Samagi Jana Balawegeya (SJB) Opposition Parliamentarian Harin Fernando yesterday (6) urged the Parliament to come together to provide a solution to the people protesting on the streets, and suggested that fellow SJB MP and economist Dr. Harsha de Silva be made a caretaker President for six months at least, until an election can be held.
“People are protesting on the streets because they are frustrated. We as the Parliament are responsible for providing them with an answer. We need to put our political differences aside and come together to provide a solution. If President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigns, then what next? The Constitution allows the Parliament to appoint a President. Let us come together. I propose that Dr. de Silva be made a caretaker President until an election can be held,” Fernando told the Parliament yesterday.
He said that the current President’s downfall has been the latter’s pride and his refusal to listen to criticism.
“I have told from back then that this is a curse. No President has fallen so fast, in two years,” he claimed.
He urged the Parliament to put aside its differences and come together for the people.
“Even the all-party meeting today (6) ended with no conclusion. The Parliament will get hit next,” he warned yesterday.
On Sunday (3), the 11 constituent parties of the Governing Alliance, led by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Government MPs Udaya Gammanpila, Wimal Weerawansa, and Vasudeva Nanayakkara, proposed that an all-party, Interim Government be formed as a solution to the current political crisis gripping the country. Following the resignations of the Cabinet of Ministers on Sunday, four Cabinet portfolios (Finance, Foreign, Education, and Highways) were appointed in order to maintain stability in the country until a full Cabinet is appointed. However, President’s Counsel M.U.M. Ali Sabry resigned as the Finance Minister. The Government lost its two-thirds majority in the Parliament recently as 40 MPs announced that they will function independently. Although President Rajapaksa has reportedly called upon the Opposition to show a 113 majority to hand over power, the SJB, the National People’s Power (NPP), and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) have stressed that they will not accept any solution that does not include the resignation of the President.