President Sirisena and PM Wickramsinghe Played Out People
Posted on August 31st, 2015
Kusal Perera
The 19 Amendment is a total fraud on the people who wanted a different government to that of Mahinda Rajapaksa. To be different from Rajapaksa, immunity allowed for a President had to be removed completely to begin with. That was quite consciously dropped. The promise to abolish the presidency that was the rallying call to oust President Rajapaksa, also did not happen with 19A. Social resentment and anger over Rajapaksa’s mega cabinet of ministers was also circumvented in a very crude manner to play out the people’s resentment and anger. This Wickramasinghe government with President Sirisena can now go sky high with any number in both the cabinet and outside the cabinet of ministers.
With the 19 Amendment to the Constitution, the people were told, [quote] 46. (1) The total number of– (a) Ministers of the Cabinet of Ministers shall not exceed thirty (30); and (b) Ministers who are not members of the Cabinet of Ministers and Deputy Ministers shall not, in the aggregate, exceed forty (40) [unquote]. Hereafter, people were made to understand there will not be Rajapaksa type mega cabinets.
Thus all added together the total of privileged men and women in parliament as ministers and deputy ministers would be seventy (70) in all. This would mean, if they had formed their own government, there could be only 70 men and women as ministers and deputies. That’s two thirds (2/3) of the number elected (106) on the UNP lists. Do we need such large numbers to run a government for only 20 million people? In India that has a population of1,236,344,631 (1.24) billion people, Manmohan Singh had a cabinet of 77 ministers and Modi’s present cabinet has only 66 ministers. IF India goes on our 19A ratio, India would have to have over 4,300 ministers and deputies in their government. That’s how absurd the calculations are in this much hyped 19A. IF these political creatures are honest and sincere in what they say and do, this country can easily manage with a cabinet of 15 ministers and 20 deputies.
They are nowhere near honesty and are never sincere to what they say. That’s what 19A is all about. They thus included Article 46(4) to circumvent Article 46(1). This Article 46(4) has no logic. No rational It simply says, [quote] (4) Notwithstanding anything contained in paragraph (1) of this Article, where the recognized political party or the independent group which obtains highest number of seats in Parliament forms a National Government, the number of Ministers in the Cabinet of Ministers, the number of Ministers who are not Cabinet of Ministers and the number of Deputy Ministers shall be determined by Parliament. [unquote]
How does ministerial responsibility in a country go up in numbers merely because 02 or 03 political parties come together to form a government? How does number of political parties in a government increase the number of subjects for ministerial portfolios? What’s that logic? In 1965 when Dudley Senanayake formed the first coalition government by the UNP that was labelled the Hath Havula” (Bunch of 07) he had only 17 cabinet ministers. Just 01 more than what Madam Bandaranayake had in her cabinet of ministers (16) since July 1960. Out of the 17 ministers in Dudley’s cabinet, 02 were from SLFSP (C.P de Silva faction), 01 from MEP that was Philip Gunawardne and 01 from ITAK that was Senator M. Thiruchelvam. Have we accrued more subject areas in excess of what was there in 1965 that cannot be divided between 17 ministries? Or even among 20 ministers, giving 03 more in excess of 17 ?
Honestly nothing. In fact we can now easily reduce number of ministries with Provincial Councils given quite a load of responsibility in many areas of social and economic development. In fact we don’t need a Provincial Council and Local Government Minister at the Centre. We don’t need a minister for social services and we don’t need ministers to be in charge of a department or an agency or two. For instance, minister of Transport and Public Commuting can have everything from road, rail and air in a single ministry. We usually have 03 ministries to cover that subject area.
BUT Articles 46(4) and (5) was not introduced for efficient, patriotic governance. That’s out ! They were included to help share the loot with most who joined the wild hunt for power spending many millions to enter parliament. Therefore Article 46(4) says in the event a national”(sic) government is formed, the parliament can lift the limit of 30 plus 40 ministers and deputies to any number. And what is the national” government from what is written into 19A ? Another bloody fraud on the people. [quote] (5) For the purpose of paragraph (4), National Government means, a Government formed by the recognized political party or the independent group which obtains the highest number of seats in Parliament together with the other recognized political parties or the independent groups.[unquote]
What’s national” in this definition? Absolutely nothing. It is merely about two or three parties or independent groups” getting together to form a government. That has happened many times before in our parliamentary history. According to this definition, Dudley Senanayake’s 1965 Hath Havula” government was a National Government”. Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government formed with 17 UNP defectors was also a national” government. Except for numbers, that government too had part of the UNP in government and the other part in Opposition with the Leader of the Opposition. That is how this national” government is going to be with part of the SLFP in government while the other part sits in opposition with its own Opposition leader. Any clubbing together of any two parties or more, makes a national” government according to President Sirisena and PM Wickramsinghe who agreed on 19A with the JVP also consenting and thus allows any mega cabinet. In fact this malapropic” use of the word national” (should be co-habitational) is the license to have a huge cabinet of ministers just like Rajapaksa and nothing more. A fraud played on the people by President Sirisena and PM Wickramsignhe, the JVP playing into their scheme.
Unfortunately, it is the educated, intelligent” (?) middle class urbanites who still claim 19A did wonders to this country. Wonder if they would ever learn, this political system and its culture needs a heavy and a complete shake up and the crisis is such, patchwork cannot answer any issue !
Kusal Perera
29 August, 2015
August 31st, 2015 at 5:32 pm
“this political system and its culture needs a heavy and a complete shake up and the crisis is such, patchwork cannot answer any issue !
Ha….ha……ha…….
Didn’t humble Lorenzo say so LONG AGO!
This corrupt, stupid, dumb, insensitive, foolish, crooked, inefficient, contradictory POLITICAL SYSTEM AND CULTURE cannot save SL. Replacing BLUE with GREEN or RED or RAINBOW will not change anything. Its all a sham.
It MUST be ENDED for a new beginning.
Thank god people are REALIZING this at last. Some fools still think their favourite politician will deliver. What nonsense!
Thank you for the article KP.
August 31st, 2015 at 5:37 pm
Thank you LANKAWEB for this article. We need more of these for an INTELLIGENT discussion NOT to save politicians but to save SL.
In my view, LANKAWEB has always STOOD UP for a UNITARY SL and not for the PERSONAL FORTUNES of politicians.
SL must be saved from this rotten political system and culture.
Who are the patriots who will take up this challenge? We owe it to our next generations.
August 31st, 2015 at 6:00 pm
An excellent analysis of the last general election result and the current political situation in Sri Lanka by Wimal Weerawansa!
ankacnews.com/sinhala/main-news/135302/#comment-1261296
August 31st, 2015 at 6:01 pm
Sorry, the complete link is as follows:
http://lankacnews.com/sinhala/main-news/135302/#comment-1261296
August 31st, 2015 at 6:07 pm
Editor, please delete my second comments; it contains my e-mail address by mistake. Thank you so much!
August 31st, 2015 at 6:11 pm
Sorry, here’s the complete link!
http://lankacnews.com/sinhala/main-news/135302/
August 31st, 2015 at 8:18 pm
Facebook LORENZO the TREACHEROUS HYPOCRITE screams that 13A should be REPEALED while he UNDERMINED and HELPED to OUST the one man ….. President Mahinda Rajapaksa …. who led the Patriotic Forces that could DO IT!
Such is the DEVIOUS NATURE of this EELAMIST AGITATOR!
LORENZO KNOWS VERY WELL that REPEALING the 13A is now BEYOND REACH, now that the Yamapalanaya GoSL led by the man Somarama Sirisena that he helped to ride into the Presidency!
So, LORENZO WRAPS himself in the Lion Flag YELLING “REPEAL the 13th Amendment” and “I am the ONLY ONE who DEMANDS it”, knowing VERY WELL WHAT the rest of us PATRIOTS have long ago realized: that although we Patriots too want the 13A to be REPEALED, that is achievable only with a PATRIOTIC PRESIDENT and a PATRIOTIC POLITICAL PARTY in POWER, which this TREACHEROUS EELAMIST Facebook Lorenzo HELPED TO OUST in his QUEST for his EELAM!
WHO AMONG the Patriots STILL FAILS TO REALIZE this MACHIAVELLIAN STRATEGY of this REPROBATE Facebook LORENZO desperately seeking to stitch together his tattered “Patritic” sheepskin under which he hopes to engage in more MISCHIEF? Hello …. Any Gullible Lorenzo Fans STILL out there among the Patriots?? Helloooo …….??
August 31st, 2015 at 11:59 pm
Please bear in mind that Sri Lanka is not run by Sri Lankans now. It is run for these idiots by foreign brains. Our idiots specially the brain dead Sirisena, Ranil and Choura are only the rubber stamps.
Sirisena was only the means for Ranil and Choura to grab power.
I am sure we may be able to do something through the courts.
September 1st, 2015 at 6:06 am
To be a Member of Parliment in an earlier Colonised country such as Sri Lanka would bring many plums to the loyal (bought or otherwise) office holder.
It is an instant push of upward social mobility, an instant push upwards for the whole family & clan. See the pluses for the MP & his family and clan :
Good pay with perks for the MP,
MPs get good pensions,
Jobs open up for family & clan,
all schools open up,
marriage offers for the younger members of the clan,
money matters improve, offers for business,
business offers open, etc etc.
September 1st, 2015 at 11:02 am
And HERE is the NEXT STEP by the INCURABLY TREASONOUS Tiger Nominated Agents of the TNA towards EELAM!
The Yamapalanaya Government’s days are NUMBERED when this REALIZATION HITS the MAJORITY COMMUNITY of Sri Lanka flat in the FACE!
TRAITORS Galore in the UNPatriotic Party can now RUN like HELL, but there is NOWHERE to HIDE in Sri Lanka!
THIS is the BEGINNING of the END for them!!
ALL the Sinhala Buddhist MODAYAS who VOTED for the Yamapalanaya can NOW BEAT their CHESTS, CRY themselves HOARSE and HEAD BACK to President Mahinda Rajapaksa … RIGHT NOW!
……………………..
Sri Lanka’s Northern Provincial Council unanimously calls for an international tribunal
Sept 01, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s Tamil-controlled Northern Provincial Council (NPC) today unanimously called for an international probe into the alleged war crimes committed towards the end of the war with the LTTE.
The Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council C.V. Wigneswaran on Tuesday passed a resolution rejecting the domestic process being proposed by the United States and other members of the international community.
While acknowledging the “long standing efforts” of the United States and India along with the international community in securing justice, the NPC dismissed a domestic mechanism backed by the U.S. as Sri Lanka has had a “long and blighted history of human rights violations’ which according to the NPC amounts to genocide.
In this context, the NPC, which is controlled by the main Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA), said in its resolution that the trial of the alleged perpetrators should not take place through any mechanism instituted by the Sri Lankan Government as a State also incurs responsibility for the acts of its agents.
“Under these circumstances, the trial of the perpetrators of international crimes by a domestic mechanism would be a travesty of justice as it would amount to the potentially guilty Government trying its own agents, thereby violating the prohibition in the maxim nemo iudex in sua causa,” the resolution said.
The NPC resolution alleged that there is well-recorded prejudice among members of the Judiciary against the minorities and emphasized that Sri Lanka’s descent into grave human, political and social rights’ violations was precipitated and reinforced by the failure of key pillars of State.
“The prolonged decline in the political culture and political will of the State and the failure of key institutions of Justice, law and order, i.e. Judiciary, police and the armed forces, ensured that impunity became the new norm in Sri Lanka. The Tamil community bore the full brunt of this new norm at all levels of its existence,” it said.
“For these reasons, the Council calls upon the International community to set up an international tribunal to try those alleged to have committed international crimes against the Tamil People in Sri Lanka,” the NPC said.
“We urge the new leaders of the Sri Lankan government to be courageous enough to work with the International community to set up a credible international mechanism which will deliver justice and put this nation on a path of meaningful reconciliation.”
The United States last week confirmed that it will sponsor a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council session in Geneva later this month supporting the Sri Lankan government to conduct its own domestic probe into the alleged war crimes committed during the war with the LTTE.
The Tamil party has earlier rejected a domestic probe into the alleged war crimes saying that they have no faith in government mechanisms despite assurances given by the government that the domestic probe will meet international standards.
The Northern Provincial Council said it awaits the report of the OISL of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights to be released this month which is due to identify the nature of the crimes committed and possibly, the alleged perpetrators.