It is somewhat intriguing that a group within the Government itself is attempting to form a coalition with former President Maithripala Sirisena who failed throughout his entire regime, said Transport Minister Dilum Amunugama. As former Energy Minister Udaya Gampanpila had said, this whole problem is not because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but due to the mismanagement of finances by the previous Yahapalana Government.
Actually, the Government is still trying to undo the blunders committed by the previous regime. The person in charge of finance during the former regime was Maithripala Sirisena. Therefore, it is difficult to understand as to how some Government constituent parties can go into a coalition with him and call it Mulu Ratama Hari Magata ( The entire country towards the right path). Therefore, there was no other alternative for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa than to strip the ministerial portfolios of Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila, the Minister told the Sunday Observer yesterday.
Amunugama said, “We are also sad about the decision to sack the two Ministers as they had been with us since we started the Mahinda Sulanga campaign and there is no doubt they have helped us immensely. Actually, it was a difficult decision that the President had to make.” “SLPP parliamentarians such as Weerawansa and Gammanpila were the key people who initiated the Mahinda Sulanga campaign.
But that does not give them the right to control the entire set up of the Government. Simply because they have been with us from the initial stage, doesn’t mean that they can do anything they want.
“There cannot be groups especially within the Cabinet. Of course, the backbenchers can have such groups but you can’t have Cabinet Ministers who go outside and carry out a separate political operation against the Government,” he said.
The Minister said, “If former Ministers Weerawansa and Gammanpila made comments or brought up those issues at the Cabinet or at the Government parliamentary group meetings, we could have accepted that as they have been part and parcel of the whole operation.”
Commenting on the allegation levelled by Government coalition parties that the SLPP didn’t respond to their concerns at all, Minister Amunugama said that this is totally wrong. They had not spoken about their issues at the Government parliamentary group meetings. “We have never heard anyone raising those issues at the Cabinet.”
He said, “Even if they were not given a chance to express their views within the whole set up, they should not have carried out a political meeting outside and vehemently attacked the Government while being in it. Actually, it was a major attack against the Government and not a minor one.”
Minister Amunugama said, “We may have problems with the conduct of certain individuals. There can be Ministers in the Cabinet that we don’t like or agree with, but what can we do? There is nothing we can do about it. When it is a Cabinet of Ministers, you can’t have everyone acting in the manner which we want. According to the Government coalition parties, they had presented some sort of bailout package to the Government. But when we listened to the speeches made, it was not a bailout package, it was some sort of ‘assault package’.”
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Eleven constituent parties - 20 of 31 MPs support Govt
Of the 31 parliamentarians from the 11 constituent parties of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) led Government, 20 MPs said that they would extend their fullest support to the Government.
Despite certain conflict of ideas with the Government, most of the MPs of the Government coalition parties said that at this critical juncture, they would not contribute to creating an unnecessary political crisis in the country.
The eleven constituent parties of the Government consist of 31 MPs. Of them, 29 were elected under the SLPP banner including five MPs nominated from the SLPP National List.
Most of the Cabinet and State Ministers who represent the coalition parties said that they have no intention whatsoever of quitting the Government.