22 A: A morality test for the SLPP

The draft 22nd Amendment was conceived, born and bred within the ranks of the SLPP, the party that brought in the 20th Amendment. It was in essence approved twice by the Cabinet dominated by SLPP members who voted for the 20th Amendment

Irrespective of whether the 22nd Amendment to the constitution Bill is passed in Parliament or not, the vacillation of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) over supporting it in the recent weeks raises many moral questions. The party had expressed its reservations on the matter during a meeting with President Ranil Wickremesinghe, as late as on Wednesday. The Bill had already been slated then to be debated on Thursday and Friday.   

Media has been reporting since lately that the party is concerned about two major issues in the constitutional reform. Many SLPP parliamentarians want the permission granted by the 20th Amendment to the Constitution for dual citizens to contest in Sri Lankan elections to continue, for obvious reasons. Basil Rajapaksa, youngest politician in the Rajapaksa family who is running the affairs of the SLPP as its National Organiser is a dual citizen of Sri Lanka and the US. Hence, his party wants him to enter Parliament again without renouncing his US citizenship.   

They also want to restrict the powers of the President to dissolve the Parliament before the expiry of four and a half years since it is elected. In spite of media reports having said that these are the main contentious issues, the SLPP now argue that they as the party that brought in the 20th Amendment cannot support a Bill that is against the essence of that Amendment. The General Secretary of the SLPP Sagara Kariyawasam told media on October 8 that those who supported the 20th Amendment to the Constitution barely two years ago cannot support another amendment which negates the gist of it.   

This contention was reiterated by former Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekara during the meeting with President Wickremesinghe on Wednesday. Although the SLPP attempts to make this as a moral issue through this contention, ironically Weerasekara was speaking at a meeting chaired by the President whom the SLPP voted into power in July after calling him an agent of the separatist and Western powers, for decades.   

President Wickremesinghe had told them that they can present their concerns as amendments during the committee stage of the debate on the Bill. He, by this had indicated that he knew that their real concern was not the morality in voting for two contradictory Bills, but the issues related to the dual citizenship and the dissolution of Parliament. This is an attempt on the part of the President to save the gist of the Bill, namely the provisions that strengthen the Parliament   

The SLPP leaders attempt make the people believe that they have nothing to do with the 22nd Amendment Bill and it was prepared and presented by some other party. In fact, the Bill was fathered by them. 20th Amendment was the last Constitution amendment that has been passed by the Parliament in October, 2020. The draft amendment currently in question was assigned the serial number 22, as the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara had presented another Bill with the serial number 21 for the abolition of the executive Presidency, before this was presented by the government.   

However, the Supreme Court determined in June that some sections of SJB’s draft 21st Amendment Bill were inconsistent with the Constitution and they were required to be approved by the people at a referendum, apart from adopting it by two thirds majority in Parliament. This was announced in Parliament on June 21.Later the Supreme Court had cleared the 22nd Amendment, except for a few clauses and Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena informed it to the Parliament on September 6. Thus came the Government’s Bill to the fore.   

In fact, it was former President Maithripala Sirisena who on April 1, this year mooted the idea to bring in the 19th Amendment again, to overcome the political crisis that engulfed the country following an unprecedented economic crisis. He was speaking to the media after a meeting with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa where he suggested to form a caretaker government and to reintroduce the provisions of the 19th Amendment which his government brought in following the regime change in 2015.   

As the protests against the government intensified and spread island wide in April, the former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa too subscribed to the idea. He told Parliament on April 19 that 19th Amendment should be restored with timely amendments, as a solution to the political crisis the country had plunged into. However, the political situation further worsened and became chaotic as the supporters of Prime Minister Rajapaksa attacked peaceful protesters at the Galle Face Green and in front of Temple Trees on May 9, compelling the Premier himself to resign on the same day. It was amidst this turbulence that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa too said that he was prepared to forego the powers conferred on him by the 20th Amendment. He tweeted on May 12 saying “Further steps will be taken to amend the Constitution to re-enact the contents of the 19th Amendment to further empower the Parliament.” Again on the same day he tweeted “Calls from various factions for the abolition of executive presidency will be considered.” That was his response to the call by the protesters for a “system change.”   

Accordingly, Justice, Prisons Affairs and Constitutional Reforms Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe took measures to draft a new Constitutional amendment while President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was in office. The purpose of it was to undo the main effects of the 20th Amendment. Policy approval was given to the draft by the Cabinet on June 20 subsequent to which it got the Attorney General’s nod after being formalized by the Legal Draftsman. It was published in the government gazette on June 29. After Ranil Wickremesinghe ascended to the Presidency it was refashioned and presented in Parliament on August 10 after being reapproved by the new Cabinet on August 1.   
Therefore, the draft 22nd Amendment was conceived, born and bred within the ranks of the SLPP, the party that brought in the 20th Amendment. It was in essence approved twice by the Cabinet dominated by SLPP members who voted for the 20th Amendment. Ironically however, the debate on the Bill which had been scheduled to be held on October 6 and 7 had to be postponed owing to the opposition by the SLPP.   

To argue now that it is morally difficult for the SLPP to support it just because they supported the 20th Amendment is a smokescreen to cover up the mind change of a prominent leader or leaders of the party. Morality more matters when dropping the amendment at the last moment after preparing and endorsing it twice at the Cabinet than supporting it to negate the 20th amendment. On the other hand, there are many SLPP Parliamentarians who had voted for 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th amendments which alternately nullified each other. Therefore, they cannot claim moral high ground in any of their policies.   

Instead, one might argue that it is the moral duty of the SLPP to undo the 20th Amendment at least now, as autocratic powers vested in the President through the 20th Amendment have contributed greatly to the current situation in the country.A section of the party MPs did so yesterday when the Bill was passed.   

However, morality in general is an alien phenomenon in Sri Lankan politics. Morality in something is determined by the benefits one accrues from it. Also Politicians sometimes raise morality aloft when legality stands in their way and vice versa, depending on which suits their interests.