By Shamindra Ferdinando

Top Nidahas Janatha Sandhanaya spokesman Prof. G. L. Peiris yesterday (13) alleged that President Ranil Wickremesinghe would not have taken on the judiciary without the backing from the ruling SLPP.

The former External Affairs Minister said so when the media sought his response to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa declaring the SLPP’s readiness to face local government polls at any time. The SLPP Chairman made the declaration at a public rally held in Moneragala over the weekend.

Prof. Peiris said that though the SLPP declared so, it worked closely with President Wickremesinghe to undermine the electoral process. The academic said that the UNP leader with just one MP in parliament couldn’t have pursued the high profile project without the SLPP’s support.

The rebel SLPP National List MP said that if the SLPP was genuinely ready to face the electorate, the party should ask the President to release funds required by the Election Commission.

Regardless of whatever the President and the SLPP say, the government parliamentary group both in and outside parliament challenged the Supreme Court directive, Prof. Peiris said.

Referring to a statement issued by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) in respect of declarations made by Premanath Dolawatte, MP, and State Finance Minister Shehan Semasinghe as regards the Supreme Court intervention, Prof. Peiris alleged that the government was trying to overwhelm the judiciary. The ex-minister strongly criticised the move to summon members of the judiciary before the House Privileges Committee.

Prof. Peiris said that both the UNP and the SLPP knew they would face heavy defeat at Local Government polls. They realised in the wake of such devastating loss, the government couldn’t prevent public movement for a national level election.

The ex-minister said that the current parliament didn’t reflect political environment in the country. Therefore a general election was needed to pave the way for a Parliament that would earn public respect. Instead of seeking a way out of the crisis, the government was trying to pit the legislature against the judiciary in line with Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa strategy.

Prof. Peiris said that as Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena was overseas, an Opposition delegation led by SJB and Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa took up issues at hand with Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapakse. Strongly condemning indiscriminate violence unleashed on protesting University students recently, Prof. Peiris alleged that Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa strategy was threatening the very basis of the Constitution.

Those at the helm of political power should realise that at the end of the day they couldn’t ignore the Supreme Court directive, Prof. Peiris said.

In spite of internal strife, the SLPP parliamentary group which consists of 120 MPs is the largest party in parliament and facilitated Wickremesinghe’s strategy, the ex-minister said. The President couldn’t last 24 hours without the SLPP’s backing, he declared.