Basil not out for good

The MPs of the SLPP had voted in favour of the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Parliamentary vote for the election of the President on July 20, at the instance of Basil, but interestingly, exactly in three months they voted the 22nd Amendment ousting Basil from Parliament for good, at the instance of Wickremesinghe who so took over as President

On what grounds the majority of Parliamentarians of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) voted in favour of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution Bill on October 21, while the so-called “strategist” of the party, Basil Rajapksa had been campaigning against it is yet to be known. 
It was Basil who had until then been planning and executing all affairs of the Party. He was also said to be the “brain” behind the scuttling of the 22nd Amendment being debated in Parliament as late as on October 6 and 7, despite it being in the order paper of the House.

Until this Amendment was passed with 174 votes, majority members of the SLPP was not expected to cross the line so soon to defy the dictates of its powerful National Organiser, despite two small groups of the party and around 10 small parties having defected the ruling coalition. Besides, the Amendment deprived the dual citizens like Basil of the right to contest election in Sri Lanka. Then why did they vote for the Amendment?

There cannot be any policy decision that prompted them to vote, despite SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam having stated that his party cannot support the 22nd Amendment that negates the gist of the 20th Amendment brought in by the party in October 2020. Principled politics is a far-flung issue in Sri Lanka. One of the best case in point in Sri Lankan political history is that many MPs of the SLPP had voted for the 17th, 18, 19th and 20th Amendments to the Constitution which alternately curtailed and strengthened the powers of the President. Hence, various theories are now being floated to explain as to why they voted for the 22nd Amendment. 

President Ranil Wickremsinghe, even after taking over the top-most job has been serious about the Amendment which was meant to strengthen the Parliament, by way of curtailing the powers of the President. He has been pushing the MPs of all political parties to support it. Since he had instiled a sense of security among the MPs of the SLPP by cracking down the anti-government protesters, they have decided to support the Amendment. This is one view. 

Another theory is that the MPs had been in fear that the President might dissolve the Parliament once he is constitutionally empowered to do so, when the current Parliament completes two and a half year of its tenure, in February, next year. And they wanted an assurance from him not to do so. They even wanted a clause in the 22nd Amendment extending that duration from the existing two and a half years to four and a half years. And media quoted the President days ago as assuring that he would not heed anyone’s request to dissolve the Parliament next year, even the latter worships him traditionally offering a wad of betel.

The statement indicates a threat that he would dissolve the Parliament if they defeated the 22nd Amendment. Hence, they supported it. This is a stronger view than the former. JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake also ridiculed the SLPP MPs after the passage of the Amendment claiming that they supported an amendment to the basic law of the country keeping their Parliamentary pension in mind, instead of the interests of the country. Besides, this is a good opportunity for the MPs of the SLPP to get into the good books of the President which might shower them later with powers, portfolios and perks.

A crack in the Rajapaksa family also seems to have contributed this development. It must be noted that Chamal, Namal and Sashindra of that family had voted in favour of the Amendment, meaning against Basil. And former President and the Leader of the SLPP Mahinda Rajapaksa was absent at the time of the voting. He might have been of the view that if Basil succeeded Wickremesinghe as President, Namal’s chances would be pushed decades away.

The MPs of the SLPP had voted in favour of the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Parliamentary vote for the election of the President on July 20, at the instance of Basil, but interestingly, exactly in three months they voted the 22nd Amendment ousting Basil from Parliament for good, at the instance of Wickremesinghe who so took over as President. 

However, in fairness to the President it has to be pointed out that the President did not seem to be interested in the dual citizenship issue. He wanted to pass the provisions that empowered Parliament, the gist of the Amendment. He even requested the SLPP on October 19, two days prior to the adoption of the Amendment to vote for it inserting any provisions during the committee stage of the debate on it. 

Hence, if the SLPP members were serious about the issues they seem to be worried about, they could sometimes have allowed the provisions on dual citizenship to continue and prevent the President from dissolving Parliament in two and half years. Though he is said to be a pro-Parliament politician and the 19th Amendment brought in under his premiership contained that four and half-year limit, the President also did not subscribe to their view to go for that same provision.

The main purpose of the 22nd Amendment which later became the 21st Amendment was overshadowed by the residual issues in the Amendment such as the dual citizen’s right to contest elections, throughout the social discourse on it. The Amendment which was initiated first by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in April in response to the people’s agitations for a “system change” was meant to bring back the provisions of the 19th Amendment. However, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) on Thursday said that the Amendment failed to revive the situation that prevailed prior to the 20th Amendment. Yet, the Opposition parties, SJB and the JVP voted for it considering the essence of it, claiming that it was somewhat better than the 20th Amendment. 

Cracks seem to have emerged all over the SLPP and the Rajapaksa family which might be a windfall for the President. Using powers, portfolios, and perks he would now be able to attract MPs from SLPP and also from the SJB to his party’s fold.  

In practical sense, whatever the laws that a government passes will serve their professed purposes only if commitment is evident on the part of the relevant officials and the leaders have the political will to achieve those purposes. It has to be recalled that the head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Shani Abeysekara was made a subordinate to a high ranking police officer in the South soon after Gotabaya Rajapaksa took over as the President. It was clear then that it was not the independent decision of the independent Police Commission. And a member of the National Election Commission (NEC) openly called on the people on the eve of the 2020 general election not to vote for a particular political party. These are instances where the so-called independent commissions under the 19th Amendment were in fact not independent. 

So long as people are not principled in achieving their rights, politicians will play politics with anything sacred to the masses. Hence, even Basil Rajapaksa might come again and roll back the effects of the 21st Amendment. Those who voted for the 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, and the 21st Amendments would not hesitate at all then to vote for another Amendment  that would negate the 21st Amendment as well. He turned tables last time by forming the SLPP while his right to contest elections had been deprived of.