Wijeyadasa, Vidura slam Cabinet

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Blaming the Cabinet of Ministers for a spate of serious crises, State Minister Vidura Wickremanayake says there is absolutely no point in a Cabinet reshuffle.

The Cabinet of Ministers has failed the country, the Kalutara District lawmaker said, urging the government to take tangible measures or face the consequences. The former SLFPer contested the last parliamentary election on the SLPP ticket.

The State Minister said so when The Island asked the outspoken Parliamentarian to explain his recent call for change of strategy due to the pathetic performance of the Cabinet of Ministers.

Responding to The Island queries, the only son of one-time Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake said that the country wouldn’t have been in such a sorry state if cabinet ministers accomplished what was expected of them. Instead, the cabinet was the cause of turmoil today, MP Wickremanayake said, explaining how flawed decisions taken without proper consultations, advice in line with overall national policies weakened the government.

Asked whether his frank opinion as regards the performance of the cabinet of ministers received criticism from colleagues in the government, MP Wickremanayake said that how could anyone refuse to accept the truth. According to the State Minister, the cabinet was part of the executive therefore it was responsible for implementing decisions taken by the government.

In terms of the Constitution the President heads the cabinet.

State Minister Wickremanayake said that the failure on the part of the cabinet had caused irreparable damage to the two year old administration. “One or two more wrong decisions will be catastrophic,” MP Wickremanayake said.

State Minister Wickremanayake has questioned the standing of the cabinet of ministers at a time ministers Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila have challenged the integrity of the rest of the cabinet ministers over the controversial Yugadanavi deal. The case is now before the Supreme Court.

Former cabinet minister and SLPP Colombo District MP Wijeyadasa Rajapakse asserted that the current crisis should be examined against the backdrop of the enactment of the 20th Amendment in Oct 2020 at the expense of the 19th Amendment.

Acknowledging State Minister Wickremanayake’s strong criticism of the cabinet of ministers, lawmaker Rajapakse emphasized that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa couldn’t absolve himself of responsibility as he chaired the cabinet. The 20th Amendment was meant to strengthen the hands of the President, the former Justice Minister said, the cabinet couldn’t be faulted leaving the President out.

MP Rajapakse voted for the controversial amendment after having strongly criticized it. State Minister Wickremanayake, too, voted for the 20th Amendment.

Former BASL President Rajapakse said that the incumbent dispensation had caused so much turmoil in the administrative and political setups, every sector was in deepening turmoil. Ruination of the agro sector was a glaring case of an example, MP Rajapakse said, adding that the hasty decision regarding the abolition of agro-chemical use destroyed the farmer community.

Subsequent, corruption accusations both in and out of Parliament over both carbonic fertiliser imports from China that ended in disaster with the creation of a new controversy over payment of USD 6.7 mn to the supplier of allegedly contaminated fertiliser that had been rejected and liquid fertilizer imports from India placed the government in an extremely embarrassing situation, the MP said.

Yugadanavi was another crisis that has now ended up in the Supreme Court, the President’s Counsel said, while asserting that the government might not be able to overcome a spate of overwhelming challenges. “The new year is going to be tough. The people are experiencing an extremely difficult situation due to the sharp increase in the cost of living as a result of the continuing balance of payments crisis,” MP Rajapakse said.

Who would accept the responsibility for gas-related explosions in all parts of the country? the former minister asked. Who really believed the crises could be overcome by proroguing the Parliament or selling national assets to external powers through skullduggery.

MP Rajapakse said that nothing could be as important as the government undertaking a comprehensive examination of the ground situation. The executive, the legislature and the judiciary would have to undertake a total review, the former Minister said, warning that the government seemed to be running out of time.