INTERVIEWS

•DLB issue

“President should have consulted PM”

Labour Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe says the present crisis is a good opportunity to strengthen cohabitation by resolving the crisis amicably and ensuring that such a situation does not arise again. “This is why it is important that the President and Prime Minister sit down together and work out an arrangement for the future,” he told The Sunday Leader in an interview. Samarasinghe said the UNF has obtained the correct position with regard to the Development Lotteries Board (DLB) crisis from the Attorney General. He said President Kumaratunga should have consulted the Premier prior to taking over the

DLB.  “Is the President saying, that she would rather rely on her own ability to interpret the Constitution or for that matter rely on only those who are presumably advising her to take such extreme steps and thereby opting to disregard an opinion sent to her from an independent source such as the Attorney-General of this country?” the Minister asked. 

Following are excerpts;

By Wilson Gnanadass

Q: President Kumaratunga has made it clear that her decision to annex the  DLB  under her authority will not change. How does the government view this and what does it plan to do now?

A: The President in her latest response has categorically stated that she is not bound by the Constitution to consult the Prime Minister and that she has been given this facility by way of the constitution to make a subjective decision in relation to Article 44 of the Constitution and that she is duty bound to only consult if she considers such consultation to be necessary.

She has also very clearly stated in her statement that there is no room  for compromise on the decision to take over the DLB. This is indeed a constitutional crisis which if not resolved amicably, could lead to political instability in the country and as such have a negative impact on the peace process, development plans and the cohabitation mandate the people have given both the President and the Prime Minister. It is, therefore, imperative that this impasse is resolved and that the government and the President can start concentrating on strengthening the peace process which is the need of the hour.

Q: President Kumaratunga charges that the UNF government has not utilised  DLB funds properly. But in fact, the DLB according to latest figures has shown a marked improvement. Do you think the President was misled in making such a statement?

A: I don’t believe that the issue here is the DLB funds. This is also why the government reacted in the way that it did, so as to ensure that the President would not continue to act in the subjective manner that she did. If consultation had taken place prior to the decision to gazette the DLB under the President the issue of required funds for the President’s Fund could have been solved in a mutually acceptable way. Parliament after all is the custodian of public finance and if it was a question of more funds needed for the President’s Fund I am sure the government would have cooperated with the President. The feelings, however  in government ranks were that this was an initial step towards eroding the mandate of the government given by people of this country and that it would finally have a negative impact on the peace process and the June donor conference in Tokyo and therefore as such should be resisted and nipped in the bud.

Q: While the UNF says the President is wrong the PA says  the President is correct. How do you break this impasse?

A: The government sought an opinion on this constitutional crisis from an independent office — the Attorney General of this country. The Attorney General has very clearly stated that the President should have consulted the Prime Minister. This opinion has been sent directly to the President who is now saying that since she had not asked for an opinion from the Attorney General she is not bound to accept such  advise.  Is the President saying, that she would rather rely on her own ability to interpret the constitution or for that matter rely on only those who are presumably advising her to take such extreme steps and thereby opting to disregard an opinion sent to her from an independent source such as the Attorney General of this country.

I think this answers your question that common sense has still not prevailed and that it is the political agenda that is still predominant. It is a pity that Sri Lanka has not been able to cultivate a vibrant and active civil society to tell our politicians that enough is enough.

Q: Do you also think that this crisis, if left unresolved, would permanently seal the cohabitation plan between both the PA and the UNF?

A: My personal point of view is that the President is duty bound to consult the Prime Minister if she decides to embark on ministerial portfolio changes and/or subjects allocated to different ministers. This is more so given the special situation with the President being of a different political party than the Prime Minister and government. A cohabitation situation such as what we have today must function for the benefit of the people with a healthy dialogue and an understanding between the President and the government that each party must respect the mandate of the other and that subjective and unilateral decisions could only lead to an erosion in the cohabitation arrangement with consequences being grave for the resolution of larger issues which are so much more important and directly affect the well being of each and every citizen of this country. I feel that despite the uncompromising stand taken, civil society at large expects these two competing forces to sit down and settle this for the sake of the country

Q: Whenever the President acts tough, the UNF gets ready to impeach her. But afterwards when things settle down the UNF forgets to do so, until next time when the President does the same. Is the UNF seriously interested in impeaching her?

A: The UNF has upto now resisted temptations to impeach the President. The Prime Minister has always taken the position that it is not the road which we should take. This is despite so called spokesmen of the PA threatening to even resign from their elected positions if she does not dissolve parliament by end of June. To the credit of the President she has even taken the step of addressing  a communication to the Speaker stating that she will not dissolve parliament and has been consistent in this position by making public pronouncements  from time to time to this effect.

Obviously there are some in the PA who feel that rather than continuing to sit on the opposition benches  they should use the extreme power of the presidency to dissolve parliament and test the electorate with the help of their new found friends regardless of the people being sick of elections. So far it appears the President has not caved into this kind of personal agenda. Nevertheless, UNF has always stated that it is not going to prevent dissolution by handing over an impeachment although it is capable of doing so at any time. We as a government strongly believe that in the last 15 months since  assuming office  we have resurrected the economy,  and negotiated and implemented a ceasefire coupled with several rounds of direct talks with the LTTE.  We have been able to obtain unprecedented support and goodwill from the international community to sustain the peace process and embark on an ambitious accelerated reconstruction and development strategy in the country, which will create hundreds of thousands of employment opportunities and income generating activity. Tourism is  taking off once again as a result of the political stability in the country. Fiscal discipline has been shown, the budget deficit contained and a law has been brought into operation, which will ensure that by year 2006, the budget deficit will not exceed 5%. All this has been done in just 15 months after inheriting a devastated economy and a country torn apart by war.

After the June conference in Tokyo, the government will be able to start giving tangible benefits to the people. We have as a government already gone on record as promising a salary increase to public servants with the 2004 budget. This remarkable performance is a record which we can justifiably put forward to the people at any time. Therefore, we do not have to resort to impeaching the President for the sake of preventing dissolution. As long as the UNF government has a majority in parliament we will continue to govern until the next election due in 2007 and if we are forced to request the people for a fresh mandate so be it. We are confident.

Q: In a recent television interview you said it is easy to collect signatures but the Prime Minister prevents you from doing it. Does not the Prime Minister think that President Kumaratunga should be impeached?

A: I did not say that the Prime Minister prevented me from collecting signatures as the government whip to impeach the President. What I said was that I could get the 113 signatures if the Prime Minister tells me to do it at any time. But as I mentioned earlier it is not the  path we want to take. We as a government believe in cohabitation because that is the wish of the people. Therefore, this has to be strengthened.

Q: With President Kumaratunga threatening to take away powers of the UNF on the one hand and with the LTTE saying that they might not participate in  future talks on the other hand, do you think the government has entered a difficult period, unable to decide on what to do?

A: The road to peace is not an easy one given the 20 year protracted war in the country. The government has been facing  deep suspicion and mistrust that goes with that kind of a situation. The Prime Minister however, is determined to stay on this road and has been following through on this objective in a very methodical and professional manner which I have no doubt will bring us eventual success. We have also got a big plus point in that the international community is solidly behind the peace process and also  a very clear majority in this country do not want to go back to a war situation. The peace process today in Sri Lanka is therefore a people driven peace process which is bound to succeed. We must therefore not be distracted with small hiccups which are bound to happen  from time to time and travel this road to peace in a determined way. I think we owe this to the people of this country who have suffered immense hardships as a result of a useless war. The government is therefore determined  to override these temporary setbacks.