An aggressive leader and 11 angry parties

Lawmaker Wimal Weerawansa who backed Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the last Presidential Elections has fired the first real salvo indicating that all isn’t well with the government (AFP)

This aggressive attitude of those who wield real power within the government is not going well with the rest of the members of the Cabinet as well as the country’s citizens

Meanwhile there had been objections to politicians attending the party leaders’ meeting who weren’t party leaders

Some members of the Rajapaksa family believe that they have been given a mandate to bulldoze the people and work according to their whims and fancies

The Government is under fire these days from an ‘opposition’ that has arisen from within the Cabinet. This is a good sign for the people and a bad one for those who wield real power within this government. 

The government is criticized largely these days regarding the deal it is said to have struck with the USA regarding the Yugadanavi Power Plant at Kerawalapitiya. The new ‘opposition’ states that ministers and members of parliament were not informed about the ‘US-Sri Lanka deal’ and affirm that some conditions of the agreement could be harmful to the country. Two ministers who questioned the negative aspects of the deal were Udaya Gammanpila and Wimal Weerawansa. For the record members of as many as 11 political parties offering support to the regime have begun to question some of the decisions taken by a very powerful member of the Rajapaksa family who is part of the Cabinet. 

Views related to the above topic were aired at the party leaders’ meeting hosted by the Sri Lanka Pudujana Peramuna (SLPP) recently at the Temple Trees, according to newspaper reports. For the record November 2 marked five years after the SLPP was formed.

The cause for concern here is that the opposition voices were told by a member of the Rajapaksa family that the President was given a mandate by the people and as the Executive President of the country he has the power to take decisions he fancies. This too was reported in the newspapers. 

This aggressive attitude of those who wield real power within the government is not going well with the rest of the members of the Cabinet as well as the country’s citizens, who voted for a new government. 

The government’s hierarchy, during internal discussions, as reported in weekend newspapers maintains that the signing of the deal between Sri Lanka and America-regarding the Yugadanavi Power Plant- is yet to be completed. According to print media reports the GoSL plans to finalise three more contracts regarding this power plant. The Government states that lawmakers who see flaws in the agreement to be signed can present their views

Politics cannot be done in this manner, because it involves the people more than anybody else. This is not a military establishment and the ‘command’ just wouldn’t work with the masses, especially the farmers and teachers who are agitating. 

Basil Rajapaksa is in the news after a period of working in silence. At the party leaders’ meeting President Rajapaksa’s decision to appoint Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara to head a committee appointed to aid the view ‘One country, one law’ faced opposition. It is reported in the press that MP Gevindu Kumaratunga had even aired the view that the monk’s appointment to the committee was apposed by the society at large. Basil had been quick in his defence of the president at the meeting and stated that the ‘Executive’ of the country wields the power to do so and also reminded those present that Gotabaya was the choice of the people and garnered 69 lakhs of votes. 

As the cloud of gloom over Sri Lanka keeps expanding day by day the government finds ways of borrowing money as loans and restricting imports and the trickle down effect is that essential goods are becoming expensive while some of them are facing a shortage in the market. The country is also heading towards a crude oil crisis which would lead to a fuel shortage because the government is struggling to organise loan facilities for this endeavor. 

At the party leaders’ meeting President Rajapaksa’s decision to appoint Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara to head a committee appointed to aid the view ‘One country, one law’ faced opposition. It is reported in the press that MP Gevindu Kumaratunga had even aired the view that the monk’s appointment to the committee was apposed by the society at large

 
Meanwhile there had been objections to politicians attending the party leaders’ meeting who weren’t party leaders. But some of the attendees had then recalled how they were part of the system which backed the leftists to overthrow the UNP regimes in the past. It must be mentioned here that even a senior politician like Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has affirmed that small political parties have their own strengths and that they shouldn’t be disregarded by any large political party; implying that their support is needed for the Pohottuwa Party. 

Mahinda is still the man who can rally a divided force. He’ll continue to play that role and steady ‘a political ship if the sea gets rough’. 

The government’s hierarchy, during internal discussions, as reported in weekend newspapers maintains that the signing of the deal between Sri Lanka and America-regarding the Yugadanavi Power Plant- is yet to be completed. According to print media reports the GoSL plans to finalise three more contracts regarding this power plant. The Government states that lawmakers who see flaws in the agreement to be signed can present their views. The problem with the Sri Lanka system is that the people in power do things and then start thinking. In other countries it is the other way around!

Some members of the Rajapaksa family believe that they have been given a mandate to bulldoze the people and work according to their whims and fancies. Any successful political party would vouch that for a government to function there has to be democracy and consensus. These two characteristics are greatly lacking in the present Gotabaya Rajapaksa Government; especially regarding some of the most sensitive subjects like law and religion. 

At this juncture lawmaker Wimal Weerawansa has fired the first real salvo indicating that all isn’t well with the government and that those concerned parties within the government wouldn’t be silent in the face of wrongdoings and mismanagement by those who are really in power. These voices of dissent are growing and the Rajapaksa administration must take notice of that! A similar environment like what we see now was present during the last stages of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second term as president before he was shown the door at the 2015 presidential elections. A president must stop taking advice when his advisers are incapable of reading the situation, but keep showing him the ‘way forward’.