By Shamindra Ferdinando

Nidahasa Janatha Sabhawa (NJS) a breakaway faction of the SLPP asserted that as the parliamentary group of the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government had been sharply divided over the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, the proposed law couldn’t secure the mandatory 2/3 approval required to pave the way for a referendum as stipulated.

Referring to recent statements made by Leader of the House and Minister Susil Premjayantha and Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, top NJS and Opposition spokesman Prof. G. L. Peiris said that President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s last-ditch bid to postpone the presidential election scheduled for Sept 17-Oct 16, 2024 obviously lacked required support.

The former External Affairs Minister said so addressing the media at a makeshift office at Kirula Road on Monday (22).

Prof. Peiris questioned the rationale in President Wickremesinghe countermanding Justice Minister D. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe’s move to suspend the stipulated constitutional process pertaining to 22nd Amendment when he evidently lacked the parliamentary support. Pointing out that the UNP had been reduced to just one National List slot, Prof Peiris warned the proposed Amendment may end up failing to even secure at least a simple majority.

Against the backdrop of Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe’s declaration that he wouldn’t accept the consequences of going ahead with the constitutional process in respect of 22nd Amendment, could he vote for the proposed law at the second reading stage, Prof. Peiris asked.

The internationally acclaimed academic emphasized that the responsibility for thwarting President Wickremesinghe’s costly agenda lies with the Parliament. “Whatever the differences of opinion on other matters, members of Parliament can take a common stand on the issue at hand. No right thinking lawmaker can facilitate despicable move to put off constitutionally guaranteed national election,” Prof. Peiris said.

Prof. Peiris said that the turmoil within the government parliamentary group would be exposed if the current dispensation failed to table the relevant gazette in parliament tomorrow (25). In terms of the Constitution, the first reading could take place tomorrow-seven days after the gazetting of 22nd Amendment, the SLPP National List MP said, adding that those who spearheaded the operation seemed to be somehow hesitant now, particularly against the backdrop of two persons, including an attorney-at-law being asked to pay heavy costs over contemptuous bids to derail presidential election.

Prof. Peiris also pointed out the absurdity in co-authors of 22nd Amendment President Wickremesinghe and Justice Minister Rajapakshe not being on the same page with regard to the implementation of the government’s plan. How could they explain the collective responsibility on the part of the Cabinet-of-Ministers in respect of decisions taken therein, if they were to take contradictory stands on the issue? Prof. Peiris asked. The President is the head of the Cabinet.

Prof. Peiris said that those lawmakers who voted for the controversial amendment would find it difficult to visit their home bases.

Commenting on Election Commission Chairman R.M.A.L. Ratnayake’s recent disclosure that he sought the intervention of newly appointed Attorney General K.A. Parinda Ranasinghe, PC, to thwart attempts to move Supreme Court against the presidential poll, Prof. Peiris said that if President Wickremesinghe succeeded in retaining Sanjay Rajaratnam, PC, in the AG’s post the situation would have been very much different.

Prof. Peiris alleged that thanks to principled position taken by the Constitutional Council, the President’s bid to retain the services of Rajaratnam did not succeed. “The President sought CC’s approval not once, but twice to retain the services of Rajaratnam,” the former minister said.

The dissident SLPPer said that squandering Rs 10 bn for an unwarranted referendum at a time the country was still desperately struggling on the economic front was nothing but a crime.

Regardless of confidence expressed by the Election Commission as regards its capacity to conduct two national elections within a short period of time, Prof. Peiris warned that it could be quite a daunting challenge. Therefore, the President should accept that the SLPP had him elected as the 8th President in third week of July 2022 to complete the remainder of Gotabaya Rajapaksas’s five-year term, Prof. Peiris said. If the UNP leader wished to continue, he should face the electorate at the forthcoming poll.