Did Maithri-Ranil meeting actually take place?

02:00 AM APR 01 2018

With the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe all set to be debated in Parliament on Wednesday (4) media reported that the Government has decided to beef up security in and around Parliament.

According to reports, even the MPs will be frisked thoroughly on the day of the no-faith motion as part of the strict security measures put in place for the occasion.

A senior Police source added that the Special Task Force and the Riot Police will also be deployed near Parliament in an effort to thwart any untoward incident taking place on the day of the debate.

According to sources, the division by name will be called at the time of the vote.

Meanwhile, stating that they will vote in favour of the no-confidence motion moved by the Joint Opposition against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in the Unity Government have demanded Premier Wickremesinghe’s resignation.

Brushing aside concerns expressed by the Tamil National Alliance, Muslim political parties and various other interested groups that the no-confidence motion was moved in order to destroy the consensus Government, SLFP Ministers said: “The motion is not against the Government. It is against the behaviour of the Prime Minister.

It is the Prime Minister who is intentionally behaving in a manner which causes disruption of the continuity of good governance and this Unity Government.

We in the Government, the United National Front, other parties in the Government, and the public, primarily the latter, have clearly expressed displeasure about his behaviour. If he still plans to continue despite all odds, it will only jeopardize the stability of the Government.”

Addressing the media at the SLFP Headquarters in Colombo, the SLFP Ministers also said that they could appoint a new Prime Minister, from the United National Party, the SLFP or any other party in the Unity Government.

They are scheduled to further solidify their stance at a meeting with President Maithripala Sirisena on 2 April.

Minister Premajayantha added that the public’s vote as demonstrated at the recent Local Government elections was proof that the public was in favour of the motion.
This was said with reference to the total percentage of votes garnered by the SLFP, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).

“The total percentage of the votes garnered by the SLPP, the SLFP and the JVP reflects 65 per cent of the public opinion. If these parties support the motion, I think we can assume that the public is in favour of the motion,” he emphasized.

Moreover, Premajayantha also spoke of misinformation that has been spreading with regard to the Speaker heading the Government in the event the motion is passed.

“Article 48 (1) of the Constitution clearly states that if the Prime Minister ceases to hold office, the President may appoint a Minister to exercise, perform and discharge the powers, duties and functions of the Prime Minister. Therefore, all of this talk that the Speaker will be talking charge is false,” he added.

He further declared that they had no option but to vote in favour of the motion as it included 13 of the points mentioned in the SLFP’s Committee Report on the Central Bank Treasury Bonds scam.

SLFP Media Spokesman, State Minister Dilan Perera added that if Wickremesinghe was to however resign prior to 4 April, which is when the debate and vote on the motion is to be taken up, the Unity Government would continue to prevail.

Furthermore, Perera said that there was no mandatory requirement to obtain 113 votes for the motion to be passed, adding that the votes from the majority of the Members of Parliament who attend on that day would be sufficient.

The only option to prevent the removal of the Prime Minister on a no-confidence motion and protect the Yahapalana Government was for Prime Minister Wickremesinghe to step down before 4 April, he added.

He said the UPFA, SLFP and the UNP wanted to protect the Government and continue till 2020 but the only roadblock was the Prime Minister and therefore he should resign from the post and save himself, President Maithripala Sirisena, the Government and the country from embarrassment and indignity.

The State Minister told a media conference no one wants an election or to topple the Government but for more than two and half years the SLFP did its best to minimize the damage caused by the Bonds scam to the economy, country and to good governance but the PM blocked them all.

“The constituent partners of good governance like the TNA, the SLMC, the ACMC, the National Union of Workers and the Democratic People’s Front must vote for the motion if they want to save the government,” the State Minister said.
 “We wanted political and legal measures against perpetrators of the Bonds scam and the damages recovered. Nothing happened. Then we proposed to the President to appoint a committee and the result was an 11-Member Committee headed by Minister Nimal Siriripala De Silva. We submitted a report after a thorough inquiry of the Bonds scandal.
Most of the allegations in the motion against the Prime Minister were based on the findings of this report. Legal and political remedial measures on the Bonds scandal have started now.”

Meanwhile, the SLFP denied media reports that President Sirisena met Prime Minister Wickremesinghe on Thursday (29) and pledged support to the latter.

Speaking to media at the Party Headquarters, State Minister of Public Enterprise Development Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said that such reports were completely false, adding that even the website that had published the news had since taken it out.
“There was no such agreement.”

Minister Premajayantha added that these reports were being spread to dissuade those who will vote in favour of the no-confidence motion brought by the Joint Opposition against Wickremesinghe.

This came out following reports that President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe having a lengthy discussion on the political developments on Thursday night.

The meeting has taken place at Minister Rajitha Senaratne’s residence in Colombo. The meeting had lasted four hours, past midnight, according to UNP sources.

The duo had discussed about the no-confidence motion brought against the Prime Minister and on how they could continue the Unity Government after 4 April, 2018.

The UNP sources also leaked information as to how Minister Senaratne’s wife Sujatha Senaratne served Prime Minister Wickremesinghe his favourite special coffee brand imported from Brazil several times during the meeting which went past mid-night.
This development comes despite statements made by some SLFPers including Minister S. B Dissanayake that it is difficult for the party to oppose the no-faith motion while some UNPers have expressed concern, about the conduct of Deputy Speaker Thilanga Sumathipala, during the past few days.

It is in the midst of this that United National Front (UNF) MPs have decided to stage a walk out on 4 April, if Deputy Speaker Sumathipala takes the Chair when the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Wickremesinghe is taken up for debate and vote.

Leader of the House, Minister Lakshman Kiriella said that UNF MPs had informed him that they would stage a walkout as a show of opposition to Sumathipala, who they claim was conducting himself in a manner unbefitting of someone holding the office of the Deputy Speaker.

Kiriella added that the MPs had requested him to take steps to ensure that Sumathipala does not take the Chair.

According to Kiriella, it had been clearly shown at the party leaders meeting that Sumathipala had at a press conference held at the Sri Lanka Freedom Party headquarters along with Minister S.B. Dissanayake, criticized Wickremesinghe in a fashion unsuitable to the office he held.

Kiriella further said that Speaker Karu Jayasuriya had also approved of the facts presented by him regarding Sumathipala’s behaviour.

The United National Party (UNP) Working Committee (WC) on Thursday (29) unanimously passed a resolution to back Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and defeat the no-confidence motion.

Speaking to the media after the WC meeting, UNP Deputy Secretary and Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said that if a UNP Parliamentarian voted in favour of the motion by any chance, that person would be expelled from the Party.

“Disciplinary action will be taken against those if someone from the UNP does not attend the debate. But, I can say with confidence that all the UNP MPs will participate in the debate.
Those who previously said that they would vote in favour of the motion have also agreed to defeat it. Even State Minister Palitha Range Bandara took that stance,” he added.

The UNP Working Committee has, however, not put emphasis on Party reforms. Minister Sagala Ratnayake earlier this month said Party reforms will take place before 31 March.

“We will start the reforms from 5 April. After defeating the NCM against the Premier, a meeting will be called for further discussions on the matter.
We hope to finish implementing the reforms before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. However, nothing about changing the Party Leader’s post was taken up for discussion during the meeting,” Minister Kariyawasam said.

State Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe told the media that restructuring of the Party will take place as soon as possible. “The aim of it is to prepare for the 2020 Presidential and General Elections under a new leadership,” Senasinghe added.

“The duration of the existing office bearers of the Party has been extended until 30 April and a new team will be appointed for the posts before that day,” State Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva said.

“Furthermore, the WC also came to an agreement to implement the recommendations of the committees headed by MPs Sajith Premadasa, Ruwan Wijewardene, and J.C. Alawathuwala on reorganizing the Party,” he elaborated.

However, all developments during the UNP Working Committee meeting have not been peaceful as was projected to the outside. Several UNP seniors like Minister Daya Gamage had criticized Wickremesinghe for keeping the Party in the clutches of a certain ‘club’ of the latter.

In another major blow to PM Wickremesinghe, President Sirisena took measures to transfer Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) which was under the Prime Minister to the Finance Ministry through a Gazette Extraordinary.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which was also under the Prime Minister, has also been brought under Finance Ministry by the President through Gazette Extraordinary.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, who is also Minister of Policy Planning and Economic Affairs, took the Central Bank and the Securities and Exchange Commission under him in January 2015 after President Sirisena was elected.

Meanwhile the Insurance Corporation of Sri Lanka and its subsidiaries and associated companies excluding Litro Gas Lanka Ltd have been gazetted under the Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs.

Litro Gas Lanka Limited has been gazetted under the Ministry of Public Enterprise and Kandy Development.

Litro Gas, the largest importer and supplier of LP Gas in Sri Lanka, is a fully-owned subsidiary of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) which was under the purview of the Ministry of Public Enterprise Development.