TO PREEMPT LEGISLATIVE CONSPIRACY
Ports and Shipping Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe yesterday came up with another reason that it was a ‘Legislative Coup’ which was to be staged on the 14th in Parliament was what led to the controversial decision by President Maithripala Sirisena to dissolve the House.
He said the UNP planned to invite the diplomatic community and foreign journalists to the Parliament gallery and show them that the UNP had the confidence of the majority in Parliament and thus internationalize the issue.
The minister who is also the Cabinet and the SLFP spokesman in another twist to the crisis said the President had feared a bloodbath in Parliament if it was convened as demanded by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya.
“The President explained clearly why he was compelled to dissolve Parliament on Friday. He was not happy with the actions of the Speaker, who convened unofficial meetings of MPS on three occasions and issued statements to the media. He acted not like the Speaker of Parliament but the Speaker of the UNP. His partisan attitude was clearly reflected when he met diplomats. Mr. Jayasuriya has overridden his powers and acted in a biased manner. It is similar to that of a conspiracy staged in Parliament to grab power without using arms. Secondly, there was a huge campaign behind the scene to woo Parliamentarians by bribing them. There was information that not millions but billions of rupees were to change hands to meet the magic number of 113 and it failed. So under these circumstances, the President had no option but to dissolve Parliament to put a stop to the rot,” the minister said.