Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa speaking in Parliament, offered to repeal the 20th Amendment to the Constitution and re-introduce the 19th Amendment with necessary modifications.
The same Rajapaksa brought in the 18th Amendment to replace the 17th Amendment, which aimed to depoliticisevital government functions by creating independent Commissions.
The ‘Yahapalanaya’ government repealed the 18th Amendment with the 19th Amendment and introduced far-reaching changes. However, soon after his election, the President wanted the status quo restored by bringing in the 20th Amendment. Now, when it suits him, Mahinda Rajapaksa wants the President’s powers curtailed and his own powers enhanced!
If the mood in the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration was one of panic last week, this week it turned in to desperation. What followed was a series of events that could only be described as colossal blunders.
Having sacked his previous Cabinet, President Rajapaksa had appointed a cabinet of four: Ali Sabry (Finance), G.L. Peiris (Foreign Affairs), Dinesh Gunewardena (Education) and Johnston Fernando (Highways).
On Monday, more changes were made. Seventeen new ministers were sworn in. Among the ‘original’ four, Johnston Fernando, who had made the government unpopular with his provocative remarks, was sacked. Many new faces were introduced, younger perhaps, but not with the best of credentials.
Old hands such as Bandula Gunawardena, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, DullasAllahapperuma, Gamini Lokuge, PavithraWanniarachchi and Keheliya Rambukwellawere not included although some such as Bandula Gunewardena had opted out well in advance.
Perhaps trying to convey a message, also excluded were the ‘other’ Rajapaksas who were in the Cabinet, Chamal, Basil and Namal. Nevertheless, the two most powerful positions in the Cabinet, that of the President and the Prime Minister remain within the Rajapaksa family.
At the swearing in of the new Cabinet President Gotabaya Rajapaksa made a short ‘mea culpa’ speech. Banning chemical fertiliser and not seeking the early intervention of the International Monetary fund (IMF) were mistakes, he said, asking the new cabinet to work together.
Clearly, this was an exercise in damage control, aimed at pacifying the growing demand for change and hoping that some cosmetic changes in the Cabinet will satisfy the millions who are craving for rulers who don’t have the dreaded Rajapaksa name.
Ironically, Gotabaya Rajapaksa was trying to kill two birds with one stone. While appearing to be listening to public opinion by swearing in a new Cabinet, its relative inexperience means that he is achieving exactly the opposite of what they wanted: total control of government, because a new amateur Cabinet will have fewer people who can stand up to the President and the Prime Minister.
Then came another announcement, this from Prime Minister Rajapaksa. Speaking in Parliament, he offered to repeal the 20th Amendment to the Constitution and re-introduce the 19th Amendment with necessary modifications, so that the Prime Minister has a greater say in government.
This is the same Rajapaksa who brought in the 18th Amendment to replace the 17th Amendment which aimed to depoliticiseimportant government functions by creating an independent Police Commission, Human Rights Commission and Election Commission, appointed by an independent Constitutional Council.
The 18th Amendment abolished the two-term term limits for the President and replaced the Constitutional Council with a Parliamentary Council where the ruling party had a majority, thereby politicising key appointments.
The ‘Yahapalanaya’ government repealed the 18th Amendment with the 19th Amendment and brought about far-reaching changes but Gotabaya Rajapaksa soon after his election ensured the status quo was restored by bringing in the 20th Amendment. Now, when it suits him, Mahinda Rajapaksa wants the President’s powers curtailed and his own powers enhanced!
It seems as if the Rajapaksas are so deaf and blind that they do not wish to hear or see. The entire country, fed up with economic hardships, shortages of essential goods, corruption and abuse of power have one simple demand: strip the Rajapaksas of the offices they hold and make them accountable for the offences they are alleged to have committed.
That is the rallying cry at Galle Face which is now echoing throughout the country, with serial protests reverberating in the regions. However, the Rajapaksas believe they can still hoodwink the public with a few superficial changes to the cabinet and the Constitution.
The end is nigh for them but how exactly it will occur remains unclear, simply because they still enjoy power within the Parliament. This week though, there were signs that the balance of power could be shifting. That is after forty MPs, formerly with the ruling coalition, sat on the opposition benches in Parliament.
These MPs- some led by the not so trustworthy Udaya Gammanpila and Wimal Weerawansa, others by the equally treacherous Maithripala Sirisena and a few ‘defectors’ from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) itself- are yet to openly commit to voting against the government at a no-confidence motion that, we have been told, is being prepared by the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB).
If such a no confidence motion were to succeed, the rest of the pieces in the puzzle would fall into place. Parliament would elect a new Prime Minister and Gotabaya Rajapaksa could either remain as a lame duck president or chose to resign while Parliament enacts legislation to strip him of his powers.
However, because the opposition does not have sufficient numbers to guarantee the success of a no confidence motion as yet, a cloud still hangs over the demise of the Rajapaksa regime. Given the mood of the country though, it is not aquestion of ‘if’ but a question of how and when and more importantly what price the country will have to pay.
Tuesday’s events at Rambukkana are disturbing, to say the least. It suggests that the Rajapaksa regime is willing to sacrifice other peoples’ lives to protect their positions of power. While the motivation and determination of those at Galle Face and the palpable, countrywide anger against the regime all point towards the eventual exit of the Rajapaksas from power, we do not wish it to be the result of a bloodbath that leaves many people dead.
The SJB, the SLFP, the Janatha VimukthiPeramuna, the eleven parties’ collective led by Udaya Gammanpila and Wimal Weerawansa and the defectors from the SLPP will have few things in common in terms of political ideology. However, this is the hour for them to come together realising that, whatever their differences, their enemy’s enemy should, in effect, be their friend.
If they don’t assist the SJB in the task of passing a no confidence motion, they will be as responsible as much as the government is for the blood that will be spilt and that the lives that are lost as a result.
