PM sets the record straight

Amidst the speculation of a vote, the resolution moved by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe seeking approval of the House to appoint a Constitutional Assembly was unanimously adopted in Parliament on Wednesday (March 9). The House gave its approval after Leader of the House and Higher Education and Highways Minister Lakshman Kiriella read the amendments. The original resolution was amended earlier incorporating the amendments by the SLFP, Joint Opposition and JVP.

The Resolution was first presented to the House by the Premier on January 9 to convert the entire Parliament into a Constitutional Assembly to draft a new Constitution. The resolution was debated in the House for four days and was unanimously adopted as nobody called for a division.

At the end of the debate on the proposed Constitutional Assembly, the Premier said the House would be converted into an Assembly to deliberate on the formulation of a new constitution and reform the electoral system. He said reforming the electoral system would not be taken as a separate issue but incorporated into the draft constitution.

Unaccounted gold

The amount of unaccounted gold seized from the LTTE at the end of the war came to light in the House following a question by JVP MP Nalinda Jayatissa during the time allotted to ask questions directly from the Prime Minister. The Premier said nearly 40 kilograms of gold seized from the LTTE at the end of the war remain unaccounted for and gave a detailed answer to the MP on the items and the gold recovered by the Army and added that there were contradictions in the Army statements with regard to the gold items handed back to the owners. However, Chief Opposition Whip and JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said the Army had recovered 150 kilograms of which 30 kilograms had been handed over to the Central Bank and another 80 kilograms to the owners. He demanded to know what happened to the remaining 40 kilos.

Leader of the House and Higher Education and Highways Minister Lakshman Kiriella responding to a query by the Joint Opposition on the arrest of Ven. Uduwe Dhammaloka Thera told the House that the government would look into the incident and apprise the House of all details pertaining to his arrest. Raising a point of order, National Freedom Front Leader Wimal Weerawansa referring to the arrest of Ven. Dhammaloka Thera said the arrest of bhikkhus under the new government continued despite opposition from the people. He said Ven. Dhammaloka Thera is a renowned bhikkhu and added that no legal action, whatsoever, has been taken against the Minister who cleared the Wilpattu jungle, but the bhikkhus are taken into custody for keeping a baby elephant in the temple. He queried as to how the law that is not enforced against the illegal activities in Wilpattu becomes operative only against the bhikkhus

On the following day too, MP Weerawansa raised the same issue and said the government was incarcerating bhikkhus while freeing LTTE suspects from prisons. He demanded to know the government's position on the arrest of Ven. Uduwe Dhammaloka Thera as the previous day, Minister Kiriella promised to make a statement on the arrest of the Thera. The Minister said the matter was before the courts and it cannot be debated as it is sub judice. However, MP Weerawansa said a large number of bhikkhus has been put behind bars by the government. The government's objective of amending the Prevention of Terrorism Act is to free LTTE suspects and jail bhikkhus, he said.

Scathing attack

Regional Development Minister Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka in his maiden speech launched a scathing attack on former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother, former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Minister Fonseka said the former President threatened to commit hara-kiri if anyone proved that he had stolen at least a single dollar and added that he would give him the razor.

The Minister in his lengthy speech accused the former President and his brother of misusing UDA funds to build tombs and erect memorials for their parents. Minister Fonseka said for such crimes, they would have to slash not only their bellies but also the entire body. If Ven. Uduwe Dhammaloka Thera is in prison for keeping a jumbo, then Gotabaya Rajapaksa too should be taken into custody as he too kept elephants.

He told the House how he joined the Army and rose through the ranks on merit and never deserted the Army to go to the US and return later to the country. He alleged that the former President and former Defence Secretary uttered lies on how he became the Commander of the Army.

He also said that he had high respect for MP Ramesh Pathirana and added that he heard MP Pathirana telling the media that credit for winning the war should go to Mahinda Rajapaksa. Since then, my respect for MP Pathirana dropped by 25 percent, he said.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe making a special statement in Parliament on Tuesday (March 8) introduced changes to the Government's maiden budget proposals increasing the Value Added Tax (VAT) and removing tax relief given to several sectors.

The Premier told the House that such changes were essential to 'Maintain the Gross Domestic Product at 5.4 percent and the economic growth rate at 6 percent in 2016. He said several persons were attempting to create unrest among the public by making a big hue and cry that the country's economy is in dire straits. Some go abroad and hold seminars to tell Sri Lankans living there that Sri Lanka's economy has collapsed. The Premier said that is why he decided to make a statement to the House on the exact situation. However, Chief Opposition Whip Anura Kumara Dissanayake pointed out that the Premier's statement has led to drastically change the Budget proposals and demanded that his statement should be debated in the House.