Prez can dissolve parliament if vote on account is defeated – Wijeyadasa
Posted on October 31st, 2018
Courtesy The Island
Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, who defected from the UNP to the UPFA on Monday, told the media in Colombo, yesterday, that if the vote on accounted to be presented by the new government to Parliament was defeated by any chance, the President was constitutionally empowered to dissolve Parliament immediately.
Minister Rajapakshe, State Minister of Plantation Industries Vadivel Suresh and Deputy Minister of Wildlife and Tourism, Ananda Aluthgamage claimed they had acted out of principle in switching their allegiance to President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Rajapakshe said that he had left the UNP mainly because the Wickremesinghe administration had leased out Hambantota Port to a Chinese company without a proper appraisal, the bond scams, deplorable move to hand over the East Container Terminal of the Colombo Port to India without presidential or Cabinet approval, the new land laws, government action in Geneva and the despicable manner in which laws governing the local and provincial government elections had been made.
Vadivel Suresh said that he was disappointed with Wickremesinghe’s treatment of estate workers. “I asked the former PM to intervene on behalf of the estate workers to increase their wage to Rs 1,000 a day. But he ignored me. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Sirisena agreed to consider our request.
Deputy Minister Aluthgamage said that he was angry about the manner in which a cabal loyal to Ranil Wickremesinghe had run the government. “No attention was paid to the grassroots,” he said.
Rajapakshe said that President Sirisena had appointed Wickremesinghe Prime Minister in 2015, when the UNP only had 47 MPs. “Therefore, the President had a right to appoint Rajapaksa who has the support of a lot more MPs. The Sinhala version of the 19th Amendment clearly states that if the Cabinet is dissolved, the PM can no longer hold his position.”
Dr. Rajapaksa also said that the Speaker could not summon Parliament once the President prorogued it and that the Speaker had only requested the President to summon Parliament.
“I voted against the previous no-confidence motion against Wickremesinghe because at that time the Joint Opposition did not provide an alternative candidate as Prime Minister and I didn’t want to support a move which had the potential to cause instability in the country. When Wickremesinghe asked me about the NCM, I told him in no uncertain terms that I would vote against it not because I liked him but because I did not want the country to be plunged into chaos and it would take months for us to find a new PM at the time.”
October 30th, 2018 at 7:26 pm
INDEED, this is what should be done.
If the VOTE COUNT on Nov 16 FAILS to SUPPORT the GOVT, DISSOLVE Parliament, and CALL for NEW GENERAL ELECTIONS in 3 months!
Furthermore, the JO and the UPFA should IMMEDIATELY ORGANIZE a MASSIVE RALLY in SUPPORT iof the Sirisena-Mahiinda Government to safeguard the Motherland from the PARA-GATHI PUPPETS of Ranil-Baba and his 40- Thieves!
October 30th, 2018 at 7:43 pm
The UPFA/JO should IMMEDIATELY organize a MASSIVE RALLY to DEMONSTRATE OVERWHELMING PUBLIC SUPPORT of the NEW GOVERNMENT!
October 31st, 2018 at 6:15 am
There is NO NECESSITY for a vote count? Says WHO?
1. At FACE VALUE, the UNP has a NECESSITY for a VOTE COUNT to recover its lost power. The Governing party usually does not INITIATE a VOTE COUN; only the party out of power does it.
The UNP has TWO methods of TRIGGERING a VOTE COUNT. FIRST, it can submit a NO-CONFIDENCE MOTION against PM Mahinda Rajapaksa. SECOND, it can DEFEAT the pending Budget Bill through a VOTE COUNT. On FACE VALUE, the Govt will FALL if it FAILS to show a MAJORITY in the VOTE COUNT.
2. But, WILL IT really? The UNP can fall from the FRYING PAN into the FIRE with a VOTE COUNT at this time because, a VOTE COUNT WIN by the UNP, will FORCE President Sirisena to DISSOLVE the Parliament, and CALL FOR a NEW GENERAL ELECTION within 3 months, well ahead of the scheduled time for the NEXT GENERAL ELECTION.
That is a HUGE PROBLEM for the UNP, because, given its UNPOPULARITY among VOTERS, it will LOSE DISASTROUSLY, perhaps losing more than HALF of its current MP seats in Parliament.
Therefore, we must PONDER whether it is BETTER for the UNP to AVOID TRIGGERING A VOTE COUNT in order to HANG ON to its current MP seats in Parliament at least until the NEXT regularly scheduled GENERAL ELECTION.
FORCING the UNP to TRIGGER a VOTE COUNT resulting in DISSOLUTION of the Parliament and calling for an EARLY GENERAL ELECTION may be the REAL STRATEGY of Mahinda Rajapaksa!
I REJOICE in that the PARA-GATHI UNP is in DIRE trouble: it is DAMNED if it TRIGGERS a VOTE COUNT and WINS, and DAMNED if it TRIGGERS a VOTE COUNT and LOSES!
That maybe why it CONTINUES to use the current opportunity to DESTABILIZE the NATION and TREASONOUSLY PLEAD for FOREIGN INTERVENTION … the LAST HOPE of this PARA-GATHI DESHADROHI PUPPET kalliya!