More theatrics on the political stage

The political turmoil following the dismissal of Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister and the subsequent appointment of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as his replacement continues, as Sri Lanka grapples with a constitutional crisis of epic proportions.

The drama began with the October 26 dismissal of Wickremesinghe, who was informed by letter by President Sirisena that he was being relieved of his duties. Rajapaksa was sworn in as Premier shortly afterwards because, it was President Sirisena’s opinion that he commanded the confidence of a majority of MPs in Parliament.

Thereafter, there was a scramble to demonstrate a majority in Parliament with both Wickremesinghe and Rajapaksa confident that they commanded the support of the House. In that exercise, there were a few crossovers from the United National Party (UNP), the most notable among them being Wijayedasa Rajapakshe and Vasantha Senanayake who were sworn in as ministers.

New Cabinet

A new Cabinet was also sworn in. Accommodated in the new Cabinet were stalwarts of the Joint Opposition (JO). It was the first time President Sirisena accommodated the JO in his government and signalled a rapprochement between the Sirisena and Rajapaksa factions of the United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance (UPFA).

Meanwhile, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya met with parliamentarians. Jayasuriya stated that a majority of MPs submitted a letter stating their request to convene Parliament. Based on this, Jayasuriya issued a statement to the effect that nothing had eventuated to change the status quo in Parliament.

Significantly, among the political parties that opposed the removal of Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister were the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). However, these parties went to great lengths to emphasize that while they were not offering an endorsement of Wickremesinghe as Premier, they vehemently opposed the manner in which he was removed.

“I wish to emphasize that I am compelled to accept the status that existed previously until such time that… the new political alliance prove their majority in Parliament”, Jayasuriya said in his statement but stopped short of recalling Parliament for which the authority lies with the President.

However, it was evident that not all in Parliament shared Speaker Jayasuriya’s views. Senior parliamentary staff speaking to media indicated that as far as they were concerned, they would abide by the gazette notifications issued by the government.

As the guessing game as to who commanded the majority support in Parliament continued, more ministers were sworn in. Among them were some high-profile JO politicians: Chamal Rajapaksa (Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine), Dinesh Gunawardena (Megapolis and Western Development), Vasudeva Nanayakkara (National Integration, Reconciliation and Official languages), Bandula Gunawardane (International Trade and Investment Promotion), Wimal Weerawansa (Housing and Social Welfare) and Udaya Gammanpila (Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs).

Gazette notification

When the stage was being set for Parliament to be reconvened on November 14 (yesterday), the drama took another turn. Last Friday, in a gazette notification that was not entirely unexpected, President Sirisena dissolved Parliament. The gazette notification set the period of nominations for the general elections from November 19 to 26 and scheduled the general election for January 5, 2019.

It is noteworthy that the gazette notification cited Article 33(2)(c) of the Constitution, read with Article 70(5) and Article 62(2) of the Constitution as the basis for the dissolution, the key clause being the first.

Article 33(2)(c) of the Constitution states that “In addition to the powers, duties and functions expressly conferred or imposed on, or assigned to the President by the Constitution or other written law, the President shall have the power to summon, prorogue and dissolve Parliament”.

Legal experts for the government argued that the powers derived by the President under Article 33(2) were over and above Article 70(1) which stated that “The President may by Proclamation, summon, prorogue and dissolve Parliament, provided that the President shall not dissolve Parliament until the expiration of a period of not less than four years and six months from the date appointed for its first meeting, unless Parliament requests the President to do so by a resolution passed by not less than two-thirds of the whole number of Members (including those not present), voting in its favour”.

There has been much debate about this issue. Government loyalists argue that the words “in addition to the powers……assigned to the President” implies that the power to summon, prorogue and dissolve Parliament is over and above the restrictions placed on the President under Article 70(1), which precludes him from dissolving Parliament for four and a half years that would take the life of this Parliament well beyond the next presidential election.

The dissolution caught the UNP and other opposition parties such as the JVP and the TNA by surprise. Their MPs who were gearing themselves for a tussle for supremacy in Parliament where they would be called upon to show a majority suddenly found themselves as ordinary citizens, as Parliament was dissolved.

Intense discussion between the UNP, JVP and the TNA followed, leading to the parties deciding to collectively and separately challenge the dissolution of Parliament in the Supreme Court. This occurred on Monday, with ten petitions challenging the dissolution being heard in the highest court in the land. Among the petitioners was S. Ratnajeevan Hoole, a member of the Elections Commission. The bench constituted for the purpose comprised of Chief Justice Nalin Perera and Supreme Court Justices Prasanna Jayawardena and Priyantha Jayawardena.

Even as the country’s top legal eagles were stating their case in the Supreme Court on Monday, there were other political developments. Most notably, many parliamentarians from the UPFA obtained membership of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), relinquishing their membership with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). Among them was the newly appointed Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Both the SLFP and the SLPP insist that this is not an indication of parting of ways between the two parties but a move to establish their own identities in preparation for the general election. The modalities of how they will accommodate each other has not yet been finalised.

Dissolution of Parliament

At the end of Monday, petitioners against the dissolution of Parliament had concluded their submissions. The Supreme Court took up the matter again on Tuesday, when it heard submissions from the Attorney General. Although the decision of the court was expected at 5 o’clock, it was past 6 o’clock when it was finally announced to a courtroom packed with politicians and the media.

The three-judge bench of the Supreme Court issued an interim order temporarily suspending the gazette notification issued by the President on the dissolution of Parliament. The Supreme Court also issued an interim order on the Elections Commission preventing the holding of a general election. The stay orders have been issued effective until December 7. The petitions have been fixed for argument on December 4, 5 and 6.

This meant that the general election has effectively been put on hold. Political parties were evaluating their strategies on Tuesday night in the wake of the Supreme Court decision. While the opposition hailed the decision as a victory for democracy, the government maintains that what has been delivered is only a stay order and not a final decision.

At the time of writing, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya had announced that Parliament would reconvene as per the President’s proclamation. That would undoubtedly create potential for more theatrics on the political stage. What is certain though is that this drama is far from over.

At the time of writing, Parliament has just concluded a stormy session where a vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has been adopted, with 122 voting for the motion.

In addition, three MPs loyal to the government- veteran A.H. M. Fowzie, Piyasena Gamage and Manusha Nanayakkara have joined the opposition while Minister Vasantha Senanayake has resigned his portfolio. State Minister Vadivel Suresh has also signalled his intentions to resign.

In the aftermath of the vote of no-confidence, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has announced that Parliament has passed the vote of no confidence against the government although the government disputes this. Parliament is scheduled to reconvene today (Thursday). That would undoubtedly create potential for more theatrics on the political stage. What is certain though is that this drama is far from over.