• RW-Power discuss OSA and ATB; President says ATB will be deferred for the next Parliament
• Two of HRCSL proposals for OSA included, says RW; Prez Office sends new amendments to AG
• Maithripala reveals Govt. plan to abolish Executive Presidency; Karu’s movement holds discussion
• SJB split over moves to abolish Executive Presidency; major parties say now not the time to abolish
• UNP Management Comm. discusses appointing Harin as RW’s campaign lead, Ravi as alliance convener
• Yapa-Lanza alliance’s next rally in Colombo; SLPP’s Namal-Prasanna clash shows split over Prez Polls
• JVP explains Indian tour with AKD saying more surprises ahead; SJB claim of getting 1st invite dismissed
• AKD explains photo with Kshenuka, says it was taken during dinner hosted by Indian External Ministry
• SJB alliance signing planned last week postponed till this week due to last-minute amendments to doc
• CBK’s statement a hit on SLFP-led alliance; Lasantha to become PA Gen. Sec., Anura as UPFA Gen. Sec.

The Ranil Wickremesinghe Government’s inability to rally the people around its policies, especially the economic recovery path, is indicative of several failures of the Executive and his administration, including its failure to read the people’s pulse.

Although the Wickremesinghe administration managed to somewhat arrest the rapidly-declining economy the country witnessed in 2022 by stopping the long fuel queues and the continuous hours of power cuts, since then the Government has failed to understand the general public not only on the economic front but also on the sociopolitical front. 

It is this reason that resulted in President Wickremesinghe last week having to note during a public event at a school in Colombo that he had had to go begging from other countries, unwillingly, due to the country’s economic downfall. He had reminded them about the situation faced by the people during the 2022-2023 period where people had to queue to get their fuel requirements.

“We had to go to other countries for help during that period. Even unwillingly, I had to go begging for money. That was done to ensure a future for you and everyone in the country,” the President had said.

Be that as it may, whether the children and the rest of the country feel that their futures have been secured in this country is yet to be seen. All we still see are people, especially the youth, clamouring to go overseas in search of greener pastures.

The Government meanwhile is now looking at providing some relief to the people, with State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya saying that Sri Lanka had exceeded the Government revenue target for January by over Rs. 50 billion following the Value-Added Tax (VAT) hike and expansion in the tax base.

The State Minister had said during a recent television interview that the Government had recorded total revenue of Rs. 274 billion in January when the targeted revenue was Rs. 219 billion.

The Government was able to achieve this record revenue after imposing the VAT hike of 18% from 15% on 1 January and the removal of VAT exemptions from about 97 classes of items while the registered taxpayers exceeded one million by the end of 2023.

However, the relief measures planned by the Government for this year are being viewed by many as a ploy to lure the masses during the upcoming election.

RW-Power zoom meet

Meanwhile, President Wickremesinghe on Monday (12) held an online meeting via Zoom with USAID Administrator Samantha Power.

The Attorney General, Legal Draftsman, Treasury Secretary, Secretary General of Parliament, and several officials from the President’s staff as well as US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung had participated.

The focus of the meeting was on the newly-implemented Online Safety Act (OSA) and the proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill (ATB). When the proposed bill to regulate Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) was taken up, the President had said that there was no such move to push the relevant bill as it was still at the drafting stage.

Wickremesinghe had then gone on to speak about the OSA. He had explained that the Attorney General had briefed about the OSA prior to its passage in Parliament and noted the inability to accommodate some of the amendments.

The President had also noted that while the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) had opposed the OSA and presented five proposals to be incorporated in the legislation, two of them have already been included in the act. Wickremesinghe had said that the other three proposals were observations.

The President had noted that the amendments to the OSA were not only being looked into by Minister Tiran Alles but also by Ministers Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and Ali Sabry.

However, Power had asked the President why the amendments that were to be included in the OSA had not been incorporated earlier. Wickremesinghe had said that they could not be added at the committee stage since they had not gone before the Supreme Court as the bill had been challenged before court.

The President had added that the new amendments were closer in line with the amendments proposed by the Singapore-based Asia Internet Coalition (AIC), which represents a majority of the big tech companies in the Asian region.

The Attorney General had then said that he was awaiting the new amendments to the OSA from the Public Security Ministry. Wickremesinghe had immediately asked his office to send it to the Attorney General to prevent further delays.

Postponing ATB

The next key topic of discussion was the proposed ATB.

President Wickremesinghe had noted that, given the continued controversy over the proposed ATB, he would look at deferring it till after a General Election.

He had explained that once the ongoing judicial process over the ATB was concluded, the proposed piece of legislation would be kept aside for the next government elected to Parliament through a fresh mandate to take it forward.

Towards the end of the meeting, the Treasury Secretary had given a briefing about the economic situation in the country.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Power had reiterated the importance of the Wickremesinghe Government working with the spirit of democracy in mind.

Suma takes on the Speaker

Meanwhile, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran has filed a Fundamental Rights petition in the Supreme Court last week against Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena and Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam, respectively, over the Speaker’s purported certification of the Online Safety Bill (OSB) and the Attorney General’s alleged wrongful and negligent advice to the Speaker and Parliament regarding the same.

The petitioner had noted that the Supreme Court had determined that several clauses of the said bill were inconsistent and would require a two-thirds majority vote in Parliament to be enacted, while if the specified amendments (proposed by the State to be moved at the committee stage of the bill in  Parliament) were incorporated into the bill, the bill could be passed with a simple majority.

Although the Government published a document on the intended committee stage amendments to the bill at the commencement of the debate, all the amendments suggested by the Supreme Court had not been included. The Speaker had however stated that the committee stage amendments had been approved by the Attorney General and the Legal Draftsperson as being compliant with the Supreme Court determination and had permitted the Government to proceed sans heed to Opposition concerns on the same. 

“Therefore, in order for the Speaker to have certified the OSA as having been enacted into law, either the amendments determined to be required by the Supreme Court should have been incorporated and the bill approved by a simple majority vote or in the absence of such amendments being incorporated, the bill should have been approved by the two-thirds special majority vote of the entire number of MPs.” 

The petitioner had further noted that the Speaker’s purported certification had taken place when the Parliament remained prorogued. Therefore, the petitioner had observed that the purported certification was invalid in law as the bill had not been passed into law in terms of the Constitution.

Abolition talk

Meanwhile, the ongoing talk of attempts to postpone the Presidential Election by moving to abolish the Executive Presidency intensified last week, with several parties in the Opposition expressing their displeasure over abolishing the Executive Presidency when the Presidential Election is due to be held in a few months.

However, the move to abolish the Executive Presidency came to light following a statement made by Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Leader, former President Maithripala Sirisena during a recent event. He had publicly said that although the Government had claimed Presidential Elections were due this year, there were moves to push for the abolition of the Executive Presidency. 

He had added that the programme to abolish the Executive Presidency had been assigned to former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. Sirisena had further noted that the SLFP would support the abolition of the Executive Presidency.

Mounting opposition

Once the story of the move to abolish the Executive Presidency started to make the rounds in the media and political circles, parties in the parliamentary Opposition started to express their displeasure at the timing of the programme. They claimed that it was an attempt to postpone the holding of the Presidential Election.

Dissident Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MPs Udaya Gammanpila and Dullas Alahapperuma both made public statements that the abolition of the Executive Presidency when a Presidential Election was due was akin to political thuggery to postpone the election. Gammanpila further observed a conspiracy behind the moves, saying that a group of NGOs and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) were behind this latest move.

Meanwhile, the ruling SLPP has stated that it will not support the abolition of the Executive Presidency until an electoral system which enables the political party representing the prime minister to secure a clear parliamentary majority is introduced.

SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam had said: “If we abolish the Executive Presidency and go for a Parliamentary Election under the existing system, no party can secure a clear parliamentary majority. Then, the premier who becomes the head of state will have to ask for the support of various political parties and form a government. Such a government will have to work as per the wishes of the political parties that support it, and not those of the people.”

He had noted that the SLPP had always maintained that the Executive Presidency should be abolished, but that the parliamentary electoral system should be replaced with another prior to it. “It is very clear that it is due to the Executive Presidency that certain features like the Provincial Councils do not pose any harm to the country. Under the Executive Presidency, they are subjected to some form of control. Our stance is that any change to the Executive Presidency should be made only after introducing an electoral system which enables the premier’s party to secure a clear majority in Parliament.” 

The main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) meanwhile maintained that while the party was of the stance that the Executive Presidency should be abolished, it should not be done prior to the holding of the Presidential Election this year.

SJB and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa meanwhile has said that the SJB will support an amendment to abolish the Executive Presidency but added that it has to be implemented after holding the Presidential Election.

“We initially believed in the Executive Presidency, but we have now understood the damage it could cause to the rule of law. Therefore, we have changed our stance on it now,” Premadasa told the SJB Lawyers’ Association convention last week.

“However, we are not favourable towards abolishing the Executive Presidency without holding a Presidential Election or any election for that matter. We insist that people’s right to franchise should not be violated,” he had added.

Karu approaches SJB

It is in such a backdrop that former Speaker Jayasuriya, who is also the Convener of the National Movement for a Just Society that was formed by the late Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera, had spoken to SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara.

Jayasuriya had informed Madduma Bandara that his organisation had organised a discussion to exchange views on the abolition of the Executive Presidency. Jayasuriya had then informed Madduma Bandara that it was now the best time to abolish the Executive Presidency and that all parties needed to take a united stand on the matter. Madduma Bandara had however responded saying that although the SJB was of the view that the Executive Presidency should be abolished, it was not practical to do so at the present time.

Nevertheless, Jayasuriya had requested Madduma Bandara to ensure the participation of the SJB at the scheduled discussion. The SJB General Secretary had said that he would revert after consulting the party. 

When Madduma Bandara had informed Premadasa of Jayasuriya’s invitation, Premdasa had asked Madduma Bandara to attend the meeting but to openly express the SJB’s objection to pushing for the abolition of the Executive Presidency just months away from the holding of the Presidential Election.

Split in the SJB

Meanwhile, the move to abolish the Executive Presidency has also resulted in an ideological split within the SJB.

Madduma Bandara had accordingly attended the meeting convened by Jayasuriya. At the outset of the meeting, Jayasuriya had explained that there had been much discussion through the years to abolish the Executive Presidency and that it was now an opportune time to push for the abolition.

However, Madduma Bandara had said that the SJB was not agreeable to support such a move at the current time. He had further noted that the Presidential Election should be held as scheduled this year.

It was SJB MP Dr. Rajitha Senaratne who had spoken after Madduma Bandara. Senaratne had stated that the people did not need a Presidential Election at present and that he would extend his fullest support for the abolition of the Executive Presidency.

Karu’s response

Once the meeting had concluded, SLPP dissident MP Prof. G.L. Peiris had approached Jayasuriya and explained that moving to abolish the Executive Presidency when a Presidential Election was to be held was being viewed as a conspiracy to prevent the holding of a national-level election.

Jayasuriya however had responded saying that he too accepted that the abolition of the Executive Presidency could not be done before the Presidential Election scheduled for this year. He had added that he was working towards creating a public opinion in the country in support of the abolition of the Executive Presidency, which could be done after the Presidential Election.

Presidential response

With opposition mounting over moves to abolish the Executive Presidency and the alleged conspiracy to prevent the holding of the Presidential Election this year, the President’s Office got activated in order to prevent the objections from creating public dissention against the Government.

The President’s Media Division (PMD) issued a statement on Tuesday (13) stating that the Presidential Election would be held at the scheduled time this year while the General Election would be held next year. The statement had further noted that the funds required for the holding of the respective election had been allocated in this year’s Budget and that holding the election on time was a task vested with the Election Commission.

MR’s stance

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR) has meanwhile hinted last week that calls for the abolition of the Executive Presidency may be an attempt to postpone the Presidential Election. 

When questioned about reports that claimed there were moves to abolish the Executive Presidency in a bid to postpone the Presidential Election, MR had acknowledged that it may be true. He had also noted: “We know Ranil, so this could happen, sometimes.”

Also, when asked for his opinion on the abolition of the Executive Presidency, MR had noted that it would be preferable to abolish the Executive Presidency and that he had already enjoyed the position. “It (Executive Presidency) should be abolished because the whole country is requesting to abolish it.”

RW non-committal

Amidst talk of Presidential Elections and President Wickremesinghe’s plans to contest at the next election, the President has thus far remained non-committal as witnessed during a recent interview with WION.

WION: Elections happening this year? 

RW: Yes, both Presidential and Parliamentary. 

WION: How optimistic are you that you will be back?

RW: For me to be back, I must contest.

WION: And do you plan to? 

RW: I have come here to put the economy in order. My first duty is to focus on that, so we get out of bankruptcy.

Gearing for campaign

Meanwhile the United National Party (UNP) Management Committee that met last week had discussed UNP Leader, President Wickremesinghe’s campaign for the Presidential Election.

The Management Committee on Tuesday (13) had discussed several new positions in the party. Among the key positions discussed was that of the convener of the new alliance being formed by the UNP. The position is to be vested with senior UNPer Ravi Karunanayake.

The other key position of Wickremesinghe’s campaign manager has been assigned to Minister Harin Fernando. Previous reports stated that Bank of Ceylon Chairman Ronald Fernando, President’s Counsel had been appointed as the President’s campaign manager along with Mahinda Haradasa, who would be in charge of the campaign finances. Fernando however will serve as the overall head of the President’s campaign.

The UNP has meanwhile reiterated that SJBers are welcome back in the UNP fold. UNP General Secretary Palitha Range Bandara has said that SJBers are always welcome in the UNP and that even the SJB Leader could return.

Meanwhile, former UNP MP Ashu Marasinghe has likened President Wickremesinghe to former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Addressing a public rally, Marasinghe said Sri Lanka currently has a leader who consists of the personalities of prominent world leaders.

Another Yapa-Lanza rally

The SLPP dissident group – led by Members of Parliament (MPs) Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Nimal Lanza, who have formed a new political alliance – is planning on holding the second rally in Colombo this month.

The new alliance held its first rally in Ja-Ela last month and the next rally is to be held at Hyde Park in Colombo. The rally is expected to be held on Saturday (24).

The Colombo rally is being organised by Minister Susil Premajayantha and former Personal Assistant to former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sugeeshwara Bandara. The rally is also expected to see the participation of more SLPP politicians.

Members of the Yapa-Lanza alliance, especially Lanza, have thus far expressed support for President Wickremesinghe.

Prasanna-Namal clash

Meanwhile, senior SLPPers Minister Prasanna Ranatunga and MP Namal Rajapaksa have made contradictory public statements once again about the party’s stance on the upcoming Presidential Election, yet again portraying the growing clash within the SLPP.

Namal had publicly stated that the SLPP had not yet made a decision on the candidate the party would support at the election and that there was no decision to support President Wickremesinghe.

However, Ranatunga had publicly stated that he would support Wickremesinghe if he decides to contest the Presidential Election. SLPP General Secretary Kariyawasam meanwhile has stated that the SLPP will be fielding its own candidate at the election.

Amid this clash among SLPP seniors over the party’s presidential candidate, the rest of the SLPP membership have decided to focus on the ‘Dasa Bala Sena’ programme being carried out by the party at electoral level.

It is learnt that the discussion on the SLPP’s stance at this year’s Presidential Election will be taken once SLPP theoretician Basil Rajapaksa returns to the country from the US.

Dismissing SJB claim

Meanwhile, the recent visit to India by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)/National People’s Power (NPP) continues to remain a key topic in political circles. The JVP/NPP has stated that the invitation from the Indian Government had been received in December last year, but that the visit had to be postponed until February due to the NPP’s tight schedule.

NPP Parliamentarian Vijitha Herath told the media that even the number of days of the tour had to be cut down to five due to the party’s engagements in Sri Lanka. However, Herath’s explanation about the invitation extended by India has now raised doubts over the claim by the main Opposition SJB that India had first extended an invitation to the party and had invited the NPP after the SJB had been unable to give dates for the tour due to the tight schedule of Party Leader, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa.

The SJB had claimed that new High Commissioner of India Santosh Jha had extended an invite to the SJB to visit India, while the JVP’s invite had been issued by former High Commissioner of India Gopal Baglay.

Herath had further noted that the party’s recent Indian visit was not the first diplomatic level invitation to the NPP and added that NPP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) and a delegation had visited China in a similar manner. “The visit to China was not given much publicity as for the Indian visit. I think people may have seen our Indian visit as important due to our previous stance on India,” he had added.

Meanwhile, the SJB maintains that the JVP/NPP’s recent tour of India is indicative that the party is looking at becoming the main Opposition in Parliament. SJB MP S.M. Marikkar has told a recent news conference that the SJB did not have any issue with the NPP becoming the main Opposition in the House since the SJB would win and form the next government after the General Election.

More surprises

JVP/NPP Leader AKD has meanwhile stated that more surprises will unfold in the near future.

He had said during the Women’s Convention in Anuradhapura that the Opposition camps had been astonished by the NPP’s Indian visit.

“How did you know about our Indian visit? You got to know it either through the SJB camp, President Ranil’s camp, or Mahinda Rajapaksa’s camp. We were silent. They have been astonished to learn about our Indian visit. They thought that only they can deal with India in that manner. It is now an era where more such surprises will take place,” AKD had noted.

Explaining Kshenuka’s meet

AKD meanwhile has also explained last week the story behind the photograph published in the local media showing him and Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Kshenuka Senewiratne posing together in India during the JVP’s recent India visit.

A photograph of AKD and Senewiratne in India resulted in many questions as to how Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India had been at the airport to welcome AKD and the team. Political circles were abuzz with many stories, including one that stated that Senewiratne had been directed by a senior Government official to welcome AKD and his team upon arrival in India.

However, responding to a query about the meeting between him and Senewiratne in India, AKD had said that Senewiratne had not been at the airport upon arrival in India. He had explained that the meeting with Senewiratne and the photograph had been during the dinner hosted for him and his delegation by the Indian External Affairs Ministry.

SJB alliance postponed

Meanwhile, the political alliance being formed under the SJB that was reportedly scheduled to be concluded last week has now been postponed to this week.

The SJB led by Premadasa was earlier scheduled to finalise the new alliance with a group of coalition partners on Wednesday (14) night, according to some reports. 

The meeting had commenced as planned, with Premadasa leading the discussion. Political party leaders Rauff Hakeem, Rishad Bathiudeen, Mano Ganesan, and V. Radhakrishnan had also attended the meeting.

It is learnt that the agreement to be signed by the parties with the SJB had also been prepared prior to the meeting and presented to everyone present. However, the signing of the agreement had to be postponed due to several amendments that were proposed by the coalition partners. Among the amendments had been an amendment on the parties contesting some electorates on their own.

Since the proposed amendments could not be finalised at last week’s meeting, the SJB and coalition partners have agreed to meet this week to finalise and sign the agreement to form the SJB-led alliance for the upcoming elections.

The SJB meanwhile announced that two senior members of the SLFP had joined the party.  Accordingly, former SLFP Provincial Council members Gamini Thilakasiri and Gamini Silva had met Premadasa on Friday (16) and expressed their support for the SJB.

Champika slams Sajith

Meanwhile, dissident SJB MP and United Republic Front (URF) Leader Patali Champika Ranawaka has slammed Premadasa over his conduct, claiming that Premadasa will not be allowed to run a one-man show. 

Ranawaka had said at a public rally that he along with a few other MPs were being penalised for not walking out with the Opposition during the President’s recent Throne Speech. According to Ranawaka, the time allocated for them to make statements in Parliament has been reduced to a maximum of five minutes on Premadasa’s orders. 

Condemning the conduct of the Opposition Leader, Ranawaka had warned that they would not allow people to prevent their actions and run a one-man show. The SJB had also removed Ranawaka from a parliamentary committee recently. He was replaced by dissident SLPP MP Nalaka Godahewa, who is now a Premadasa confidante.

CBK says ‘no’

Meanwhile, the formation of the SLFP-led political alliance has hit a snag, with former Leader of the SLFP, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (CBK) refuting media reports that she has chosen sides in the upcoming Presidential Election. She has emphasised that she is yet to make any endorsements about any candidate. “She has not decided to support any candidate so far,” a statement issued by CBK’s office stated.

The statement further noted that she had denied accepting the leadership position of the Leadership Council of the SLFP-led People’s Alliance (PA). “Although it was reported that Ms. Kumaratunga is to take up the leadership of the Leadership Council of the People’s Alliance, she has not taken any decision regarding that either,” the statement added.

The news of the PA’s revival was mainly based on CBK’s leadership of the alliance and her denial of accepting the leadership has once again pushed the SLFP seniors back to the drawing board.

New office bearers

Meanwhile, SLFP Leader, former President Maithripala Sirisena took flight on Monday (12) to the US via India on Indian Airlines flight AI 284 at 2.50 a.m. to New Delhi. Upon his return to the country, new appointments to the board of officials of the PA and the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) are to be made.

It is learnt that State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna is tipped to be appointed as the General Secretary of the PA while SLPP dissident Anura Priyadarshana Yapa is to be appointed as the General Secretary of the UPFA.