President Ranil Wickremesinghe stirred a political hornet’s nest in Nuwara Eliya last weekend. Addressing the National Law Conference, the President said that at present no political party can take 50 percent of the votes. As the President’s speech was disseminated by the media, it spread like wildfire among the Opposition parties.
Even before the President left Nuwara Eliya, the lawyers there started to inquire about this because they too felt the heat of politics.
“The Opposition is shocked by the story of not being able to get 50 percent of the votes at an election. They are demanding to conduct an election.” Lawyer Dinesh Vidanapathirana drew the President’s attention on such news items.
“Even if the ruling party accepts this matter, the Opposition does not want to accept it,” another lawyer said.
“The President is leading the Government to build trust in the Government among the people and go beyond 50 percent,” Lawyer Sujeevan Hendavitharana said looking at the President. “When we think about how to move forward, the Opposition thinks they have won. While we think in a new way, they work thinking that there is still an ‘Aragalaya’,” Vidanapathirana said.
“After 1977, no one could get 51 percent in the parliamentary elections until now. J.R. Jayewardene didn’t even think that he would be able to get the five-sixth majority in Parliament. No party got a two-thirds majority after that. Looking at it like that, no one can say who has power now. No one can say that SJB, JVP and SLPP have more than 50 percent of power. That is the actual situation in the country. No one can win by thinking and working conventionally,” the President told the young lawyers.
“Sir, taking the special statement you made last Thursday and the speech in Nuwara Eliya, a question arises as to whether the Opposition has alternatives to build the country,” said Vidanapathirana and everyone endorsed it, looking at the President.
Following the lawyers’ conference, there was also an economic review and after all this, the President came to Colombo on Sunday evening because he had a lot of work to attend to.
It was a busy day for President Wickremesinghe who went to the President’s office on Monday. Four judges to the High Court were appointed. That afternoon, the President met Director General of Government Information, Dinith Chinthaka Karunaratne, Director General of Presidential Media, Dhanushka Ramanayake and a group of media officers. President’s Chief of Staff and National Security Adviser Sagala Ratnayaka.
“I saw a picture of the Ukrainian Defence Minister at the Shangri-La Defence Conference. What did he say?” That question was from the Director General of Government Information.
“Ukraine was discussed at the conference. Both of us talked about the details of our country. However, many of those who attended the conference talked about how the country emerged in a few months and they really appreciated it,” Ratnayaka said.
The President inquired about the details of the Security Conference and Ratnayaka said that he had submitted a proposal that the security of the Indian Ocean region should be conducted by the countries in the region.
“This is a good experience. Defence Ministers and National Security Advisors from 22 countries in the region were present.” Ratnayaka said, recalling the rare opportunity he had to attend a dinner with the Defence Ministers.
The President attended the Cabinet meeting and the Government parliamentary group meeting on Monday evening. He also spoke about the activities of Parliament as well as his visit to Parliament.
On Tuesday, the President met a group of Security Forces members at the President’s office. They talked about the country’s security as well as curbing attempts to disrupt religious harmony.
UNP Management Committee meets President
The United National Party (UNP) Management Committee also met the President that evening. The President instructed to complete the formation of the UNP Balamandalas by the first week of July and also discussed the convening of the Party Convention. He asked about the new party constitution and said that it should be submitted to the party congress and adopted.
On Wednesday morning, the President met a group of representatives of the International Red Cross Society and discussed how to deal with natural disasters. Following the meeting, President Wickremesinghe went straight to the Parliament complex. President’s Parliamentary Adviser Prof. Ashu Marasinghe accompanied the President to the Public Finance Committee.
The chairpersons of 10 finance related committees had convened for this occasion and the meeting was held in the main committee room of Parliament.
Pointing out that the Finance Committee should also go together with the International Monetary Fund, President Wickremesinghe said that he would appoint Dr. Harsha de Silva as the Chairman of the Committee as a proposal of the Government.
The President told a story about American Congressman Charlie Wilson while chairing the Finance Committee. Ending up Charlie Wilson’s story, the President who looked at Harsha said, “Harsha should also find a good secretary like Charlie Wilson, and the meeting hall was filled with laughter from the committee members. When MPs asked about Charlie Wilson, the President told the MPs to read history.
“Charlie Wilson was an American Congressman. He stood up for Afghanistan during the Soviet-Afghanistan war. At that time, a war plane was reserved for Charlie to go to Afghanistan. But apart from him, only his wife was allowed to go on that plane. But one day he brought his stenographer to travel with him on this plane. The pilot protested and Charlie did not go on that journey.
A few days later, a request came to Congress asking for permission to buy 100 fighter jets for the Air Force. Charlie gave permission to buy only 75 planes. Even though the President told this story of the past, no one could imagine how it suited Harsha.
“Sajith did not vote for the IMF. They said they could not accept the IMF conditions. But after the Government appointed Harsha to the Finance Committee, now he too has to accept these conditions,” MP Wajira Abeywardena said with a smile.
“Yes, whoever is appointed to this committee, whether ruling party or Opposition, should support the IMF agreement and work,” Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said, to which everyone agreed.
“We have entrusted Harsha to look into the debt restructuring program,” President Wickremesinghe said while leaving the place.
However, all the Ministers appreciated the way the President solved the problem of the Chairmanship of the Finance Committee, showing his experience and maturity.
When the President went to his room in Parliament, many Ministers were present and Prof. Ashu Marasinghe gave them the opportunity to meet the President.
“Brother, even though I was a Minister during the last Government, I had to wait for a long time to meet the President. But you did not make any MP who came here turn back without being able to meet the President,” MP Sarath Weerasekera told Ashu Marasinghe. All the Ministers present nodded their heads in approval.
Wrong news
On Thursday morning, the President came to the Ministry of Finance because as usual, as that day of the week is reserved for the affairs of the Ministry of Finance. President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake drew the President’s attention to the telecast of wrong news by the Al Jazeera television channel. The Secretary requested the Director General of Government Information Dinith Chinthaka to look into the matter.
Director of International Affairs Dinuk Colombage said that he would complain to the head office about the presence of commandos and the promotion of old scenes as live footage while the Police were trying to stop the protest march of the Inter-University Student Federation. Accordingly, Colombage and Presidential Advisor Kshenuka Senaviratne prepared a letter and forwarded it to the heads of Al Jazeera on the same day.
There was talk about the presence of the National People’s Power mayoral candidate in the recent demonstration in Colombo in support of the LGBT Bill brought by Parliamentarian Premanath C. Dolawatta.
“This march in Sri Lanka took place before the international march. The international parade gets a lot of money. I don’t know whether they conducted this march to bring money to the party.” When MP Madura Vithanage said this, everyone looked at each other.
That evening, the President attended the signing of a long-term agreement for the import, storage, distribution and sale of petroleum products at the Presidential Secretariat. This agreement with an American Oil Company was signed by the Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and the Vice Chairman of the RM Park Company for a continuous supply of oil.
Heated discussion
The Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government met in Parliament on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. At the very beginning of the meeting, there was a heated discussion about the issues of reinstatement of Government employees who had given nominations to contest the Local Government Election. Member of Parliament Jagath Kumara commenced the speech and made strong accusations against the officials of the local government sector.
Provincial Council and Local Government State Minister Janaka Wakkumbura said, “Regarding the issue of Government employee candidates, our Ministry has issued the circular as required and we should ask the Election Commission.”
SLFP General Secretary MP Dayasiri Jayasekara said, “The Government does not even hold elections.”
Premier Gunawardena said with a smile, “We too would like to conduct elections. That is why we also gave nominations.”
State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna said, “If the nominations are cancelled and the election is cancelled, these problems will be over.”
The Prime Minister said, “Bring a proposal in Parliament.”
Alagiyawanna said, “Let’s say that the Consultative Committee approved it. Then the alliances that are contesting for the election are also broken.”
Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa arrived while the meeting was going on. He looked at the notes in the previous report and said, “Some of these are missing, like in the UNP Working Committee.”
“Ah, I don’t know that, I wasn’t there,” said Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, smiling.
Many MPs also questioned the Local Government delimitation. “We have only asked to reduce the number of members by 50 percent,” said State Minister Wakkumbura.
When the issue was dragging on, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said, “I give an assurance that I will not change the laws about changing the Local Government electorates without consulting Parliament.”
Broadcasting Authority Act
The Opposition discussed the Broadcasting Authority Act to be brought by the Government when its Executive Committee met in Parliament.
“This directly affects the media. This affects the freedom of the media in a serious way. Therefore, we need to discuss with journalists and media organisations,” Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said.
The Executive Committee of the Opposition coalition decided to invite media organisations and other personnel to get their views on the matter. According to the decision, the Opposition Party Alliance on June 7 took the views of representatives of the electronic media on the proposed Broadcasting Authority Bill at the Parliament premises.
The discussion was attended by the heads of all licensed electronic media organisations and their representatives, and many representatives of media organisations and the proposed Broadcasting Authority Bill was discussed at length.
A Committee of the Opposition coalition has been appointed under the chairmanship of Prof. Charitha Herath to study the proposed Bill.
Opposition Leader Premadasa said at the meeting that he was against the Bill. He explained at length t the issues that would arise through the Bill and its impact on the independence of the media.
“Be it media ethics or media regulatory issues, anything related to the media should not be brought by the Government or politicians. Journalists who know about the subject are capable of that. Therefore, such a program should be brought by the media itself,” Premadasa said.
“We heard that the Government had held a discussion before this discussion, but we were not invited. But the chairman of TNL asked us to say thank you for inviting us. He also asked us to say that he is unconditionally opposed to this Bill,” the journalist representing TNL said.
“This affects not only electronic media but also social media. Therefore, we are thankful for inviting social media activists and representatives of media organisations to this event,” said Tharindu Uduvaragedara, representing media organisations.
“Study the laws of countries with advanced media traditions and prepare an optimal proposal that can be accepted by everyone. Do it yourself,” Sajith told the media representatives.
“The Government is trying to suppress the media through various provisions. The media cannot be censored for any reason whatsoever,” said Imtiaz Bakir Marker, who agreed with Sajith’s opinion.
“The function of freedom of the press to the maximum is an essential point in a democratic society,” MP Dullas Alahapperuma said.
MP Prof. G. L. Peiris explained at length about the eight serious issues in the proposed Broadcasting Authority Bill and said that this Bill should be rejected as a whole.
He said that this Bill even violates the Constitution. Alahapperuma emphasised the importance of building the professionalism of journalists. He also said that what is being done in this way is the preparation of plots against the freedom of the press.
MP Prof. Charitha Herath said that TRC Act No. 26 of 1996 has also been included in the proposed Act and it is extremely serious. He said that the appointment and composition of the members of the Authority are extremely problematic and said that it is also an extremely serious situation.
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, Members of Parliament Dullas Alahapperuma, Prof. G.L. Peiris, Lakshman Kiriella, Ranjith Madduma Bandara, Tissa Attanayake, Imtiaz Bakir Marker, Gayantha Karunathileka, Dr. Harsha de Silva, Eran Wickramaratne, Dr. Nalaka Godahewa, Chandima Weerakkody, Prof. Charita Herath, Wasantha Yapa Bandara and others were also present. Following the meeting, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa had a friendly exchange of views with the journalists and heads of media institutions.
Public Finance Committee
The position of Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance of the fourth session of the ninth Parliament has been vacant for over five months. Until now, the work of the committee was led by temporary chairpersons who were elected by the committee.
A special event that took place last week was the unanimous approval given to appoint Dr. Harsha de Silva as the Chairman of the Committee on Public Finance. That was proposed by the President in Parliament. However, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya continued to struggle for the chairmanship.
Opposition Leader Premadasa raised his voice about it in Parliament and outside it on several occasions. But the Government continued to postpone it citing various reasons.
Premadasa said that although there are various political conspiracies to prevent the appointment of Dr. Harsha de Silva, it is a matter of happiness that all parties of the Opposition have come together at this time.
‘False document’
State Minister Diana Gamage presented a letter in Parliament and said that a “false document” has been presented to court stating that she has resigned from the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. Party General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara immediately responded to this saying. “We ask the Government Analyst to check on this.”
Gamage told Parliament that she did not resign from the SJB and that that party belongs to her. But within minutes, the comments made by her on various TV programs a few months ago began to circulate on social media wherein she had said that she handed over the party to Sajith Premadasa and that she has no right in it now.
“We don’t need to worry about those two-tongue talks. They are just jokes,” MP Thushara Indunil said.
Russian National Day
A ceremony and a dinner to mark Russian National Day was held at the Crystal Hall of Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo on June 8.
Former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Ministers Bandula Gunawardena and Susil Premajayantha, MP Patali Champika Ranawaka and many people’s representatives from the ruling party and the opposition were present. It was reported that no Ambassador of any Western country had been invited for this event and no such Ambassador was present.