Abolish executive presidency and we’ll join govt.: Eran

SJB MP Eran Wickremaratne said in Parliament on Friday that if the Prime Minister agreed to the proposal to abolish the executive Presidency, as intimated in Parliament, the main opposition was ready to join an interim government at the invitation of the government and take up the responsibility of reviving the economy tomorrow.

“The SJB not only criticizes the government but also wants to make positive proposals to the government. I would like to propose that no more than two members of the same family should be appointed to the Cabinet,” he said.

 Wickramaratne was speaking on the two-day debate on the current situation in the country. He said that prior to the discussion on the proposed interim government, action should be taken to eliminate distrust in the Government as the present government had lost its credibility nationally and internationally.

He urged that the Prime Minister, who applauded by thumping his  table,when the Leader of the Opposition called for the abolition of the executive presidency, should submit a proposal immediately to get rid of the menace of the executive presidency. The main problem was the lack of trust in the government. If there was no international trust in the government it would not be able to solve any issues that erupts in governance.

The SJB did not participate in the All Party Conference but in Parliament it was ready to present solutions to the problems that had arisen in the country. When the President and the Prime Minister of the country did not have the necessary knowledge of economics and finance, at least a Minister of Finance with knowledge of economics and finance should be appointed.

“Moreover, there is no country in the world where three members of the same family have been appointed to the Cabinet. Therefore, the loss of confidence in this government is inevitable. We have a plan for the economy. We firmly believe that this plan will end the current era of queues in the country.”

Corruption was one of the main reasons for the loss of confidence in the government. It had been reported in a British court that a company in Britain had paid SriLankan Airlines to buy an air bus. It was reported that two million dollars had been credited to the account of the wife of the then CEO of SriLankan.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka in 2007 had paid $ 6.5 million and the person called Zuberi who received that money was in jail now on a 12 year imprisonment, he said.

“Jaliya Wickremasuriya, the then  Sri Lankan Ambassador to US , has pleaded guilty in the  US court for a fraud in 2013 for embezzling more than $ 300,000 in acquiring a new building for the Sri Lankan Embassy in the United States.

Although any official accused of financial misconduct should be suspended under normal disciplinary procedures. Mahinda Rajapaksa attempt to appoint Jaliya Wickramasuriya, a Rajapaksa relative, as Sri Lanka’s high commissioner to Canada. He was unsuccessful as the Canadian government rejected the nomination to accredit a corrupt person.”

“Sri Lanka is also a signatory to the United Nations Anti-Corruption Charter, which contains a chapter on the recovery of assets accumulated through corruption. When the foreign courts punish Sri Lankans for corruption and accumulation of wealth, in Sri Lanka no inquiry or case has been filed against such persons, he said.

A Presidential Task Force on the Recovery of Assets accumulated from Corruption was appointed in 2018. The committee has drafted a bill for this purpose.  Wickremaratne called on the government to present the anti-corruption bill to parliament and pass it into law.