Parliament - Peace talks with LTTE a waste of time- JVP

While all parties joined hands to pass an important piece of legislation last Wednesday – namely a bill to set up a national authority on tobacco and alcohol, no such unity prevailed the following day, when the Government was forced to postpone a vote on the 18th Amendment to the Constitution.

This was due to the main opposition, the United National Party (UNP) objecting despite an earlier agreement stating its support for the constitutional amendment, requiring a two third majority conditional.

The 18th Amendment seeking to set up regional Courts of Appeal as well as increase the number of judges from 12 to 21 was shot down by the UNP, when Chief Opposition Whip Joseph Michael Perera, told Parliament on Tuesday that his party would support the Bill only if the Constitutional Council (CC), was set up before the vote was taken.

The UNP contention was that President Mahinda Rajapaksa appointing judges in the absence of the CC, which was defunct last March on a disagreement of appointing of a lone member to the Council, the appointment of such Appeal Court judges after the new law becomes effective, would be based more on political favouritism and not on merit. “The President can name one of the nominees selected by the smaller parties in Parliament to the CC and set it up first. Then we can pass this Bill,” Mr Perera said.

Several Government MPs urged the UNP to support the Bill with Deputy Justice Minister Dilan Perera saying that it was a good opportunity to demonstrate that parliamentarians irrespective of whichever party they belonged to could work together. “This Bill is meant to ease law delays and will be a boon to people living outside Colombo who have to travel far for litigation,” he said.

While canvassing for UNP support continued inside the House, a demonstration was held, near the Parliament round-about urging all MPs to support the Bill. However, by Thursday evening with the imminent lack of a 2/3rd majority, Leader of the House, Nimal Siripala De Silva said the Government would not put it to a vote.

“We decided to take it up today (Thursday) because the UNP agreed to support it. Now they have tied it up with the CC issue,” Mr. Silva said.

He criticised the UNP for refusing a government proposal to appoint a Parliamentary select committee to study and rectify shortcomings in the 17th Amendment to the Constitution under which the CC was created, but said the Government would go ahead and set up the committee later this month.

The UNP said if changes were to be made to the 17th Amendment, the Government should bring them straight to the legislature and there was no need to set up a select committee to study the issue. With a deadlock on the 18th Amendment vote, the Government and UNP were unable to see eye to eye on other issues including the extension of the emergency rule.

When the motion was taken up on Thursday, the blame game was being played by all parties to a great extent.

The matter of the assassination of Lt. General Parami Kulatunga, was taken up by the UNP who condemned the killing and laid a great deal of blame on the Government for failing to provide adequate security but directed little criticism at the LTTE for killing him.

The JVP Parliamentary Group leader Wimal Weerawansa said, it was time for the Government to stop trying to please everyone and to identify who was friend or foe and act to defeat terrorism.

“The government is trying to cling to a straw called peace but it needs to learn a lesson from history and realise peace talks with the LTTE are a waste of time,” he said.

“Today the JVP and the JHU are being accused of stifling the peace process but it is not we, who sent suicide bombers or killed political leaders.

We are being made to look like extremists while the LTTE are being portrayed as saints,” Mr Weerawansa said accusing the UNP of washing the dirty laundry of the LTTE.

UNP Badulla district MP, Lakshman Senewiratne said the JVP was shedding crocodile tears over the deaths of members of the security forces and police when they themselves engaged in such activity not so long ago. “The JVP is saying the UNP has helped terrorism. That is correct because it was the UNP government in 1977 that allowed the JVP to enter politics and freed its jailed leaders. At the time, the leader of the SLFP Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike warned the UNP leader J.R.Jayewardene not to do it saying, “You have let loose the tied dogs,” Mr Senewiratna said.

On Tuesday during the debate on the Alcohol and Tobacco Authority Bill, JHU MP Omalpe Sobitha Thero, who was instrumental in bringing a similar private members bill earlier this year, said the controls on these twin evils would help safeguard future generations from the scourge of alcohol and tobacco.

“Today Sri Lankans are known as the biggest consumers of alcohol in the world.

More than 4000 litres of alcohol per person is manufacture in the country each year. We call ourselves a “Dharmadveepa” but we are in a shameful situation today,” he stressed.