12 April 2022 12:00 am Views - 129
By Kelum Bandara
Any agreement between the dissident parties of the government and the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) for an interim Cabinet is unlikely since Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa’s insistence that he would not be party to any arrangement under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the 11-party alliance and the independent group of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) met with the SJB delegation on Sunday and discussed ways to break the current political stalemate in the country.
Premadasa is reported to have insisted that he cannot agree to an interim government under President Rajapaksa. He took the position that the entire country wanted the president to step down, and that should happen before the next step.
The Opposition leader put forward the abolition of the 20th Amendment to the constitution, the re-introduction of the 19th Amendment, the no confidence motion and the interim government as the priorities to be done at this time.
SLPP MP Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, who attended the meeting, ruled out the possibility to go for constitutional amendments at this hour since it was difficult to muster two-thirds for such an exercise. Instead, Rajapakshe and others from his side argued that attention should be paid on what could be done practically.
The SJB remained stiff regarding its position on the need to scrap executive powers by abolishing the 20th Amendment. MPs Ranjith Madduma Bandara and Eran Wickramaratne also attended the meeting on behalf of the SJB.