Trapping UNP: PA’s way out of trap
The President is in a trap she cannot get out of, and is now trying to drag the leader of the opposition into it with her. Parliament reconvenes on 7 September, and if she delivers the policy statement the constitution requires, the opposition means to vote it down.
හිතුවක්කාරකම් නිකම් ම බලා සිටීමෙන් පරාජය කළ නොහැක
The editorial says the President is playing with the country’s survival as political instability speeds economic collapse. She cannot govern without Parliament, which holds the legislative and financial powers, and had no right to prorogue it to avoid a no-confidence debate. With the opposition now in the majority and a large group from the government joining it, it argues that the People’s Alliance government is finished and that she must reconvene Parliament and let the opposition form a government, or bear the consequences.
අන්තෝ ජටා බහි ජටා
Ivan likens the President to a man who, unable to climb out of a pit, digs deeper. Jayewardene had a five-sixths majority and Premadasa a comfortable one, but Kumaratunga, with a thin base, tried to rule like Jayewardene, trusted only a few sycophants and humiliated ministers who then conspired against her. Proroguing Parliament strengthened that internal revolt, and he argues her most dignified course is to convene Parliament on the 7th, let the opposition form a government and resign.
හිතුවක්කාරකම් නිකම් ම බලා සිටීමෙන් පරාජය කළ නොහැක
The President prorogued Parliament to escape a no-confidence defeat and then postponed the referendum to escape another. Ivan quotes the Presidential Secretariat’s claim that the postponement allows consensus on a new constitution, with a fresh referendum on 18 October if none emerges, and says that keeping Parliament closed seals off the people’s sovereignty amid economic collapse. He faults the UNP and JVP for merely lamenting the closure instead of using their majority to resolve the crisis.
රටේ පැවත්ම සමග සෙල්ලම් එපා
Consumer prices are rising fast, trade is shrinking, manufacturing is collapsing, foreign investors are leaving and the stock market is falling, yet the government and parties are absorbed in the political crisis. The piece says the President, as Finance Minister, is ignoring the economy while Parliament stays closed, and that if she will not reopen it, MPs themselves have a duty to reconvene it and restore government, or all parties will answer to the public.
ජන මතය නොපවත්වන්නේ නම් ඉන්පසු කුමක් ද?
Under pressure from civil society, the opposition and forces within the government, the referendum is being dropped. The editorial notes that a stubborn minority in government wants Parliament prorogued again, and urges the President instead to let Parliament choose a Prime Minister and form an all-party interim government to legislate the five independent commissions, a Constitutional Council, electoral reform, a decision on the executive presidency and a lasting peace.
විශ්වාසභංගය ජනමතවිචාරණය
Ivan argues that loss of a majority does not destabilise a country; clinging to power does. After Rauff Hakeem’s group crossed over, the President should have let the opposition form an all-party interim government pledged to constitutional reform and peace. Instead she prorogued Parliament and called a referendum. He rejects comparisons with Premadasa, who first proved his majority with 116 signatures, recalls the 1960 and 1994 precedents and the 1982 referendum, and asks how a leader who tolerates electoral fraud can deliver a better constitution.
ජනාධිපතිනියගේ ඒබ්රහම් ලින්කන් ආදර්ශය
Ivan examines President Kumaratunga’s 22 July racecourse speech calling the 1978 Constitution a death trap and citing Abraham Lincoln as a leader who acted outside the constitution to end slavery. He argues the referendum is a ploy to avoid a no-confidence vote; that crossing the floor is lawful and was done by S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, D.A. Rajapaksa, Mahanama Samaraweera and the LSSP leaders; that the Constitution has allowed stable governments; and, recounting the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment, that Lincoln acted within the constitution.
ඒකාධිපති ක්රමයක් රටට අවශ්ය නැත
The editorial says the President prorogued Parliament while an impeachment motion against the Chief Justice and a no-confidence motion against the government were pending, while the Chief Justice stays in office despite serious charges. She is holding a referendum on a new constitution without first obtaining Parliament’s approval or publishing a draft, and is using force to block protest. With Parliament shut, the editorial warns, the people’s sovereignty has been taken away and the country is moving towards dictatorship.
Turn referendum into confidence vote
The political turmoil is shaking not only the government but the opposition parties and the other groups. What could be made of the referendum the President has called is the practical question — and what Ivan wants made of it is a vote of confidence.