TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran last week accused President Ranil Wickremesinghe of making no reference to the abolishing of the executive residency in his second “throne” speech after assuming office although this was the declared position of the UNP since 1996.
Sumanthiran noted that the English printed version of the president’s speech called it a “throne speech” although those who translated it into Sinala and Tamil new better and called it a “Policy statement of H.E. the President.”
“Knowing the president as I do, he probably drafted the speech in English first and thought he was making a Throne speech,” the MP said. “But it betrays what he has in mind, or what he thinks who he is to say Throne speech.”
“In 1996, the UNP at its convention resolved to abolish the executive residential system. That was the position they have held on to until now or said to be their official position. In the last Parliament when we had a Constitutional Assembly, when this issue of the executive presidency came up, the president who was prime minister then categorically said the UNP stand was for abolition. But now that he is the executive president, we don’t see anything; we don’t hear anything about the abolition of the executive presidency,” Sumanthiran said.
He argued that various things had been said about the subject at different times that the powers of the executive presidency were being curtailed. But none of this has happened. It has been a fraud on the people…..and the president happily carries on as the executive president with executive powers.”
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