Sumanthiran decries President’s ‘hypocrisy’

By Saman Indrajith

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who had insisted that he was against the executive presidency, since 1996, had done nothing to abolish it since coming to power, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M.A. Sumanthiran said on Thursday at the adjournment debate.

Making a statement in Parliament, on Wednesday, Wickremesinghe had been critical of people who say one thing, when they are in power and something else when out of it, the TNA MP said.

“I would like to remind him that he is also doing the same thing. In 1996, it is said that the United National Party (UNP), at its convention, resolved to abolish the executive presidential system. And that was a position they have held on to, until now, or said to be their official position. In the last Parliament, when we had a constitutional assembly, and when this issue of Executive Presidency came up, the current President, who was then the Prime Minister, quite categorically said that’s the UNP Stand, we are for abolition of the Executive Presidency. But now that he is the Executive President, we don’t see anything; we don’t hear anything about abolishing the Executive Presidency,” he added.

Sumanthiran said that when the 21st amendment was passed, none of the executive powers of the President was curtailed. The President happily carries on as the Executive President, with full executive powers, although the people were told that the amendment curtailed the power of the President.

“The UNP’s stated policy is abolition of the Executive Presidency. The President has made two throne speeches, but he has not said that he will abolish the Executive Presidency,” he said.