Consensus, the need of the hour - Patali Champika | Sunday Observer

Consensus, the need of the hour - Patali Champika

15 May, 2022

The most important thing right now is that there should be a consensus and an all-party Government representing the Government and the Opposition without the Rajapaksas, MP Patali Champika Ranawaka told the Sunday Observer.

This will satisfy the people’s demand and protect Sri Lanka’s reputation in the international arena. “We need a Government that can be trusted and attract international institutions such as the IMF, World Bank, ADB and our bilateral partners as well,” he said.

Ranawaka said that Ministers should not be given an official residence nor a vehicle and they should set an example to others on how to address this issue. “We should give priority to ending shortages of essential items and should forget carpeting roads. We need to focus on how to protect poor people who suffered a lot during the pandemic and the economic crisis now,” he said.

“If we abolish the Executive Presidency and go back to the non-Executive ceremonial type Presidency, there are two or three things that need to be changed. The first is the electoral system, the preferential and proportional election system. We need a stable Government. “The present electoral system should be changed either to the old system or to a completely new system. The winning political party should form a stable Government. At present Members of the Parliament crossover for money.

“The other is the Provincial Council system and Governorship. There should be Constitutional provision on how to appoint a Governor to control the Executive powers of the Provincial Councils such as in India. Else, the Chief Ministers will act in an undemocratic manner and sometimes they may act with separatist elements and try to carve out this country like Vardharaja Perumal did in 1989. The Governorship saved the country at that time. We need that badly as well,” he added.

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