Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

02 December 2018

Sunday Times Misleading the Public

In her/his article headed ‘Sirisena works out ceasefire; Rajapaksa faces the axe’, the Political editor of Sunday Times (Sri Lanka) quotes as follows:

[That is through a motion which the Parliament will debate on December 5. With the TNA support, the motion is sure to be passed. It makes reference to Article 48(2) of the Constitution which enables the President to take over, notwithstanding the death, removal or resignation of the Prime Minister, during the period intervening between the dissolution and the conclusion of the General Election, the President may appoint a Minister to exercise, perform and discharge duties. He may himself take over those functions. Two factors become clear from this. Backchannel moves have paved the way for elections. The other is the empowerment of the President to act as Prime Minister.

Seven UNF parliamentarians have given notice of the motion which has now been listed in the Order Book for debate on Wednesday. They are: Wijepala Hettiarachchi,  Harshana Rajakaruna, Mayantha Dissanayake,  Mujibur Rahuman, Ajith Mannapperuma,  (Dr.) Jayampathy Wickramaratne and  Hirunika Premachandra. The motion reads:

“Further action be taken in terms of Article 48(2) of the Constitution,—

“Whereas, the President appointed Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa, Member of Parliament, the Prime Minister on 26th October 2018;

“And whereas, when a No Confidence Motion minus the first paragraph of the motion passed on 14th November 2018 was moved to the House on 16th November 2018 against “Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Government, it was passed;

And whereas, the first paragraph of the motion passed on 14th November 2018 has been removed accordingly;

“And whereas the motion passed on 16th November 2018 is substantially a No Confidence Motion against Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Government;

And whereas the Cabinet of Ministers stands dissolved in terms of Article 48(2) of the Constitution;

“Accordingly, that this Parliament proposes to the President that further action be taken in terms of Article 48(2) of the Constitution.”]

As per my reading, Article 48(2) of the Constitution states as follows:

[48 (2) If Parliament rejects the Statement of Government Policy or the Appropriation Bill or passes a vote of no-confidence in the Government, the Cabinet of Ministers shall stand dissolved, and the President shall, unless he has in the exercise of his powers under Article 70, dissolved Parliament, appoint a Prime Minister, Ministers of the Cabinet of Ministers, Ministers who are not members of the Cabinet of Ministers and Deputy Ministers in terms of Articles 42, 43, 44 and 45.]

But the Sunday Times misquotes as follows:

[This is what Article 48(2) of the Constitution says: “Notwithstanding the death, removal from office or resignation of the Prime Minister, during the period intervening between the dissolution of Parliament and the conclusion of the General Election, the Cabinet of Ministers shall continue to function with the other Ministers of the Cabinet as its members until the conclusion of the General Election. The President may appoint one such Minister to exercise, perform and discharge, or may himself exercise, perform and discharge the powers, duties and functions of the Prime Minister.

 If there is no such other Minister the President shall himself exercise, perform and discharge the powers, duties and functions of the Cabinet of Ministers until the conclusion of the General Election.”]

As per my search - Article 47(2) states as follows:

[Notwithstanding the death, removal from office or resignation of the Prime Minister, during the period intervening between the dissolution of Parliament and the conclusion of the General Election, the Cabinet of Ministers shall continue to function with the other Ministers of the Cabinet of Ministers as its members, until the conclusion of the General Election. The President may appoint one such Minister to exercise, perform and discharge the powers, duties and functions of the Prime Minister.]

I do not know whether the Sunday Times political editor has listed the Sinhalese version which may be different to the English version. But to me the English version makes sense as it is about the Parliament managing itself as a going concern.

The Sunday Times political editor goes on to state :

There is an interesting backdrop to this motion. Earlier, as backchannel moves were under way, the Sinhala draft of a resolution, purportedly from those at the highest levels of the government, reached the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). It was to urge the JVP to move it in Parliament, like its two previous ones. Routinely the JVP consulted the UNP leadership. One top UNF leader deleted the last line which referred to the Premier. See montage on this page with the deleted line. It is no different to the one to be debated on Wednesday.

The Sunday Times political editor seems to read General Elections as the motive of someone or the other. But then that means the Parliament is taken as dissolved. Wishful thinking?

The media is responsible to ‘educate’ the public in such matters. Particular sections of the Constitution need to be quoted with precision by official media. If Sunday Times also influenced the public to vote for Mr Sirisena – it is little wonder that the president presents a confusing picture to the citizens.