Certain parties not genuine in APG negotiations | Sunday Observer

Certain parties not genuine in APG negotiations

4 September, 2022

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) General Secretary MP Sagara Kariyawasam said as a party they have pledged their support to President Ranil Wickremesinghe to form an All-Party Government (APG).

In an interview with the Sunday Observer he said that certain parties are not genuine in coming for negotiations and they put forward various demands which cannot be fulfilled.

It is the genuineness of the parties in the Opposition to take part into the discussions to form an APG but I don’t think any of them have a genuine intention of joining the discussions. Kariyawasam said “We are not promoting an election at this juncture. However, as a party we are not scared of an election. We are ready to face any election at any time.”

Excerpts of the interview

Q: How do you view the Interim Budget presented to Parliament by President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday?

A: The President has tried to give the maximum possible benefits to the people even amidst so many difficulties. It is an Interim Budget. So, you can’t expect miracles to happen in an Interim Budget. However, we appreciate the fact that the President has tried to give the maximum possible benefits to help the people to overcome the present crisis situation.

Q: You have said that there will be change in party positions at the SLPP National Convention. Could you explain?

A: Yes. The present SLPP Constitution has very few office-bearers. Now we have amended the party Constitution where there will be three times more party positions and office-bearers than earlier. In our party convention, definitely a lot of newcomers will be coming into positions.

Q: After several rounds of discussions to form an All-Party Government (APG), it has failed to reach a final consensus. What is the reason for it?

A: As a party, we met the President and we have pledged our support to form an APG. What I sincerely feel is certain parties are not genuine in coming for these negotiations. They try to put forward various demands which cannot be fulfilled. Obviously, they are trying to avoid it without saying it directly. So, it is the genuineness of the parties in the Opposition to take part into the discussions. I don’t think any of them have a genuine intention of joining the discussions. Only the JVP has said directly that they don’t want to join an APG. But other parties say they are willing to join and then they put forward various conditions. Sometimes, those conditions are not practical even to commence discussions. I think this is the main issue.

Q: A group of former State Ministers representing the SLPP have requested the President to immediately appoint State Ministers, if the formation of an APG is further delayed. Your comments?

A: What they have requested is not to immediately appoint State Ministers. What we have said is things are getting delayed and what we feel is there has to be a stable Government. The people, businessmen and investors are still not sure about the Government. So, no one wants to do anything until they see the proper formation of the Government. They want to see what kind of Government and policies are going to be there for the next two years.

Even international organisations such as the IMF, World Bank and foreign countries which are going to share something with us, they all will see whether the Government is stable for them to negotiate. Under these circumstances, we thought for the best interest of the Government, it is better to appoint at least some State Ministers to show that the Government is stable. The reason for delaying the appointment of Cabinet Ministers is the genuineness of the President and the stakeholders of the Government in forming an APG.

Q: What led the SLPP to unanimously decide to back Ranil Wickremesinghe’s candidature at the presidential contest in Parliament?

A: There were a few reasons. Number one is due to the economic crisis that we have faced, as a party we thought the best solution for the country would be an All-Party Government. In order to form an APG, former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa nominated by our party and elected by the people tendered his resignation. In his resignation also he very clearly mentioned that he resigned to facilitate forming an APG. Under those circumstances, we thought the best person to fulfill that task is Ranil Wickremesinghe because he had only one seat in Parliament from the UNP.

On the other hand, he had a lot of experience as a leader. After considering both these aspects, we thought he is the ideal person who would be able to form an APG. If it is somebody from the SLPP, he will try to have his own set of people in the Cabinet. If it is a person from the SJB, he wants to have a majority of his members in the Cabinet but Ranil Wickremesinghe doesn’t have that issue. The maximum he can get is only one person from the UNP to the Cabinet. Then he is the person who can properly fulfill this task.

The number two is his stance taken towards “Aragalaya”. Even though the people stick to claiming it was a very peaceful protest, then there won’t be the burning of houses belonging to 76 Members of Parliament. The houses of two-thirds of the members were burnt down due to one single reason because they had different political ideas. Otherwise, they had not done anything wrong to them. Their houses were burnt down solely due to their political ideology. I think SLPP Polonnaruwa District MP Amarakeerthi Athukorala was one of the most innocent Members in Parliament.

He was brutally assaulted and killed on May 9. Even a dog is not killed in such a brutal manner. With all those atrocities committed, I don’t think it was a peaceful protest. Ranil Wickremesinghe was the only politician who had the backbone to call this a terrorist movement. He had the backbone to call terrorism as terrorism and peaceful protests as peaceful protests. So, we had confidence in him that he will bring the law and order situation back to the country.

Q: As reported by the media, the SLPP has commenced the party’s revival process with its initial meeting held at the party headquarters on August 28. Would you like to comment?

A: Actually, one photograph had gone viral in the social media. During the entire week, we had several meetings. Even on Thursday, we had several district meetings and the last one was the Kalutara district meeting. Before that, we had the Badulla and Ratnapura meetings. We had planned all the districts right throughout the week. However, I don’t like to call it revival meetings. I would like to call it meetings to strengthen our party organisation. Actually, we have to revive something when it is really down. My opinion is as a party, we are not down whatsoever but we need to strengthen our party mechanism.

Q: Some foreign media had reported that former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa might return to Sri Lanka shortly. The SLPP at a recent meeting held with the President had urged him to facilitate the return of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Could you explain?

A: Actually, as a party, he requested the President to facilitate the return of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and provide him all the facilities that should be given to a former President of Sri Lanka. President Ranil Wickremesinghe immediately accepted our request. On Thursday, I saw certain sections of the media and there were some SMS alerts saying that the former President will return to the country soon. Former President, returned to Sri Lanka on Friday night.

Q: A collective of 11 coalition parties of the SLPP have decided to form a grand political alliance together with other political parties on September 4. Will this have any adverse effect on the stability of the Government?

A: My answer to this would be two fold. The first answer is that 11 constituent parties of the SLPP have not left the Government. Only the National Freedom Front (NFF), Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU), Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), Communist Party (CP) and the Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya (SLMP) have left the Government. Earlier, Athaullah’s National Congress was also there but now he has left them. Who else is there? Earlier they said they have 11 parties but now they couldn’t gather 11 parties. I think only five or six parties are there with them. Actually, they left us a long time ago.

They were removed from their Cabinet ministerial portfolios by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa when they continuously failed to perform their duties. MP Udaya Gammanpila failed as the Minister of Energy. He couldn’t do anything constructively. We could see how new Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera is acting under a crisis situation and how Gammanpila acted. The only difference is unlike Gammanpila, Minister Wijesekera didn’t come and say there won’t be fuel for the country for the next so many months. At present, Minister Wijesekera has been able to get more fuel and equally distribute it countrywide and take the situation under control.

Basically, persons such as Gammanpila were removed from the Cabinet by the former President due to their incompetency. Then they sat in the Opposition at that time. So, there won’t be any impact on the Government because they left the Government four or five months ago.

Q: SLPP Chairman MP Prof. G.L. Peiris told Parliament on Wednesday that a group of 13 SLPP MPs have decided to sit in the Opposition as an independent group. Your views?

A: First of all, there are no independent groups in Parliament. The Parliament is considered whether you are in the Government or the Opposition. According to the concept of the parliamentary system, there can’t be any independent groups emerging. The entire parliamentary system is built based on the governing party and the Opposition. We are waiting to see what they are going to do. If this so-called independent group takes any different view, then as a party, we will take appropriate action.

Q: How do you view the demand made by the JVP, TNA and certain other sections to conduct an election at this juncture?

A: Some people may think they can take undue advantage out of this crisis situation. When the economic crisis is under control, thereafter we can decide to conduct an election. Anyway, we are not promoting an election at this juncture. However, as a party we are not scared of an election. We are ready to face any election at any time.

Q: The main Opposition SJB has said that Sri Lanka cannot use the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) against protesters and normal laws must apply to any lawbreakers linked to the protests. Would you like to elaborate your views?

A: We all know the PTA is a special Act to prevent any acts of terrorism. There were certain acts of terrorism in the guise of those peaceful protests during the past few months. It is up to the relevant agencies to gather evidence whether somebody has participated in peaceful protests or resorted to acts of terrorism with some ulterior motives. That has to be decided after a proper investigation. After that if they can find out those people have involved in any acts of terrorism, they should be dealt with under the PTA. Otherwise, they should be dealt with under the normal law. However, the Government or the Opposition cannot decide it. It has to be decided by the law enforcement authorities.

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