30 May 2022 10:33 am
A new political tussle has erupted in the political camps once again as the ruling SLPP has questioned Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as to why he is hurrying with the 21st amendment amid the severe economic crisis while the Prime Minister has said if the new amendment is not passed, he may even consider stepping down.
In a meeting held with SLPP seniors over the weekend, the MPs had questioned the party hierarchy as to what economic progress had been made by Wickremesinghe since he was appointed to the seat, and why his focus was now more on the political situation than solving the economic crisis.
The Daily Mirror learns that SLPP seniors had also questioned President Gotabaya Rajapaksa as to why Wickremesinghe was given the Finance Ministry portfolio when it was agreed to appoint a new face to the portfolio and till then the President would keep the Ministry himself.
The MPs had also questioned that if Wickremesinghe’s aim was the political situation and not the economic crisis, then why was it that an SLPP MP was not appointed as the Prime Minister instead, as the focus was to provide the public with immediate relief and a continuous flow of essentials.
Rajapaksa had in return informed them that Wickremesinghe had been given the Finance portfolio since he was in discussions with the global bodies to secure funds, but he would closely monitor the work of the Finance Ministry and also the functions of the Central Bank.
Senior political sources said that a tiff has also arisen between CBSL Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe as Wickremesinghe had been pushing for Dr. Coomaraswamy to be made the new CBSL Chief. However, following talks between President Rajapaksa and Dr. Nandalal over the weekend, President Rajapaksa had assured the CBSL Chief of his strong support, with the President also being quick to release a public statement saying the short term steps taken by the Central Bank to resolve the economic crisis was ‘excellent’ and he will provide his fullest cooperation for the CBSL to function independently without any interference.
The Prime Minister’s camp on the other hand insist that while the economic crisis cannot be sorted overnight and will only get worse before it becomes better, they insist that the powers of the President need to be reduced through the 21st amendment as the Parliament needs to be strengthened.
Wickremesinghe has been lobbying for the 21st amendment to be passed by all party leaders, much to the objection of Basil Rajapaksa and his camp.
Wickremesinghe has also in discussions with the President called for complete non-interference in the economic decisions and has strongly informed him of the 21st amendment, even hinting that if the new amendment is not passed he may consider stepping down.
In a statement last night Wickremesinghe already blamed the 20th amendment for the political failures, stating that the functioning of the Parliament had been paralysed due to the weakening of the Parliamentary powers by the 20th Amendment.
He said the executive had been given more powers and the main allegation today was that the Parliament had not acted to prevent the economic crisis. “There is an allegation that even though the ruling party had a majority in Parliament they neglected the work of the Parliament. Everything was systematically controlled by the Cabinet Ministers,” Wickremesinghe said, hinting that despite the objections he was now aiming to get the 21st amendment passed.
However, the SLPP has informed the President that they will not support the 21st amendment as Wickremesinghe was brought in to solve the economic crisis and provide relief and the new cabinet would support him on that first. It is only after this is sorted that a new system should be discussed.
With the ongoing tussle’s political sources said that an election would be on the cards sooner than expected with almost all political parties presently struggling to keep their decisions intact.(JAMILA HUSAIN)