By

Don Manu

It is indeed a curious state of affairs that exists today in Lanka’s body politic and, to put it mildly, it is getting curiouser and curiouser.

First of all, for the first time we have a president who contested the election not on the UNP or on the SLFP ticket but from a party called the National Democratic Front which suddenly appeared out of the blue to be used as the swan vehicle to glide him to a stunning presidential victory. No sooner the objective was achieved it was discarded; and now is heard no more.

In the best traditions of Buddhist philosophy, who but a fool carries with him the boat of faith after crossing the river of doubt? Simply put: don’t carry deadweight. In Maithripala Sirisena’s case it would have hindered his forward march back to the SLFP past.

Secondly we have the leader of the UNP, Ranil Wickremesinghe, appointed as the Prime Minister by the President under Article 43 of the present constitution who, in his opinion, is the Member of Parliament ‘most likely to command the confidence of Parliament’, even though, on January 9 when the appointment was made, the UNP had only 41 seats in the House compared to the SLFP’s blockbuster majority of over 130 seats.

Thirdly President Sirisena who on the very day he announced his candidature also declared that, though he was contesting as the Member of the National Democratic Front for the presidency, he was still the secretary of the SLFP. He stated that the mere fact that he intended to take on the then chairman of the party did not mean he had vacated his post or relinquished his membership if the party.

This claim was immediately decried by the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa with the rest of the SLFP pack rushing in to rubbish the idea that a person could still be a member of the SLFP, let alone its secretary and contest an election against Rajapaksa nominated by the party as its official presidential candidate.

This position which seemed fair and reasonable and based on valid grounds evaporated into thin air in the aftermath of the Rajapaksa downfall and even as a dejected Rajapaksa conceded defeat and handed over the seals of presidential office to the new victor in the game of thrones, so did he have to surrender the mantle of the SLFP’s leadership to Maithripala who claimed it in accordance with the SLFP party constitution.

But strangely, after getting himself appointed as the new chairman of the SLFP he seemed disinclined to bend it to his will — more bent, perhaps, to cast it adrift rudderless, without a captain at the helm and thus give the impression it was a credible opposition to the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government.

The SLFP’s Billy Bunter of Badulla, the amiable Nimal Siripala de Silva, emerged to fill the vacuum as the leader of the opposition while the fringe parties did not make any fuss as to how the SLFP could be the opposition when its chairman was the president and head of the cabinet – as they split hairs now holding the JVP is not eligible to be the main opposition party due to its membership of the National Executive Council.

But last month’s appointment by the president of 26 SLFP members as cabinet, state and deputy ministers to his Ranil Wickremesinghe-dominated government has made the SLFP claim to be the official opposition party now untenable.

And the scramble has begun amongst the smaller parties to lay claim to this important position which would elevate them to a status far greater than their puny stature deserves, causing the Speaker of the House to burn the midnight oil reading up his Erskine May to provide a past parliamentary practice pointer to the path to plod in deciding who best fits the bill.

But read as he may it is doubtful whether the British Parliamentary Bible would be of any help in this instance. The only recent British coalition government was during the Second World War years during 1940 to 1945 when all parties united sans a partisan divide to defeat the common enemy the Nazis. Then there was no opposition leader during this period. There was simply no opposition. It was all for one and one for all unlike Lanka where it is none for all and all for none.

Instead the Speaker, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother, Chamal Rajapaksa, would have to be guided by the experience he has gained during the tenure of his office since 2010 to anoint the next leader of the opposition.

If he does not accept Nimal Siripala’s position that the SLFP can be a schizophrenic party and can wear the Jekyll hat when it comes to supporting the Government and use the Hyde boots anytime it is called upon to kick its own members who are presently members of the Government led by the President who is the chairman of the SLFP, his choice will boil down to the radical born opposers, the JVP or the Tamil rights champions the TNA or the “We miss Mahinda, please bring him back” faction of parties, each one a virtual one man show, led by the ‘wannabe Rajapaksas’ Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (or is it the Mahinda Ekamuthu Pakshaya now) leader Dinesh Gunawardena.

So as the Lankan Parliament gears itself to emerge probably as the only Parliament in the world to have a Prime Minister coming from a party that doesn’t command the majority of the House and the Leader of the Opposition coming from a party that doesn’t command the majority of the opposition, the curious lunar circle seems set to reach maximum waxing point in the coming week.

Courtesy:Sunday Times