By Shamindra Ferdinando

SLFP leader and former President Maithripala Sirisena, MP, has warned the SLPP-led government that the support of coalition members shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Sirisena has warned of consequences of the SLPP’s current attitude towards its constituent partners, which he said, could even break it up.

The former President issued the warning less than a week after the presentation of Budget 2022.

The SLPP parliamentary group comprises 145 members with the SLFP accounting for 14 members. The SLPP has 117 members.

The SLPP has reached an understanding with several MPs elected on the Samagi Jana Balavegaya ticket.

In an interview with ‘Siyatha’ telecast live on 17 Nov. on the eve of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa completing two years in office, Sirisena said the fate of the previous governments which suffered defeat in spite of having 2/3 majority, could befall the incumbent administration, too, unless it coexisted with other parties in the ruling coalition. The SLFP leader said that the parliamentary strength was no guarantee stability.

The former President said the SLPP’s knee-jerk response to controversial issues and strained relations among partners was not acceptable.

‘Siyatha’ anchor Udeshan Idemegedara discussed a range of issues including the strained relations between the SLPP and its constituents, ongoing farmers’ protests, an unprecedented dispute with China over the rejection of a consignment of carbonic fertiliser, Treasury bond scams as well as sabotaging of the China-Sri Lanka Friendship Hospital in Polonnaruwa, built with a Chinese grant of $ 60 million.

Lawmaker Sirisena called the failure on the part of the current dispensation to fully operationalize the Chinese gift despicable.

The hospital specialises in treating kidney ailments, a widely prevalent and recurring concern in the region, especially among farmers. MP Sirisena questioned the rationale in depriving those diagnosed with a kidney disorder medical experts have identified as Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology (CKDu), a condition for which causal factors remain unknown.

However, the much debated Easter Sunday carnage was not discussed at all in spite of the then President being named by a Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) appointed by himself in late 2019. The National Thowheed Jamaat (BTJ) carried out multiple suicide attacks on April 21, 2019.

The SLPP’s stand that those who were uncomfortable with its policies could walk out of the government was nothing but a recipe for disaster, MP Sirisena said.

The SLFP has thrown its weight behind some SLPP constituents including the National Freedom Front (NFF) and the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) campaigning against a controversial energy deal with the US-based New Fortress Energy.

The ex-President indicated that the SLFP wouldn’t be hasty in response to the developing situation though there were calls for the party to quit the government and go it alone at whatever the next election. The long delayed Provincial Council polls are on the cards though no date has been fixed yet in the absence of consensus on how the polling should take place. The parliamentary and presidential elections are three years away.

Some of those who had adopted a tough posture towards smaller parties obviously didn’t realize ground realities, MP Sirisena said, pointing out President Mahinda Rajapaksa led administration collapsed in 2015 though it obtained a 2/3 majority at 2010 parliamentary election. The 2/3 majority enjoyed by the incumbent government had given the incumbent government a false sense of security, MP Sirisena warned. The SLFP leader attributed the current turmoil to the pathetic failure on the part of SLPP leadership to examine debilitating setbacks suffered by previous governments.

Responding to another query, a smiling former President acknowledged that the SLPP was not different from the SLFP at that time he quit the then Mahinda Rajapaksa led government in late 2014. “Twenty nine MPs followed me,” lawmaker Sirisena declared, asserting that the SLPP leadership seemed to be either reluctant or averse to required changes in political strategy.

The former President blamed the UNP for doing away with Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s economic as well as foreign policies. “If successive governments followed the Bandaranaike policies, the country wouldn’t have been in current predicament today.”

MP Sirisena said that since President JRJ opened up the national economy following the 1977 general election, successive governments badly mismanaged the economy and squandered foreign exchange.

Declaring that during his tenure as the President, Sri Lanka earned the respect and admiration of the international community for pursuing policies acceptable to them, lawmaker Sirisena warned that the country couldn’t overcome current challenges without the backing of the international community.

MP Sirisena declared that not even China and the United States could overcome present-day challenges without international support. However, the current dispensation seemed to be blind to external challenges and what needed to be done.

Responding to another probing query, the former President stressed that the international community wouldn’t help a country without taking into consideration major issues such as fundamental rights, corruption and media freedom. Referring to recent talks between Chinese and US leaders in the wake of an extremely dicey situation over possible Chinese military threat directed at Taiwan, the MP said that the international reaction to a particular situation would depend on the concerned country’s leaders.

The SLFP leader strongly criticized the top SLPP leadership for causing an utterly chaotic situation and an unprecedented tragedy by banning agro-chemicals overnight. Having realized the government lacked proper strategy to implement the transfer from agro-chemicals to carbonic fertilizer, MP Sirisena had offered to share his experience with those in charge of the project. The former President said that he called his successor and offered help and soon received a call from Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage requesting his involvement. The MP said that he never received an invitation.

He urged the government to explain the situation at least before the next Yala season as now Maha season was underway. The SLFP leader pointed out that the resignation of the Agriculture Secretary as well as some other senior officials in that sector underscored the simmering crisis.