Elections should be held on time and no one has the right to postpone elections, Chairman of Pohottuwa, Member of Parliament G.L. Mr. Peiris said today.
He said this by making a special statement with the permission of the Speaker.
The professor pointed out that there is a difference between the promises made by the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna to the people and the current program and said that there cannot be such a difference.
He also said that the people have not given a mandate to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna to do anything.
Prof. G. L. Peiris made the statement and said:
Complete speech of Professor. G.L Peiris
Honorable Speaker, first of all I am grateful to you for giving me the opportunity to make this statement on behalf of several members. We all know, Mr. Speaker, that our country is facing a huge crisis today. Actually not one crisis but many crises. The central crisis is the economic crisis. But the political crisis and social crisis are intertwined with it. But these are not new experiences for our country.Our country had to face such challenges in the past. There was a terrible thirty years war. And then there was the tsunami.
There was an epidemic called Covid-19. The people of our country had an innate strength to overcome all these crises. That belief is still there today, Honorable Speaker, but there is something different. In all those times, our country had some strength. Our country had the advantage of a reflected parliament that accurately represented the people’s opinion. Unfortunately, we do not have that strength today.
Honorable Speaker, there is a big gap between the general opinion expressed in the country and the situation in this Parliament. Can’t say no to that. It is very clear. One opinion of the country is expressed in the Parliament a completely different opinion. That is quite a problem for a democratic parliament in any case. But there is a special problem at this time, Honorable Speaker, the reason for this is that this Parliament is not doing an ordinary task. It is a special task. The twenty-second amendment to the constitution has been gazetted. Copies of it have been given to us. It then hopes to implement some important amendments that will directly affect future generations.
A delegation of the International Monetary Fund is still in Colombo today. They are negotiating with the Sri Lankan government. To reach a staff level agreement. The proposed agreement contains a number of very important conditions. Those conditions affect the daily lives of the people of our country. Then the Supreme Parliament formulates the necessary policies to solve all these crises and creates the policies. Then, if there is a gap between the opinion represented in the Parliament and the general opinion in the country, we see it as quite a problem,
Parliamentary elections 2020
Honorable Speaker.Now this parliament was elected in August 2020. Honorable Mahinda Rajapaksa led the election campaign for that parliamentary election. Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa took the leadership and conducted that election. He is the leader of the party.
I am the president of the party and travelled to every province and every district of this country with him, was there with Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa on every platform. It is very vividly present in my memory Mr. Speaker, you came to the platforms in Matara district and participated in those rallies.
This is in my memory like happened today. What did we say to the people of Sri Lanka on those platforms? We did not say give us a blank check. Come to Parliament and ask us to give us a mandate to do whatever we want. We did not tell the people and we did not receive such a check from the people. We did something quite different. Honorable Speaker, as you may also remember, we presented to the people a very clear program for the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna. This is our goal and this is the program to move towards that goal.
The people of this country accepted our request very highly. They gave us 143 of the 225 seats in the Parliament to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna. The clear acceptance was the clear mandate but not to do anything and everything but to implement the program agreed with the people.
Distorted Mandate
What happened after that, Mr. Speaker, a very sad story, suddenly that mandate was completely distorted. Turned around. It is underlined that they are all recorded. The speeches made by Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa on those platforms. All the speeches made by me as the president of the party and the speeches made by other leaders of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna have been recorded. Now I suggest we listen to those stories again. Those stories are the promises we made with solemnity to the people of this country.
Honorable Speaker, there is a world of difference between what we said then and what we are doing today. No one can connect one to the other. What is the result of the people of the country and especially the partisans of the political party, the expectations that were there were completely shattered. Why not what was said, but because they are doing the exact opposite. That situation cannot be left as it is, Mr. Speaker, and an intervention in that regard is essential.
That is why we believe that all of us, including Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, in accordance with the pledges we made to the people of this country, we see it as a need of the hour to create a strong political force across the country that shows loyalty to the philosophy that we presented to the people of this country with responsibility. It has to be done.
Especially something that the party expects. That is why we have taken this decision, Mr. Speaker. Honorable Speaker, we believe that entering into this action is an essential program for the people of the country today, especially for the members of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna.Also, Honorable Speaker, this parliament that you symbolize rests on one basic concept. That concept is the social convention.
the Social consensus of 225 members
Honorable Speaker, the social consensus is the unity between the 225 members of this parliament and the people who sent those members to this parliament. That bond is the bond between the MP and the voter who appoints that MP in an election. agreement. Now that agreement is collapsing. Even if it does not fall, if that consensus is diluted, as a result of that, we express the opinion that we cannot prevent the demise of the democratic culture and democratic way of life that we are familiar with and respect.
Rousseau, a Frenchman, holds a special place among political philosophers born in this world. Rousseau says that consensus is the lifeblood of democracy. If it is destroyed, then there will be no democratic society and culture. Now, Honorable Speaker, unfortunately, we are seeing before our very eyes a situation that is shaking the foundations of that social consensus in this country. Honorable Speaker, we are of the position that we must correct that situation. The important thing is that Mr. Speaker, elections are essential for a democratic society.
There is no democracy without elections. If elections are not held in fear of the people, such a society cannot be recognized as a democratic society by any definition. Honorable Speaker, this program was accepted from the beginning as an interim program. That is a temporary arrangement. It directly affects the legitimacy of this parliament. Then, at the end of that interim program, an election should be held, Mr. Speaker. As you well know, sovereignty does not belong to any of us. Collectively, not for this supreme parliament, but for the sovereign people of this country. According to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, the owner of sovereignty is none other than the owners.
The people of this country. Then the method to implement that sovereignty in practice is universal suffrage. Universal suffrage is not something unfamiliar to us. The people of this country have enjoyed the right to vote continuously since the Donmore Constitution of 1931. It cannot be lost at all, Mr. Speaker. It cannot be taken away from the sovereign people of this country for anyone’s benefit and short-term benefits. So there is a short-term plan. An interim temporary arrangement. After that appoint someone who wants to return that right to the people of this country. We must give the people the right to appoint a new parliament according to the aspirations of the people.
The other thing is that the parliamentary election is not going to be held first, Mr. Speaker. There is another election before that. That is the local government elections. Now we earnestly request the government not to try to do what was done in the provincial council elections to the local government elections. Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam went to court. The court asked to hold these elections. Yes, elections should be held, that is the law of the land. It is something that must be done. Then the election was not held through many subterfuges.
No representation from certain provinces
What is the result, Mr. Speaker, for almost 3 years, in some provinces, there are no representatives elected by the people in the provincial councils. All work there is done by officials.Is that democracy? We have snatched the people’s vote. The people have not been given the right to appoint people’s representatives to the provincial councils. There is also a Supreme Court judgment against it. But then they said that we accept the verdict but the electoral system was abolished but a new system was not substituted. The boundaries were not defined.
The local elections were postponed by giving false reasons. Now we strongly say that you should not try to use that subterfuge to postpone the local government elections. According to the situation in this country, such an effort will not be successful at all. I say with great responsibility, Mr. Speaker, even if such an effort is made, we stand against it. Not only at the political level but also before the courts of Sri Lanka, we are entering into very strong legal proceedings in the courts of Sri Lanka, just as we did in the case of provincial councils. To secure the sovereignty and suffrage of the voters of this country.
Therefore, Mr. Speaker, in all these circumstances, we have decided to take the seats of the opposition party as an independent group of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna from today. If this government does pro-people work and takes pro-people measures, we respectfully declare to you that we will extend our generous support in all those matters. This decision has been taken with me by Honorable Speaker Mr. Dallas Alahapperuma, Lawyer Dylan Perera, Dr. Nalaka Godaheva, Dr. Charita Herath, Professor Channa Jayasumana, KPS Kumarasiri, Dr. Gunapala Ratnasekara, Lawyer Udayana Kirindigoda, Lawyer Wasantha Yapa Bandara, MP Dr. Upul Galappatti, MP Dr. Tilak Rajapaksa and MP Lalith Ellawala.
