SLPP rebels step up pressure on PM to resign

‘Govt. won’t survive by accommodating turncoats’

By Shamindra Ferdinando

SLPP National List member Gevindu Cumaratunga yesterday (20) said that the Cabinet of Ministers, including Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa should resign without further delay to facilitate a consensual political settlement or face the consequences.

Lawmaker Cumaratunga issued the warning on behalf of the SLPP dissident grouP, comprising about 40 members, at a media briefing at Dr. N.M. Perera Centre.

Cumaratunga, who heads a civil society organisation, emphasized that resignation of the entire Cabinet was a prerequisite for an agreement with political parties represented in Parliament.

At the onset of the media briefing, MP Cumaratunga regretted Tuesday’s incidents at Rambukkana where one person lost his life and two dozen protesters and law enforcement personnel received injuries. The MP said the dissident group abhorred violence regardless who the perpetrator was.

Declaring that the new Cabinet appointments wouldn’t make any difference, MP Cumaratunga urged President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to consider their proposals dated April 08. The first time Parliament entrant said that the political turmoil could be addressed by forming an interim or caretaker government. Cabinet portfolios and state ministries should be shared among those political parties agreeable to the strategy, the MP said, underscoring the need to do away with the 20th Amendment and bring in a new Amendment with features of the 19th Amendment.

Unfortunately, instead of taking tangible measures to resolve the crisis, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had sought to appease those who voted for the 20th Amendment by accommodating them in the cabinet of ministers and as State Ministries.

Lawmaker Cumaratunga declared that what was happening in the name of parliamentary democracy was nothing but a tragedy. The Yuthukama chief questioned the ministerial portfolios offered to turncoats in a despicable bid to protect the SLPP government’s simple majority in Parliament.

Lawmaker Cumaratunga rapped the SLPP over the state ministerial portfolios granted to Diana Gamage (SJB National List), Shantha Bandara (SLFP) as well as Dr. Suren Raghavan (SLFP).

Instead of settling the crisis, the government was engaged in a desperate project to save the administration, MP Cumaratunga said.

Alleging that some of those who had been critical of the government such as Vidura Wickremanayake had been accommodated, MP Cumaratunga alleged that the government was not sensitive to the crisis and pursued a strategy inimical to the country.

The Yuthukama Chief said that a political settlement couldn’t be worked out unless the Prime Minister quit. Referring to a recent meeting chaired by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, MP Cumaratunga said that the majority of party leaders were of the view that the time was not opportune to introduce a new Constitution. The MP said that the only way forward was an interim administration or a caretaker government with specific responsibility to stabilize and revive the economy before elections could be held to allow the electorate a free hand.

Lawmaker Cumaratunga explained their efforts to rectify the 20th Amendment, particularly the issue over the controversial provision that allowed US passport holder Basil Rajapaksa to enter Parliament in July last year.

The MP said that the incumbent dispensation paid a huge price for ignoring their concerns. He reiterated that the current turmoil could have been avoided if the top leadership heeded their advice.

The the country was in such a precarious situation the government could not play politics with the issues at hand in a bid to revive its hold, he said.