President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has upheld democracy amid deep provocations by various parties trying to fish in troubled waters at a time the country is being battered by a global crisis, said Industries Minister S.B. Dissanayake.
He said at present certain sections resort to various undemocratic moves as the President, Prime Minister and the Government tolerate those things.
“In a political party and alliance, we can express our views and act to succeed in them. However, when we come out, we should represent the party position.
Similarly, we can have disputes and clashes of opinions within a political alliance. However, it is of paramount importance to safeguard the collective responsibility of the Cabinet,” the Minister told the Sunday Observer yesterday.
When looking at the issues that emerged within the Cabinet, the President, the Prime Minister and the Government tolerated the situation as much as they could. When they were in the Cabinet, former Ministers Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila vehemently criticised the Government and the conduct of certain Ministers.
They also went to courts challenging the agreement signed by the Government with New Fortress Energy on the Kerawalapitiya LNG power plant. Even though they resorted to all those activities, the President and the Government tolerated it to the maximum possible level.
In fact, the President and the Government didn’t tolerate that much regarding former State Minister Susil Premajayantha’s issue. Premajayantha only made a brief comment to the media regarding the prevailing situation in the country. However, finally, it came to a point where the Government could not move forward and that was why Weerawansa and Gammanpila were sacked from their ministerial portfolios.
Minister Dissanayake said the late Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike didn’t show that much democracy and tolerance during her tenure in office from 1972 to 1977. When the teachers and doctors resorted to strikes, she at times sacked them and even confiscated the properties of doctors.
Sometimes, the constituent parties didn’t have the opportunity to express their views within the Government. It would have been more appropriate, if they were given a chance to air their views. However, if they were not given an opportunity, the answer is not to conduct an outside meeting and vehemently criticise the Government. Instead, they should have attempted to get an opportunity for discussions, he said.
The Minister said when looking at the 11 coalition parties of the Government, the SLFP has 14 MPs and it has a vote base. However, the members of Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila’s parties were elected to Parliament entirely because they contested on the SLPP ticket. Could they ever have entered Parliament if they contested separately from their own parties?