New amendment proposed by Romesh, Manohara not acceptable

By Shamindra Ferdinando

One-time Deputy Governor of the Central Bank Dr. W. A. Wijewardena yesterday (11) urged the beleaguered Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) government to restore political stability before talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington or face the consequences.

Dr. Wijewardena said so when The Island sought his views on the forthcoming talks between Sri Lanka and the IMF scheduled to begin on April 18.

Dr. Wijewardena, who resigned in 2009 after having served as Deputy Governor for a period of nine years said that political stability here was a prerequisite for Washington talks.

Political parties represented in Parliament couldn’t be unaware of the danger in sitting down for talks in Washington while a massive countrywide protest campaign was on, demanding the resignation of the President and the entire government.

Former General Secretary of the Communist Party D.E.W. Gunasekera, too, warned protracted political dispute within the ruling coalition and another between the government and the Opposition could undermine ongoing efforts to restore economic stability.

Pointing out that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s offer to accommodate Opposition political parties in the cabinet in a bid to restore stability in the wake of Mirihana violence had been rejected, the former Minister said that the SLPP, too, was in a much weaker position today.

Contrary to various reports in mainstream and social media, the government hadn’t been able to finalize an interim cabinet with or without the Opposition for over a week, the CP veteran said, adding that the resignation of Ali Sabry, PC, one of the four ministers sworn in as ministers on April 04, but his decision to continue certainly didn’t help the government.

The government delegation to talks with the IMF comprised Finance Minister Ali Sabry, Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena and Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe.

Former lawmaker Gunasekera said that further delay in resolving the political crisis would cause irreparable damage to the national economy. Responding to another query, the veteran politician said that pestering forex crisis had been transformed in to the worst ever situation with the toxic combination of financial, political and social crises overwhelming the country.

Meanwhile, President of the Bar Association (BASL) Saliya Peiris, PC, yesterday (11) said the BASL couldn’t take a stand on proposed amendment to address the issues at hand now.

The PC said so in response to The Island query whether the BASL would comment on the amendment proposed by two of Sri Lanka’s eminent lawyers, Romesh de Silva and Manohara de Silva, both members of the 09-member team that recently finalized draft Constitution as requested by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The BASL Chief said that they could respond in case the government made its position public in respect of the proposed amendment.

The text of the proposed AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION

The following Article to be inserted after Article 44 and shall be numbered as Article 44A

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Constitution, the President may in extraordinary and special circumstances –

(a) Remove from office the Prime Minister and members of the Cabinet of Ministers

(b) Appoint a Prime Minister in accordance with paragraph (3) of Article 43 subject to the approval of Parliament.

(c) Appoint a Cabinet of Ministers consisting of not more than fifteen Ministers who –

i. Have the expertise in the subject and function assigned to him under sub paragraph (d) and,

ii. are not Members of Parliament or of any political party:

Provided that, the appointment of each of the members of the Cabinet of Ministers is approved by Parliament:

Provided further that the Appointment of each of such members is approved by the majority of the members of Parliament who are not members of the party of which the Prime Minister is a member

(d) Assign subjects and functions to such Minister, provided that such Minister has the expertise in any such subject and is capable of performing the functions so assigned.

(2)The Cabinet of Ministers appointed under paragraph (1) shall function for a period of one year and may be reappointed until the next Parliamentary election is concluded, subject to the approval of Parliament

Manohara de Silva told The Island said that they did it as a citizens’ initiative in the interest of the public.

However, Opposition political and other civil society sources explained that the proposal made by the two President’s Counsels was contrary to the ongoing campaign demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the removal of the entire cabinet of ministers. The proposed amendment sought to strengthen the executive presidency further and was nothing but a further boost to the dictatorial 20th Amendment enacted in late Oct 2020.

Top Samagi Jana Balavegaya spokesperson Mujibur Rahuman said that the vast majority of members of Parliament opposed the 20A now. They wouldn’t under any circumstances back an amendment meant to further consolidate executive powers against the backdrop of calamitous 20A, the Colombo District MP said.

Manohara de Silva said that a copy of the proposed amendment was also submitted to SJB and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa.

SLFP General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekera recently told The Island that their party wouldn’t in anyway support further consolidation of the 20A. Instead, the SLFP felt that the 19th Amendment should be restored with amendments in line with overall efforts to save the country from anarchy.