UNP ready to scrap ‘cancerous’ presidential system: Karu
Thursday, 29 May 2014 00:00
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UNP Leadership Council Chairman says Rajapaksa Government is in ‘crisis’
Says it cannot muster the support of its own Cabinet
The main opposition United National Party is ready to abolish the executive presidential system, calling it a “cancerous institution” that nurtures the interest of single individuals or ruling cabals.
Issuing a statement yesterday, UNP Leadership Council Chairman Karu Jayasuriya said that country was in an unfortunate situation today because of the arbitrary policies of the Rajapaksa Government.
“Hiding behind the façade of development, the governing circles are indulging in an orgy of corruption, waste and nepotism,” Jayasuriya charged.
He said that all sectors that directly impact on the day-to-day life of the average Sri Lankan such as transport, health, education, law and order, peaceful existence and general economic conditions were crumbling under the Mahinda Rajapaksa rule.
Mass protests are taking place on a daily basis in almost every sector of the economy. It is even more emphasised as the Government is confronted with a serious credibility quandary in the international arena, Jayasuriya said in his statement.
“In other words, all signals are indicative of a certain crumbling of the monolith of ‘Rajapaksism’. As enunciated by some political pundits, the country is on the threshold of bidding adieu to an uncivilized era and greeting the arrival of a civilised time,” the UNP Leadership Council Chairman added.
Jayasuriya asserted that the UPFA was embroiled in a deep crisis. “A great majority of the country has now realised that the Government is presently involved only in propagating half-truths and outright lies. Even the support of the majority of their own Cabinet is not forthcoming,” he charged.
The UNP LC Chairman said the executive presidential system was the problem rather than personalities. “When such political savants like Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake spoke against the presidential system of Government 23 years ago, after having worked day in and day out to create that very same system, they would not have even dreamt of a person such as Mahinda Rajapaksa,” the statement said.
“The ‘Abolish the Executive Presidency’ slogan has already been established in the country. Even some partners in the governing coalition have come to the same conclusion,” Jayasuriya said.
He said it was the duty and responsibility of a prudent leader to listen to that voice. It was the duty of each and every citizen to demand the abolition of the executive presidency instead of allowing the leadership to get further entrenched in power, the statement added.
“Whether it’s the UNP or the SLFP that wins the next election is not important. But we all agree that the winner should be our motherland. We in the United National Party are ready and determined to drive away this cancerous system of government. We indeed are ready to abolish a system that nurtures and looks after only one family, one person and one clan. In the next election, the issue before the voter is simple and stark. What is more important, country or one family?” the statement concluded.
