National Unity Govt. prob may ease after Cabinet r
President agrees to wait till May 19 when PM returns from China Sirisena tells Wickremesinghe not to include Hambantota Port Concession Agreement in MoU with Beijing SLPA subm Assign
Most Sri Lankans are unaware of the customary rituals that precede business at a weekly ministerial or Cabinet meeting chaired by the President.
It begins with religious observances followed by considering excuses for absence by ministers. Then comes the confirmation of minutes of the previous week’s Cabinet meeting together with matters arising from the one before that.
Thereafter, the last task before they get down to the agenda for the day is a decision on the date, time and the venue of the next Cabinet meeting. Such a decision by the present coalition Government is routinely decided by President Maithripala Sirisena. Traditionally, it has remained a Tuesday at 9.30 a.m. with exceptions when national holidays of importance occur.
Last Tuesday (May 9), in the backdrop of what seemed heightening tensions between the two coalition partners -- the President Sirisena backed Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United National Party (UNP) -- Sirisena decidedly left open the date for the next meeting. In effect, that meant there would be no Cabinet meeting next Tuesday (May 16). The reason, as he confessed to Ministers of the SLFP, was his inability to reshuffle the Cabinet in keeping with the pledge he made to the nation that it would be done before Vesak Poya which fell last Wednesday. The pledge came when he met heads or those from news divisions of state run and private media during a news conference followed by breakfast on April 20.
It was last Monday night that Sirisena chaired a stormy meeting of SLFP ministers. Like the last straw that broke the camel’s back, the heavy pressure for the event was prompted by two main developments -- the large turnout for the ‘Joint Opposition’ May Day rally at the Galle Face Green, a key issue that was to cause disillusionment. Of course, Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe was not happy with the figures quoted in these columns in last week’s the Sunday Times. He raised issue and pointed out that the Sirisena-led SLFP turnout at Kandy was still the largest. Sirisena concurred and added that he had personally ensured 7,000 from Polonnaruwa took part. He mentioned numbers some other ministers had transported. Though the ground reality was quite different, the remarks were, of course, a self-acclaimed morale booster. The other development was the announcement by official spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne (who is with the UNP) at a news briefing, after a previous ministerial meeting that Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka would be placed in charge of maintaining law and order.
In these columns headlined ‘President, PM reach agreement on Cabinet reshuffle’, the Sunday Times of March 26 revealed that “Ahead of his departure to Moscow, Sirisena had discussed the issue (reshuffle) at length with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on more than one occasion. The focus at these discussions has been on the portfolios allotted to ministers representing the United National Party (UNP). The performance of these ministers whose portfolios await changes had figured in the talks
He had said that the former Army Commander would even relinquish his ministerial office to undertake that role. SLFP Ministers wanted Senaratne changed as spokesperson. Instead, Sirisena proposed that Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa be made an additional spokesperson representing the SLFP. Yapa declared that he was not willing to accept that responsibility. Now, that position is to go to Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera, a onetime UNPer and now an SLFP parliamentarian from Kurunegala. He is known to be popular with his colleagues and friendly with the media.
SLFP Ministers, some of whom have sought meetings with Sirisena unsuccessfully, as revealed last week, were to come out with a shocker. They said they had chosen not to continue as Ministers after August, this year. It is relevant to note that the Memorandum of Understanding between the SLFP and the UNP ends in August. This is notwithstanding utterances both by SLFP and UNP leaders that their relationship would continue till the next polls in 2020. The SLFP MPs were categorical that they would not join former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the ‘Joint Opposition’. Instead, they said, they would sit as ‘Independents’ in Parliament. Sirisena dismissed their assertions and declared; “we should continue.” He explained that he had spoken to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe about ministerial changes. That was why he had given his final pledge to the nation that the reshuffle would be carried out before Vesak Poya. He did not hide the fact that he was disappointed with the turn of events.
In these columns headlined ‘President, PM reach agreement on Cabinet reshuffle’, the Sunday Times of March 26 revealed that “Ahead of his departure to Moscow, Sirisena had discussed the issue (reshuffle) at length with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on more than one occasion. The focus at these discussions has been on the portfolios allotted to ministers representing the United National Party (UNP). The performance of these ministers whose portfolios await changes had figured in the talks. Sirisena is learnt to have told Wickremesinghe he would not take away the subjects assigned to the UNP but expects the Premier to name the ministers whom he has identified and intimate it to him…….”
Sirisena then concurred with the SLFP ministers that drastic changes have become necessary. He made clear he would not renege on the promises he had made to the people nor forgotten them. SLFP ministers were severely critical of two UNP ministers. They claimed that one was responsible for the perilous state of the country’s economy whilst the other took unilateral decisions, often at his own whim and fancy, on matters relating to foreign policy. The latter had taken many decisions on his own without consulting the President. Different instances of actions by the two were elaborated on by these SLFP Ministers. Sirisena paid close attention as the ministers were listing them out. He assured them that he would address the issues they had raised and even hinted there would be no Cabinet meetings until the reshuffle, which he has proposed, is carried out. On that note, the meeting of SLFP ministers ended.
Among the SLFP ministers who met President Sirisena were Duminda Dissanayake, Mahinda Samarasinghe, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Mahinda Amaraweera, Dilan Perera, Dayasiri Jayasekera, S,B, Dissanayake, Chandima Weerakkody and Deputy Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna.
Early on Tuesday morning, two other UNP Ministers, both office-bearers of the party, had turned up at Sirisena’s Paget Road residence to meet him. They had a message to be conveyed -that the ministerial reshuffle should await the return of Premier Wickremesinghe who was leaving on Friday night to China. The news did anger Sirisena, who had by then been loaded with the woes of his SLFP Ministers on Monday night. The repeated postponements, one source familiar with the developments revealed that the President used some strong words to convey his deep disappointment.
Thus, when the weekly Cabinet meeting began hours later on Tuesday morning at the