By Sumadhu Weerawarne
The appointment of CWC Leader Arumugam Thondaman yesterday afternoon as the Minister of Livestock Development and Estate Infrastructure, increased the Cabinet strength to 21, in contravention of the MoU reached between the PA and the JVP on Spetember 5, 2001 stipulating a total strength of 20 members.

MP Thondaman was sworn in a day later than was originally planned, even while efforts were underway to persuade members in the Cabinet to make way for Minster Thondaman .

The appointment of Jeyaraj Fernandopulle over the weekend, too would have disturbed the equilibrium in terms of numbers in the Cabinet, but this eventuality was avoided with Mangala Samaraweera, Minister of Urban Development, Housing and Sports agreeing to downgrade himself to the position of a Deputy Minister, with the President holding the Ministerial portfolio.

Confusion over the composition of the Cabinet which held sway last week with some JVP sources holding out that the Prime Minister would not be counted as being part of the Cabinet, was cleared by Wimal Weerawansa on Monday with the declaration that the Prime Minister too would be counted as being included in the 20 Cabinet positions.

The President was in consultation with the Cabinet to deal with the snag in appointments, according to political sources. PA sources said that there was a great likelihood of the Minister of Power, Irrigation and Lands Anuruddha Ratwatte, who also holds the Deputy Defence Ministerial position downgrading himself to rescue the government from its current crisis. Minster Ratwatte seems the most likely choice as he already enjoys a position within Deputy Ministerial ranks, in which case downgrading his Ministerial portfolio to a Deputy Ministerial rank would not upset the Deputy Ministerial numbers. All 20 Deputy Ministerial positions have already been filled, so creating a position other than by downgrading Minister Ratwatte would mean that a Minister would have to resign altogether and be reduced to a backbencher.

They added that there was also the likelihood of either Minister Athauda Seneviratne or Minster Wijeyapala Mendis resigning to reduce the number to 20. Minister Seneviratne according to sources was not originally included in the ministerial list, but was added later on. MP Mendis who officially took over office on Monday as the Minister of Cultural Affairs and Science and Technology was sworn in late Friday, after the official oath-taking ceremony. Political sources said that Minster Seneviratne had resisted attempts to pressurise him to give up his seat within the Cabinet. It was not clear who would resign at the time of going to press, but PA sources were definitive that a Minister would resign within the course of the day.

Political sources also said that Minster Sarath Amunugama too had been proposed as a possible resignee by a certain section in the PA, on the basis that he had been with the party just the past one and a half years. But the suggestion had been dismissed by the leadership, contending that Minster Amunugama was a good administrator.

Meanwhile, JVP MP Bimal Ratnayake confirmed that the JVP would support the 17th Amendment to the Constitution incorporating the changes proposed by the government enabling the President to nominate a member to the Constitutional Council. In terms of the revised amendment the Constitutional Council would consist 10 members, with three appointed by the Opposition Leader, three appointed by the Prime Minster, one appointed by the President, and the membership including the Speaker, Prime Minster and Opposition Leader as ex officio appointees. He qualified that the party had extended its support on the condition that the government would accommodate changes at the level of Select Committee discussions once the bill was presented to Parliament.

The JVP member said that the JVP had agreed to the government’s amendment in an effort to make the independent commissions a practical reality. "We understand that if we do not let the President make an appointment, the Constitutional Council may be seen as detracting from the powers of the executive Presidency. The political reality is that a case may be brought before the Supreme Court challenging the amendment, whence the need for a referendum in excess of the two thirds majority in Parliament may be mooted. This will delay the process by months. We see the current move as an improvement on the existing structures and are supporting it on those grounds. We don’t think that it is full-proof by any means, and see the prospect of further amendments to improve it," he said.

Asked if the proposed composition would not allow the government to dominate the Council, the MP agreed that this was the case, but added that it would change once the position of the Executive Presidency was abolished. Asked if it had not been possible to formulate the numbers differently even while allowing the President to make an appointment, the JVP member said that alternate proposals had been sought from the UNP, which had not been forthcoming. According to the original proposal the PM, Opposition Leader and the Speaker were ex officio members of the Council, with the two former members nominating the remaining five members in concurrence. "There was however no provisions on what to do in the event of a deadlock. We suggested that in such a situation the Speaker should be allowed to decide, but the Opposition Leader disagreed with this and expressed agreement only to mediation by the Speaker. This was not a step that would resolve a deadlock situation," he said. He also pointed out that the UNP in its discussions with the PA and even the JVP had agreed to the appointment of one member by the President in a situation where Ranil Wickremesinghe was the Prime Minster.

MP Ratnayake said that the JVP at its meeting with the PA delegation on Monday had suggested further changes, stipulating that those with membership in a political party could not be appointed and that the Opposition Leader would continue to be a member of the Council, even when Parliament is dissolved and until a fresh Opposition Leader is appointed as safeguards to ensure the smooth functioning of the Council. He added that the JVP had also proposed that a period of two weeks be stipulated as the time for the appointment of a fresh member to the Council in the event a position falls vacant. "This we suggested to ensure than the council and thereby the commissions don’t become redundant with the failure to make necessary appointment as was the case with the Bribery Commission," the member said. He added that all these suggestions had been adopted by the PA.

The points of disagreement he said were largely those relating to the Police Commission. The PA had proposed about eight changes, all of which had been rejected by the JVP. "There were some which had merit, but we did not want to change the draft further, lest we are accused of vitiating the independence of this Commission," he said.

The UNP in response stood firm that it would not support the revised 17th Amendment. Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya rejected allegations that the party had agreed to the incorporated changes at any point. "We are against these moves which are clearly vitiating the independence of the Constitutional Council. We don’t support them at all," he said. Other Opposition parties too have expressed similar sentiments. In any case without a two—thirds vote in Parliament, for which Opposition support is a must, the bill will fail. Opposition party leaders were expected to meet yesterday at 3 p.m.