Monday 11th December, 2023

Yesterday’s parliamentary session had to be adjourned until today for want of a quorum. While the VAT (Amendment) Bill was being debated, an SJB MP brought it to the notice of the Chair that the session was inquorate. The SLPP has about 124 MPs on its side, but most of them were absent yesterday. The SJB MPs walked out in protest against what they called serious flaws in the list of commodities to be subjected to VAT.

Inquorate parliamentary sessions are not uncommon in this country. What’s the world coming to when at least 20 out of 225 MPs, whom the public is paying through the nose to maintain, are not present in Parliament when a crucial tax bill is taken up for debate?

The MPs often take the moral high ground and wax eloquent on the virtues of diligence and punctuality. They berate public officials for dereliction of duty. But they are not present in Parliament even during debates on crucial bills. What is the use of maintaining 225 MPs when Parliament can do without many of them?

However, there was something unusual about yesterday’s inquorate parliamentary session. The Opposition is known to stage walkouts and plunge Parliament into chaos when it seeks to delay the passage of bills, etc. But the government MPs make it a point to be present in the House when an important bill is presented, and it is puzzling why so many SLPP MPs were absent yesterday.

Speculation is rife in political circles that most of the government MPs kept away yesterday due to an internal dispute in the ruling coalition. It may be recalled that SLPP MP Namal Rajapaksa was absent when a vote was taken on the second reading of Budget 2024 recently. Later, he said he had absented himself because the budget had not offered any relief to the public. Interestingly, his father, Mahinda, voted for the budget, making one wonder if Namal and his father did not see eye to eye on the budget. The SLPP is also resentful that some of its district leaders have been denied ministerial posts.

The proposed VAT increase from 15% to 18% with its application being expanded to cover almost all goods and services is bound to cause a surge in the general price level, aggravating the economic woes of the public. Increases in indirect taxes adversely impact the entire population. The public will have to pay more for public transport, essential commodities and services including medical care. The VAT (Amendment) Bill has been presented to Parliament almost on the eve of an election year. It is therefore natural that the SLPP MPs are wary of openly supporting the hugely unpopular bill and incurring public opprobrium in the process.

They stand accused of having inflicted untold suffering on the public by supporting the policies and actions of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government, which precipitated the country’s bankruptcy. If they vote for the VAT bill, they will make the people’s lot even more unbearable, and there’ll be hell to pay in such an eventuality. This is something the government MPs need like a hole in the head with only a couple of weeks to go before the dawn of an election year. They, however, will have to decide whether to support them or oppose them, soon. They cannot dilly-dally indefinitely. The passage of the VAT bill is a prerequisite for the release of the next tranche of the IMF loan.

In the run-up to the debate on the VAT bill a story began to do the rounds that Parliament was likely to be dissolved early next year. This rumour can be considered part of a campaign to tame the SLPP MPs by instilling fear of elections in them. President Ranil Wickremesinghe can now dissolve Parliament at a time of his choosing.

All eyes are on today’s parliamentary session. Chief Government Whip and Minister Prasanna Ranatunga told the House yesterday that the VAT bill would be debated and passed on Monday (11). Whether the SLPP MPs will attend Parliament today and help the government secure the passage of the bill remains to be seen.