19A expressly removed presidential power to sack PM, say top academics

The objective of the 19th Amendment was to move towards a parliamentary democracy by expressly repealing the power of the President to remove the Prime Minister that existed under the provisions of the original 1978 Constitution, a group of widely respected university academics and professionals said yesterday, as Sri Lanka completed one week of constitutional deadlock over the appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister.

Calling on President Maithripala Sirisena to immediately reconvene Parliament to end the constitutional crisis, the academics and professionals noted that once a Prime Minister was appointed, his or her office will be vacated only in limited instances i.e. resignation, ceasing to be a Member of Parliament (Article 46) or where he is removed by virtue of the dissolution of Cabinet which will automatically occur upon the defeat of the statement of government policy or the Appropriation Bill or upon a motion of no-confidence being passed against the Government (Article 48).

The 19A was one of the success stories of the 100-day program of the UNF-UPFA unity government. Both President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremasinghe jointly gave political leadership to its enactment in Parliament by a two-thirds majority, the statement said.

“Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has not resigned or ceased to be a Member of Parliament. Neither has dissolution of Cabinet occurred (as there was no defeat of the statement of government policy or the Appropriation Bill, and as no motion of no-confidence was passed against the Government),” the group said.

The statement said that in the absence of a vacancy in the office of Prime Minister, the attempt by President Sirisena to remove Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and install Mahinda Rajapaksa MP in that office is both undemocratic and unconstitutional.

“However, far from permitting Parliament to resolve this issue, President Sirisena has embarked on a further undemocratic step of proroguing Parliament, thus attempting to prevent Parliament from debating and resolving the matter, and perhaps paving the way to facilitate crossovers,” the statement added. The academics and senior lawyers also disputed the oft-repeated UPFA suggestion that the Cabinet of Ministers stood dissolved when the UPFA quit the national government. The argument did not hold water, the academics said because unlike Article 48 which specifically refers to the dissolution of the Cabinet of Ministers in specified situations, the provisions relating to a national government entail no such consequences.

“Thus even upon the discontinuance of a National Government (which is a matter for Parliament to decide on), the only consequence will be that the Constitutional ceiling on the number of Ministers will become operative,” the statement points out.

The statement was signed by high profile academics, including Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda; Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda - Professor Emeritus, University of Colombo; Prof. Vijaya Kumar - Professor Emeritus, University of Peradeniya; Prof. Kumar David - Professor Emeritus, University of Hong Kong; Prof. Gamini Keerawella, Professor Emeritus, University of Peradeniya; Prof. Navaratne Bandara - Retired Senior Professor, University of Peradeniya; Prof. Jayantha Seneviratne - University of Kelaniya; Prof. Sumathy Sivamohan - University of Peradeniya; Prof. Upul Abeyratne - University of Peradeniya; Prof. Chandraguptha Thenuwara - University of the Visual and Performing Arts.  Top attorneys Upul Jayasuriya, President’s Counsel; J.C. Weliamuna, President’s Counsel; Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne, President’s Counsel and Nissanka Nanayakkara, President’s Counsel. Leading civil society activist Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Dr. Asanga Welikala of the University of Edinburgh and Dhanesh Cassie Chetty, former diplomat and several other lawyers and activists signed the statement.