- SJB members refrain from attending Speaker’s post-Budget dinner
- Opposition Leader hosts SJB MPs for separate ‘healthy’ dinner
- Disgruntled govt. ministers gang up against ‘all powerful’ officials
- SLFP MPs meet MR to discuss growing issues in government alliance
The maiden budget of the Government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa for 2021 was passed in Parliament last Thursday (10) with a majority of 97 votes. The Third Reading of the 2021 Budget received 151 votes in favour and 54 votes against.
However, the number of votes cast against the Government’s 2021 Budget at the Third Reading vote saw two additional votes being cast by the Opposition.
The Second Reading vote of the Budget held on 21 November saw the proposals being passed with a majority of 99 votes with 151 MPs voting in favour of the proposals and 52 legislators voting against them. Therefore, the Second Reading vote was passed with a majority of 99 votes while the Third Reading vote was passed with a majority of 97 votes.
Nevertheless, the 2021 Budget was passed with a two-thirds majority in the House and Parliament last week concluded its sittings for the year.
Before concluding its sittings, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, in his concluding remarks, said that the parliamentary party leaders meeting has discussed in detail about the conduct and vocabulary of government and opposition parliamentarians during sessions. It was noted during the meeting that there has been an increase in the use of inappropriate words during parliamentary sessions.
The Speaker has agreed that the matter has to be addressed immediately, since it affected the honour of the august assembly, as sessions were being telecast live on social media and television.
It was then decided that the Speaker would formulate a proposal that would be implemented in the House with the approval of the party leaders when Parliament meets next year.
The first session of Parliament for 2021 was set for 5 January 2021.
Meanwhile, the traditional post-budget dinner hosted by the Speaker of Parliament also became the talk of the town this time around.
The main reason for the attention on the banquet was the revelation in the media that close to 500 guests including the 225 parliamentarians and parliament staff had been invited for the Speaker’s dinner.
Opposition members raised several concerns over the banquet due to several reasons ranging from the health guidelines due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the expenditure of state funds at a time when the general public was faced with many financial difficulties.
It was Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Chaminda Wijesiri who raised the issue in the House.
On Thursday (10) morning, the last day of Parliament for the year, Wijesiri, while thanking the Speaker for hosting the banquet, expressed concerns as well.
“I thank you very much for the banquet. But at a time when the public does not even have monies for proper meals, instead of inviting 225 MPs for a banquet, would it not be better to use the money spent on it for the ongoing programmes to address the Covid-19 issue? We remember that former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya did not host any banquets last year due to the Easter Sunday tragedy. I think it would be a good decision for you as well as the Government. I’m not asking to violate a tradition. All I’m asking is for you to reconsider, as it would be good to do so even for the Government at this juncture,” Wijesiri had said.
In response, the Speaker had said that he would consider the points raised by the legislator.
However, the dinner proceeded as planned, but most MPs invited were not present at the event. It is learnt that SJB MPs had refrained from attending the Speaker’s dinner.
Members of the SJB were hosted for a separate dinner by Opposition and SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa at the restaurant at Access Tower in Colombo 2.
The decision by Premadasa to host a separate dinner for the SJBers was due to health concerns, it is learnt. Premadasa had discussed with his party seniors, the need for the Opposition to adhere to health guidelines and set an example to the public as well as to show that the law applies to all.
Cracks in the alliance?
While the Budget of the national Government for 2021 was passed with a two-thirds majority, the governing Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) is finding it somewhat difficult to get its budgets for next year passed in the local government bodies.
The reason for this is the cracks that seem to be appearing in the alliance formed between the SLPP and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).
SLFP politicians in the local government bodies are disgruntled by their continuous sidelining by the governing SLPP. Despite continuous complaints made to the SLFP hierarchy, the lower level members of the party have not received any viable solution to address their issues in a manner that would help their political futures.
Finally, the SLFPers in the local government bodies decided to take matters into their own hands and started to vote against the budget proposals for 2021 presented by the SLPP.
So far, several budget proposals have been defeated by the SLFP and in some local government bodies, the SLPP’s budget for 2021 has been defeated twice, resulting in the governing party losing control over the respective local authority.
The irony is that when the senior SLFP members sit together with the SLPP, working in line with the alliance formed between the two parties, the SLFPers at local governments are beginning to rally against the governing party.
It is in this backdrop that the SLFP parliamentary group decided to meet with Prime Minister Rajapaksa last Thursday to discuss and resolve the issues faced by the SLFPers.
The SLFP MPs had first made their way to the Prime Minister’s Office at the parliamentary complex prior to the Third Reading vote on the Government’s 2021 Budget.
However, hearing the serious concerns raised by the SLFP MPs, the Premier had said that the discussion should continue and had requested the SLFP legislators to return to his office after the budget vote. Agreeing to continue the meeting, the SLFPers had returned to the chamber to cast their votes.
After the budget vote, the Prime Minister and the SLFP MPs have recommenced the discussion.
During the discussion, the SLFP MPs have pointed out the grievances of the SLFPers at the local government level.
[caption id="attachment_108835" align="alignleft" width="300"]
SLFP General Secretary Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera[/caption]
“We are working as an alliance, but for it to be fully functional, the alliance should work at all levels of governance. The situation in the local government bodies is quite different,” SLFP General Secretary Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera had said.
He has explained that despite the SLPP and SLFP forming an alliance and winning two key national elections, the SLFP members in the local government bodies were being sidelined.
“In fact, some of our (SLFP) members in the local government bodies are still seated in the Opposition in their respective governing bodies. It is hilarious to see us sitting together an as alliance while SLFPers in some local governments are seated in opposition,” several other SLFP MPs had noted.
The Prime Minister had listened patiently to the issues raised by the SLFP.
The SLFPers have then pointed out that the SLPP had failed to honour the agreements signed between the two parties in the run-up to the elections.
It was noted that the SLFP members in the local governments were not allocated even their due financial allocations to carry out work in their electorates.
The Prime Minister had also shared the concerns raised by the SLFP MPs and said he understood the difficulty in the present situation.
However, Rajapaksa’s response had been that as Party Leader, there was only limited intervention he could make and had asked SLPP General Secretary MP Sagara Kariyawasam, who was also at the meeting, to address the concerns.
“It is up to the Party Secretary to address these issues,” Rajapaksa had said and had requested Kariyawasam to work towards honouring the agreements reached between the two parties.
Kariyawasam had agreed and the meeting had come to an end.
The SLFP MPs had walked out of the meeting without a solid solution to the issues faced by the SLFPers at the grassroots level, but with the satisfaction that the issues have now been raised with the Leader and General Secretary of the SLPP.
It was just last month that the seniors of the SLFP and SLPP sat together with the district leaders and electoral organisers of the two parties to iron out differences in a bid to strengthen the SLFP-SLPP alliance.
Meanwhile, last week also saw the defeat of several budget proposals presented by the SLPP in several local government bodies.
The budget proposals of the Medadumbara Pradeshiya Sabha headed by the SLPP were defeated last week. The budget had received 17 votes in support and 14 votes against it.
Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Ashoka Samarakoon had alleged that members of his own party was conspiring to remove him as the chair.
Also, the SLPP-led Ja-Ela Pradeshiya Sabha faced stiff resistance from the Opposition last week. Opposition members of the local government body staged a walkout during last week’s session, claiming that the Chairman of the authority had to step down since the vote on account presented recently was defeated.
The SLPP also saw the defeat of one of its 2021 budgets presented to a local government for a second time recently.
The budget for 2021 presented by the SLPP in the Badulla Municipal Council was reportedly defeated twice.
The reason for the budget’s defeat was the decision by the SLFP to vote against the budget.
It is learnt that the SLPP and SLFP had reached an agreement where the SLPP would handover the chair of the local government body to the SLFP after two years.
However, the SLPP had failed to handover the chair of the council to the SLFP, resulting in the latter deciding to vote against the budget.
Ministers concerned
The Cabinet of Ministers once again held the weekly Cabinet meeting online and several ministers had expressed their desire to hold live Cabinet meetings from this week onwards.
[caption id="attachment_108836" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Democratic Left Front Secretary Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara[/caption]
At the outset of the meeting, Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara had raised concerns over the high commodity prices and the issuing of gazettes aimed at controlling prices that have failed to be effective.
Minister Bandula Gunawardana had also stepped in and expressed displeasure at the manner in which certain senior government officials were carrying out affairs of the state.
The Ministers have claimed that the Cabinet cannot be blindsided by state officials.
A request was then made by the ministers from the President. They had requested the President to attend the Cabinet-appointed Cost of Living Committee at least once a month in order to ensure that decisions are made and implemented in a proper manner.
Once the discussion on the concerns over commodity prices had ceased, Minister Wimal Weerawansa had said in jest that the Cabinet should meet physically from next week onwards.
“I’m missing the cup of tea and biscuit served at the Presidential Secretariat during the Cabinet meeting,” Weerawansa had said with a smile and his colleagues had joined in laughter.
Growing pains
Nevertheless, government ministers have been disgruntled for some time over what they termed as being sidelined in governance activities by certain officials holding high office.
The issue has now surfaced in the public domain with Ministers Nanayakkara and Gunawardana leading the charge.
It was Gunawardana who first claimed in Parliament that there were a few all-powerful officials in the Government who were engaged in removing institutions under the purview of Cabinet Ministers even without informing them.
He had charged that these officers were trying to reduce government ministers to the level of beggars.
The displeasure of the Minister was evident when he called on the Speaker to summon a state media institution over the distortion of facts.
According to Gunawardana, the respective state-owned media publication, instead of publishing the statements made by the Minister during the debate on his Ministry’s account, had instead published a cartoon attacking him (the Minister). “These all-powerful officials have become that powerful,” Gunawardana lamented.
The Minister had further claimed that the state-owned publication had published a cartoon attacking him since he made critical comments about the all-powerful officials who were trying to challenge the President, Prime Minister, and Parliament.
“According to Clause 148 of the Constitution, it is Parliament that has sole power over public finances. Therefore, if an all-powerful official is trying to work over and above this law and tries to control the Parliament and ministers, and decide on which institutions should be under the purview of which minister, it should be revealed. That is the right of the Parliament,” Gunawardana had charged.
The Minister had accused certain officials at the Finance Ministry of forming a monopoly in the country.
He had further alleged that the Finance Ministry was trying to have its way by misleading ministers and Parliament.
According to the Minister, regardless of who is in government, these Finance Ministry officials are a law unto themselves.
After hearing Trade Minister Gunawardana’s comments, Prime Minister Rajapaksa had telephoned Gunawardana. The Prime Minister had inquired about the speech made by the Minister.
After explaining the details of his speech, “I spoke on your behalf sir,” Gunawardana had said. The Prime Minister had responded with a smile.
Meanwhile, Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara had expressed his displeasure at the move to shut down the power sector regulator – the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL).
The Minister had expressed his concerns in writing to the Prime Minister.
Nanayakkara had noted that it is the Prime Minister who should make decisions pertaining to the PUCSL since it was an institution under the purview of the Premier and that the President’s Office could not make decisions on the matter.
The Minister had also noted that the move to do away with the regulator could be met with public resistance.
President’s Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera on 1 December, in a letter to the Finance Ministry Secretary, had requested the latter to take relevant measures to shut down the PUCSL.
Dr. Jayasundera had said that it was in line with the Prime Minister’s speech made regarding the 2021 Budget. However, the Prime Minister had not stated that the Commission should be shut down in his budget speech.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Education Reforms, Open Universities, and Distance Learning Development Susil Premajayantha is to relocate his office from the Isurupaya building in Battaramulla to another location.
It is learnt that the State Minister had been requested to relocate his office.
Education Ministry Secretary Dr. Kapila Perera had reportedly requested Premajayantha to shift his office, currently situated on the third floor of the Isurupaya building. It is also learnt that the Secretary had issued the request following a directive from Education Minister Professor G.L. Peiris.
There are currently four state ministers serving under the Education Ministry. While three of the state ministers (including Premajayantha at present) have offices located at Isurupaya, one state minister’s office is located at Sethsiripaya.
Meeting Tamil and Muslim MPs
Meanwhile, a group of Tamil parliamentarians last week handed over a letter signed by several parliamentarians representing the North and East provinces to Prime Minister Rajapaksa.
After requesting for an appointment to meet the Prime Minister at his office at the parliamentary complex, the MPs had met Rajapaksa on Thursday.
During the meeting, the MPs, after discussing the situation in the North and East, had handed over the letter signed by 15 Tamil MPs requesting the Government to release political prisoners who are being held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). MPs R. Sampanthan and Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam had also signed the letter.
The MPs have noted that there were many Tamils being held in custody without any legal proceedings been initiated against them for so many years.
The MPs have further requested the Prime Minister to hand over the letter to the President.
Afterwards, Prime Minister Rajapaksa held a discussion with Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi; State Minister of Primary Health Services, Pandemics, and Covid-19 Prevention Dr. Sudharshini Fernandopulle, Minister of Water Supply Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Muslim parliamentarians, and several officials from the Health Ministry.
The discussion was focused on the cremation of the Covid-19 dead and the continuous request by the Muslim community to permit the burial of the remains of Muslims killed by the virus as permitted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and practiced by many countries.
The Prime Minister had urged health officials to find a solution to this matter, stating that even the Catholic community had raised concerns over the cremation only policy of the Covid dead.
Rajapaksa had questioned the health authorities on the solution to this matter to which it was suggested that a dry land should be found and then the matter studied.
The Prime Minister had then questioned the health authorities and Ministers as to why such a land had not been found yet. The health authorities had responded saying that they will propose a suitable plot of land by this week.
However, angered by the response of the health authorities, the Premier had lost his cool and informed the authorities to find a land within a day or two and submit a report immediately. Rajapaksa had firmly said that he would not allow this matter to be further delayed.
[caption id="attachment_98366" align="alignleft" width="285"]
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Leader MP Rauff Hakeem[/caption]
Earlier that day, Leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) MP Rauff Hakeem said in Parliament that there will be civic resistance if the Government does not allow the burial of Muslims who die due to Covid-19.
“We have to avoid civic resistance, so please change these draconian procedures,” Hakeem had said.
Referring to media reports, the MP had said that there were at least 20 unclaimed bodies.
It was Tamil National People’s Front MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam who had raised the issue in the House.
Ponnambalam, referring to the WHO guidelines had said WHO adaptation 24(3) stated that a person who succumbs to Covid-19 could be disposed while allowing the cultural traditions. Referring to court cases in Sri Lanka and India, he had noted that a dead person also had human rights, just like the living.
“Human rights are confirmed in the Constitution. The constitution of a country is a living thing,” he had pointed out.
“Cremation is not allowed in Islamism. Fire is associated with hell in Islamism. They believe that those who sin are burnt in hell by fire. This is why they don’t like cremation of dead bodies,” Ponnambalam had added.
Tonic in the House
The House was a hive of activity during its last session for the year. One of the key highlights last Thursday was when Ayurvedic practitioner Dhammika Bandara from Kegalle had visited the Speaker with several bottles of his “Covid-19 curing tonic”. He had in fact distributed his locally produced tonic to several governing party members in Parliament.
Speaker Abeywardena and several SLPP MPs were seen consuming the concoction.
Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi and several other ministers were seen tasting the medicine, which Bandara claims could cure Covid-19.
Last week saw thousands of people flocking to Kegalle in an attempt to obtain a sample of the Ayurvedic medicine which was distributed by Bandara free of charge. The distribution had to be halted due to large crowds and the health hazard posed by them.
SLPP-SJB joint champs
Last week also saw the governing SLPP and main Opposition SJB emerging joint victors, not in an election, but in a snooker tournament.
SLPP MP Dr. Gayasan Navananda and SJB MP Nalin Bandara were announced as the joint winners of the Parliament MPs’ snooker championship held during the budget debate.
Youth and Sports Affairs Minister Namal Rajapaksa awarded the championship to the joint winners.
Speaker Abeywardena and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa were among those who attended to witness the championship finals.
Basil back at TT
Founder of the SLPP and theoretician Basil Rajapaksa returned to Temple Trees (TT) last week after its lockdown was lifted.
Temple Trees was on lockdown mode after several security personnel at the premises tested positive for Covid-19. However, the Temple Trees lockdown caused quite a stir with the Prime Minister’s Media Director denying it and Basil making a public comment that the Prime Minister’s official residence was on lockdown while he was holding meetings in different locations.
Basil on Monday (7) convened a meeting of the Task Force on Economic Development and Poverty Alleviation.
However, at last week’s meeting, Basil directed the officials to take immediate steps to reopen the Peliyagoda Fish Market under strict health guidelines.
He had also directed the officials to immediately complete the road construction work near the exit of the fish market and to ensure the cleanliness of the premises by addressing the issue of bird droppings.
It was also directed that steps be taken to employ the services of retired public health inspectors (PHIs) if the number of PHIs in the Peliyagoda Urban Council was not sufficient to carry out the health protocols.
Basil had also called on the officials to take steps to ensure that the Manning Market is opened and operational this week.
Given the work carried out by Basil at present, it is evident that he does not require entrance and endorsement by a parliamentary seat to engage in economic development work.
SJB expanding
In the Opposition ranks, the SJB seems to be getting its feet on the ground by expanding its political activities.
A “silent protest” organised by the SJB was held opposite the Presidential Secretariat. SJB MPs led by Opposition and SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa wore black masks and held fire torches. They protested against what they called “undemocratic actions” of the Government, which included the suppression of “truth and freedoms”.
The Opposition Leader said that the SJB will continue to fight against the suppression and violations of human rights by the Government.
Leader of the United Development Front Janaka Ranawaka, along with his party, met with Premadasa and expressed support to the SJB last week.
The meeting between Ranawaka and Premadasa took place on Wednesday (9).
Ranawaka served as a private secretary to former President Maithripala Sirisena and as the Mayor of Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte. After commencing his political journey with the SLFP, he contested under the SLPP at the last general election and garnered 31,683 votes in the Colombo District.
Meanwhile, Sri Jayewardenepura University senior lecturer Prof. Kennedy Gunawardena also met with Premadasa last week and expressed willingness to engage in political activities with the SJB.
Prof. Gunawardena was also included in the National List of the United National Party (UNP) at the last general election. 
