Tuesday night’s vote on the 19th Constitutional Amendment (19A) will show whether President Maithripala Sirisena or former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has the bigger clout in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), The New Indian Express stated.

As it stands, 66 out of the 90 SLFP MPs are either explicitly with Rajapaksa or are sitting on the fence and tilting towards Rajapaksa, TNIE pointed out. Sirisena, whether as President of Sri Lanka or as Chairman of the SLFP, has been unable to win over the majority of his party MPs, the report added.

Although Sirisena appointed 26 SLFP MPs as ministers, some of them still maintain liaison with Rajapaksa. The SLFP’s Central Committee, which invited Sirisena to head the party, has developed the habit of endorsing his steps one day and backing out the very next day.  Sirisena’s threat to dissolve parliament and deny party tickets to Rajapaksa acolytes has also not had the desired effect.

Opposition to Sirisena’s 19A gathered momentum on Monday in parliament when the SLFP moved two crucial amendments. One said that the Constitutional Council, meant to appoint the Independent Commissions, should comprise only of MPs. The second said that the clause stipulating that the President “shall” abide by the advice of the Prime Minister, should be deleted.

But these amendments were rejected by the government because they nullified the two main aims of the 19A, namely, the depoliticization of the major arms of the State and transferring de facto power from the President to the PM. The debate on the 19A will continue on Tuesday.  

Given this scenario, the ruling United National Party (UNP) is getting round to the view that Sirisena does not have the political machismo to force the SLFP to fall in line, TNIE said. The UNP therefore wants parliament to be dissolved.  But the million dollar question is: “Does Sirisena have the will to dissolve parliament?”

In the coming elections the Rajapaksa group might emerge as the single largest party and Rajapaksa might become PM. In that case, there could either be a governmental deadlock or Sirisena might meekly yield to Rajapaksa, TNIE also said.
(With inputs from The New Indian Express)