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By Sandun Jayawardana

A year into President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s term, opposition parties sought to highlight matters in his manifesto that had not yet been fulfilled, with the government countering that it has had to prioritise matters due to the country’s situation.

In moving the adjournment motion titled “Matters highlighted in the Government Policy Statement which have not yet been fulfilled” on Thursday, the opposition tried to contrast what the ruling National People’s Power (NPP) stated on the campaign trail with what it is saying now.  

Opening the debate, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Kurunegala District MP Nalin Bandara observed that many pledges made in President Dissanayake’s manifesto, ‘A Thriving Nation, A Beautiful Life,’ remain unfulfilled a year into his presidency. These include failure to effectively manage the country’s economy, remove taxes on goods and services in order to lower the cost of living, strengthen the country’s production economy, protect rule of law, strengthen independent commissions, introduce a new Constitution and hold provincial council elections, Mr. Bandara added.

He cited media reports quoting World Bank data which he said pointed to about 1/3 of the country being either already in poverty or in danger of falling into poverty. “Why did poverty increase? You pledged to remove taxes on essential items when you came to power, but you did not do so. You claimed you would reduce the cost of living within six months. You also said you will remove the VAT on school stationary items. The failure to do these things would have contributed to the rise in poverty since parents would do their utmost to educate their children, even if it means they go hungry,” he charged.

When he was campaigning for the election, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, or ‘AKD,’ made many promises, the MP reminded. Yet there is a clear difference in what ‘AKD’ said while campaigning and how Anura Kumara Dissanayake the President is acting now, the SJB MP quipped.

The government started off its term by speaking about fraud and corruption, said SJB Gampaha District MP Amila Prasad, seconding the motion. “But have you done even a single forensic audit over the past year on any ministry and compiled a report on such actions? That is where you should start on development projects and stop fraud and corruption. All you have done is talk about corruption, but you have been unable to submit a detailed report on such corrupt activities,” Mr. Prasad told the government.

The MP further reminded the government that one of the pledges in its manifesto was to hold provincial council elections within a year, but it is now talking about issues such as delimitation and whether the election should be held under the new or old electoral system. “There’s no need for such confusion. You can easily pass a resolution by a simple majority to hold the election under the old system. The provincial council election is not to choose winners and losers. Rather, it allows for the efficient distribution of funds approved by the Central Government throughout the country through provincial councils and local government institutions. That is why we are asking for the provincial council elections to be held,” he emphasised.

“When establishing a government, we need to take stock of the situation prevailing at that particular time and decide on which actions in the manifesto should take priority. We cannot implement everything in the manifesto at once. We have to decide on priorities, which must be decided after identifying the prevailing situation in the country and society,” argued Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.

“When we formed a government, our priority was to bring stability to the country. We had to fulfil the conditions necessary for people to go about their daily lives. We had to give priority to working in a manner that reinforced trust in both the country and the newly formed government among the people, the business community and the international community. We had to take those decisions depending on the situation that arose at the time,” the Premier further said.

She reminded the opposition that multiple island-wide elections have been held under the NPP’s watch during the past year in a peaceful atmosphere and insisted that the government will also hold the provincial council elections. “We have no need to shy away from elections and we have proved that over the past year.”

Hambantota District Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP D.V. Chanaka meanwhile, pointed to the NPP’s pledge to abolish the executive presidency. “I’m not saying it should have been abolished within a year, but I would like to question as to what steps you have taken to abolish the executive presidency. In contrast to what you said before coming to power, you are now saying that 159 MPs and a five-year term isn’t enough to do this and you can consider abolishing the executive presidency after a second five-year term.”

He claimed the government has forgotten both its pledge to introduce a new Constitution and abolish the executive presidency. Instead, the NPP government has actually increased the President’s expenditure head in the upcoming budget by a further Rs. 2 billion, he added.

As the debate went on, news came through that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff and Sri Lankan authorities had reached a staff-level agreement on the Fifth Review of the IMF’s 4-year Extended Fund Facility arrangement, paving the way for the release of a further USD 347 million in financing to Sri Lanka. “What this says is that this government has shown even more progress in the country’s economic recovery than the IMF had anticipated,” Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara told the House as he informed Parliament of the news. “As such, for those who claimed that the economy would collapse under this government and we would be back to an age of queues, all I can say is that they should go and get their heads checked.”

The minister added that the government has introduced many new Acts. In addition, more than 60 draft bills are currently before various committees, he added. “We have also moved on Acts that have raised international concern such as the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the Online Safety Act. We have done things that they (the opposition) would not have done even if they had been in power for 50 years,” he remarked.

Given what has already been done and what the government intends to do over the remaining four years of its term, Mr. Nanayakkara said he can confidently say that once the remainder of the government’s term is completed, “the people will elect us for another five years.”

Parliament will reconvene at 9.30 a.m. on October 21.