US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO690

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000690 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, S/CT; NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
PLEASE ALSO PASS TOPEC 
 
E.O. 12958:     DECL: 04-22-14 
TAGS: PGOV, PINS, PHUM, CE, Political Parties 
SUBJECT:  Amid raucous scenes, initial vote on Speaker 
of Parliament ends in tie; Another vote expected soon 
 
Refs:  (A) OpsCenter-Colombo telecon 04-22-04 
 
-      (B) Colombo 685, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by James F. Entwistle, Deputy Chief of 
Mission.  Reasons 1.5 (b,d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Sri Lanka's Parliament convened on 
April 22.  The opening session was chaotic, with both 
sides of the chamber hurling invective at each other. 
Initial voting for the Speaker of Parliament ended in a 
108-108 tie between the government and Opposition 
candidates.  Another vote is expected late April 22 or 
April 23.  The government, which still has yet to prove 
that it has a majority in Parliament, will lose 
significant face if it loses the Speaker vote.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (SBU) PARLIAMENT CONVENES:  Sri Lanka's 13th 
Parliament -- with its membership reflecting the results 
of the April 2 election -- convened on April 22.  At 
10:00 a.m. local time, Secretary General of Parliament 
Priyanee Wijesekera formally opened the Parliament 
session by reading a brief message of greetings from 
President Kumaratunga.  (The Secretary General job is a 
non-party, civil service position.  Wijesekara has had 
the job since 2002.)  During the session, Wijesekara had 
to interrupt various outbursts of hooting and hollering 
between the government and the Opposition sides of the 
aisle, and remind the parliamentarians to focus on the 
business at hand.  Despite her best efforts, there 
clearly was a lot of tension in the chamber and it 
continued to spill out throughout the day. 
 
3.  (SBU) INITIAL VOTE ON SPEAKER ENDS IN TIE:  The 
first order of business following the opening ceremony 
was a vote to elect the Speaker of Parliament.  The two 
candidates for the Speaker position were D.E.W. 
Gunasekera of the United People's Freedom Alliance 
(UPFA) and former minister W.J.M. Lokubandara of the 
United National Party (UNP).  (Note:  The "UPFA" is the 
technical term for the grouping of the Sri Lanka Freedom 
Party "SLFP," the radical Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna 
"JVP," and several small leftist parties.  Gunasekara is 
an MP for Sri Lanka's small Communist Party.)  The first 
vote, done by secret ballot, ended in a tie between the 
government and Opposition candidates, who each 
garnered 108 votes.  There were nine abstentions.  Most 
of the abstentions apparently came from the ranks of the 
Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), a new political party with 
nine MPs, all of whom are Buddhist monks.  Two JHU MPs 
reportedly voted for the UPFA.  One member of the pro- 
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Tamil National 
Alliance (TNA) from Batticaloa District in the east did 
not vote and there was one "spoiled vote." 
 
4.  (C) ANOTHER VOTE EXPECTED SOON:  Another vote on the 
Speaker position is expected late April 22 or April 23. 
From what Mission understands, the scene in Parliament 
continues to be quite chaotic as both sides scramble 
into the evening hours for the votes needed to take 
their candidate over the top.  At this time, the seven 
JHU monks who have reportedly been abstaining in the 
voting appear to be in the driver's seat.  If these 
monks come off the fence, their decision could decide 
which candidate wins the vote.  Based on the fact that 
two JHU monks have already apparently voted with the 
UPFA, it seems possible that other JHU MPs may also 
drift that way in the next round of voting.  (In 
general, the JHU's views on major issues such as the 
peace process are closer to the UPFA's than to the 
UNP's.  The monks, however, have made it a big point 
that they want to preserve their neutrality on political 
matters to the full extent possible.)  If the tie 
continues in the next round, Parliament will continue 
voting until some sort of decision is reached.  After 
the Speaker's position is decided on, there will also be 
votes on the deputy speaker, the head of committees 
position, and also on the deputy head of committees. 
 
5.  (C) COMMENT:  At this point, the UPFA coalition 
remains a minority government -- it has yet to prove 
that it commands majority support in the 225-member 
Parliament.  Amid serious political disagreements 
between the SLFP and the JVP over ministerial 
allocations, the UPFA will also lose significant face if 
it loses the Speaker vote.  If it can somehow win the 
Speaker race, however, the government could get it 
itself on track, but it is quickly becoming apparent 
that its grip over Parliament is weak.  END COMMENT. 
 
6.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
LUNSTEAD