Lalith Athulathmudali Memorial Oration

Prepare for non-violent agitation: Ranil

Govt. subverting the Constitution by ignoring the 17th Amendment and denying people their sovereignty

By Poornima Ravishan Wijemanne
Opposition Leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe accused the Rajapaksa government of “subverting the Constitution” by ignoring the 17th Amendment and called on the people to prepare to “engage in a non-violent campaign” to safeguard their rights, when he delivered the Lalith Athulathmudali Memorial Oration.

The event, organized by the Institute for Democracy and Leadership and the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung Fur Die Freiheit, was held on April 28 at the BMICH.

Wickremesinghe spoke of the time he spent with the late Lalith Athulathmudali, while working together in the United National Party. He highlighted Athulathmudali’s brainchild, the Mahapola scheme, despite successive SLFP governments in the 60s and 70s doing their best to destroy the gains.

“So, when we regained power in 1977, we were in need of resources to put up buildings, find equipment and train teachers. Then, President Jayawardene decided to expand University education, and I must say, Ronnie de Mel gave us all the money – but it wasn’t enough. How were we going to fund the students to get into University? That was when Lalith came up with the idea of Mahapola… Lalith spearheaded it, because he remembered his own circumstances, when he had to find money to enter Oxford, in 1958 or 1959.”

Later in his speech, Wickremesinghe criticised the arbitrariness in the present day Rajapaksa government, describing the similarity in the situation that Athulathmudali faced and tried to prevent.

“He (Lalith Athulathmudali) understood that there is no State authority without the consent of the people. The people will consent to a higher authority, so long as that authority protects their freedom and their sovereignty. Once such basic rights are infringed, and the sovereignty of the people ceases, the government loses its legitimacy and becomes a bastard government.”

“The State is not the President, or the government or the Defense Secretary. The State constitutes the people of this country. There can be no principle of State sovereignty without safeguarding the people’s sovereignty,” said Wickremesinghe.

He accused the government of not safeguarding the people’s democratic liberties, citing alleged government sponsor of paramilitary groups, failure to curb abductions, politically motivated killings, suppression of media, unlawful detention of persons and the refusal to abide by the 17th Amendment.

“Thus the Rajapaksa Government cannot claim that it is correct for the international community to take action against the Musharraf Government in Pakistan, but contradictorily state that no such action should be taken against the Rajapaksa Government in Sri Lanka.”

“The Constitution does not make provision for the appointment of an Acting Secretary General when the post is vacant,” said Wickremesinghe, concluding that, “In the current situation, Sri Lanka has three options. First, for the Government to talk to the UNP, other Opposition parties in Parliament and civil society groups, to arrive at a consensus on restoring the people’s sovereignty. Second, for the international community to take measures to restore the people’s rights and prevent the subversion of democratic order enshrined within the Constitution. Third, if the Government refuses the first option, for all of us as citizens, to protect our sovereign rights through non-violent agitation. The other option would also be for the international community to take additional measures to ensure the restoration of democratic rights, while an agitation is carried out by the people.”