Gajalakshmi Paramasivam
06
November 2018
Self-Dismissal of the
Sri Lankan President
If we stay within the authority
of our Truth, including mentally, we
would invoke the Truth in others. Those who are physically driven – for example
by majority power – would be strongly influenced by their physical environment.
When Mr Sirisena was elected President of Sri Lanka, his physical environment included
Madam Kumaratunga. When I first met Madam Kumaratunga in 2005 – the strongest
thought in my mind was that of appreciation – that as a female she had made it
to the top and stayed there. To my mind this becomes possible due to ‘reserve’
powers that accumulate through every sacrifice we make relative to others in
the institution that we are part of. In this instance the institution is Sri
Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). It is due to this power that Hindus refer to
mothers who get/take relatively less than others in the family – as Shakthi. Mr
Mahinda Rajapaksa while he was part of SLFP drew relatively more benefits than Madam
Kumaratunga when the lady was the President.
Once Mr Sirisena had
custody of the position of President – he failed to attribute to Madam
Kumaratunga and also to Mr Wickremesinghe forgoing the opportunity to contest in
the Presidential elections and splitting the Sinhalese vote against Rajapaksa.
Mr Sirisena abandoned the institutional and became the individual by ‘forgetting’ his parents / makers. The reasons to as
per my seeking are in the genes:
[While
still in school, as a teenager, Sirisena became interested in communism and
joined the Communist Party becoming closely
associated with party leader N.
Shanmugathasan in party activities. In 1968, he took part
in a communist party anti-government rally which was broken up by baton
charging police.
At
the age of 17, years he was chosen as the secretary of the SLFP Youth
Organisation in Polonnaruwa by the SLFP Member of Parliament for Polonnaruwa,
Leelaratna Wijesingha.]
Sri Lanka as per the Constitution is a Buddhist
country. It can therefore be led through Buddhist values but is not by
constitution cannot be Common to all religions. This breaches the principles of
Communism – according to which – as per my understanding – all resources are
owned in common – until one demonstrates merit based deservedness. The law –
often taken from wider world – leads those with net positive investment in it –
to the higher level of enjoyment. This is the difference between relationships
by law and de facto relationships. Law comes before Truth in the former. The
structured marriage takes us to the higher level locally and therefore to appreciate
and include ourselves in the experiences of others outside our physical
environment. SLFP’s problem in this regard is that they have become de facto
government and hence are not able to participate in wider experiences outside
their immediate physical experiences – made worse during Rajapaksa time through
nepotism.
The difference between Tamil National Alliance as
the leading opposition in Parliament and the Joint Opposition led by Mr
Rajapaksa is exactly that. TNA is empowered by all of us who are strongly
committed to global laws. The president had the duty to reject the Joint
Opposition declaration that would
naturally dilute the investment that the Parliament as a whole was making in
the lawful structures through which government delivered outcomes.
As per the latest news report:
[President Maithripala Sirisena said today
that he offered the premiership to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya first and then to
UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa before considering former President Mahinda
Rajapaksa for the post of Prime Minister.
Addressing a public rally named ‘Rata Surakina
Jana Mahimaya’, he said the UNP MPs who met him during the past few days asked
him why Mr. Rajapaksa was appointed the Prime Minister contrary to the aspirations
of UNPers as they were the ones who installed him as the president in 2015.
For the first time in four years, he appeared
on the same stage with Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday at this rally in
Battaramulla.]
The Executive
Presidency is the top position in a hierarchical administrative structure. Relative to the SLFP – the UNP is
more hierarchical by structure and is far more law-abiding. The above response
confirms that Mr Sirisena lacks investment in the hierarchical system in which
the junior must never overtake to become the senior. The maximum limit is Equal
status and the excess becomes a common facility that naturally empowers the
person to work the system. Beyond a point – the excess becomes independent
Energy that leads the person to reap compound benefits at the higher level.
That is Soul power. By refusing to accept such offers – the Hon Speaker and the
Hon Sajith Premadasa have confirmed their strong investment in institutional structures.
Yesterday,
when we were discussing this issue within the family and I expressed further
dismay at the lack of depth displayed by Dr Laksiri Fernando, through his Sri Lanka Guardian article ‘Evolving Disaster:
Agreeing to Call for Election Might be the Best’ my husband reminded me that as
per his understanding, Laksiri was one time advisor to Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa. That
further explained his disagreement with Mr Wickremsinghe. But relating it at the
surface level – meaning without academic depth nor experience as an Australian
was most disappointing – especially because of my investment in Sri Lanka
Guardian. Below is the relevant passage:
[An Example from
Australia
The
controversy is because of the unexpected and the dramatic nature that it had
happened apart from its secretive or ‘conspiratorial’ nature. Such dramatic
changes have not been uncommon in Westminster model democracies as well. Among
many examples, the dismissal of the sitting Prime Minister, with even a
majority in Parliament, was enacted in 1975 in Australia. For easy reference I
am quoting from Wikipedia. However there are many books written on the subject.
“On 11
November 1975, [Prime Minister Gough] Whitlam intended to call a half-Senate
election in an attempt to break the deadlock. When he went to seek
[Governor-General Sir John] Kerr’s approval of the election, Kerr instead
dismissed him as Prime Minister and shortly thereafter installed [Malcolm] Fraser
in his place.”
That
was also called a constitutional crisis. Jenny Hocking (‘The Dismissal Dossier,’ 2015) in her
award winning biography of Gough Whitlam, reveals the astonishing secret story
of the planning, the people and the collusion behind the removal of the sitting
Prime Minister, Whitlam.
However, Whitlam did not resist, did not
claim he is the Prime Minister or did not refuse to leave the official
residence. Within a month, the election
was held and Fraser returned with a massive majority. The Parliament was not
prorogued but dissolved! Now our constitutional pundits claim that the
President even cannot dissolve Parliament and it requires a two-thirds
majority. People may have to very carefully look at this anarchist 19th Amendment
and look for alternatives.]
In the Australian case
– Mr Whitlam did in substance what Mr
Wickremsinghe is doing – following the
lawful process. In the Australian ‘dismissal’ the Governor had ‘reserve
powers’ to dismiss the Prime Minister. Reserve powers are explained as follows
in the same Wikipedia that Dr Laksiri Fernando claims to have taken the
information from:
[As established by the Constitution of Australia,
the Parliament of Australia is composed
of two houses, the House of Representatives and
the Senate, together with the Queen. The monarch is represented through
the Governor-General, who has executive powers
granted in the Constitution, as well as rarely exercised reserve
powers. The reserve powers are the legal authorities remaining
in the Crown after most of its historic powers were transferred to Parliament
or to officials. The Governor-General is
ordinarily bound by convention to act only upon the advice of the government
and the Prime Minister, but can act independently
and against advice in exercising the reserve powers. The Governor-General
is removable by the Queen on the advice of the Australian Prime Minister.
As Liberal Party leader Malcolm Fraser, who would play a large part in the
crisis, put it, "The Queen has tenure, and she couldn't be sacked. But a
Governor-General holds office at pleasure, and if he ceases to please then he
can be removed by a Prime Minister."
As in most Westminster system parliaments,
Australia's government is ordinarily formed by the party enjoying the confidence of the lower House of
Parliament, the House of Representatives. However, Australia's Parliament also
has a powerful upper house, the Senate, which must pass any legislation
initiated by the House of Representatives if it is to become law. The
composition of the Senate, in which each state has an equal number of senators
regardless of that state's population, was originally designed to attract the
Australian colonies into one Federation. The Constitution forbids the
Senate to originate or amend a money bill,
but places no limitation on the Senate's ability to defeat one. In 1970, Gough
Whitlam, as Leader of the Opposition, had stated of a budget bill, "Let me
make it clear at the outset that our opposition to this Budget is no mere
formality. We intend to press our opposition by all available means on all
related measures in both Houses. If the motion is defeated, we will vote
against the Bills here and in the Senate. Our purpose is to destroy this Budget
and destroy the Government which has sponsored it."]
People remember Mr Whitlam’s ‘curse
The above Australian Dismissal happened by Senate
blocking Supply. THAT is the confirmation of the President lacking confidence
in the Prime Minister. But our Constitution has the following provision also:
“The Constitution
forbids the Senate to originate or amend a money bill,
but places no limitation on the Senate's ability to defeat one”
By originating the dismissal – Mr
Sirisena has confirmed serious lack of commitment to the principles of Democracy
and has acted as the Sole-Authority of the parliament – using it as a source of
benefits – rather than the source through which rights are confirmed.
The Hon Gough Whitlam said this
about the Australian parallel of Mr Sirisena:
["Well
may we say 'God Save the Queen' – because nothing will save the
Governor-General."]
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