The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has decided to reject a request made by the President during a discussion between the President and the SLFP Parliamentary Group yesterday (05).
The President has said that since the Sri Lanka Freedom Party should be in the cabinet, they should take over the ministry again.
However, they have stated that this is not possible at the moment and that they will support any process which will bring about the abolition of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution,and the executive presidency.
A heated situation has occurred in the parliament today.
Although a special debate is scheduled to be held today and tomorrow on the current crisis in the country, it has been more than an hour and a half since Parliament convened, but it has not yet been able to begin a proper debate.
Apart from the current crisis in the country, special attention was paid to the person who was wearing a helmet and got into Leader of the Jathika Jana Balawegaya Anura Dissanayake’s Cab when it came out of Parliament yesterday.
Although Vijitha Herath stated in Parliament today that he was a member of the JVP who was under the protection of his leader, the ruling party members strongly requested the Speaker to conduct an investigation into that person and ensure the security of other Ministers and MPs.
Opposition members were chanting slogans at the parliament and the Speaker adjourned the House.
A special parliamentary debate has begun on the current situation in the country.
Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa opened the debate with a number of questions.
Why was the state of emergency imposed? Why was the curfew imposed? Why was social media blocked? Premadasa asked that these questions should be answered before the commencement of the debate.
Meanwhile, Premadasa pointed out that at present there is no Minister of Finance or Secretary to the Treasury in the country.
The Leader of the Opposition said that the new Minister of Finance had submitted several reports to Parliament yesterday and resigned.
He also demanded an explanation as to who was behind the group that arrived on unregistered motorcycles in military uniforms with masks and weapons to the protest held near the entrance of the parliament yesterday.
The Leader of the Opposition also explained how the dollar problem in the country could be resolved immediately.
He said that as revealed through the Pandora Papers, action should be taken to bring back the stolen money from the country.
India faced a very similar situation in 1991, same as Sri Lanka today, they had only about $1.2billion of foreign exchange reserves left to run the whole country (barely enough to last for 3 weeks of essential imports and only weeks away from defaulting on external debt) To their benefit, they had an election an got a farsighted government.
Dr Manmohan Singh (an Economist) was appointed as the Finance Minister. He immediately sought an IMF bailout to prevent the country from bankruptcy and made Huge Economic Reforms.
The Huge Economic Reforms made by the farsighted economist Manmohan Singh brought India from $1.2 billion in 1991 to $600 billion as of now. Now India has the 6th Largest Economy in the world!
Sri Lanka too needs an Economist or a Financial Specialist to hold the position of the Finance Minister to overcome this extreme economic situation. And he should make Key Economic Reforms immediately while seeking an immediate IMF bailout. Unless we will never be able to overcome the economic situation and probably will default on our external debt. A caretaker government with competent people is what we need for six months to get out of this crisis. The caretaker government ideally should be led by veteran PM Ranil Wickramasinghe. The Finance Minister should be Eran Wickramarathne who was a state minister of finance. Harsha de Silva should be appointed the Investment promotion Minister and assigned the foreign ministry. This arrangement should only be for six months. If not Sri Lanka will never recover .
President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has requested Ranjith Siyambalapitiya not to resign from the post of Deputy Speaker to protect parliamentary democracy.
With the decision of the 14 members of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party to become independent, Siyambalapitiya also took action to become independent from the post of Deputy Speaker.
However, the President has stated that he will reject the resignation on the grounds that it is an independent post and will continue to function in Parliament.
However, the SLFP is scheduled to raise awareness in this regard today.
Power interruptions of 6 hours and 30 minutes will continue today (06), as scheduled by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL).
On Monday (04), the PUCSL approved the Ceylon Electricity Board’s request for power cuts for four days (from 05 to 08), due to the limited supply of fuel for thermal power plants.
Accordingly, the power cuts have been scheduled as follows:
Areas ABCDEF Four hours from 8.00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m. Two hours and 30 minutes from 5.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m.
Areas GHIJKL Four hours from 1.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. Two hours and 30 minutes from 7.30 p.m. to 10.00 p.m.
Areas PQRS Four hours from 10.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. Two hours and 30 minutes from 6.00 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.
Areas TUVW Four hours from 2.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. Two hours and 30 minutes from 8.30 p.m. to 11.00 p.m.
Area CC1 Three hours and 30 minutes from 6.00 a.m. to 9.30 a.m.
Korea doubles its employment quota for Sri Lankan migrant workers and increases Overseas Development Assistance amount to Sri Lanka- Minister for Government Policy Coordination of the Republic of Korea, Koo Yun-cheol
Minister for Government Policy Coordination of the Republic of Korea, Koo Yun-cheol, who is on an official visit to Sri Lanka, called on the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. G.L. Peiris on 01 April, 2022. The meeting was followed by a luncheon where two sides discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and explored ways to further strengthen the close and friendly ties between Korea and Sri Lanka.
Extending Sri Lanka’s deep appreciation to the Korean Government for the enormous support extended thus far through loan assistance under the Economic Development Co-operation Fund (EDCF) and grant assistance via the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that the Government is looking forward to further expansion into many areas including pharmaceutical production, Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), waste disposal, energy, technology, vocational training and education.
Minister Peiris also explained the challenges Sri Lanka is currently experiencing with regard to its external budget and both sides agreed to work together to further enhance collaboration in mutually beneficial sectors. Approximately 22,000 migrant Sri Lankans are employed in Korea under the Employment Permit System (EPS). The Foreign Minister expressed appreciation of the Government of Sri Lanka for providing a pleasant working environment for Sri Lankans and looking after their welfare.
Minister Koo Yun-cheol stated that the Korean Government has already focused on providing more employment opportunities for Sri Lankans in South Korea. The Minister further highlighted that Sri Lanka has been listed as one of Korea’s priority countries for Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) allocations.
State Minister of Regional Cooperation Tharaka Balasuriya, Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage and senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs participated in the discussion. Minister for Government Policy Coordination of the Republic of Korea was accompanied by the Deputy Minister for Political Affairs, Director General for Development Evaluation and Management, Secretary to the Prime Minister for Public Communications, the Korean Ambassador to Sri Lanka, senior officials of the Prime Minister’s office of the Republic of Korea and the Korean Embassy in Colombo.
The visiting Minister for Government Policy Coordination of the Republic of Korea also paid courtesy calls on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and met with several other Ministers including the Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa, Justice Minister Ali Sabry, State Minister of Skills Development, Vocational Education, Research and Innovation Seetha Arambepola, State Minister of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Channa Jayasumana and Korean businessmen in Sri Lanka.
Following a recent decision by the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has initiated action to temporarily close down the Sri Lanka Embassy in Oslo, the Kingdom of Norway; the Sri Lanka Embassy in Baghdad, the Republic of Iraq; and the Sri Lanka Consulate General in Sydney, the Commonwealth of Australia; with effect from 30 April 2022. The decision with regard to the temporary closure of the two Missions and Post was taken by the Government of Sri Lanka following careful deliberation. It is part of a general restructuring of Sri Lanka’s diplomatic representation overseas, undertaken by the Foreign Ministry in the context of the current economic situation and foreign currency constraints faced by the country.
Following the closure of the two resident Missions, the Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Stockholm, Sweden will be concurrently accredited to Norway, and the Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates will be concurrently accredited to Iraq. The consular jurisdiction of the Consulate General in Sydney will revert to the High Commission of Sri Lanka in Canberra, Australia.
The Foreign Ministry will undertake appropriate measures to address all consular-related matters of Sri Lankan citizens residing in Norway and Iraq, and within the consular jurisdiction of Sydney, through the new accreditation / arrangement as detailed above; as well as through the respective Honorary Consulates of Sri Lanka located in Norway, Oslo and Australia. The Foreign Ministry will carefully monitor the transition process.
The decision to close the resident Missions in Norway and Iraq, undertaken as a temporary measure in the current context, would not in any way impinge upon Sri Lanka’s bilateral relations with the two countries which are maintained at an optimum level of friendship and cordiality.
The slogan “Go, Gota Go!” which the people of Sri Lanka, the vast majority of whom constitute the youth and the politically unattached, have rallied around means much more than asking President Gotabhaya Rajapakse to resign. The people are fed up with the Rajapakse family and do not want any Rajapakse to be in any position of power. The people also do not want an authoritarian rule, whether under a Rajapakse or any other. They also want to get back to their lives, which had been denied due to utter mismanagement by the Rajapakses. The people also want freedom, the freedom to air their views and criticize those in positions of power. The people of Sri Lanka have spoken loudly and clearly.
While reiterating our support for the just demands of our fellow Sri Lankans, we as organisations representing the Sri Lankans living abroad make the following concrete proposals:
It is imperative that the aspirations of the people who have come out onto the streets demanding change are met. A mechanism to ensure this through continuous dialogue must be established as a matter of urgency. The victory that is being achieved must not be allowed to be lost. We need to learn from the successes, failures, and disappointments of the various movements for democracy across the world.
The Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution shall be immediately abolished, and provisions of the Nineteenth Amendment brought back, putting rights its inherent contradictions. We propose that the Twenty-First Amendment Bill should provide for the restoration of the Nineteenth Amendment, and the abolition of the executive presidency resulting in the election of the President by Parliament, and the President acting on the advice of the Prime Minister. We are conscious of the need to avoid a costly referendum at this point. There are different views on whether a referendum is needed to require the President to act on the advice of the Prime Minister and for him/her to be elected by Parliament, all the same, there is a growing body of legal opinion that such changes do not require a referendum. It is best that the matter is determined by the Supreme Court. Any provisions that the Supreme Court determines as requiring a referendum could be suitably amended, and a referendum avoided at this point.
We propose that President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa should immediately declare in Parliament his willingness to resign from the position of President and tender his resignation upon the Twenty-first Amendment taking effect, while during the interim period act in consultation with leaders of political parties represented in Parliament.
Until the next Parliamentary General Election, the number of Ministers should not exceed twenty, and the total number of non-Cabinet Ministers and Deputy Ministers should not exceed twenty, irrespective of which party or parties constitute the Government.
The Twenty-first Amendment should provide for a Parliamentary General Election soon after it is enacted.
All Constitutional Commissions should stand dissolved with the enactment of the Twenty-First Amendment, and new appointments made through a newly established Constitutional Council.
The Government and the Opposition should endeavour to work together in consultation with the people, with a view to overcoming the present economic crisis until a Parliamentary General Election is held, and all political parties and citizens’ organizations should appeal to the international community to come to Sri Lanka’s aid at this critical juncture. The Government should keep Parliament and the general public regularly informed of steps taken to overcome the crisis in the spirit of a participatory democracy, and in a transparent and accountable manner.
For the long-term peace, prosperity and economic stability, Sri Lanka needs a new Constitution made with the direct participation of all its peoples. The new Constitution should also address the ethnic issue, the issues of inequality, and accountable governance and contain a fundamental rights chapter that accords with modern international human rights standards. We, therefore, propose that the Twenty-first Amendment should also provide for the adoption of a new Constitution through a directly elected Constitutional Convention. The ongoing constitutional reform process in Chile offers us a valuable example of how it could be done.
Signed:
Dr Lionel Bopage
On behalf of
Voice for Democracy in Sri Lanka International Collective (VDSL)
Voice for Justice in Sri Lanka Inc. (VJSL), Australia
Australian Advocacy for Good Governance in Sri Lanka Inc. (AAGGSL), Australia
Collective for Progressive Unity International Collective (CPU), and International Network for Sri Lanka’s Democracy e.V (INSD), Germany
