Joint opposition rejected as independent group

By Ashwin Hemmathagama – 

Our Lobby Correspondent

The Joint Opposition’s request to be recognised separately as an independent group in Parliament was shot down yesterday by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Rejecting the Speaker’s decision, the 51 members of the joint opposition walked on to the centre isle of the main chamber disturbing the day’s Parliamentary proceedings and creating a tense situation between them and the UNP backbenchers who came forward to secure the Mace.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, rejecting the idea of having two oppositions in a single Parliament, identified several aspects to the issue: “We need to identify the opposition first. Here we selected the party with the most majority as the Government and the second most as the opposition. In 1956, the UNP had the most votes compared to Mahajan Eksath Peramuna (People’s United Front). But in numbers the Sama Samaja Party had the most votes. So, N.M. Perera became the Opposition Leader. SLFP received the second most votes in 1977. But the most number of seats were won by Tamil United Liberation Front, which was recognised as the opposition. You have recognised the Opposition Leader. In accordance with Article 41 (a) of our Constitution there can be one opposition leader in the Parliament. There is no room for a joint opposition and a main opposition,” said PM Wickremesinghe.

 As a solution to provide more room for members to express their views, the PM suggested an extension of the number of hours the Parliament sits. “However, I understand that there is an issue about the time allocation. I agree that all should be given time to express their views. But it has no relevance of accepting the joint opposition separately. I also suggest extending the number of sitting of the house of the Parliament. The President has also instructed me to provide more time for members of the UPFA. When we move into the Committee system all will be able to work within that system and express and hold positions. We can’t have two oppositions – joint opposition and the main opposition. I believe this is an issue the joint opposition should first discuss with the UPFA and solve before coming here,” added the Prime Minister.

Identifying the domestic issue that lead the joint opposition to protest in Parliament ,Speaker Karu Jayasuriya pledged to allocate more time to the  joint opposition. “39 members not supporting the Government along with 11 other members have come forward after the last Budget highlighting an issue. We too have identified this issue pertaining to time allocations in the Parliament. I should remind the House the difficulty we had in the opposition to get time allocated during  the time MP Dinesh Gunawardena was the Leader of the House of Parliament.

 “Unable to be a dictator I discussed your concern with the respective parties. There are six political parties who contested in the last election and entered the Parliament. But there are 17 political parties inside the Parliament now. I have not deprived your rights. Today I have given the UPFA 40 minutes and your faction 41 minutes. There can be several groups within a political party but several parties within a group. We will take action to avoid time allocation issues and fair allocations to COPE and other committees. You are part of the UPFA and I can’t join hands to destroy the UPFA, that I consider as a sin,” added Speaker.

 With a several meetings the joint opposition held with the Speaker and the Party Leaders becoming unfruitful opposition lawmaker Dinesh Gunawardena charged the Speaker and the Prime Minister for unfair action and denouncing support for future proceedings. 

 “The members of the joint opposition handed you a letter requesting to be recognised as an independent group and to have fair time allocations in the parliament. You held three rounds of meetings with us. We humbly requested your acknowledgement to recognise us as opposition members, which has the largest number of members. Unable to find a solution for this issue we are unable to take part in the Parliament. We are the true opposition. We also requested the Leader of the Opposition to support our cause and to consider us as a part of the opposition,” said MP Gunawardena.