed to provide any solution to their burning issues. Doesn’t the Parliament have a solution to the ongoing crisis?
A: Parliament can only discuss and formulate policies. It is the responsibility of the public officials and State mechanism to implement them. It is not the relevant Minister and Parliament MPs who order and purchase fuel. There are separate officials at the CPC to fulfill that job.
The Ministry Secretary is the chief accounting officer. Therefore, the officials along with him should formulate the mechanism to import fuel. These issues can only be discussed in Parliament. Otherwise, the Parliament is not in a position to fulfill the functions of the ministry.
The fuel and other issues are discussed at Parliament Consultative Committees while separate party leaders meetings are held to discuss and provide solutions.
Then those recommendations are forwarded to the relevant authorities. Parliament is an institution which represents all communities. There is a group of MPs in Parliament who are elected by the people based on various sectors.
The one side of the people’s representatives is composed of people while the officials are on the other side. The board of instructors is also there. Finally, what the Minister can do is to sit with all these parties and take the final decision. The Minister will have to listen to the voice of the people, professionals and also discuss with those who are in the relevant field. This is how it happens. However, the Opposition leader doesn’t understand this ground reality. That is why they boycotted Parliament recently
Q: However, at present the people reject all 225 Parliamentarians. What has led the people to lose their confidence in Parliamentarians?
A: The JVP and anti-Government groups have created this sentiment by asking to reject all 225 Parliamentarians. In the May 9 riots only the houses and properties of SLPP politicians were destroyed and their supporters were killed. If the people reject all 225 Parliamentarians all their houses should have been attacked and set on fire. However, that didn’t happen. When looking at those who have been arrested, it is very obvious who were behind those attacks. If certain sections reject all 225 Parliamentarians, they have been elected by the people’s vote.
It is only the National List MPs who have not been elected by the people. However, a wrong impression was created among the society to reject all 225 Parliamentarians.
If the JVP says to conduct an election, it means to elect another 225 MPs to Parliament. Then what is the purpose of rejecting all 225 MPs. There is no logic behind their argument. They can never win an election. The JVP obtained portfolios and worked in Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga’s Government and they also worked with then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and then President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The entire country should realise they are unsuccessful and that is why their vote base was reduced to a mere three percent. That is why they attempt to launch even a struggle and promote hatred and jealousy among people to grab power.