Former Minister of Lands S.M. Chandrasena said that as proposed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, it is more appropriate to have a National Council to address the current issues faced by the country.
The former Minister in an interview with the Sunday Observer said when a National Council is formed, all political party leaders can become stakeholders and formulate a national policy needed for the country. He said if the SJB and JVP accept ministerial portfolios or not, we hope they will join the National Council and play their legitimate role on behalf of the country.
If they deliberately ignore that opportunity, it means that they have no genuine concern about the hardships faced by the people and that they just bother about their personal political agendas. “Our main task should be to provide immediate relief measures to the people by formulating a national policy to overcome the shortage of fuel, gas, medicines, fertiliser and other burning issues.”
Excerpts of the interview.
Q: Houses and properties of a large number of Government Parliamentarians and provincial politicians were destroyed by mobs during the recent incidents that took place on May 9 following the attack on the peaceful protesters at Galle Face on May 9. Would you like to comment?
A: According to the information received, my house, office and business place were set on fire by a group of students from the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) of the Rajarata University, JVP and FSP students of the Agriculture Faculty of Anuradhapura and also a group of SJB members and a few famous businessmen who represent the trade organisations of the Anuradhapura town.
In addition another group of youths who have no political affiliations in Anuradhapura and suburbs and some drug addicts had also been used for these mob attacks.
Some political party leaders had misled and provoked youth to first attack the houses of Government politicians in Anuradhapura on May 5 and later set fire to their houses and properties on May 9.
I see this is an organised mob attack launched with the involvement of some political party leaders.
Q: Some say the May 9 incidents occurred as the peaceful protesters at Galle Face were attacked by a group of SLPP supporters and politicians following a meeting held at Temple Trees. They say the Government should be fully held responsible for those mob attacks that took place. Your comments?
A: The people had come to Temple Trees to congratulate then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa as he had decided to step down. It is obvious some political leaders had intervened to provoke the people who attended that meeting. I see the attack made on protesters in front of Temple Trees and Galle Face as a mistake made on our part.
The attempt by a group of SLPP supporters to attack protesters at Galle Face led to a clash between two groups. The buses and vehicles which brought people for that Temple Trees meeting were set on fire and those who attended it were brutally assaulted and put into the Beira Lake.
The SLPP supporters were given inhuman punishments by some of those engaged in the struggle. If the mistake was first made on our part, its counterattack on our party supporters was hundred times worse than that. Actually, those incidents in front of Temple Trees and Galle Face should have ended at those places. Under the pretext of those incidents, a violent mob had set fire to the houses and properties of over 70 Government Parliamentarians.
In addition, 600 to 700 houses of provincial politicians and Pradeshiya Sabha members were also destroyed. It is very obvious those mob attacks were well planned. We could see some JVP leaders were telling the social media that they gave messages quickly to launch attacks everywhere.
Similarly, a famous actress had made a Facebook comment asking to set fire to the houses of SLPP politicians. Still, those who destroyed the houses of SLPP politicians and attacked the SLPP supporters now attempt to justify what they did.
They don’t speak about the injustice made on their part. Even the media and politicians don’t speak about those mob attacks and that is very wrong. We also admit the mistake made on our part. However, the mistake made by those who attacked our supporters and destroyed the properties of our politicians is much more serious than that.
Q: Government lawmakers even in Parliament raised concern on security forces for not taking steps to prevent the attack on Galle Face protesters and other mob attacks that destroyed houses and properties. Would you like to elaborate your views?
A: There are thousands of security forces and Police personnel in our country. They are there to ensure the security of the country and its people. If they prevented the attack on ‘Gota Go Gama’ at Galle Face, that destruction would have been prevented. The Police and Security Forces should have also prevented the destruction made countrywide following the attack on the ‘Gota Go Gama’.
The salaries of the three armed forces and the Police are paid from the taxpayer’s money. Therefore, they had a prime responsibility to prevent the destruction caused to the houses and properties of politicians. Billions of damage has been made and the security forces had the ability to prevent that disaster. However, that didn’t happen due to various reasons. I also told Parliament that the security forces should be held responsible for not taking steps to prevent those mob attacks. If this trend continues, the country would go into a severe economic crisis.
Finally, it would lead to similar situations that occurred in countries such as Cambodia, Lebanon, Iraq and Libya. Therefore, the security forces should act to prevent similar incidents in future. The security forces should always act independently. The judiciary should also be independent. Actually, it was dictatorial rulers in the world who were chased away by the people through struggles.
It has not happened in most of the democratic countries which elected rulers through the people’s vote. Because the people in these countries have more trust in voting rather than weapons.
In our country also the people use the universal franchise to elect and defeat rulers. It was former President Mahinda Rajapaksa which rescued the country from 30 years of terrorism. However the people defeated him at the 2015 Presidential Election.
That was done through the vote and not by weapons. Similar incidents have occurred in our history from time to time.
Actually, a democratically elected Government or a President should be defeated through the vote. It cannot be done by violating the Constitution. If a certain section of the people demand the President to step down, 6.9 million people voted for him at the last Presidential Election.
Therefore, we have to make use of this 6.9 million mandate received by the President until we face the next election.
Therefore, the President who was elected by a 6.9 million public mandate cannot be removed within 24 hours. If an impeachment motion is moved against the President, it has to be passed by two-thirds majority in Parliament. In addition, there are various other provisions stipulated in the Constitution to remove a President.
A referendum can also be held in this regard. The incumbent President has to complete another two years in office. Therefore, if this procedure is to be followed, it will take at least two years. Then it would become a futile attempt. According to the Constitution, if the President doesn’t resign, he cannot be removed by force.
However, the President can ask the Prime Minister to step down. Otherwise, it can be done by moving a No Confidence Motion in Parliament. That is why former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa voluntarily tendered his resignation. At present the only UNP MP in Parliament Ranil Wickremesinghe has been appointed as the Prime Minister with the consent of the majority of SLPP MPs and some other political parties.
As a SLPP senior, I would like to say that selection was made as most of the people were under the impression that a non-partisan leader should be appointed as the Premier. Ranil Wickremesinghe is the only non-partisan member in Parliament.
He can play a very neutral role in Parliament as he doesn’t have any other MPs of his party in Parliament.
As we all know, Premier Wickremesinghe has lots of international relations and closely works with the international community. It is obvious the Prime Minister is moving forward by rectifying his past errors. It is clearly evident through his conduct and the program. We all hope the Prime Minister will fulfill his task properly.
If we move forward carefully, we would be able to effect some changes to the economy and rescue the country from the present complex situation.
Q: When concerns are raised on increasing the women representation in Parliament, the Opposition members expressed their displeasure for not electing SJB Parliamentarian Rohini Kumari Wijerathna as the Deputy Speaker of Parliament. As to why the Party Leaders were not able to reach a consensus regarding this matter?
A: I also attended the Government parliamentary group meeting. Then a consensus was reached to field Ajith Rajapaksa from the SLPP as the Deputy Speaker. No other name was proposed at the Government parliamentary group meeting.
I don’t attend Party Leaders meetings. It would have been more appropriate if the Party Leaders unanimously decided to nominate a female candidate to the Deputy Speaker post so that we would have given a good example to the country. However, we lost that opportunity and I regret that.
Q: The main Opposition SJB says that the Government’s two thirds majority has come down to mere 109 MPs at present and they say it was clearly witnessed at the vote to elect the Deputy Speaker of Parliament. Your views?
A: SLPP MP Roshan Ranasinghe couldn’t cast his vote as he got late to come to Parliament following his return to the country from the airport. In addition, former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and MP Namal Rajapaksa were also absent. Another six SLPP MPs couldn’t cast their vote as some of them were not well and overseas. If all those MPs came, we could have secured 117 votes easily.
In any case, we can show 113 votes-simple majority needed for the newly appointed Prime Minister. Similarly, the majority of Parliamentarians would have extended their support when the motion of displeasure against the President was moved in Parliament. However, that didn’t happen and 119 votes were received against the motion moved by TNA Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran and only 68 votes were received in favour.
Defeating that motion means the President has been able to further consolidate majority support in Parliament.
Everybody knows according to the Constitution, except passing an impeachment motion with a two- thirds majority in Parliament, there is no other way to remove the President. Therefore, we see there is no logic behind these attempts by the Opposition to remove the President and it is just only a waste of time.
Q: How do you view the request by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in his special statement on Monday to form a National Council to find solutions to the current issues faced by the country?
A: It is a good move to have a National Council to address the current issues. When all party leaders join hands and form such a Council, nobody can point fingers at others and criticise it. Here there is a huge gap between the Government and the Opposition compared to other countries.
Those who are in the Opposition somehow attempt to take over the Government. We also did the same when we were in the Opposition. When a National Council is formed, all political party leaders can become stakeholders of it. Then they can formulate a national policy needed for the country.
The main issue is to create a national consensus within the administrative structure.
Our main task should be to provide immediate relief measures to the people by formulating a national policy to overcome the shortage of fuel, gas, medicines, fertiliser and other burning issues. If we just confine ourselves to narrow-minded politics, it would be difficult to prevent the country from heading towards disaster.
Q: The SJB, SLFP and JVP have refused to accept any portfolios of the Interim Government. Would you like to comment?
A: Perhaps they may have their ulterior motives. They may think if they all join the Government, they will not be able to get the public support that they gain when they are in the Opposition.
They are under the impression of such narrow-minded thinking. We regret their stance. If they accept ministerial portfolios or not, we hope they will join the National Council and play their legitimate role on behalf of the country. If they deliberately ignore that opportunity, it means that they have no genuine concern about the hardships faced by the people and they just bother about their personal political agendas.