By Shamindra Ferdinando

SLPP MP Sarath Weerasekera yesterday (22) said that he voted for the 2024 Budget after having received an assurance from President Ranil Wickremesinghe that his concerns over the proposed move to allow Provincial Councils to establish Universities on their own and the issuance of permanent deeds to farmers would be addressed.

The former Public Security Minister said so when The Island asked him what made him vote for the Budget after having had expressed serious concerns over the above mentioned issues. During the Budget debate, the former Navy Chief of Staff strongly protested against both proposals.

The Colombo District MP Weerasekera was among 122 lawmakers who voted for the second Budget presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Finance Minister. In Sept. 2022, the UNP leader presented an interim budget for 2023. Seventy-seven voted against whereas 26 abstained.

Lawmaker Weerasekera said that President Wickremesinghe gave him an opportunity to meet him at the Presidential Secretariat immediately after he informed Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and Chief Government Whip Prasanna Ranatunga on Tuesday morning (21) that he was contemplating skipping the vote. The move was meant to underscore his opposition to dangerous projects, the MP said.

Responding to another query, MP Weerasekera said that he reminded President Wickremesinghe the crisis caused by the enactment of the 21st Amendment. The former Minister said that he voted against the 21st Amendment, enacted on Oct 21, 2022, primarily because it denied the Head of State the opportunity to appoint the Inspector General of Police and judges to the Supreme Court without being subject to the approval of the Constitutional Council.

Of the 225-member parliament, 179 voted for the 21st Amendment, one voted against whereas 45 abstained.

Very much appreciating the opportunity to make representations to the President, MP Weerasekera said that Provincial Councils shouldn’t be allowed to set up Universities without recommendation/approval from the University Grants Commission (UGC). Even in terms of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution enacted at the behest of India, the degree awarding institutions are in the Concurrent List and not in the Provincial Council List, the ex-Minister said.

The former Law and Order Minister has warned that if the Provincial Councils were granted the authority, they could even set up Sharia and Wahhabi universities.

MP Weerasekera said that he received an assurance from the President that opening of Universities by Provincial Councils would be only on the basis of the UGC.

The MP said that the land issue should be addressed carefully. Weerasekera told The Island that even parliamentarians haven’t really understood the implications. The former Minister said that he urged the President to keep land powers with the State. “Issuing permanent deeds can cause quite a crisis. If the government issued permanent deeds, debt ridden farmers will be able to sell their land and multinational companies will exploit the situation.”

The MP quoted the President as having said that foreigners wouldn’t be allowed to buy land and only a person in the same village could buy the available land to cultivate the same crop. The President has said that he was ready to discuss the issues at hand.

Asked whether he received instructions from the SLPP regarding the vote on the Second Reading, MP Weerasekera said that the party never took a decision on this matter. “In fact, I asked the higher-ups to give MPs an opportunity to discuss the issues at hand before taking a stand but they didn’t bother to call a meeting. Therefore, I had to inform the Premier and the Chief Government Whip of his decision to abstain.”

Except for a few, the majority of SLPP parliamentary groups voted for the Budget on their own, MP Weerasekera said. That shouldn’t have happened under any circumstances, the ex-Minister added, urging the party leadership to give MPs an opportunity to discuss the entire gamut of issues before the vote on the Third Reading of the Budget on Dec 13 at 6 pm.