Artists of the People’s Movement renew call to abolish Executive Presidency

• Term 9 July as a historic day for dictatorship to democracy

The Artists of the People’s Movement described 9th July as an historic day when people chose democracy over dictatorship and renewed call to abolish the Executive Presidency.

Following is the Artists full statement.

On 9th July 2022, several million Sri Lankans from all parts of the country converged on Colombo. Undeterred by the severe shortage of fuel and the sinister efforts of the Government to curtail public and private transport, they walked for miles, hitched rides, rented lorries, piled on board buses and trains that had agreed to carry them, and made their way to the capital.

They came to show their anger at the utter failure of President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, and to demand his resignation along with that of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe. In an unprecedented show of mass courage and determination, they bravely confronted heavy Police and military presence, withstood several rounds of tear gas attacks, and breached the barricades and obstacles to occupy the Presidential Palace, the Presidential Secretariat, and Temple Trees. 

Demonstrations also took place simultaneously in many other parts of the country. The Artists of the People’s Movement are proud to have stood with millions of our fellow citizens on this historic day.

In the face of these massive protests, Leaders of Parties represented in Parliament are reported to have met at the invitation of the Speaker and issued a call for the President and Prime Minister to resign — and both have expressed their “willingness” to accept the “recommendations” of the Party Leaders.

We denounce this move as an opportunistic effort by Party Leaders of Parliament – an institution that has miserably failed the people of this country – to steal the victory of millions of our citizens. We must never forget that this Parliament was fully functional while Sri Lanka was slipping inexorably towards bankruptcy over the years. 

The parties represented therein did nothing to mobilise the people they claimed to represent to prevent the inevitable collapse of our economy. Instead, they were engaged in hours and hours of meaningless debates and vituperative banter, while resorting to Twitter feeds and other social media platforms to boost their own political image and that of their Party.

What we achieved on 9 July, through the unarmed, non-violent, and democratic people’s movement is something unprecedented in the history of this country. We have brought the all-powerful President to the brink of his departure.

However, the Artists of the People’s Movement are firmly of the view that victory can only be achieved by abolishing the Office of the Executive Presidency itself. With the extraordinary, unfettered powers vested in the Executive President, Sri Lanka is nothing but a constitutional dictatorship. 

The Executive Presidency has been a curse on our people for the past 43 years since it was introduced by J.R. Jayewardene in 1979. Only by removing this dictatorial provision can we begin to work on a Constitution that will ensure a democratic form of Government in Sri Lanka. We will form a broad coalition to pursue this demand.