SLPP to go it alone: No partnership with the SLFP

Basil Rajapaksa insisted on Pohottuwa symbol and rules out Chair Speaker Karu Jayasuriya may not contest Hurried moves to abolish executive presidency – President and PM pass the ball Sri Lanka People’s Alliance (SLPA) will be set up on October 5

In what seemed revealing by itself, President Maithripala Sirisena, began an emergency Cabinet meeting on Thursday afternoon with the remarks “Ogollo hadissi cabinet resveemak illuva. Onna mang dunna. Kiyanna kiyana thiyana deval” or “You asked for an emergency Cabinet meeting. Here, I have now given it. Hence, say what you have to say now.”

Prime Minister and United National Party (UNP) Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, then proposed that a decision be made to immediately abolish the executive presidency. He said among others, civil society groups were making that demand and there was still time for Parliament to approve it and make it effective. Thereafter, a national referendum, in keeping with provisions of the Constitution, could be held. What was hoped for, since then, was the parliamentary general elections.

Premier Wickremesinghe made no mention of the Gazette notification which the National Election Commission (NEC) had promulgated last Wednesday midnight calling for presidential election on November 16. For this purpose, nominations have been fixed for October 7. Nor did he refer to the delay in the 2015 pledge by the

Yahapalanaya (“Good Governance”) government to abolish the executive presidency once voted to power. The proposal was being made more than four and half years later and posed a serious question – whether it was bona fide or mala fide?

Support in Premadasa’s favour in the UNP has been increasing and this was translating into more pressure on Wickremesinghe. For him, authoritatively abolishing the executive presidency meant no contenders and simply no trouble in his party.

There were only two Ministers – Ravi Karunanayake and Rajitha Senaratne – who were strongly supporting the proposal. Both argued that the government had made repeated pledges to the people that the executive presidency would be abolished. It was in the UNF election manifesto, they said. Hence, they argued that there was still time to go ahead. However, the move met with an unexpected barrage of opposition. Even President Sirisena weighed in unexpectedly.

Minister Mangala Samaraweera, outspoken on such occasions, described Premier Wickremesinghe’s proposal as a “conspiracy” by some in the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and the United National Party (UNP) against the victory of either Sajith Premadasa or Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He said it was not borne out of a genuine need but an anti-democratic exercise to deprive rights of others who want to contest the presidential election. He also used some strong words to say, “this is the most despicable act of cowardice ever attempted.” Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka declared, “This is not the forum to decide whether or not to abolish the executive presidency.” He said the matter should have been taken up at the government parliamentary group, where a discussion should have been allowed and a decision taken. Thereafter, it should have been moved in Parliament if that was the requirement, he said.

Endorsing this view was former UNP Chairman Malik Samarawickrema. “This is not a matter for the Cabinet to deliberate on. Why did we wait for four and half years after making all the pledges,” he asked? Others who spoke out strongly against were UNP Chairman Kabir Hashim, Mano Ganesan, Harin Fernando, Ranjith Madduma Bandara and Palani Digambaram. Notably, some strong loyalists of Premier Wickremesinghe remained silent at the meeting and the proposal was not accepted by the ministers. There were handshakes and mirth all round when Premadasa loyalists gathered at the residence of a minister. There was a toast too as they held up a celebratory drink. Wickremesinghe later confided to a confidant that he had never seen such “ugly scenes” at a Cabinet meeting and accused Mangala Samaraweera and SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem of coming prepared to disrupt the meeting.

When he walked out of the Presidential Secretariat, Premadasa was accosted by the media. He told them, “It is a disgrace that just after the presidential election has been declared, to present a proposal to abolish the executive presidency. It is completely unethical. Why such a discussion did not take place earlier, even yesterday or last Tuesday when the Cabinet met prior to the Gazette from the National Election Commission (NEC).” Added Minister and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Leader Rauff Hakeem, who has been a loyal backer of Wickremesinghe: “We feel this is done by the Prime Minister. We have found out that he is the root cause. The President said (at the Cabinet) that this matter should have been resolved within the UNP and the United National Front. He also said that it was unnecessary to call a cabinet meeting to discuss such a matter.

“A majority of the cabinet was not in favour of this. We also challenged them to bring this to parliament and get the approval from the parliamentary group. We said we will defeat this by getting two thirds or most of the parliament would vote against. This is done to weaken our (Sajith) faction. The Prime Minister is the one who made this proposal with the utmost urgency. We stayed with him (Wickremesinghe) during last October 26 political crisis. He gave us a promise to have a government with a new vision. But he is betraying us and doing this because he has a defeatist mentality. He is doing this to stop a good candidate contesting in the election.”

Samawickrema, who is now a strong backer of Premadasa told the Sunday Times, “I can say categorically that the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and the Tamil People’s Alliance (TPA), will support us.” He said together with him, Minister Mangala Samaraweera and UNP Chairman and Minister Kabir Hashim had met representatives of these political parties. He said, “We are looking forward to propose Premadasa’s name when the Working Committee meets possibly next Tuesday.” He added, “We don’t want to break the party. We want to practise democracy within the party.”

Referring to Samarawickrema’s remarks, JHU leader Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said his party’s support was on the understanding that Premadasa accepts the set of policies and proposals put forward by them. “When we supported Premier Wickremesinghe in 2015, we did so without any understanding. This time, however, we have a clear-cut policy,” he said.

Plan B

At the end of the ministerial meeting, Premier Wickremesinghe summoned a meeting of the would-be members of the proposed Democratic National Front (DNF) in Parliament. However, only SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem turned up. Premadasa met the same group and won the support of some, including the SLMC and Mano Ganesan’s TPA.

With the dates announced for nominations and elections, there is now no alternative for Wickremesinghe but to formally decide on who the UNP candidate would be. There are expectations he would summon the party’s Working Committee for a meeting next week. He has asked some ministers who are loyal to him and abroad to return. Until yesterday, at least officially, Wickremesinghe has not changed his mind from contesting. He has only looked at an option or what his backers call a ‘Plan B’.

That is to field Speaker Karu Jayasuriya as the alternative candidate. In the light of the most recent developments, how members of the Working Committee would react remains a critical question. Another is whether members of the UNP parliamentary group would also be invited to join in to choose a candidate. Either way, both sides were confident that they had wider support. Premadasa told a news conference on Friday that Wickremesinghe could be Premier and leader of the UNP if he (Premadasa) is chosen as candidate. Though he claimed earlier that he would not take a step backward and would remain the UNP presidential candidate, he said this week that he would abide by the Working Committee’s decision – an evident shift of position.

How did the move to suddenly abolish the executive presidency originate? Both President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe are passing the ball to each other. On one occasion, Sirisena told at least two different Cabinet Ministers backing Premadasa in separate comments, that it was Minister Ravi Karunanayake who was behind the move to abolish the executive presidency. He said he had been canvassing for it. He was backed by Premier Wickremesinghe, he added. In turn, Wickremesinghe told a public meeting in Pasyala on Friday that it was President Sirisena who had asked him to discuss the abolition of the executive presidency at the Cabinet.

A third view is that the Cabinet meeting was summoned after the Tamil National Alliance ( TNA) MP M. Sumanthiran spoke to the President to discuss matters relating to the abolition of the executive presidency. Sumathiran told the Sunday Times, “I asked the President about the pledge of abolishing the executive presidency. He told me that this would be the last presidential election and he would take steps to abolish the executive presidential system before his term ends, keeping with the assurances given earlier including at (Ven.) Sobitha Thera’s funeral”.

He went on to say that on Wednesday, when the TNA delegation headed by R. Sampanthan met the Prime Minister “we called for the abolition of the executive presidential system in keeping with the promises given during the 2015 election campaign. We suggested that since there was not enough time to implement the proposal, it could be presented to Parliament, and they could go through the second stage in the next term of Parliament”.

There is no gainsaying that both Sirisena and Wickremesinghe wanted it, for their own political reasons, though, after the issue misfired, they are pointing fingers at each other. They are both accountable and should take the responsibility as the country’s topmost leaders in power. As pointed out earlier, Sumanthiran did tell a friend after a previous meeting with Sirisena that if the President was serious when he suggested that to him three months ago, there would be no executive presidency.

Sumanthiran had conveyed the outcome of his talks with the President to Premier Wickremesinghe when the latter was in Jaffna as earlier reported in these columns. Thus, the seed was planted on the PM’s mind on the need to hurriedly abolish the executive presidency. It sprouted when Premier Wickremesinghe found that was an excellent opportunity. So much so, he did not even consult his parliamentary group or the Working Committee but went ahead. Being friends, Sumanthiran’s counsel was readily available to Premier Wickremesinghe. Though it is true, often, the TNA membership is not always familiar with reports in the English media and some of their leaders take the liberty of using their name-board to back up claims. This is particularly on occasions when they must defend their proxy, the UNF government. And, Sumanthiran is all too well known for that fine art.

The PM and Karunanayake were in touch with President Sirisena on the telephone. That was how the latter