News
Abolition of Executive Presidency may cause anarchy – Justice Minister
Intervention made by lawyer and fiscal officer in Aeroflot affair extraordinary
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Justice, Prison Affairs, Constitutional Reforms Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapaksa, PC, has warned that the abolition of the Executive Presidency hastily, will plunge the country into anarchy.
The SLPP Colombo District MP said that as the Executive Presidential system has been tied up with the electoral system and 13th Amendment to the Constitution, it couldn’t be done away with.
Dr. Rajapakse said so appearing in a live Swarnavahini interview Monday night (06).
Lawmaker Rajapakse said that the abolition of the executive presidential system without making absolutely necessary constitutional safeguards through other means would definitely threaten Sri Lanka’s unitary status.
Reference was also made to how the Provincial Councils could undermine unitary status if the appointment of Governors, who exercised the executive powers, was done away with. Therefore, the relentless demand of those continuing the ongoing public protest campaign extremist at Galle Face couldn’t be addressed, Minister Rajapaksa said.
In a wide-ranging interview, Dr. Rajapakse discussed several issues at hand, including the alleged conspiracy involving an unnamed Justice Ministry employee and Attorney-at-Law Aruna de Silva, who appeared for the plaintiff Ireland-based Celestial Aviation Trading Co Ltd in a case against Public Joint Stock Company Aeroflot, the circumstances under which UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was offered premiership and the inclusion of citizenship clause that had been in the 19th Amendment, in the proposed 21st Amendment to the Constitution.
Dr. Rajapaksa said that JRJ enacted the 1978 Constitution and brought in new electoral system believing the UNP could never be defeated. But, for 27 years, the UNP couldn’t regain the presidency.
Since Chandrika Bandaranaike’s Kumaratunga’s triumph at the Nov 1994 presidential election, the UNP’s efforts to regain the Executive Presidency failed, MP Rajapakse said, reminding how the UNP scuttled Kumaratunga’s bid in 2000 to abolish the system. The UNP set fire to the new draft Constitution in Parliament as it didn’t accept the provision the Executive Presidency would be abolished within two years after the enactment of the new law.
Responding to another query, Dr. Rajapakse said that if President Gotabaya Rajapaksa decided to resign, the issue could be settled. If that happened, Parliament could select any member of its choice but it would be from the ruling SLPP, the Justice Minister said. Therefore, a SLPPer would serve the incumbent President’s remaining period, the Minister said, pointing out that in spite of differences among some sections of the government group the SLPP remained the single largest party.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected in Nov 2019 for a five-year period. How could we be sure that Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s successor would be better than him or far worse, Dr. Rajapakse asked? A smiling Minister pointed out in case of a vote in Parliament, the new President could be Basil Rajapaksa, he or somebody else from the SLPP. The SLPP group comprised 145 members whereas the SJB received 54 seats out of whom three had so far switched allegiance to the incumbent dispensation.
Dr. Rajapakse said that enactment of the 21 st Amendment was nothing but a prerequisite for revival of the national economy. The requirement for a new Constitution should be dealt with subsequently, the Minister said, dismissing concerns the government was on the wrong path.
Referring to views expressed by Prof. Alfred Jeyaratnam Wilson, the architect of the 1978 Constitution, in ‘The Gaullist System in Asia’, Dr. Rajapakse justified the Galle Face protest launched nearly two months ago, demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Dr. Rajapakse said that the son-in-law of S.J. V. Chelvanayagam foresaw the current crisis 40 years ago.
Asked to explain how he now accepted Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister after having condemned him on so many occasions, Dr. Rajapakse emphasised the UNP leader was capable of handling the situation. The Justice Minister reiterated his faith in Premier Wickremesinghe. However, the SLPP dissidents’ first choice had been the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB).
Dr. Rajapaksa said that the dissident group comprising 53 lawmakers wanted the SJB to take over the government. “We assured the SJB of our support and readiness to accept some ministerial portfolios. But, the main Opposition repeatedly declined,” Dr. Rajapakse said. The SJB’s position remained the same even after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa invited SJB leader Sajith Premadasa to accept the challenge.
Against the backdrop of the SJB’s decision not to accept their offer there wouldn’t have been any purpose in moving a No-faith motion, Dr. Rajapakse said.
Responding to calls for early parliamentary poll to settle the continuing political-economic-social crisis, lawmaker Rajapakse said that the electorate was not in a mood for election. Had there been a general election now, all current members of Parliament would lose their seats, Dr. Rajapakse said.
At the onset of the interview, the three-member panel of journalists questioned the Justice Minister over the Aeroflot affair, amidst furious Russian reaction to the unprecedented detention of their flight at the BIA on June 02. The minister acknowledged that the lawyer accompanying the fiscal official was an extraordinary development. The Minister said that there was no requirement for the official of Commercial High Court of Western Province to deliver a court order to the concerned official at the BIA. The court official and the lawyer had shown undue interest in the matter and therefore the need for an inquiry couldn’t be ignored.
Dr. Rajapakse said that the Justice Ministry would inquire into the conduct of the court official as the Supreme Court exercised the powers to investigate lawyers. The Justice Minister admitted without hesitation that fiscal officials had been routinely influenced by various interested parties and used them for illegitimate purposes.
The Justice Minister also admitted that suspicions had been raised over the possibility of the fiscal officer and the lawyer being used by a group of conspirators who carried out the project.
Govt. tells fuel distributors to maintain stocks to ensure uninterrupted supplies
by Saman Indrajith and Norman Palihawadane
The government had instructed private fuel distributors to maintain minimum stocks and ensure uninterrupted supplies to the market, Energy Minister Anura Karunathilaka told Parliament yesterday (06).
Karunathilaka said the Ministry of Energy Secretary had notified the relevant companies of the requirement, following a reduction in supplies by some private distributors, amid higher international fuel prices.
The Minister said private companies had informed the government that they were facing losses because international prices had risen while fuel was being sold, locally, at prevailing prices. As a result, some companies had reduced the volumes released to the market.
The reduced supplies had increased the burden on the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), whose share of the diesel market had risen from about 54% to 82%, the Minister said.
“The CPC currently holds an 82% share of the market,” he said, adding that it had increased its supplies, compared with February, to compensate for the reduction by private distributors.
Karunathilaka said the government could not, under the existing agreements with private companies, specify the quantities they should supply to individual filling stations. However, it could require them to maintain minimum stocks in the country.
The Minister said the Energy Ministry had already instructed companies that had failed to maintain the required stocks to take steps to prevent supply disruptions.
The Minister attributed the queues reported at some filling stations to reduced supplies from private distributors, as well as normal variations in fuel distribution. He also said demand for CPC fuel had increased because private companies generally did not provide fuel to dealers on credit, while the CPC offered a three-day credit facility.
“We expect that, as the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation takes on this additional burden, the problem will ease to some extent by Wednesday or Thursday,” Karunathilaka said.
He said instructions had also been issued to increase supplies to CPC filling stations. A special discussion on the issue is scheduled for today (07), with officials of the Energy Ministry and CPC expected to participate,
along with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
Meanwhile, Petroleum Dealers’ Association officials have called for an early solution to the supply issue. Association Chairman D.V. Shantha Silva said queues had been reported at many filling stations, mainly those operated by private distributors.
He said the situation was not due to an overall shortage of fuel, but was linked to reduced orders by Lanka IOC, Sinopec and R.M. Parks amid concerns over losses incurred on fuel sales.
The Ceylon Petroleum Private Tanker Owners Association has urged motorists to refrain from panic buying, saying there was no nationwide disruption to fuel supplies.
The government earlier increased fuel prices and introduced a per-litre diesel subsidy following concerns raised by distributors over rising international prices.
by Norman Palihawadane
Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary Ven. Galagodaatte Gnanasara Thera, who has been ordered by the court to serve the remainder of his prison sentence, is to be assigned to the prison ‘printing work party’, prison officials said yesterday.
The monk was produced before the Colombo High Court yesterday by prison officials in connection with a warrant issued by the court.
He appeared before the court in civilian attire.
Prison sources said arrangements were being finalised for his detention and that he would subsequently be assigned to the printing work party.
The Thera initially objected when prison officials instructed him to change from his robes into the attire worn by convicted prisoners.
He later agreed to wear the prescribed prison clothes, sources said.
The Supreme Court, in September, annulled the presidential pardon granted to Gnanasara Thera in 2019. He had been serving a six-year prison sentence imposed following his conviction for contempt of court but had served only about nine months when then President Maithripala Sirisena granted him a presidential pardon in May 2019.
Following the Supreme Court ruling, the Thera was required to serve the remainder of his sentence. He was subsequently reported missing, prompting the Court of Appeal to issue an open warrant for his arrest.
The Court of Appeal on Monday ordered the authorities to enforce the remainder of his prison sentence.
Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne yesterday ruled that a privilege complaint submitted by SJB Kalutara District MP Ajith P. Perera did not constitute a prima facie breach of parliamentary privilege.
The ruling was made in response to a notice of privilege submitted by Perera on October 02.
Perera alleged that his parliamentary privileges had been breached over the failure to take formal action or reach a final decision on a written request submitted on August 03 by 18 Opposition MPs seeking the appointment of a Special Select Committee to investigate delays in the judicial system and prison overcrowding.
He had also requested that the matter be referred to the Committee on Ethics and Privileges for investigation and recommendations.
In his ruling, Speaker Wickramaratne said the Speaker, as the Presiding Authority and guardian of the powers, rights and privileges of Parliament, could not be subjected to a privilege complaint or disciplinary inquiry by a committee subordinate to the Chair in respect of actions taken in an official capacity.
He said that, under the Standing Orders, the Speaker was required to independently determine whether a prima facie case of breach of privilege existed.
Referring a complaint against the Speaker to a committee functioning under the Speaker’s authority would, therefore, create a procedural contradiction, he said.
Accordingly, the Speaker ruled that Perera’s notice did not constitute a prima facie breach of parliamentary privilege and disallowed the request to refer the matter to the Committee on Ethics and Privileges.
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