The debate on the No-Confidence Motion submitted by the Opposition against Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne has been scheduled for next week. This is after the motion was revised to exclude some of the charges, including some of a highly personal nature as well as references relating to a case pending in court. Of course, on the day of the debate, it is unlikely the Opposition MPs will stay clear of speaking on the areas on which the original motion was based, and hence the public can expect a lot of mud raking on the day.
For the NPP, the Speaker’s position seems to be rather an inauspicious one. Its first appointee as Speaker, MP Asoka Ranawaka, barely lasted a month and had to quit after it came to light that his claims of having obtained a PhD from a university in Japan were a fib. He stepped down, promising to clear his name within a few weeks by obtaining the certificate, but two years later, the public are still awaiting the confirmation of his elusive doctorate.
In his place, current Speaker Wickramaratne was appointed. His time in office has also been far from smooth, having been embroiled in too many controversies. The main among them was the decision to suspend the Deputy Secretary General of Parliament and Chief of Staff, Chaminda Kularatne, who turned the tables on the Speaker by filing a petition challenging the decision to suspend him and also lodging a complaint against Wickramaratne with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC).
The Court of Appeal, after hearing Kularatne’s case, directed both parties to consider the possibility of reaching an amicable settlement, given the high positions the men occupy and that airing dirty laundry in public would damage the institution concerned. The matter then shifted to the CIABOC, with Speaker Wickramaratne standing accused of illegally using State resources, including operating more official vehicles than his legal entitlement, claiming double fuel allowances and improperly occupying two official residences, among some other charges.
It is in the light of these developments that the Opposition handed over the NCM against Wickramaratne. While the Leader of the House Bimal Rathnayake initially said they would give a date as soon as possible for the debate and promised two days for it, once the Motion was handed over, there was some backtracking, with the Government pushing for the Motion to be revised, saying some of the contents were sub judice. After the initial hesitation, a date has now been agreed upon, and the debate will no doubt be closely watched.
Wickramaratne, of course, is not the first Speaker of Parliament against whom an NCM has been brought. Former Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena too faced an NCM, and so did a few others.
The problem for the NPP is that this is a party that came to power promising to clean up politics, and where its choices of Speaker are concerned, they haven’t been the best. Wickramaratne will survive the NCM, but what it will do is damage his position and undermine his authority.
So far, his track record as Speaker too hasn’t been commendable. He is yet to grasp the Standing Orders and take control of the House in the authoritative manner a Speaker should. He is also partial, when the role of the Speaker is to remain strictly neutral and put party politics aside. What little authority he exercises now will be further undermined after the debate on the NCM. He can stick on in the job, but his position as Speaker will be a weakened one.