“Government has failed to fulfil people’s mandate”: Anura Kumara

JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake

Speaking out strongly against the massive Cabinet and the National Government, JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake charged that the Government had failed to fulfil the people’s mandate.

“If the UPFA had said it would ally with the UNP, people would have acted in a different manner. In January, during the presidential election they said the Cabinet of ministers would not exceed 30. Now thanks to the ‘national government’ they have increased it to 48. Do we need such a massive Cabinet? This is the method Mahinda Rajapaksa used to pay back his henchmen,” he pointed out.

Dissanayake noted that it was not only Mahinda Rajapaksa but also the methodology of offering Cabinet portfolios that was rejected on 8 January but that the present Government was unfortunately following the same methodology. 

Citing the report on how subjects for ministries should be allocated on a scientific basis, Dissanayake said this had served no purpose as the appointments had been made without paying any attention to the report. “Both Sirisena and Wickremesinghe should be held responsible for this ridiculous allocation of subjects to ministries as well as selection of MPs to various ministries,” he added.

Commenting on the JVP’s performance at the Parliamentary elections, he said the party did not decides its future on the number of Parliamentary seats and the amount of votes it gets and that the JVP would continue with its work.

As for the way forward, Dissanayake said it was important to give this Government the opportunity to carry out its work. “We should not hurry and jump to conclusions. That is not correct. We have a political knowledge as to what they can achieve and what they are capable of fulfilling. But the people have given them a mandate so we should respect that.”

He also commended the appointment of TNA Leader R. Sampanthan’s as the Opposition Leader, adding that if the UPFA believed Sampanthan or the TNA should not hold that position, the only remedy would be for the UPFA to sit in the Opposition and claim the position of Opposition Leader. “When the TNA has all qualifications to get the position of Opposition Leader, if we are preventing that, it is not correct,” he added.

Following are excerpts of the interview with the Daily FT:

Q: What are your remarks about the present political situation in the country? 

A: The United National Party (UNP) before the election gave an indication that if it came into power, it would form a national government. But the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) said nothing about going for a unity government. During the campaign the UPFA very clearly said it was against a national government. In such situation the UPFA does not have a mandate to ally with the UNP and form a national government. If the UPFA had said it would ally with the UNP, people would have acted in a different manner. This could not have been the mandate of the people. They might have used their vote in a different way.

In January, during the presidential election they said the Cabinet of ministers would not exceed 30. Now thanks to the ‘national government’ they have increased it to 48. Do we need such a massive Cabinet? This is the method Mahinda Rajapaksa used to pay back his henchmen. He offered ministerial posts to please and satisfy individuals who helped him to get into power and remain in power.

To date the Maithri-Ranil administration has not formed a ‘proper government’. On 8 January people in this country gave a mandate to end the Rajapaksa autocracy, bring good governance and put the country back on the right track. Unfortunately this Government has so far failed to fulfil that. Considering these factors I feel the country is somewhat unstable at the moment. 

Q: Why do you say the National Government formed by the UNP and UPFA is against the Constitution? 

A: Article 46 (5) of the Constitution clearly says the term ‘national government’ could only be used for a coalition which is formed by the political party which holds the highest number of seats in Parliament with the support of all other parties in Parliament. It is obvious that support of all the other parties in Parliament are required for a national government. This is why we argue that the term ‘national government’ being used to describe the UNP-UPFA coalition is a violation of the Constitution.

On the other hand the 19th Amendment does not say the number of Cabinet ministers could be increased under a national government. Therefore this jumbo Cabinet too is against the Constitution. If the proposal to increase the number of Cabinet ministries was not brought to Parliament in such hasty manner, people would have had the opportunity to go to courts and take legal action against that decision. Usually seven days will be given for this purpose. But this proposal was brought without Standing Orders. It was debated on the same day. That deprived the right of the people to go to courts against this proposal. 

Q: Another 40 MPs were appointed as deputy ministers and state ministers recently and some of the appointments have raised eyebrows. Your comments?

A: The Rajapaksa regime did not collapse on 8 January mainly due to Mahinda Rajapaksa’s personal weaknesses. To Rajapaksa, offering Cabinet portfolios was a gamble. He used that as a method to get into power and remain in power. It was this methodology that was defeated on 8 January. Unfortunately the present Government is following the same methodology. I reiterate that these appointments are against the mandate given on 8 January.

It was not only Mahinda Rajapaksa who was defeated on 8 January. The Cabinet of ministers too was defeated by the people. Some of the ministers had more accusations and charges than Rajapaksa. Some ministers openly approved attacks on university students. Some were involved in financial frauds. People decided they should not be in power and sent them home. Unfortunately the very same people are back in power. This is a pathetic situation. 

I like to tell this to the people, you have a right to vote for a party that you believe better for the country. And there is no wrong in that. It is your decision. But make sure that once they are in power they stick to that mandate and they fulfil what they have promised you. Your duty did not end after you cast the vote. 

Q: Do you feel the ministerial portfolios were given to the most suitable MPs? 

A: On 22 June under the guidance of President Sirisena, a three-day workshop was held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute. During this a team headed by Prof. Hettige was appointed to study how subjects for ministries should be allocated on a scientific basis. They submitted a report and I too have a copy of that. The report says it would be ideal to have 30 ministries. If necessary, it could be increased to 35 but that is with great difficulty. The report says there aren’t many subjects to go for 35 ministries. The President appointed this team, used public money. But without paying any attention to what the report says, he appointed 48 ministers. If he was going to ignore the report and his own pledges, why did his appoint that team? And what are these ministries for? To serve the country? No. To please his henchmen. 

Look at the allocation of subjects to ministers; Education and Highways – tell me the connection of these two ministries? Airport is under the Minister of Transport although it should come under Aviation. Why? Because Nimal Siripala de Silva was not satisfied with what he initially got. To make him happy he was offered another subject. Is it correct? 

A group of environmentalists and some organisations recently held a media conference and urged the Government that all wildlife and environmental-related subjects should come under one ministry. But that too has been ignored. Unfortunately during the last two decades the ruling parties have failed to allocate subjects for ministries on a scientific basis. Every government that comes to power uses Cabinet portfolios to please and satisfy individuals. This shows how power hungry our politicians are. 

Q: Who should be held responsible for this situation? Is it President Sirisena or Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe? 

A: Both Sirisena and Wickremesinghe should be held responsible for this ridiculous allocation of subjects to ministries as well as selection of MPs to various ministries. 

Q: Widely-discussed investigations and court cases against MPs and officials of the previous regime are taking a different twist since lately. Some were even dismissed due to lack of proof. Your comments?

A: One of the main reasons people elected this Government was to bring culprits and wrongdoers of the previous Government to book. Recently there were incidents where some culprits were freed from accusations and charges. But I have evidence of nearly 90 cases that are currently being investigated. We are carefully watching this situation.

There is a court case against KP. The Attorney General has said that KP cannot be arrested because he is not involved in terrorist activities. Then why did the Army go to Malaysia and bring him to Sri Lanka? It is the same with the Avant Garde investigations. We see the investigations taking a different twist. I am hoping to bring up these issues in Parliament. We will make sure that each and every investigation will be debated individually. 

Q: What went wrong at the Parliamentary elections? Why couldn’t the JVP achieve what it expected? 

A: Not only us, even intelligence unit studies revealed that the JVP would perform very well at the election. But the fact is that after one major election, the winning party of the next election is already decided. If we look at the past, we can clearly see this trend. This is exactly what happened in the 1999 and 2010 elections. During the August Parliamentary election, the Rajapaksa factor played a major role. People once again feared that Mahinda Rajapaksa would come back to power. This situation was somewhat negative for the JVP. 

However, we are not a party that decides our future on the number of Parliamentary seats and the amount of votes we get. We will continue with our work. We know people rely on us. We know people believe in what we say. We know that people listen to us. We consider that as our biggest victory.

Q: Aren’t you and your team disheartened by this result? 

A: We are not in politics to achieve personal goals. We are in politics to achieve a common goal. Our main goal is to fight against the injustice and irregularities in various fields in this country. We want to make Sri Lanka a better place. We have told the people what our mechanism is. If they are not ready to accept it, we will try again. Until people realise our work we will keep on trying. But that does not mean we are not disheartened. We are humans. The important fact is that we will rise again like the phoenix. We are sure of one thing, every single day people realise the value of the JVP. They realise how genuine we are in what we do.

 

Q: What was the reason behind Sarathchandra Mayadunne’s decision to resign from his National List Parliamentarian post? 

A: When we contested the August election we had candidates of two types. One team was to strengthen activities of the party. The other team comprised intellectuals and academics outside the party who shared similar views and opinions. We felt as a party we needed both types of individuals in Parliament. Unfortunately the outcome of the election was not that favourable. We did not have sufficient MPs to carry out and strengthen political activities as expected. Meanwhile Mayadunne pointed out that he felt people did not give much preference to individuals of his calibre to represent Parliament. Therefore he wanted to resign and give that opportunity to one of the other members. We tried to convince him but he had already taken a decision. We had to honour that decision.

Q: The UPFA was heavily criticised for appointing defeated MPs through the National List. Do you think it was correct to appoint Sunil Handunnetti through the National List? 

A: We took that decision because it was the correct decision. We have no doubts about that. It is true that people in Matara had not given sufficient votes for Sunil Handunnetti to enter Parliament. But when we take national politics don’t you think an individual like Handunnetti should be in Parliament? 

Q: The JVP is accused of being silent about the recent Coca Cola water contamination incident. Is it true that there is a deal between the JVP and the Coca Cola company? 

A: The JVP is the only party that does not go into deals with any individuals or organisations. The Coca Cola contamination was in the ‘gossip stage’ for a number of days. It took a couple of days to get the actual facts. However, it is the JVP that raised more voice regarding this incident. It is not fair to make such an accusation against our party. 

Q: As a country, what should be our next step? 

A: We cannot expect this Government to do anything exceptional. All that we feel is that they will carry out certain political reforms that are important to the country’s democracy. The Constitutional Councils and Right to Information are examples. Other than that we don’t think they will do any major transitions in economy or other sectors. 

However, we need to give this Government the opportunity to carry out their work. We should not hurry and jump to conclusions. That is not correct. We have a political knowledge as to what they can achieve and what they are capable of fulfilling. But the people have given them a mandate so we should respect that. 

As a country we need to go through many changes especially politically we need to change the direction that we are heading. On the other hand we need to ensure a better life for our people. 

Q: What are your views on R. Sampanthan’s appointment as the Opposition Leader? 

A: Technically the appointment is correct and nobody can question that. If the UPFA thinks Sampanthan or the TNA should not hold that position, the only remedy would be for them to sit in the Opposition. That way they can claim the position of Opposition Leader. When the TNA has all qualifications to get the position of Opposition Leader, if we are preventing that, it is not correct. That would give them a very strong reason to go to their people and say they are penalised. They can go to the international community. People who criticise this move should know that not giving them the post of Opposition Leader is more critical than giving them that position. 

Every foreign delegate who visited our country met the TNA and Sampanthan. Then they were identified as an isolated group that was mistreated by the majority of the country. But today when they meet them they talk to the Opposition Leader and it gives evidence that there is democracy. So we see this as a positive move. Some politicians are trying to say this as the first step of dividing the country. But that is not correct. If there is a threat of dividing the country, the JVP will be the first party to act.