Speaker should have accepted President’s decision: UPFA

• Argues motion to stop access of public finance by Prime Minister’s Office should have been presented by a Minister with Cabinet approval 
• Charges Speaker Jayasuriya partisan to UNP
• Hints at more crossovers after Supreme Court decision

By Ashwin Hemmathagama, Our Lobby Correspondent

The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) yesterday criticised what they saw as partisan behaviour by the Speaker and charged that he should have accepted the appointment of MP Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister made by President Maithripala Sirisena on 26 October.         

UPFA MP S. B. Dissanayake charged Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has violated the Standing Orders by conducting the sitting without Parliamentarians loyal to MP Mahinda Rajapaksa and alleged it was done to please the United National Party (UNP). Challenging the motion passed in the House to cut allocations to the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday, UPFA MP Dissanayake stated it was unfair in terms of the procedure followed. “The proposal to cut expenditure of the Prime Minister should be moved by a Minister with Cabinet approval. The Speaker is not following the Standing Orders and parliamentary practice. He received advice from lawyers in Sirikotha instead of consulting the Attorney General’s Department. It is learnt that Speaker Jayasuriya will be the next common candidate. The propaganda is now on to reach this target,” charged MP Dissanayake.

Justifying the President’s move to appoint MP Mahinda Rajapaksa as the new Prime Minister, which sparked the constitutional deadlock, MP Dissanayake held that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) leaving the coalition Government has automatically put Ranil Wickremesinghe out of office.

“The position created for a new Prime Minister was filled with Mahinda Rajapaksa. President felt MP Rajapaksa has the parliamentary majority and the majority support of the people. Speaker Jayasuriya should have accepted the President’s appointment and moved on with the parliamentary procedures to appoint committees,” MP Dissanayake said. 

MP Dissanayake also reiterated the argument that MP Wickremesinghe was appointed by President Sirisena as Prime Minster when the UNP only had 42 seats in Parliament in January 2015.

“The Speaker at the time was Chamal Rajapaksa and he never asked Ranil Wickremesinghe for a show of majority. At that time, we had 150 seats in Parliament. Speaker Rajapaksa accepted Wickremesinghe’s appointment without any issues. We are looking forward to the Supreme Court decision. We are sure the majority now commanded by the UNP in Parliament will reduce with the decision. We expect the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) headed by MP Rauf Hakeem and All Ceylon Makkal Congress Party (ACMC) headed by MP Rishad Bathiudeen would stop supporting the UNP. The other minority parties will also fail the next elections and the UPFA will have a clear victory,” predicted MP Dissanayake.