Friday, June 3, 2022

හිස ගිනි ගත්තකු එගිනි නිවන ලෙස

 

හර්ෂ ගුණසේන

රට අද මුහුණදී සිටින බරපතල අර්බුදය තවත් බරපතල වී ඇත්තේ එයට විවිධ දේශපාලන පක්ෂ වලින් දැක්වෙන ප්‍රතිචාර නිසාය. ඔවුන්ගේ ප්‍රතිචාර වලට පදනම වන්නේ  ඔවුන්ගේ දේශපාලන දෘෂ්ටි කෝණයයි. එනම් රටේ බලය ලබා ගැනීමේ පරමාර්ථයයි. ඇත්ත වශයෙන්ම ඔවුන් පවතින්නේද එය අරමුණු කර ගෙනය. මේවායින් ලැබෙන විසඳුම් දීර්ඝ කාලීන ඒවා වන අතර පදනම ස්වාර්ථයයි. මෙය වර්තමාන අවශ්‍යතාව නොවේ. අපට ජනතාව කේන්ද්‍ර කරගත් ක්ෂණික විසඳුම් අවශ්‍යව තිබේ.

ජනාධිපතිවරයා සහ ඔහු විසින් පත්කරන ලද පුද්ගලයන් රට මුහුණ දී ඇති මෙම විනාශය සඳහා වග කිවයුතු බව අපි දනිමු. ජනාධිපතිවරයා ද එය පිළිගෙන ඇත. ජාත්‍යන්තර මූූල්‍ය අරමුදලේ කළමනාකාර අධ්‍යක්ෂවරිය පෙන්වා දුන් පරිදි එය වැරදි කළමනාකාරිත්වය නිසා සිදුවූවකි. පසුව එය ආර්ථික අර්බුදයක් බවටද අනතුරුව එය දේශපාලන අර්බුදයක් බවටද විකාශනය  විය.

වර්ෂ 2022 මාර්තු  11 වන දින ජාතිය අමතා කල කථාවේදී 19 වන ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයේ ප්‍රතිපාදන අනුව පාර්ලිමේන්තුව නැවත බල ගැන්වීම සඳහා ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයක් ගෙන එන බවත් ඉන් පසුව  විධායක ජනාධිපති  ක්‍රමය අහෝසි කිරීම සඳහා සාකච්ඡා පවත්වන බවත් ජනාධිපතිවරයා කියා සිටියේය.

 

රටේ බරපතල අප්‍රසාදයට ලක්ව සිටින ජනාධිපතිවරයා බලය අතහැරීම සඳහා ඉදිරිපත් කල මාර්ග සිතියම මෙයයි. එමෙන්ම මෙය නීතිඥ සංගමය ඉදිරිපත් කල යෝජනා වලටද අනුකූල වේ. එබැවින් ඔහු එයට අනුගත විය යුතුය. රටේ යහපත සඳහා නොවේ. අඩුම වශයෙන් ඔහුට ගෞරවනීය ඉවත් වීමක් සහතික කරගනු සඳහාය.

 

නැවත 19 වන ව්‍යවස්ථා ප්‍රතිපාදන ගෙන ඒමේ අවශ්‍යතාව වන්නේ ජනාධිපතිවරයාට ආණ්ඩුවේ එදිනෙදා කටයුතු වලට ඇඟිලි ගැසීමේ හැකියාව වැළැක්වීමයි. මක්නිසාද යත් රට මේ තත්ත්වයට වැටුනේ එම ඇඟිලි ගැසීම් නිසා බැවිනි. එමෙන්ම මෙය ජනාධිපති ක්‍රමය අහෝසි කිරීම සඳහා ජනමත විචාරණයකට ගොස් නව ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් අනුමත කරගැනීමේ අවස්ථාවක්ද නොවේ. නීතිඥ සංගමයේ යෝජනා වල මෙයට කාල රාමුවක් යෝජනා කර තිබුන අතර ජනාධිපතිවරයා සිය කථාවේදී එය සඳහන් කළේය.

 

එබැවින් යම් දේශපාලන පක්ෂයක්, ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණ යෝජනා කරන්නාක් මෙන් ආර්ථික ප්‍රශ්ණය පළමුව විසඳා දේශපාලන ප්‍රශ්ණය දෙවනුව විසඳිය යුතු යයි යෝජනා කරන්නේ නම් හෝ සමගි ජන බලවේගය යෝජනා කරන්නාක් මෙන් මේ අවස්ථාවේදී ජනාධිපති ක්‍රමය සම්පුර්ණයෙන් අහෝසි කල යුතුයයි යෝජනා කරන්නේ නම් හෝ ජාතික ජන බලවේගය යෝජනා කරන්නාක් මෙන් එකිනෙකා ගේ සොරකම් වසාගන්නා ඩීල් දේශපාලනයකට තමන් සහයෝගය නොදක්වන්නේ යයි ප්‍රකාශ කරන්නේ නම් හෝ දෙමළ ජාතික සන්ධානය ප්‍රකාශ කරන්නාක් මෙන් තමන් තනිකර ප්‍රතිපත්ති ගරුකව දේශපාලනයේ යෙදෙන බැවින් පවතින ආණ්ඩුවට සහයෝගය නෙදෙන්නේ යයි ප්‍රකාශ කරන්නේ නම් හෝ ඒ සියලු දෙනාම ප්‍රශ්නය දෙස බලන්නේ තමන්ගේ දේශපාලන දෘෂ්ටි කෝණයෙනි. රටේ හෝ ජාතියේ හෝ දෘෂ්ටි කෝණයෙන් නොවේ. රටේ පුරවැසියන් වශයෙන් මෙම ප්‍රකාශ වලට අප අනුගත නොවිය යුතුය.

 

අපේ ගෙය ගිනි ගනිමින් තිබේ. පළමුව අප විසින් වහාම එයින් ඉවත්විය යුතුය. දෙවනුව ගින්න නිවිය යුතුය. වරක් බර්ටෝල්ට් බ්‍රෙෂ්ට් ලියූ පරිදි එළියේ සුළං හමයිද හෝ වැසි වසියි ද හෝ වැනි ප්‍රශ්න අසමින් ගෙයින් පිටතට පැමිණීම අපට කල් දැමිය නොහැක.

සුමන්තිරන් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරයා තමන් ප්‍රතිපත්ති ගරුක දේශපාලනයක නිරත වන බවත් අගමැති ගේ දැන් දේශපාලන ක්‍රියා ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී නොවන බැවින් ඔහුට සහයෝගය නොදක්වන බවත් කීය. “කාලෝ න අයන්තේ”. මේ එයට කාලය නොවේ.

 

දැන් අපට ඇති ප්‍රශ්ණය ජනාධිපතිට දඬුවම් කිරීම නොවේ. ඔහු දඬුවම් විඳිය යුතු බව වෙනම කාරණයකි. පළමුවෙන්ම අප රට මෙම අගාධයෙන් බේරා ගත යුතුය. අනික්වා කලයුත්තේ ඉන් පසුවයි. ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලෙන් හෝ වෙනත් ඕනෑම රටකින් හෝ ආධාර ලබා ගැනීමේ ප්‍රමුඛ කොන්දේසියක් වන්නේ රටේ දේශපාලන ස්ථාවරත්වයයි. පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ සියලුම දේශපාලන පක්ෂ වල සහයෝගයෙන් යුතු අන්තර් වාර ආණ්ඩුවක් අවශ්‍ය ඒ නිසාය. එමෙන්ම මහා මැතිවරණයකින් පත්වන නව ආණ්ඩුවක් විශේෂයෙන්ම දැන් පවතින තත්ත්වය යටතේ එවැනි ආණ්ඩුවක් විශාල බලයක් සහිත විය හැකි බැවින් රටට  දැන් අවශ්‍ය බරපතල ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ එවැනි ආණ්ඩුවකින් කර ගත හැකි වෙතැයි සීතීම සිහිනයක් විය හැක. මේ රටේ සියලු දේශපාලන පක්ෂ වල සම්මුතියෙන් ව්‍යවස්ථාව පිලිබඳ අණ පනත් ඇතිවී ඇත්තේ දෙකකි. එනම් 17 වන සහ  19 වන ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයි. ඒ අවස්ථා දෙකේ දීම වැඩි බලය තිබුනේ වර්තමාන වැඩි බලය තිබෙන කණ්ඩායම ටයි. අනෙක් සියලුම ව්‍යවස්ථාවන් සහ ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන අත්තනෝමතික ආණ්ඩු විසින් කරන ලද ක්‍රියාවන් වේ. එබැවින් පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසින් මැදුම් සම්මුතියකට පැමිණීම අවශ්‍යය.

 

මෙයට පෙර සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස අගමැති ලෙස පත්කිරීමට ජනාධිපති උත්සාහ කලත් එය ව්‍යවර්ථ විය. ප්‍රේමදාස විසින් ජනාධිපතිවරයා අස්විය යුතු බවට කොන්දේසියක් ඉදිරිපත් කළේය. රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහට අගමැති ධුරය බාර දුන්නේ ඉන් පසුවය. වික්‍රමසිංහ ඒ අවස්ථාවේ දී අගමැති ධුරය බාර නොගත්තේ නම්

ජනාධිපති අර්බුදය කට යන බව සත්‍යයකි. සමහර විට ඔහු ඉල්ලා අස්විය හැකිව තිබුණි. සමහර විට ඔහු හමුදා විසඳුමක් දෙසට තල්ලු වීමට ඉඩ තිබුණි. කාබනික පොහොර එක රැයින් තහනම් කල ජනාධිපති වරයා වැනි පුද්ගලයෙකුට ඕනෑම මුග්ධ තීරණයක් ගත හැක. ප්‍රතිඵලය රට වේගයෙන් අගාධයට යාමයි. ඒ අනුසාරයෙන් ඔහුටද බලය අහිමි වනු ඇත. එක අතකින් රට අගාධයට වැටීමත්  අනෙක් අතින් ජනාධිපති ඉල්ලා අස්වීමත්  සලකා බැලීමේදී මේ ජනාධිපතිගේ ඉල්ලා අස්වීමට එතරම් මිලක් ගෙවිය යුතුද?

 

උම්මග්ග ජාතකයේ කථාවේ දරුවා අයිතිකර ගැනීමේ උත්සාහයේ දී ඔහු දෙපසට ඇදෙන විට පළමුවෙන් දරුවා අත හරින්නේ  ඔහුට ආදරය කරන මවයි, යකින්න නොවේ. හුණුවටයේ කථාවේ දරුවා අතහරින්නේ ඔහු හදා වඩා ගත් කිරි මව වන ගෘෂා යි. රාජ්‍යත්වය වෙනුවෙන් පමණක් ඔහු අවශ්‍ය වන ඔහුගේ මව වන රැජින නොවේ.

එසේය. වත්මන් අගමැතිවරයා පත් කිරීමෙන් ජනාධිපතිවරයාට දේශපාලන වාසියක් අත්වි තිබේ. එමෙන්ම එය ජනතාවගෙන් ප්‍රතික්ෂේපව සිටි අගමැතිවරයා ටද දේශපාලන වාසියකි. රටටද වාසියක් අත්වි තිබේ. රටේ දෘෂ්ටි කෝණයෙන් ප්‍රශ්ණය දෙස බැලු විට මෙහි ගැටලුවක් නැත. මක්නිසාද යත් එය රටට වාසියක් වන බැවිනි.

විපක්ෂ දේශපාලන පක්ෂ වර්තමාන දේශපාලන වැඩ පිළිවෙලට සහයෝගය නොදෙන්නේ නම් එය රටට අහිතකරයි. එම දේශපාලන පක්ෂ සිතන ආකාරයට එය ඔවුන්ගේ දේශපාලන ඉදිරි ගමනට වාසි සහගත වනු ඇත. එබැවින් මෙවැනි ක්‍රියා වලට පුරවැසියන් වශයෙන් අපි විරුද්ධ විය යුතුය.

වත්මන් අගමැතිවරයා විසින් පෙර  රාජපක්ෂ වරුන් රකින ලදැයි චෝදනා තිබේ. ඔහුගේ අධිකරණ ඇමතිවරයා අතීතයේදී තමන් එසේ කල බව ප්‍රසිද්ධියේ කියා සිටියේය. එබැවින් විපක්ෂ දේශපාලන පක්ෂ වල කාර්ය භාරය වන්නේ මෙම දේශපාලන ක්‍රියාදාමය ට සම්බන්ධ වී එහි විනිවිද භාවය රැකීමයි.

රටේ විශාල දේශපාලන පරිවර්තනයකට මෙන්ම රාජ්‍ය ආයතනවලද පරිවර්තනයකට හේතුවූ ගෝටාගෝගම රටේ නව දේශපාලන සංස්කෘතියකට  සහ දේශපාලන පක්ෂ විසින් අතපසු කල ආර්ථික ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ සඳහා අරගල කල යුතුය.

නව දේශපාලන සංස්කෘතියකට ජනතා නියෝජිතයන් ආපසු කැඳවිය හැකි නව ජනතා ව්‍යවස්ථාවක්  සහ නව ජනරජයක් ද දේශපාලනඥයන්ගේ සහ රාජ්‍ය සේවකයන්ගේ දුෂණය අවම කෙරෙන ප්‍රතිපාදන ඇතුලත් විය යුතුය.

ආර්ථික ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ වල අරමුණු කල යුත්තේ රාජ්‍ය ආදායම වැඩි කරමින් සහ රාජ්‍ය වියදම අඩු කරමින් අයවැය හිඟය අවම කිරීමට සහ ආනයන වියදමට සාපේක්ෂව අපනයන ආදායම වැඩිකරමින් රටේ ජංගම ගිණුමේ අතිරික්තයක් ඇතිකර ගැනීමටයි.  රටේ ආදායම් බෙදී යාමේ විෂමතාව ද  අඩු කර ගත යුතුය.

නව දේශපාලන සංස්කෘතියක් සඳහා අගමැතිවරයා විසින් යෝජනා කර ඇති පාර්ලිමේන්තු කමිටු ගැනද සැලකිලිමත්වීම සුදුසුය. වර්තමානයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මූල්‍ය කමිටු ද නව පිබිදීමකින් කටයුතු කරනු පෙනේ. අගමැතිවරයා තවත් මූල්‍ය කමිටුවක්ද අධීක්ෂණ කාරක සභා දහයක් ද යෝජනා කරන අතර ඒවාට පාර්ලිමේන්තුවෙන් පිට අය පත් කිරීමටද යෝජනා කරයි.මොවුන් අතර විද්වතුන් සහ විශේෂයෙන්ම අරගලයේ යෙදෙන තරුණ ප්‍රජාව ගේ නියෝජනත්වයද ඔහු යෝජනා කරයි. මෙම යෝජනා නීතිඥ සංගමයේ උපදේශක සභාවෙන් ඔබ්බට යන අතර මෙතෙක් පවතී ක්‍රමය සම්පුර්ණයෙන් වෙනස් කිරීමකි.

එයට අමතරව ඔහු කථානායක, අගමැති, විපක්ෂ නායක සහ දේශපාලන පක්ෂ නායකයන් ගෙන් යුතු ජාතික සභාවක් යෝජනා කරන අතර අධීක්ෂණ කාරක සභාවල සභාපතිවරුන්ද ඇමතිවරුන්ද ජාතික සභාවට වාර්තා කල යුතු බව කියා සිටියි. මේ අනුසාරයෙන් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ බලය සහ අධීක්ෂණය ශක්තිමත්වේ. මෙය 20 වන සංශෝධනය හරහා ජනාධිපතිට ලැබී තිබුන රට විනාශය කර ගෙනගිය අත්තනෝමතික බලය පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ගෙන එතුලද එක්තරා ආකාරයකට බලය විමධ්‍යගත කිරීමකි.

මේ අවස්ථාව අලුතෙන් සිතිය යුතු අවස්ථාවකි. පැරණි චින්තනයට වහල් විය යුතු අවස්ථාවක් නොවේ.

අනිද්දා - සමබිම ඉරිදා සංග්‍රහය අතිරේකය- 5 ජුනි 2022 

House is burning so get out of it first

 Thursday, 2 June 2022 01:34

 -

Yes, it is politically advantageous for the President to appoint RW as the PM, but it is advantageous for the country as well. We should not have any issue with it if we are looking at the problem in the perspective of the country

 


The disastrous situation faced by the country today is aggravated by the different responses to it by the different political parties. Their responses are based on how they look at the problem. Their perspective is based on capturing or keeping their power in the country. In fact, that is the purpose of their existence. However, this perspective provides a long-term self-centric solution which is not the need of the hour. We need a quick, people-centric solution which may have adverse effects to those political parties. Unfortunately, not only the political parties but also the people who are affiliated to those political parties look at the problem in the same respective perspectives. Hence, we have chaos in the Parliament.

It is a known and well-discussed fact that the President and the persons appointed by him are responsible for this manmade disaster. The President admitted it. It was bad management as confirmed by the Managing Director of IMF recently. Then it turned to an economic problem and now it is a political problem.

In his address to the nation on 11 May 2022, he stated as follows: “Steps will be taken to amend the Constitution to re-enact the contents of the 19th Amendment to further empower the Parliament.” He also said he would hold discussions on abolition of the Executive Presidency, which is among the main demands of the protesters.

This was the road map of the President who was utterly unpopular at the time he made this address, and this was in line with the proposals of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL). Therefore, he should abide by it, not for anything else but for securing an honourable exit for him.

The reason for bringing back the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, of cause with the elimination of the deficiencies experienced in that legislature, is to ensure that the President has no such authority to meddle with the affairs of governance since it was that very authority which dragged the country to this level. Also, this is not the time to go for a referendum and abolish the executive presidency all together. There is a timeframe to it as suggested by the BASL and indicated by the President. Of course, a commitment should be obtained from him. 

Therefore, if any political party insists that the economic problem should be resolved first prior to the constitutional issues, as claimed by SLPP or Presidential system should be abolished now after having a referendum as claimed by SJB or that they should not support these underhand deals as claimed by JJB, they are looking at the problem not on national perspective but on their own political perspective. As the citizens we should condemn all these viewpoints.

Our house is burning today. First, we should get out of it and then try to extinguish the fire. As Bertolt Brecht once said we should not keep asking whether the outside is windy or raining prior to getting out of the house.

The problem at hand is not to punish the President, although he should be punished. First, we have to save the country and then look at the rest. We need political stability to seek IMF assistance, so as any assistance from any country. That is why an interim government is needed with the support of all in the Parliament. A government appointed after an election with very high majority will not address the problems we face. We have experience in this respect. Both 17th and 19th Amendments to the Constitution were passed by the minority governments.

The President tried to appoint Sajith Premadasa as the Prime Minister (PM) but he declined. He demanded that the President should resign. Then the President appointed Ranil Wickremesinghe (RW) as the PM. If RW did not accept the post the President would have been in trouble. He may have resigned, or he may have opted for a military solution. A person with this type of mentality is capable of doing anything. The result would be a free fall of the country. Eventually he also would be out of the power. Is the President worth that much to get him out on one hand and allow a free fall of the country on the other hand? No, he is not.

Yes, it is politically advantageous for the President to appoint RW as the PM, but it is advantageous for the country as well. We should not have any issue with it if we are looking at the problem in the perspective of the country. Otherwise, we have an issue. It is also politically advantageous for RW as well taking the risk and getting appointed the PM but once again it is beneficial to the country.

If any other party does not support for the ongoing political process, it would be disastrous to the country but on the advantage of that political party. Therefore, as citizens we should oppose such moves.

RW is having a bad reputation for saving the Rajapaksas from the punishments. His current Minister of Justice once claimed that he intentionally did so. Therefore, it is the duty of the opposition parties to get involved in this political process and make sure that it is transparent. That is the duty of a responsible opposition rather than blaming the government and keeping away from the process.

It should also be emphasised that the protest movement at Gota-Go-Gama should be kept intact. Citizens should support the process until our end result of having a totally new political culture and getting implemented the economic reforms that were long overdue which contributed to the present disaster.

The new political culture should comprise of a totally new constitution by the people which provides the recalling power of the elected members to the voters and thereby creating a new Republic. Provisions should be there to minimise the corruption of the politicians and that of the public servants and all of them should be kept at the level of servants of the people not the masters.

Economic reforms should be comprising of reducing the budget deficit by increasing the revenue and decreasing the expenditure and reducing the current account deficit by having more exports than imports while minimising the inequality of income distribution. Policies should be pragmatic and not based on different ideologies and fighting with one another to defend those.

It is in this light that we should examine the recent proposals of the PM of governance. He proposed two additional committees in addition to the existing three financial committees of the Parliament and 10 oversight committees under the standing order 111. He also emphasised that the chairpersons of these committees should be appointed by the backbenchers of the Parliament and not by the Ministers. Then he proposed to appoint four youth representatives to each of these 15 committees. One from the Youth Parliament. The other three from the protesting groups and other activist groups. In addition, there will be people with expertise in specific fields in this work, appointed to the committees. Establishing these committees is in line with the proposals of the BASL and it goes beyond those proposals. These committees as hitherto practiced will not be limited to the MPs.

He also suggested to have a National Council comprising of the Speaker, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the leaders of the major parties. It can summon the Cabinet of Ministers and the Chairmen of Committees. National Council and the Committees should report to the Parliament. Therefore, it is a remedy to the governance lapses which contributed to the present disaster faced by the country.

Members of Parliament and the political parties should give serious consideration for these out of the box proposals which type of ones are the need of the hour. 

(Published in Daily Ft on June 2, 2022)

https://www.ft.lk/columns/House-is-burning-so-get-out-of-it-first/4-735599

Emphasis Should Be Given To Getting Out Of This Mess First

 By Harsha Gunasena –

Harsha Gunasena

It is a known and well discussed fact that the President and the persons appointed by him are responsible for the current man-made disaster faced by the country. The President admitted it. It was bad management as confirmed by the Managing Director of IMF recently. Then it turned to an economic problem and now it is a political problem.

The disastrous situation faced by the country today is aggravated by the different responses to it by the different political parties. Their responses are based on how they look at the problem. Their perspective is based on capturing or keeping their power in the country. In fact, that is the purpose of their existence. However, this perspective provides a long term self-centric solution which is not the need of the hour. We need quick, people-centric solution which may have adverse effects to those political parties. Unfortunately, not only the political parties but also the people who are affiliated to those political parties look at the problem in the same respective perspectives. Hence, we have chaos in the Parliament.

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In his address to the nation on May 11, 2022, he stated as follows.

“Steps will be taken to amend the constitution to re-enact the contents of the 19th Amendment to further empower the Parliament.” He also said he would hold discussions on abolition of the Executive Presidency, which is among the main demand of the protesters.

This was the road map of the President who was utterly unpopular at the time he made this address, and this was in line with the proposals of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL). Therefore, he should abide by it, not for anything else but for securing an honorable exit for him.

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The reason for bringing back the 19th amendment to the constitution, of cause with the elimination of the deficiencies experienced in that legislature, is to ensure that the President has no such authority to meddle with the affairs of governance since it was that very authority which dragged the country to this level. Also, this is not the time to go for a referendum and abolish the executive presidency all together. There is a time frame to it as suggested by the BASL and indicated by the President. Of course, a commitment should be obtained from him. Therefore, if any political party insists that economic problem should be resolved first prior to the constitutional issues, as claimed by SLPP or Presidential system should be abolished now after having a referendum as claimed by SJB or that they should not support these underhand deals as claimed by JJB, they are looking at the problem not on national perspective but on their own political perspective. As the citizens we should condemn all these viewpoints.

Our house is burning today. First, we should get out of it and then try to extinguish the fire. As Bertolt Brecht once said we should not keep asking whether the outside is windy or raining prior to getting out of the house.

The problem at hand is not to punish the President, although he should be punished. First, we have to save the country and then look at the rest. We need political stability to seek IMF assistance, so as any assistance from any country. That is why an interim government is needed with the support of all in the Parliament. A government appointed after an election with very high majority will not address the problems we face. We have experience in this respect. Both 17th and 19th amendments to the constitution were passed by the minority governments.

The President tried to appoint Sajith Premadasa as the Prime Minister (PM) but he declined. He demanded that the President should resign. Then the President appointed Ranil Wikremesinghe (RW) as the PM. If RW did not accept the post the President would have been in trouble. He may have resigned, or he may have opted for a military solution. A person with this type of mentality is capable of doing anything. The result would be a free fall of the country. Eventually he also would be out of the power. Is the President worth that much to get him out on one hand and allow a free fall of the country on the other hand? No, he is not.

Yes, it is a politically advantageous for the President to appoint RW as the PM, but it is advantageous for the country as well. We should not have any issue with it if we are looking at the problem in the perspective of the country. Otherwise, we have an issue. It is also politically advantageous for RW as well taking the risk and getting appointed the PM but once again it is beneficial to the country.

If any other party does not support for the ongoing political process, it would be disastrous to the country but on the advantage of that political party. Therefore, as citizens we should oppose such moves.

RW is having a bad reputation for saving the Rajapaksas from the punishments. His current Minister of Justice once claimed that he intentionally did so. Therefore, it is the duty of the opposition parties to get involved in this political process and make sure that it is transparent. That is the duty of a responsible opposition rather than blaming the government and keeping away from the process.

It should also be emphasized that the Protest movement at Gota-Go-Gama should be kept intact. Citizens should support the process until our end result of having a totally new political culture and getting implemented the economic reforms that were long overdue which contributed to the present disaster.

The new political culture should comprise of a totally new constitution by the people which provides the recalling power of the elected members to the voters and thereby creating a new Republic. Provisions should be there to minimize the corruption of the politicians and that of the public servants and all of them should be kept at the level of servants of the people not the masters.

Economic reforms should be comprising of reducing the budget deficit by increasing the revenue and decreasing the expenditure and reducing the current account deficit by having more exports than imports while minimizing the inequality of income distribution. Policies should be pragmatic and not based on different ideologies and fighting with one another to defend those.

It is in this light that we should examine the recent proposals of the PM of governance. He proposed two additional committees in addition to the existing three financial committees of the Parliament and ten oversight committees under the standing order 111. He also emphasized that the chairpersons of these committees should be appointed by the backbenchers of the parliament and not by the Ministers. Then he proposed to appoint four youth representatives to each of these 15 committees. One from the Youth Parliament and the other three from the protesting groups and other activist groups. In addition, there will be people with expertise in specific fields in this work, appointed to the committees. Establishing these committees is in line with the proposals of the BASL and it goes beyond those proposals. These committees as hither to practiced will not be limited to the MPs.

He also suggested to have a National Council comprising of the Speaker, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the leaders of the major parties. It can summon the Cabinet of Ministers and the Chairmen of Committees. National Council and the Committees should report to the Parliament. Therefore, it is a remedy to the governance lapses which contributed to the present disaster faced by the country.

Members of Parliament and the political parties should give serious consideration for these out of the box proposals which type of ones are the need of the hour.

(Published in Colombo Telegraph on May 30, 2022)

https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/emphasis-should-be-given-to-getting-out-of-this-mess-first/


Recalling Of Elected Representatives Should Be Included To The Constitution

 By Harsha Gunasena –

Harsha Gunasena

The political situation in Sri Lanka is unprecedented. This was caused by the deteriorating balance of payment crisis which was triggered by the wrong decisions taken by the Government which was admitted by the President and the former Minister of Finance.

People in the street have demanded the resignation of the President and the Government, especially the Rajapaksa clan which was the governing cartel of Sri Lanka. Their anger was directed at the members of the legislature as well. All these persons were elected by the majority of the people in the last Presidential election and in the last General election which were conducted in November 2019 and in August 2020 respectively. This unpopularity occurred less than one and half years of the election of the President and little more than one and half years of the legislatures.

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The main reason for this situation was that the concentration of power to the inexperienced President by the 20th Amendment to the constitution. He has exercised his authority in an arrogant way and no one including his elder brother who is the Prime Minister was able to take him to the correct path. The best example is organic fertilizer fiasco. He declared his decision proudly at the UN General Assembly and UN Climate Summit held in Glasgow.

Since there is a growing dissatisfaction of the conduct of the public representatives and there are attempts to introduce amendments to the constitution to curtail the power of the President, it is pertinent to explore the possibilities of introducing amendments to the constitution allowing the recalling powers to the voters of the representatives elected by them as requested by many.

Different models of recallingli

There are number of examples in different countries in this respect, especially in Europe and in American continent. There are mainly two models. The first model is of three stages. Those are, submitting the recalling petition with a required number of signatures of the voters; holding the recalling election; and if the member is recalled a by election is held to elect a new representative. The second model is a two-stage process. If the sufficient signatories could be collected by the promoters, then the seat is vacant. The next step would be to hold a by election. It is obvious that in the second model the required number of signatories would be higher compared to the first model and it would be over 50% or in some cases over 2/3rd of the voters.

Latvia is a country using proportional representation system and according to Article 14 of the Latvian constitution, not less than one tenth of electors has the right to initiate a national referendum regarding recalling of the Saeima (parliament). If the majority of voters and at least two thirds of the number of the voters who participated in the last elections of the Saeima vote in the national referendum regarding recalling of the Saeima, then the Saeima shall be deemed recalled. Therefore, no individual representatives could be recalled but the entire legislature.

In Germany, the recall of members of the state parliaments exists in five states. Like Latvia there is no possibility of recalling individual members but the whole legislatures.


In Switzerland, the recalling facility is not available in the federal government. However, at the cantonal level it is available and there was only one successful example 160 years ago.

In Ecuador, Article 105 of the constitution is as follows. “People in enjoyment of political rights may revoke the mandate of popularly elected authorities. The request for revocation of the mandate may be submitted once the first and before the last year of the period for which the authority in question was elected. During the management period of an authority, only one process of revocation of the mandate may be carried out. The revocation request must be supported by a number not less than ten percent of people registered in the corresponding electoral registry. In the case of the President of the Republic, the support of a number not less than fifteen percent of those registered in the electoral registry will be required.”

In Canada the parliament tried to introduce recalling facility by Bill C-269. However, this was defeated at the second reading in the House of Commons in June 2021. According to the provisions of the Bill, the recalling petition should be signed by at least 25% of the voters. If at the recalling election 50% of the voters support it, a by election would be held to elect the new representative.

In India, at the time of independence when this proposal for recalling was suggested but the architect of the Indian constitution B.R. Ambedkar did not accept it. In 1974, a Bill was introduced to Lok Sabha to this effect, but it did not pass. However, this facility is available in Panchayat level local government system.

In the UK the situation is different. The Recall of MPs Act 2015(c.25) was passed in March 2015, Here the initiation is not by the public and it is automatic. A Member of Parliament can be recalled if the member commit any of the following. If the MP has, after becoming an MP, been convicted in the United Kingdom of an offence and sentenced or ordered to be imprisoned or detained; or if following on from a report from the Committee on Standards in relation to the MP, the House of Commons orders the suspension of the MP from the service of the House for a specified period of the requisite length; or if the MP has, after becoming an MP, been convicted of an offence under section 10 of the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 (offence of providing false or misleading information for allowances claims). Speaker should inform this to the Petition Officer and if the subsequent recall petition is successful, by being signed by at least 10% of the electorate, a by-election is called.

In Peru the members of the legislature cannot be recalled but the members of municipalities could be recalled. Peru has the highest number of attempts, recalling elections held and the removed elected members.

Proposed system for Sri Lanka

Under the proportional representation system of Sri Lanka, it is not necessary to hold a by-election if a member is recalled and the non-elected member who has taken highest number of votes at the General Election could be selected as the new member of parliament. Therefore, it would be a three stage process. Those are, submitting the recalling petition with a required number of signatures of the voters; holding the recalling election; and if the member is recalled appoint the person next in line to the legislature. The third stage is just a nomination.

The recalling election should cover the districts since the members are elected by the voters of the entire district. It should be conducted by the Election Commission. The member could be recalled by the simple majority of the voters.

We have to decide the percentage of the voters who should sign the petition. If it is 25% of the registered voters, 450,000 signatures should be obtained in Gampaha district which is the most populous district and 72,000 signatures should be obtained in Vanni district which is the least populous district, based on 2020 electoral statistics. After the intention is conveyed by the promoters along with the underlying reasons for it, the process of obtaining signatures could be facilitated at the offices of the Gramasevakas.

There are attempts to introduce the 21 Amendment to the constitution. Proposals were made by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka and the Samagi Jana Balavegaya. It is suggested to include this provision as well to the proposed amendments covering not only the Parliament but also the Provincial Councils and local authorities.

(Published in Colombo Telegraph on May 15, 2022)

https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/recalling-of-elected-representatives-should-be-included-to-the-constitution/