Why and how there was no quorum in parliament?
Will Namal get lost in his political journey?
Opposition failed to capitalise on ‘lack of quorum’ on Sunday!
Semasinghe’s role acclaimed!
Story behind increase of Vat
Because of the government’s 18% VAT, not only opposition members, but also economic analysts, believe that the people will be thrown stars at the start of 2024. All of them agree that the imposition of new taxes on 97 previously untaxed categories of goods, including petrol, diesel and food, will cause prices to rise in ways that people cannot afford beginning in January, and businesses to fail. However, there is an intriguing story behind the government’s adoption of this VAT on Monday. This time, we are revealing to the country for the first time through the ‘inside politics’ column the interesting story that was hidden behind the adoption of VAT.
In view of the emerging economic pressure, the heads of the government, knowing that not only the opposition but also the ministers of the ruling party would oppose the increase in VAT due to the additional burden on the people, the proposal to raise the VAT to 18% did not hold a meeting of the party members’ group, but only a meeting of the party leaders. Steps had been taken to use a special member of parliament to pass it last Sunday. Generally, even during the war, the Parliament was not convened on Sunday, but the Executive Council of the International Monetary Fund was scheduled to meet on Tuesday (12th), so the purpose of the government was to convene the Parliament on Sunday due to the need to increase the VAT on Sunday and show it to the IMF.
No members of the government
Accordingly, the Parliament met on Sunday morning and took steps to start the debate on this matter, but after a while, the members of the opposition found that the number of MPs in the ruling party was close to 12. JNP leader Wimal Weerawansa noticed this first. Even though there were nearly 40 MPs in the opposition at that time, Vimal immediately realized that if they left the chamber, they would not have the strength to run the parliament. Accordingly, Wimal informed the chief organizer of the opposition, Mr. Lakshman Kiriella, that he was on the alert. Looking at the ruling party after Wimal’s notification, Kiriella also saw that although it had been quite a while since the debate started, only 12 members of the ruling party were sitting in their places, and even then Prime Minister Dinesh, leader of the House Susil and the chief organizer of the ruling party were not in their seats. Accordingly, Kiriella immediately took over the operation and took steps to inform Mr. Sajith Premadasa, the opposition leader who was already sitting next to him.
Sajith Decides
Kiriella pointed out to Sajith that if the opposition MPs withdraw, it is not possible to continue the debate on VAT increase. Also, two more operations were started at the same time and a group of MPs were informed to find out how many MPs are present from the government in the lobby of the parliament dining hall and other places where the government MPs usually hang out. Nalin Bandara was entrusted to inform JVP and other opposition parties about this message and get them to agree to it
According to Kiriella’s notification, a group of MPs immediately searched the places where the ruling party MPs were hanging out in the Parliament and reported to Kiriella that apart from the 12 ruling party MPs in the House, only 5 other members were within parliament. Kiriella realized that even though 5 of them came to the chamber, there is no full quorum of 20. And even then, Nalin Bandara had managed to get all opposition MPs, including JVP’s Anura, to agree to leave the council by fulfilling the duties assigned to him. Accordingly, Kiriella, who planned the operation to the dot, gave a hint to all the members of the opposition and first accompanied Sajith to leave the council. After Sajith and Kiriella left the council, Anura and Wimal took steps to leave the council. Following them, the other opposition MPs also left the council one by one, so that the pro-government ministers did not feel any doubt.
Nalin Bandara starts
Accordingly, the last part of the operation was entrusted to Nalin Bandara. That is to informing Deputy Speaker Mr. Ajith Rajapakse that there is no quorum in the House and call the ruling party MPs. As planned, when Nalin was about to announce that, he saw that Sumanthiran and several Tamil Alliance MPs were sitting in the opposition corner. It was then that Nalin remembered that they had not been able to inform them of the plan. Accordingly, Nalin immediately went to Sumanthiran and informed him about the plan and made them agree to it at that moment. Accordingly, Sumanthiran and other Tamil Alliance MPs immediately took steps to withdraw from the council.
After this chain of events, only the 12 members of the ruling party and Nalin Bandara remained in the parliament. Accordingly, Nalin immediately stood up and told the Deputy Speaker that the 20 members needed to run the House were not present in the House, and that he should immediately take steps to maintain a full house. According to Nalin’s notice, the Deputy Speaker realized that there was no quorum in the House and took steps to ring the bell to call the members. Due to the fact that the 5 members of the ruling party who were staying in the parliament came to the assembly immediately, the number of members of the government increased to 17, but it was not enough to run the assembly. Accordingly, the members of the government made telephone calls to several MPs including Madhura Withanage, who are near the Parliament, and tried to bring them to the Parliament, but when Madhura Withanage arrived, everything was over. That is because Deputy Speaker Mr. Ajith Rajapaksa decided to adjourn the Parliament until 9.30 am on Monday due to the lack of the required number of MPs even after the bell was rung for 5 minutes.
The opposition will join
In this way, after some time, with the successful completion of an operation planned by all of the opposition, everyone could see the happy faces of Sajith, Kiriella, Anura, Vimal, who were waiting for all this in the opposition lobby of the Parliament. Accordingly, everyone got to see how Sajith, Anura, Vimal and others exchanged greetings and talked to each other regardless of party.
Government furious
With the successful political operation launched by the opposition in this way in the assembly, made the government furious. Accordingly, Prime Minister Dinesh, Leader of the House Speaker Susil, Government Party Chief Organizer Prasanna and Ministers of State for Finance Shehan and Siyambalapitiya immediately met in the speaker’s room and proceeded to hold a discussion. Even then, Shehan contacted the President on the phone and took steps to inform the situation in the Parliament. Accordingly, the president also told Shehan that the adoption of this resolution is essential, so the standing orders should be suspended on Monday or it should be adopted.
Accordingly, they had pointed out to the speaker that since the Executive Council of the International Monetary Fund is going to meet on Tuesday and hold a decisive discussion regarding the release of the second loan instalment to Sri Lanka, the standing orders should be suspended on Monday or the proposal to raise the VAT should be passed. But the speaker pointed out to them that there is no need to suspend the standing orders as the relevant proposal has already been submitted to the parliament and it can be debated and adopted on Monday.
Crucial Meeting
Accordingly, Monday’s parliamentary meeting was very crucial for the ruling party. On Monday morning, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena chaired the meeting of the ruling party MPs group meeting was held in the midst of such a critical background. However, the ministers of the ruling party, who did not get the opportunity to comment on the government’s decision to increase the VAT tax, decided to turn this meeting of the ruling party members into a platform for that. As soon as the meeting started, the ruling party MPs took steps to strongly criticize the government’s decision to increase the VAT. Sarath Weerasekhara was the first to throw the stone at that debate.
What is the prime minister doing? After doing these, how can we go to the village? First was the problem of cricket. Because of that, our MPs could not go to the village. Now the VAT issue has come. If we go to the village we will not be able to face our own people. We are a party with an identity. No matter how many difficulties we faced, we never put that burden on the people. When Sarath Weerasekera started the fight by saying, ‘There are some things we have told the people,’ it was State Minister for Finance Siyambalapitiya who was sitting at the main table with the Prime Minister. He pointed out that he admits that the people will suffer through this increase in taxes, but in view of the current situation, the imposition of these taxes has become necessary. Siyambalapitiya also pointed out that since the financial fund is also preparing to meet on Tuesday and take a decision regarding Sri Lanka, the government should take steps to show that it is ready to increase the state income by carrying out this tax amendment before that.
Manusha complains
After that, Minister Manusha Nanayakkara spoke. Manusha said that he too has a problem with the imposition of this tax, and that several serious problems have arisen due to the arbitrary actions of the finance ministry officials.
I also have a big problem with this taxation. The story of these MPs is true. We cannot go to the village by doing this. How many other ways are there to collect taxes? Without doing them, some officials in the Ministry of Finance are issuing gazettes one by one. We cannot even answer the questions asked by the MPs. That’s why it was a special incident when Manushada attacked the officials of the Ministry of Finance to come and answer these questions.
I don’t understand how these people collect taxes. Now we have also prepared income tax files. But they also have differences like 10,000, and 15,000 rupees. So it is a question of how the Ministry of Finance can do this when it cannot prepare a proper tax file.” was the opinion of Sanjeeva.
Then Jagath Kumara spoke. Jagath also said that the people are suffering a lot due to this increase in taxes.
‘Now people are on all fours. This economic problem is well felt by the little people. There is no way to feed the children. There is no way to send children to school. Farmers have no way to cultivate. In that case, when this VAT is imposed on oil, gas, and electricity, it will be more difficult for people. They will not vote for these people again. That’s why I say that even if these taxes are raised due to the problems of the country, they should be reduced very soon and relief should be given to the people.” was Jagath’s position.
Ready to get beaten
However, due to the heated conversation between Mahindananda and Puttalam MP Chinthaka Mayadunna, the meeting of the government MPs, which had become heated due to the attacks of the ministers of the government, turned into a fight. The reason for this was that Chintaka came forward to answer a accusation of Mahindananda.
The story these MPs are telling is true. We cannot go to the village after increasing the VAT like this. But now we have nothing else to do. This is the government we formed. We must protect it. Our finance ministers say that we can get out of this problem with the help of the International Monetary Fund. It is said that if this VAT increase is passed, the financial fund will decide to release the second instalment to us on the 12th. I don’t know about that. But if that happens, let’s do this as well…’ when Mahindananda said, Puttalam councillor Chinthaka Mayadunnaya spoke in protest.
I don’t listen to what anyone says. People will get into trouble because of this tax loophole. That’s why I am not coming to vote for this…’ when Chinthaka said, Mahindananda replied by putting forward an ‘agenda’ speech.
How do you do that? Such decisions cannot be taken individually. If we made a decision as a party, everyone should be in that decision. Individual agendas cannot work here. You are someone who has never voted for the government before.’ Mahindananda said, ‘Don’t keep them’, and Chintaka Mayadunna challenged Mahindananda accusing each other.
Both stood up
What are you saying? Were we on each other’s agendas? You are the ones who made the last government fall because of each other’s agendas. When Chintaka asked Mahindananda to play the game, Mahindananda said, ‘Why why?’
During the MP group meeting, both Mahindanand and Chintak were sitting on two seats next to each other, so the MPs around the two realized that a fight was about to start because Chintak stood up saying ‘why why why?’ Accordingly, they immediately grabbed both of them and pushed them to the sides, and managed to stop a brawl that started to flare up with great effort.
‘I can hold your hand and worship. But don’t talk about the agenda,’ when Chintaka later told Mahindananda, Mahindananda said, ‘No, no, it’s over, brother. It was seen how the argument was ended by saying, ‘We don’t want to keep our differences.’ Almost at the same time, due to the ringing of the bell to convene the parliament, it was seen how all the ministers of the ruling party finished the discussion and left towards the assembly hall.
There, the back row MPs Mahindananda and Chinthaka took steps to ask each other about the facts that led to this flare-up. There, many MPs said that this conflict did not happen yesterday, but has been going on since Gota’s government. It was also said that there was an incident related to the Land Reforms Commission. However, the group meeting of the ruling party MPs spoke in opposition to the VAT tax that was supposed to be increased completely, but no decision was reached, so many of the anti-government ministers left the discussion, scolding the seniors of the government for the increase of the VAT tax.
Semasingha in the game
Due to the inability to pass the proposal to increase the VAT on Sunday, the greater responsibility of passing it somehow on Monday was placed on the State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe. Due to the fact that the budget headings of two ministries are scheduled to be debated on Monday, the proposal to increase VAT was supposed to be adopted during the same debate. Therefore, it was first decided to reduce the government’s list of speakers to a large extent and to save time for passing the VAT increase proposal by giving the opportunity to speak only to ministers in charge of ministries such as Pavitra, Douglas, Piyal Nishantha etc. It was also decided to give the opposition more time for the debate regarding the increase of VAT.
However, since the responsibility of passing the VAT proposal was placed on him, Semasinghe spent the whole afternoon walking around the parliament to get the government members involved. From time to time, Semasinghe poked his head into the council chamber, the dining room, and the ruling party lobby to see if the majority of MPs were on the side of the government. Due to the suspicion that the opposition would play some political game on Monday as it did on Sunday, Semasinghe met the chief organizer of the ruling party Prasanna on Monday afternoon and informed him that he should not hold the previously promised debate on the VAT tax and should take a vote with the current number of members in the House. At that time, there were 81 members of the ruling party in the House, and only 41 from the opposition side.
Objection from Susil
Accordingly, Semasinghe and Prasanna arranged to take this proposal to Mr. Susil Premajayantha, the leader of the House. But Susil said that doing such a thing is undemocratic. Susil pointed out to Semasinghe and Prasanna that since this is a money bill, it must be debated in Parliament.
However, Semasinghe was not impressed with Susil’s answer. Accordingly, Semasinghe went to the President’s Office in the Parliament to meet the President on Monday at around 2.45 pm. Since the Cabinet meeting was scheduled to be held in the Parliament on that day, Semasinghe came to know that the President had come to the Parliament in advance. Accordingly, Semasinghe, who went to meet the President, pointed out that there are currently 81 members of the ruling party in the cabinet and 41 members of the opposition and pointed out to the President that if he does not go to the polls now, he will have to take some risks. As the president was facing a crisis due to the lack of quorum on Sunday, he immediately summoned Dinesh, Susil, Prasanna and Siyambalapitiya to his office.
Taking steps to hold a special discussion regarding While Semasinghe pointed out that the VAT proposal should be passed without a debate; Susil once again said that since this is a money bill, it is appropriate to proceed according to parliamentary tradition. But it was not seen that the President let alone the two Finance Ministers agreed to Susil’s proposal. The argument presented by that side was that Sunday was given for debating the relevant VAT proposal, but the opposition tried to avoid it by saying that there was no quorum. Accordingly, it was the President’s position that the VAT resolution should be passed by voting today.
Accordingly, the ruling party informed the assembly on Monday afternoon that it is ready to hold a poll to pass the VAT proposal. But despite the opposition strongly protesting against it, the Speaker finally said that due to the fact that time had been given to hold the debate the day before, the vote should be taken today to finish it. Accordingly, 100 people representing the ruling party took steps to show their hands in favor of increasing the VAT. In protest, 55 MPs led by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya had voted. The most special event that was seen there was that 69 MPs were not present in the council at that time.
Namal absent
Another special event that was seen here was when the MP Namal Rajapaksa protested against the VAT proposal and said that he would not vote, Namal’s father Mahinda Rajapaksa came to the House and voted in favour of the proposal. Also, even though Shashindra came to the assembly and voted in favour of it, Chamal Rajapakse, Shashindra’s father, was seen in the morning in the assembly and in the evening he was hospitalized for treatment.
However, when the people were immersed in such an economic crisis, with the passing of the VAT proposal that would put more tax burden on the people’s shoulders, the members of the ruling party were cheering and cheering. Accordingly, in a discussion held by the SJB leaders led by Sajith that night, many MPs had expressed their strong displeasure and pointed out the facts to Sajith. They said that it is absolutely unacceptable that the members of the government are happily behaving in this manner while imposing taxes on the people. Therefore, the MPs pointed out to Sajith that the country should be informed about this on Tuesday.
Phone call to Sajith
In this way, while Sajith was discussing with his MPs about the measures to be taken against the increase in VAT, Sajith received a special call on his mobile phone at around 10 pm from a government MP. In that call, it was said that a big party is currently being held at ‘Temple Trees’ to celebrate the passing of the VAT Act and all the ministers of the government are participating in it. As a result, Sajith, who was surprised, first called several SJB MPs and told them about this news and asked them to find out more information about it immediately. Apart from this, Sajith also spoke to some government members who are friendly to him and took steps to find out whether this story is true or not. Then the reply received from the members of the government was that the story is true and the President has also joined this party. Moments later, SJB MPs also spoke to Sajith and said that everyone in the government has participated in this party. And the list of all the dishes on the dining table was also received on Sajith’s mobile phone within a moment. Accordingly, Sajith decided at that moment to inform the whole country about this super party thrown by the government at the Temple House by putting the burden of taxes on the people the next day in Parliament. Also, when Sajith mentioned it in Parliament the next day, it was noted that there was no opposition like in other days from the government benchers.
Report from Semasinghe
Meanwhile, information has been reported to the ‘inside politics ’ regarding a certain incident that happened at this party. That was Prime Minister Dinesh speaking in praise of a certain act done by Semasinghe in Parliament. Dinesh, who came to the place, said with a smile that everyone could hear while the ruling party MPs gathered at the party were talking about the absence of a solid plenary session in the Parliament the previous day, the attack on Sajith by Mahindananda, the passing of a money bill without debate, etc. State Minister of Finance Semasinghe said that he did a historic work in Parliament that day. When Dinesh said that it was through passing a money bill within 10 minutes without any debate, everyone could be seen holding their bellies and laughing.
Namal’s Commentary
Meanwhile, something should be mentioned here regarding the political role played by Namal in the proposal to increase the VAT and in passing the budget. Namal, who praised the virtues of the President and the government until a few months after the appointment of Ranil as the President, was seen issuing statements criticizing the actions of the President and the government about two months ago. Despite criticizing the President in front of the media, Namal had arranged to have a cake-cutting party with the President at his home on his father’s birthday. Nevertheless, two days before the increase in VAT, Namal publicly told the media that he would oppose the increase in VAT, which burdened the people, and that he would not vote for the proposal. Namal also said that he informed the chiefs of Pothuttu about his position.
Accordingly, Namal, who met Mahinda before the VAT vote, informed Mahinda about this and took steps to ask him not to go to parliament that day. Namal had said that if he raised his hand in favour of increasing the VAT, not only his politics but also the politics of the Rajapaksa would be over and he had asked Mahinda to take a strict decision on the matter. But from the information we have, we have come to know that for the first time; Mahinda has given Namal a rather strict answer.
Strong reply from Mahinda
No, I have decided to continue politics with Ranil. If that ends me, then it will. This is the last period of my politics. You do your politics separately. “I will continue my politics”, it has been reported to the ‘Inside politics’ column that Mahinda has informed Namal.
However, Namal did not come to parliament on the Monday when the VAT proposal was passed, but he had participated in the party held at Temple Trees that night. There, several MPs, including the seniors of Pohottuwa who are with the President, were seen whispering against Namal’s actions. But the backbench members of Pohottuwa were of the position that Namal’s work was exactly right. Accordingly, when the backbench members of Pohottuwa were asking Namal for information in this regard, Namal had taken steps to make a political analysis that would surprise everyone.
I have a different political analysis about this. I also told this to my father. But Father said that he would do politics with Ranil. But I also told my father that this is a serious situation. This will only lead to the loss of all the things we have built up for so long. We are running out of days. I will lay the dice today and say that according to the information I have, the President will not come to the presidential election until the last minute. Then what will happen to us if we go with him? We are doomed.
Who among us will run for the presidential election? Now, several names are called. If Dhammika is coming then so be it. If someone else comes, so be it. The person who comes should go forward with our political identity. Otherwise, the party’s politics will be over, and my politics will be over.
Therefore, I will say with confidence that Ranil will not come to this presidential election. After staying till the end, hand it over to the newcomer and he will leave. Finally, this goes to Sajith. If JVP comes as number two, we will fall even lower. That is why I am going to tell the party my position. If we raise our hands at the VAT, our future is over. Therefore, I am against this VAT increase. Not only that, I will not come to vote.’ Namal said to the back row MPs.
As said, Namal did not come to Parliament on Monday when the VAT increase proposal was brought to Parliament. Also, on Wednesday, when the budget was adopted, Namal came to parliament but did not take a vote for it. On that day too, Namal informed the Pohottu members of his position and left the parliament early.
Kudos to Semasinghe
The very crucial discussion regarding whether the International Monetary Fund will give the second instalment of the loan given to Sri Lanka or not was held at the headquarters of the organization in Washington last Tuesday. The government on Monday also passed the proposal to increase the VAT to 18% to increase the revenue as a push for the exemption of the second instalment. Accordingly, on Tuesday night, the Financial Fund decided to release the related premium and took steps to publish it on its website, and the State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe was the first to see it. That is because Semasinghe has been going to that website since evening to find out what the relevant decision is.
Accordingly, as soon as Semasinghe saw the good news, he immediately made the first call to the President and informed him about it. In general, the President is considered to be a person who applauds someone. But it was seen that the President was also happy with the news that Semasinghe informed. Accordingly, some words came out of the President’s mouth that even Semasinghe had not thought of.
‘This is a great victory. You are also a big part of it. This is a big achievement (victory) in your political life…’ and the President congratulated Semasinghe.
Ranil and Sajith in a discussion
The President suddenly came to Parliament on Wednesday, when the budget vote was held, with the message of this victory in his hand. As usual, the president came to the assembly and made an economic as well as a political speech. There, the President who attacked Sajith from time to time, saying that he did not take charge of the country at a difficult time, took steps to attack Sajith several times.
However, after the President finished his speech, as usual, Sajith also took steps to respond to the President’s attacks on him. Although the president was not in the chambers at that time, Sajith said that he did not take responsibility at that time because he was not ready to govern with a bunch of thieves. Apart from this, Sajith took steps to answer the President’s speech one by one.
Sajith, who answered the President during the budget debate in this way, finished his speech and came to the lobby of the opposition with a few loyal MPs. He saw the President laughing and talking surrounded by the opposition MPs. There, the other MPs told Sajith to have a word or two with the President and leave. Sajith replied that he has no problem in that regard and that he will talk to the President. Accordingly, Sajith went to the place where the President and the opposition members were staying and started talking to the President with a smile saying, ‘How are you, President?’
When Sajith said, ‘Where is the President when I answered you when you hit me during your speech?’, the President said, ‘No, I was watching your speech from the room on TV’.
Who is the Finance Minister?
In general, the president is known to be a hitman. That’s why, showing Harsha who was there, the President said to Sajith, ‘In my speech, I also mentioned Harsha. Why didn’t Sajith mention Harsha in your story? Isn’t Harsha your finance minister?’ Sajith immediately replied that Harsha would be the Finance Minister in his government.
But the President replied with his usual sarcastic language and said, ‘No, I thought that since you are working with Nalaka Godahewa, Harsha will not be given the Finance Ministership.’ Sajith immediately understood the President’s purpose and gave a wonderful answer.
Our politics is not like your politics. Now we have many finance ministers. But my finance minister is Harsha.” Sajith said with a smile.
The smear campaign continues
Meanwhile, it was seen that several false media reports targeting SJB were once again published last week. In one of the media reports, it was said that Sajith and Ranil are ready to do politics together, and now the seniors of both sides are engaged in discussions in this regard. Immediately after this news was published, Sajith, who responded to it in Parliament, said that under no circumstances would he do politics together with Ranil.
In addition, news published last Friday in an English newspaper belonging to a relative of the President’s family said that there are ideological conflicts between SJB and the major political parties that are allied with SJB. In this regard, SJB General Secretary Ranjith Maddumabandara said in a press release on Friday that it is completely false news.
First Election
In the past few months, an orchestrated campaign led by an organized group asserted that the general election would take precedence. This initiative, largely fueled by individuals supportive of the President, inundated the news cycle with a daily mantra insisting on the primacy of a general election followed by the presidential election.
Approximately two weeks ago, we issued a special disclosure in this column, categorically debunking the false narrative. Contrary to the campaign’s claims, we clarified that the presidential election would precede the general election, and this decision had been unequivocally made by the President. In an exposé, we detailed how several loyal Members of Parliament had proposed a general election without a concurrent presidential election to the President, who, in turn, did not entertain the suggestion.
Last week, we further substantiated our previous disclosure with another exclusive revelation. In a conversation with a close confidant of the President, it was disclosed that the President affirmed that, under no circumstances, would he allow himself to remain in the office of the President if a general election were to precede. Consequently, we emphasized the implausibility of conducting a general election before the presidential election.
To affirm our earlier disclosure, the President took decisive actions in Parliament last week. He officially announced that the presidential election would be conducted first, followed by subsequent steps to hold the general election and other electoral processes.