Parliament, the most supreme

The Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) hearing the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake began its proceedings on Friday while the main Opposition United National Party (UNP) seniors were busy gearing for next Saturday’s annual party Convention at which the Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe would seek to extend his term by six more years.

CJ Bandaranayake’s presence at the Parliamentary Complex to face the PSC on Friday was a positive move that would underline the supremacy of the legislature and the power of people. Only the Executive and the Legislature are directly elected by the masses, the Judiciary is appointed.

Though the Executive President is appointed directly by the people at an election once in six years, the Legislature has a Constitutional right to bring an impeachment motion against the Executive President too.

Hence, Judiciary is no exception and is subjected to such impeachment motion against the Chief Justice or any Judge of the Supreme Court or Court of Appeal.

Accordingly, CJ Bandaranayake was present before the PSC hearing the impeachment motion against her on Friday. It has now been put off for December 4.

It was also reported that the Chief Justice has been granted one week to make written submissions after she participated in the first session of the PSC at Committee Room 1of the Parliamentary Complex on Friday.

The Chief Justice arrived at the Public Entrance of the Parliamentary Complex at around 10.05 am on Friday and was received by Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms Kushan Jayaratne. She waited in the waiting area of the Committee Room 1 until the PSC began its first session.

PSC members Vijitha Herath, R Sampanthan, John Amarathunga, Lakshman Kiriella, Ministers Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Susil Premajayantha, Wimal Weerawansa, Rajitha Senaratne, Dilan Perera and Nimal Siripala de Silva and Deputy Minister Neomal Perera then arrived in the Committee room.

President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva, President’s Counsel Nalin Ladduwahetty, Attorneys Saliya Peiris, Sugath Caldera and Kandiah Neelakandan accompanied the Chief Justice. The PSC proceedings lasted for about one and a half hours.

Now that impeachment motion has been moved against the head of the Judiciary, it is hoped that judges, attorneys or other related parties would assist in continuing proceedings of this legal and constitutional action independently, and in a dignified manner without causing any hindrance, parliamentarians including Ministers S B Dissanayake, W. D. J. Seneviratne and Mahindananda Aluthgamage said at a media briefing.

Public Administration and Home Affairs Minister W.D.J. Seneviratne said the impeachment motion was moved under provision 107(2) of the Constitution. However, various organisations and persons have discussed the matter violating provisions of the Constitution.

D M Jayaratne

Keheliya Rambukwella

These parliamentarians also said they appreciated Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake appearing before the PSC earlier in the day, honouring the provisions of the Constitution and the Supremacy of Parliament.

They added that the Chief Justice cooperated in commencing the proceedings of the PSC, traditionally done under oath. The parliamentarians also requested others to assist in the proceedings of the PSC ‘without causing any trouble’, as it was a process fully legal as well as constitutional.

Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake said such measures have been provided in the Constitution to maintain the checks and balance between the arms of State, Executive, Legislature and Judiciary.

He said this was not the first time impeachment motions were moved against Chief Justices of the country. On one occasion, when an impeachment motion was moved against then Chief Justice Neville Samarakoon he resigned from his office. He also said on two occasions, impeachment motions were moved against former CJ Sarath Nanda Silva. However Parliament did not proceed with these Motions.

Sajith to oppose his leader

The much talked about annual Convention of the main Opposition, UNP will be held on Saturday, December 1. This year’s UNP Convention will be the cynosure of all eyes as the incumbent party leader and the Leader of the Opposition, Ranil Wickremesinghe plans to extend his term at the helm for six more years.

UNP Reformists and anti-Ranil members allege that only a selected lot of UNP members loyal to the leader have been invited to the party Convention. Among those who are openly campaigning against the controversial move is Southern Provincial Council member Maithri Gunaratne.

But much will depend on the stance taken by the Deputy Leader of the UNP, Sajith Premadasa who has been noncommittal so far. But a senior member of the UNP Reformist Group said that Sajith will come out at the correct time and hit back against the ‘unethical move’ by the leader. Sajith has been extraordinarily silent since Ranil suspended party memberships of three parliamentarians and several party members for taking part in Sarath Fonseka’s controversial meeting at the Hyde Park.

However, a senior UNP Reformist parliamentarian who wished to remain unidentified for obvious reasons said they are working behind the scenes with the blessings of Sajith. “Our deputy leader will come out at the correct time and use all his might to defeat this move which violates the UNP Constitution.

Sajith Premadasa

Tiran Alles

General Secretary of the UNP, Tissa Attanayake has already written to the Inspector General of Police seeking protection for the party Convention. He has sent a copy of it to the SSP Nugegoda Division, SSP Roshan Fernando. Attanayake seems to be taking early precautions after unruly party supporters severely damaged the party headquarters Siri Kotha after a previous Working Committee meeting.

Keheliya in Melbourne to appear in case against hotel

Mass Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella is currently in Australia to appear in a case he has filed in the Victoria District Court against a hotel in Melbourne seeking compensation for an accident he suffered during his last visit to Australia.

The Victoria District Court has allowed the insurance company, in consultation with the hotel management, to come to an understanding with the Minister for a settlement. “Ninety five percent of the chances are that they will come to a settlement without taking the case further,” sources close to the Minister said from the Victorian capital.

Minister Rambukwella suffered leg injuries after falling from the balcony of a room at Cormone Hotel after the door closed due to some malfunction, shutting him out in the balcony.

As the minister tried to find his way into the room through a devious means, he fell from the balcony suffering leg injuries for which he had to be hospitalised. Minister Rambukwella who took nearly four months to recuperate, returned to the country on May 24 and filed a case against the hotel for negligence and lack of security and proper safeguards seeking compensation for his injury. It is learnt that the lawyers for the respondent hotel are negotiating with the minister’s party to come to an amicable settlement outside Court.

Tiran takes Ranil head on

It was only the previous week that the UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told the Parliament that DNA parliamentarian Tiran Alles had set a world record by not speaking a single word in the parliament for almost three years.

Tiran was well geared up to take Ranil head on when the DNA parliamentarian made his maiden speech in Parliament on Monday. He made the best use of the budgetary allocations for the Opposition leader to hit back at Ranil. “When we talk about the President’s budgetary allocation it is equally important to talk about the allocation for the Leader of the Opposition,” he said.

He said all previous Opposition Leaders before Ranil had performed their duties at maximum levels. “They never allowed budgetary allocations for the office to go waste. They always made every effort to correct the mistakes of the government in office and in failing to do so, they mobilized the electorate to change such governments and to get a people-friendly government into power. That is how those leaders performed their duties,” he said.

He said Ranil is the longest serving Leader of the Opposition. “Except for two years he has held this post for 16 years. Therefore, we have a duty and a responsibility to inquire whether he has discharged his duties properly. He is now engaged in attacking his own party members instead of the governing party,” Alles said.

“He had accused me that I did not make any speech in Parliament as if that is the biggest problems he is having now. It seems that he is not aware of problems people have. He has prohibited his party members from expressing their views in Parliament. I would like to request him to allow his party members to talk in the Parliament as it is his duty,” he added.

Tiran alleged that the Opposition Leader has neglected many of his duties. “He should know people maintain him in office by public funds to speak about the people’s problems,” he said. Alles pointed out that there are other members who have not spoken anything in the Parliament before now but Ranil had only singled out him. “While he was charging me about my silence in Parliament, Minister Dinesh Gunawardana interrupted him to point that both of them were pupils of my father, R. I. T. Alles, founder Principal of D.S. Senanayake College. I wish to thank the Minister for being grateful to his former teacher, my father,” he said.

Ranil removed ‘RIT’

Tiran said he could still remember how Ranil, as then Minister of Education, removed his father R.I.T. Alles from the post of Principal at D.S. Senanayake College and declared in Parliament that “Alles will never come back to DS”. However, in 1988 the then President R. Premadasa reappointed the founder of the school ‘RIT’ as Principal at D.S. Senanayake College. “At the same time Ranil Wickremasinghe was removed from the post of Minister of Education. I wonder whether he is nursing a grudge against my father and our family,” Tiran said.

Tiran requested Ranil to use his time in a more gainful manner to improve his party’s electoral prospects.

Tiran then went on to expose the losing mentality of Ranil and how the UNP has lost a record number of elections under Ranil’s shaky leadership. “He had proposed to the Hon. Speaker that I should be awarded a medal for establishing a world record by not speaking even once in Parliament. But I regret to say he has forgotten a number of world records he has established up to now. I wish to remind him of his records,” he said.

The only Leader of Opposition in the world who has consecutively lost more than 20 elections.

The only Leader of Opposition who has lost two consecutive Presidential Elections and for the third, bringing in an outsider to contest in place of him.

The only Leader of Opposition who lost three General Elections.

World record as the ‘best loser’

The only Leader of Opposition who lost over sixty of his Parliamentary Group to the Government.

If I have to enumerate all the losses he has achieved as the Leader of the Opposition I will be taking quite a lot of your time. He has earned many awards so far and another one will be due to him as the greatest loser if he contests the next Presidential Election, which he will definitely lose.

History repeats itself

Tiran said that he is not going to advise Ranil on how to achieve electoral victories but quoted Ranil’s own advice to the then opposition SLFP led by Mrs. Bandaranaike, first woman Prime Minister of the world, when he was Leader of the House of the then UNP government. It has been recorded in the April 23, 1992 Hansard as follows:

“How can you win the election? You are talking of the Westminster system. The first thing is that when a leader loses the election, that leader should step down and a new leader should take over. Without doing that, do not go and blame this on black cats, white cats and other cats, tigers and the JVP. Firstly, your leader has not resigned. In this period look at the Labour Party. Mr. Callaghan resigned; Mr. Michael Foot resigned; Mr. Neil Kinnock resigned. What has happened to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party? First, you must face that situation.

Have a new leadership. Have a new set of policies. Then if you are beaten you can go into the matter”.

“We cannot wish for a better Opposition than the Opposition that is there now. This is the best Opposition we can have. We like you; we want you to stay in this place. You cannot face up to the fact that the people do not want you and that you have been thrown into the dust-bin. So you all are trying to find excuses, thinking that by repeating this, the people are going to believe you”.

“I will tell you that at the next elections you will lose; the elections after the next you will lose and the election after that. We had one last year, there will be one next year. You all must decide who is going to contest from your side for the Provincial Council elections or whether you are going to contest at all, a decision that you all have not yet taken. Then who is going to lead. Because you all cannot win, you want people from other parties to lead in certain Provinces. Nevertheless, you all are bringing all these allegations from time to time.

You want this impeachment to win the next elections. So the best thing is to go and contest the next elections and then try and win it. Settle your own internal disputes. That is the advice that I can give you”.

Quoting all those what Ranil had told Sirimavo 20 years ago, Tiran quoted an old saying to conclude his speech - that you should first be righteous before advising others. He said that advice is more appropriate for Ranil now.

Major split in Fonseka’s camp

Sarath Fonseka is marching towards further political wilderness. Following the resignations of his DNA parliamentarians Trian Alles and Arjuna Ranatunga, Fonseka said it was not a loss for the party and his Democratic Party would only be minus of just two votes. That statement alone shows what an ungrateful person Fonseka is as Sri Lanka’s world-cup winning captain and Tiran have been ardent supporters of Fonseka during the good times and the bad.

Especially when Fonseka was in jail, the duo extended their fullest support. It was due to successful rounds of discussions with the President by Tiran that Fonseka was finally granted a special presidential pardon. It seems that Fonseka has forgotten all this.

Fonseka who is currently facing a split within his camp, is yet to disclose the real issues that prevailed within the party which led to the current situation. However, Fonseka has said that he is undeterred by the current developments and will fight to change the political culture existing in the country. But nobody knows the political culture he is talking about. Fonseka himself has been acting like a dictator within his party and is struggling to keep his party seniors intact. He has lost all senior politicians who had initially supported him – Ranil Wickremasinghe, Somawansa Amarasinghe and Mangala Samaraweera.

President visits DM in US hospital

President Mahinda Rajapaksa did not forget to embark on an important assignment immediately after he concluded his three-day state visit to Kazakhstan. He flew to the United States straight from the Astana airport in Kazakhstan to meet his senior SLFP colleague, Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne, who has been ill for a few months. President Rajapaksa called on Prime Minister Jayaratne at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore in Maryland, USA to wish him a speedy recovery.

Earlier during the week, President Rajapaksa concluded his three day official visit to Kazakhstan on a highly successful note bringing many economic and political dividends to Sri Lanka. The three day visit helped clinch many economic benefits in the tourism, investment and trade sectors in particular.

The highlights included the obtaining of a larger share of the Kazakhstan market for Sri Lanka tea, reaching an agreement to promote and popularise Sri Lanka gems in Kazakhstan, enhancing economic development by promoting the tourism industry between the two countries and encouraging more Kazakhstan investors to invest in Sri Lanka. Arrangements were also made during the President’s visit to set up a Parliamentary Friendship Society between the two countries to enhance political relations by promoting friendship between the parliaments of the two countries.

The communique said the President and his delegation left the island on Monday morning on a three day tour of Kazakhstan on the invitation made by Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev to mark the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan. President Rajapaksa, First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa and the Sri Lanka delegation which arrived at the Astana Airport in Kazakhstan around noon on Monday was welcomed by a high level Kazakhstan state delegation led by Economic Development and Trade Minister Yerbolat Dosayev.

The same evening President Rajapaksa, First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa and the Sri Lanka delegation were entertained to a special cultural festival held in Astana city to mark the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan.

The two State leaders met the following morning for official bilateral talks. President Rajapaksa who arrived at the Kazakhstan President’s house for the talks accompanied by the First Lady was welcomed by Kazakhstan President after according them a military guard of honour. Bilateral talks began after the official meeting of the two State leaders. During the talks Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev pledged Kazakhstan’s maximum support towards the massive development program launched in Sri Lanka after the defeat of LTTE terrorism. He also promised continued support to Sri Lanka with regard to false allegations levelled against Sri Lanka and undue pressures exerted against the country in the international field.

Speaker asks MPs to respect traditions

Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa on Friday instructed all parliamentarians to stand up in the House when the Mace is carried in and out of the Chamber.

He said MPs should honour and respect the Mace which symbolised the dignity and decorum of the House.

Honouring the Mace is a tradition which had been maintained since time immemorial and all MPs are bound to follow that tradition. “I have noticed that schoolchildren in the public gallery observe the behaviour of MPs and they should set an example by following parliamentary traditions.

“Therefore, I instruct all MPs to stand up and pay their respect to the Mace when it is brought in and out of the Chamber,” he told the House.