We Are A Republic, We Are Not A Monarchy

By M.A. Sumanthiran –

Thank you Honourable presiding member, His Excellency the President made a statement of government policy yesterday at the opening of new session of Parliament. He has made this practice in his short tenure as President, he’s done this many times. One wondered each time when he prorogued Parliament why he was doing so, now it seems fairly clear to us that he loves to give a throne speech and as often as he can, he mounts that chair and says to the house and to the nation all the things that he had wanted to say for several decades now. So while he enjoys himself doing that the citizens of the country are at utter peril, due to the economic situation. Of course the president waxes eloquent about how much he has turned the economy around. All of us know that those are hollow words; it is true that there is a semblance of normality that has been restored. With his long experience one must concede that he has steadied the ship somewhat, and we wish to congratulate him on that part. When you have a moratorium on debt repayment, that’s a looming disaster, it gives you immediate relief only to have darker clouds surround the country a little later.

Similarly the IMF relief enables us to borrow more now. Well we need to borrow, no one disputes that, but that can only take that into further debt. So it seems on the outwards the things are rosy, but in fact they are not. A long term look will tell us, that that is not true. And the country must realise this. The country must also realise that the president has declared this year an election year, as though it is entirely at his disposal to decide on election date. We are a Republic, we are not a Monarchy.

Our constitution stipulates, the laws stipulate, when periodic elections must be held. When local council elections were declared to be held early last year, by a sleight of hand, by not by not signing the warrant to release money, the minister of finance the President himself thwarted the citizens of this country exercising their franchise. That’s a violation, that’s a violation against democracy, that’s a violation against constitution. For a long period now the provincial councils’ elections have not been held. I have repeatedly reminded the prime minister, that following on his own committee’s recommendations i have introduced a private member’s bill, which if it is passed, provincial council elections can immediately be held. But they are holding that back. And now he has decided that the presidential elections must be held. And so the treasury has been advised to release the funds for elections.

Presidential election and a general election this year. Now we all know that when the president signals right, he often turns left. So we are not quite sure what this signalling really is. Nevertheless you cannot build the economy of the country by the way you supress people exercising their franchise. People expressing their dissent, and by oppressive methods. And that is what we see. You can see all you want as a statement of government policy. And one thing I want to highlight here is as he took office, he came to this house and he said first shall we resolve the ethnic conflict? He asked everyone in this house, everyone put their hands up. Everyone said, yes, we will do it. And he assured us that that’ll be done before the 75^th Independence Day celebrations that happened last year. Now we have gone passed the 76^th Independence Day as well, and not a hum, not a word from the president on that issue.

*Edited version of the speech made in Parliament on 08^th February 2024 by M.A. Sumanthiran

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