… warns SLPP rebels against accepting ministerial portfolios

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Dr. Wasantha Bandara says the appointment of UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe will hinder the formation of an all-party interim administration or a government of national unity.

Speaking on behalf of the Patriotic National Movement (PNM) Dr. Bandara yesterday (15) said that the envisaged administration could only be described as Gota-Ranil government.

Dr. Bandara, who backed Goabaya Rajapaksa’s candidature at the 2019 presidential election, said so in the wake of the President swearing in four ministers, namely Prof. G.L. Peiris (Foreign Affairs), Dinesh Gunawardena (Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government), Prasanna Ranatunga (Urban Development and Housing) and Kanchanna Wijesekera (power and energy) pending finalisation of other appointments. All of them are either elected or appointed members on the SLPP ticket or the National List.

The Gota-Ranil arrangement could be compared with the Chandrika-Ranil (2002-2003) and Maithri-Ranil (2015-2019) governments. The PNM spokesperson warned the SLPP dissidents, aka 11-party grouping, of catastrophic consequences in case they accepted portfolios in the new administration.

Responding to media queries, Dr. Bandara asserted that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa may have offered the premiership to the UNP leader due to international pressure. Dr. Bandara claimed that the UNP leader would try to implement his agenda that had been interrupted in 2003.

Dr. Bandara said that those who exercised their franchise for Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the SLPP, at the 2019 presidential and 2020 parliamentary elections, respectively, would never endorse Wickremesinghe receiving premiership.

The SLPP rebels have repeatedly assured that they wouldn’t accept ministerial portfolios under any circumstances. Top rebel spokespersons, Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila have alleged that Wickremesinghe would go ahead with projects undertaken by the ousted Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa.

Dr. Bandara said that the PNM had no faith at all in Wickremesinghe, who always pursued an anti-Sri Lanka agenda regardless of the consequences.

The PNM official recalled how Wickremesinghe signed the Norwegian-arranged Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) with the LTTE, in Feb 2003, and co-sponsored a resolution at the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Oct 2015.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has proposed what its President Saliya Pieris called an interim government of National Unity consisting of 15 Cabinet Ministers. The BASL, in a statement issued on Saturday (14), stressed the need to be cautious when making crucial appointments.

The BASL said that the appointment of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers were important steps to restore economic and political stability. As such it would be necessary that such appointments were made in a manner which would establish public confidence, the BASL stated.

Dr. Bandara said that it wouldn’t be so difficult for the people to understand how Wickremesinghe would proceed and take advantage of the current situation to push his despicable agenda.

Dr. Bandara asserted that offering the premiership to Wickremesinghe was contrary to the proposals made by the Mahanayakes, as well as the BASL. Placing Wickremesinghe at the helm of the government parliamentary group, in Parliament, betrayed the 6.9 mn people who exercised their franchise for Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the presidential and the SLPP at the subsequent parliamentary election.

Political sources said that many SLPP lawmakers were in a quandary over the appointment of Wickremesinghe. Among them was a section of the 145-member parliamentary group that had declared it would sit in the Opposition. But, the dissident group has assured that it wouldn’t undermine the government as long as the new administration didn’t work against the national interest.