15 December 2018

MEDIA RELEASE
Our pledge to the people
English translation of the text of a speech made by former President
Mahinda Rajapaksa at his Wijerama Mawatha residence on 15
December 2018.
Most venerable members of the Maha Sangha, Clergymen of all religions, Members
of Parliament, Ministers, and dear friends,

The Supreme Court has delivered a judgement against the holding of the general
election that had already been declared. Since that judgement is a long and
complicated document, I will study it carefully and in due course express my views
on the constitutional impact it will have on the functioning of the parliamentary
system of government in this country. Today however, I wish to speak on the
political implications of not being able to hold the general election that had already
been declared. We are now in direct confrontation with a group of political parties
that have continuously engaged in various subterfuges to avoid facing elections.
When this group of political parties tried to get the local government elections
postponed indefinitely by petitioning courts over the delimitation of wards, we were
able to hold the local government election only because the Chairman of the
Elections Commission intervened and declared that he would hold elections at least
in respect of the local government institutions that had no delimitation issues pending
before courts. If not for that intervention, the people would not have got even the
local government election.

Elections to provincial councils have been delayed by more than one year and three
months, but no one has any inkling of when those long overdue elections will be
held. The law has been manipulated in such a way that those elections will be put off
1
indefinitely. In September 2017, when the Attorney General said that a two thirds
majority will be necessary to pass the law designed to postpone the provincial
council elections, the then government kept Parliament going till night time and with
great effort, mustered the necessary number of MPs to get the law passed. So
desperate were they, that when some smaller political parties said they would not
vote for the law unless the proportional representation quota was increased from 40%
to 50%, the government agreed to that demand in the corridors of Parliament so as to
get the required number of votes. They had to perform demeaning contortions to get
the provincial council elections postponed.

The people have now been deprived of the general election that had already been
declared. After the President dissolved Parliament on 9 November, the political
parties opposed to the election petitioned courts and obtained a stay order on the
dissolution and with the cooperation of the UNP Speaker, they engaged in various
activities to demonstrate that they had a majority in Parliament. But it was only on 12
December when a resolution was passed expressing confidence in Mr Ranil
Wickremasinghe and requesting that he be appointed Prime Minister that the people
of the country were able to see the real state of things.

A total of 117 MPs voted calling for Mr Ranil Wickremasinghe to be appointed as

Prime Minister. Fourteen of those votes belong to the TNA. Even though the TNA
also requested that Mr Ranil Wickremasinghe be appointed Prime Minister, on the
same day, TNA Parliamentarian Mavei Senathirajah made a special statement in
parliament on behalf of the TNA saying that though they voted for Mr
Wickrermasinghe to become Prime Minister, they would not join the government
and would remain in the opposition. So what has actually happened here is that the
UNP which has a minority of 103 seats, has been taken hostage by the TNA. If they
do not adhere to the diktat of the TNA, the UNP minority can lose their
parliamentary majority at any moment. The TNA now holds the remote control in
Parliament.

On 12 December, even before the Supreme Court judgement was delivered, Mr Ranil
Wickremasinghe spoke in Parliament about bringing in a new constitution. This new
constitution has already been drafted and published in the newspapers as well. Under
the provisions of that draft constitution, this country will be divided into nine semi-
independent federal units. The new constitution will also abolish the executive
presidency which means that the presidential election that is due before the 9th
December 2019, will not have to be held. The new constitution will also change the
system of electing MPs to Parliament which means that the parliamentary election
2
due in 2020 can also be postponed citing delimitation issues the same way that the
provincial council elections have been put off indefinitely. That is what they are now
preparing for.

The UNP-UPFA coalition that had been formed under Articles 46(4) and 46(5) of the
Constitution relating to ‘national governments’, fell apart when the UPFA left the
coalition on October 26. Thereafter, a number of UNP parliamentarians joined us and
we became the largest group in Parliament. After the general elections of 1994, 2000,
2001, 2004 and 2015, it was always the largest group in Parliament that was invited
to form the government as no party obtained a clear majority. In all those instances,
the government was formed first, and the working majorities were obtained later.

After we formed a government on 26 October, the President declared a general

election. When I was sworn in as Prime Minister on 26 October, that was to form an
interim government that would last only for about two months until the conclusion of
the general election which was sheduled for the 5th January 2019. A President cannot
stand by and do nothing when the whole country was facing destruction at the hands
of the people running the government. When the main opposition force which is in
effect the alternative government is invited to form an interim government that will
last until the conclusion of a general election, such a request cannot be turned down
either. Furthermore, a minority government would more than suffice to run things till
the conclusion of a general election. We appreciate the difficult and bold decision
that the President made on October 26.

What we are confronted with now, is an attempt to rule the country without holding
any kind of election. Since a general election can no longer be held, we cannot
implement any of the measures we had planned to take to prevent this country from
becoming another Greece. The UNP government borrowed 20.7 billion US Dollars in
foreign currency loans alone within a period of three and a half years, and we have
no idea as to how much more they will borrow in the coming months. The UNP
brought our economy to the brink of collapse through such foreign currency
borrowings. All that money was borrowed for consumption. We borrowed money to
develop the country and that development is visible. But the UNP borrowed money
only for consumption. Even though some have expressed the view that it will be
possible to minimise the damage done by the UNP because the President is no longer
with them, we must realise that there is much that the UNP-TNA coalition can do
without informing the President.

We should bear in mind that back in 2002, the then UNP government signed a cease-
fire agreement with the LTTE without informing President Chandrika Kumaratunga.
3
After the 26th October, we were able to reduce the pressure on the people by
bringing down the price of fuel and some essential food items and restoring the
distribution of school uniform material. We restored the fertilizer subsidy and
reduced income taxes on agricultural incomes to encourage agricultural production.
We were also able to take certain measures to address the concerns of young
professionals in this country over the Sri Lanka - Singapore Free Trade Agreement
entered into by the previous government. We suspended the excessive taxes imposed
by the previous government. We also managed to prevent several local industries
from closing down. Even though a general election will not be held, it must be said
that the events that took place after the 26th of October have benefitted the public in
other ways.

The most important thing that happened during this period was that the two thirds
majority in Parliament that was available to the UNP to be used at will, is now no
longer available to them. Therefore it is now possible to prevent the passage of the
new constitution that has been drafted by the same individuals who turned this
country into an ungovernable mess through the 19th Amendment. Furthermore it has
now become possible to end the totalitarian system that prevailed in Parliament over
the past four years, with partners of the government taking over the position of
opposition leader and chief opposition whip and masquerading as the opposition
while supporting the government. As a result of that dangerous perversion, the
Constitutional Council which recommends candidates for appointment to high office,
was made up of representatives of one political persuasion. Consequently all
appointees to high office over the past four years belonged to the same group. The
whole country is now suffering the consequences of that situation.

After the February 10 local government election, our aim was to have a general
election held. Since I have no intention of remaining as Prime Minister without a
general election being held, and in order to not hamper the President in any way, I
will resign from the position of Prime Minister and make way for the President to
form a new government. When I was sworn in as Prime Minister, on 26 October, a
feeling of optimism swept through the country. The All Share Price Index which had
declined after 2015, suddenly picked up on expectations of a change of government.
The LMD-Nielsen Business Confidence Index recorded the sharpest increase after
2015 in November 2018. Despite the political turmoil in the country after 26
October, tourist arrivals had increased by 16% in November 2018 when compared
with the same period in 2017. Those trends which took place despite the political
instability in the country after 26 October are a clear indication of what the people’s
hopes and aspirations are.
4
The change of government that the people expected has now had to be put off. But
the people will definitely get the change they desire. No one can prevent that. The
coming together of the Joint Opposition and the SLFP group that was in the
government has now created a power block that commands around 54% of the vote
base. To this will have to be added the votes of our allied political parties in the
North and East and the hill country. What is now gathering against the enemies of the
country is a country wide political force that no one can stop. Our main aim in the
immediate future will be to hold the provincial council elections which have already
been delayed by more than one year and three months. The main challenge facing us
in the interval between now and the formation of a people’s government will be to
minimise the damage that can be done by the destructive forces that are now seeking
restoration to their former positions. There is no doubt at all that the people who
stood by us since 2015, will continue to support us in the future as well. We will
bring the forces opposed to the country down to their knees by organising the people.

May the blessings of the Tripple Gem be upon you,

God bless you.