Mangala Samaraweera writes to President on recalling Parliament

Warning of “serious repercussions” of Sri Lankan legislation continuing to remain dissolved amid the coronavirus outbreak, former Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera has called for an urgent recall of the Parliament.  

The parliament was dissolved ahead of elections that was scheduled to take place in March, 2020. However, it now stands postponed till June due to the lockdown imposed in the country to curb the spread of COVID-19. 

In a letter to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, released to media today, the former MP stressed that as a result of the failure to present the budget, and the sudden emergence of the coronavirus (Covid-19), the country is afflicted with a pandemic in addition to legislative and economic crises.

“Therefore, I kindly request you to exercise your powers as the Head of State at this critical time to summon the Parliament as soon as possible with the support of all parties represented in Parliament and to have the essential expenditure, including the payment of salaries to the public service after 30th April 2020 approved legally and constitutionally so that Sri Lanka acts responsibly, respecting the Constitution in relation to public finances.” 

“Failure to do so, especially at a time of a pandemic is bound to have serious repercussions for the short and long-term economic well-being of our people especially in light of international obligations and the nature of the interconnected global financial and economic system,” he said.

Full Letter:

𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 Gotabaya Rajapaksa
𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗿𝗶 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗮
𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝘁
𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗼 𝟬𝟭.

Dear President,

𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲-𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲

I am writing this letter to you as the former Minister of Finance, who presented the Vote on Account for the state expenditure of Sri Lanka up to 30th April, 2020.

2. In the years when a presidential election is forthcoming, successive governments have refrained from passing a budget leaving an opportunity for the winning President to submit his own Budget.

3. As the Presidential election was scheduled to be held on 16th November 2017, the then government was of the view that presenting an Appropriation Bill would not be appropriate. Accordingly, the then Government presented a Vote on Account to Parliament for a period of four months from 1st January 2020 to 30th April 2020 and adopted it on 23rd October 2019 leaving an opportunity for the would be elected President to present his own Budget.

4. But on the contrary, the finance minister appointed by you did not present a budget for 2020 until you issued a Gazette dissolving Parliament on 2nd March in spite of the fact that you assumed office in November 2019, over three months prior to the dissolution of Parliament. As you would recall, the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa who also held the portfolio of Finance did not present the Budget for 2015 since the Presidential Election was scheduled in November 2014 for 8th January 2015. Therefore, I would like to remind you that the good governance government that won the Presidential election on 08th January 2015 presented a budget for the financial year 2015 within 21 days of its election.

5. Instead of presenting an Appropriation Bill for the year 2020, prior to dissolution of the Parliament on 2nd March 2020, a proposal was brought by your government to amend the Vote on Account which had already been passed by the yahapalana government. Thereafter your government withdrew it after the opposition in Parliament pointed out that there was no provision in the Standing Orders for such an amendment. Now, as a result of the failure to present the budget due to reasons known only to your government, and the sudden emergence of the coronavirus (Covid-19), the country is afflicted with a pandemic in addition to legislative and economic crises.

6. Considering the serious risk of the spread of Covid-19 in the country, the Election Commission announced on the 20th of April that the General Election scheduled for 25th April will be held on 20th June 2020. However, the date to summon the new parliament to meet upon the conclusion of the proposed General Election scheduled for 20th June 2020 which is a must according to the Constitution has not been officially announced.

7. I urge that by virtue of the Vote on Account passed on 23rd October 2019, the Constitution clearly states that the Government of Sri Lanka has no legal right to bear public expenditure after 30th April 2020. As Parliament shall have full control over public finance, no sum shall be withdrawn except under the authority of a warrant under the hand of the minister in charge of the subject of Finance. No such grant can be issued by the Minister of Finance without such approval and it is unlawful for the Secretary to the Treasury to spend public money for any purpose without the approval of the Minister of Finance.

8. Article 150 (3) of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka provides for the incurring of Government expenditure in the event of the dissolution of Parliament and in the context of an Appropriation Bill not being passed in Parliament.

150 (3) 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘴: 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘉𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘸, 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺, 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘍𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵.

The President shall be authorized to issue and spend money from the Consolidated Fund in terms of the provisions provided in the said Constitution only until the expiry of three months from the date on which the new Parliament is summoned to meet. But the due date for the new Parliament to meet has not yet been officially announced by the President.

9. As you are well aware, the President, Prime Minister, Cabinet of Ministers and the Members of Parliament, as well as all public officials, including the Secretary to the Treasury, have pledged to uphold and defend the Constitution of the Republic. Any person who acts in contravention of the provisions on conviction by the Court of Appeal shall be subject to:

(𝙘) 𝘾𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙘 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙

(𝙙) 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙞𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮.

10. Therefore, I kindly request you to exercise your powers as the Head of State at this critical time to summon the Parliament as soon as possible with the support of all parties represented in Parliament and to have the essential expenditure, including the payment of salaries to the public service after 30th April 2020 approved legally and constitutionally so that Sri Lanka acts responsibly, respecting the Constitution in relation to public finances. Failure to do so, especially at a time of a pandemic is bound to have serious repercussions for the short and long-term economic well-being of our people especially in light of international obligations and the nature of the interconnected global financial and economic system.

Yours sincerely,

Mangala Samaraweera