Needed: An Opposition

Editorial

March 31, 2015, 7:27 pm 

The Rajapaksa administration was accused of gross abuse of power, profligacy, nepotism and callous disregard for public opinion. But, have those who dislodged it promising a clean break therefrom made a difference?

No sooner had President Maithripala Sirisena been sworn in than he appointed a new Prime Minister who did not have a majority in Parliament. Article 43 (3) of the Constitution says: ‘The President shall appoint as Prime Minister the Member of Parliament who in his opinion is most likely to command the confidence of Parliament [emphasis added].’ Did he mistake ‘most likely’ for ‘most unlikely’?

The President then arbitrarily declared the then Chief Justice’s appointment null and void without consulting the judiciary and reinstated a Chief Justice who had been impeached by Parliament. Worse, he appointed the Opposition Leader as well! By no stretch of the imagination could such executive actions be considered acceptable.

A government without a robust Opposition to keep it in check is like a juggernaut with a faulty brake system careening downhill. The Rajapaksa leviathan hurtled like a runaway locomotive in spite of all warnings and went off a precipice, toppled over before coming to a halt. Having wriggled out of the wreckage a badly bruised Mahinda Rajapaksa is trying to get his bearings! All signs are that the incumbent government is moving in the same direction as its predecessor albeit at a slower pace; besides the aforesaid questionable executive actions, it has already appointed 77 ministers and catapulted quite a few square pegs into round holes at the highest level of government. The newly appointed Governor of the Central Bank (CB) has been accused of a mega bond racket. The police are reported to have obtained a court order to arrest former Minister Basil Rajapaksa upon his return to the country in connection with some corrupt deals. Stern action is, no doubt, called for in battling corruption. If anyone has lined his or her pockets at the expense of the public he or she must be severely dealt with according to the law. But, the CB Governor who is alleged to have caused a staggering loss of Rs. 9 bn to the state coffers is without any such problem!

The SLFP has joined the government to all intents and purposes. The TNA and the JVP are represented in the ad hoc National Executive Council. They have no moral right to stake their claims for the post of the Opposition Leader. An attempt is being made to make MEP leader Dinesh Gunawardena the Opposition Leader. He is capable of holding that position and doing a much better job than Nimal Siripala de Silva. Of what use is an Opposition Leader who shamelessly licks the President’s sandals?

But, the question is whether any constituent of the UPFA coalition led by President Sirisena, who is the head of government, can be considered part of the Opposition. Some UFPA rebels have been collecting MPs’ signatures in a bid to have Gunawardena appointed the Opposition Leader. They won’t be able to justify their claim unless they sever their links with the UPFA and sit separately in Parliament.

Executive President is practising political polygamy with the UNP as the consort and other parties including the SLFP as concubines in the harem. What the country needs most at this juncture to prevent itself being plunged deeper into chaos is a real Opposition. The present situation is fraught with the danger of a countervailing power emerging outside Parliament. The JVP has already revealed its plan to capture state power by 2020 and declared that it won’t baulk at resorting to ‘people power’, if necessary, to achieve that end.

The need for a strong, parliamentary Opposition capable of taking up the cudgels for the people’s rights and act as a counterbalance to the powers of the government, we repeat, cannot be overemphasised.