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Cleaning our Augean stables
Saturday, 7 July 2012 - 10:51 AM SL Time
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Time was when Sri Lanka`s every ill political, social, economic or otherwise was blamed on war. It was thought that if the war could be finished, hey presto, everything would fall into place. The conflagration ended three years ago, but still there are no signs of any such recovery. The national economy is sluggish though there is said to be no threat of a downturn the crime rate has gone through the roof the rule of law is teetering on the verge of collapse corruption remains rampant, political dissent is suppressed and the erosion of public faith in State institutions continues.
It is against this backdrop that Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe`s exhortation to parliamentarians on Thursday should be viewed. He urged the Speaker to enforce punctuality in the House. A great deal of state funds, he pointed out, was spent on Parliament and as public servants parliamentarians were duty bound to be present in the House. We could not agree with him more! Let the government leaders emulate him.
The Opposition Leader`s consternation is understandable. Ministers are absent more often than not at question time and there have been instances where even key Opposition politicians were not present to open vital debates. This is nothing but dereliction of duty. Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa has a hard time trying to keep the House quorate almost daily. Lawmakers trade abuse across the well of the House liberally or even resort to fisticuffs at times, paying no heed to the children in the public gallery.
The onus is on the party leaders to join forces to reverse this trend this is a task they alone are capable of accomplishing. If each of them takes the responsibility for the conduct of his members and enforces discipline, there is no way parliamentarians could get away with their indiscipline which is best tackled at the party level. Punitive action is badly needed. If MPs take Parliamentary sessions for granted without carrying out their legislative duties, party leaders should tell them in no uncertain terms that they do not deserve nominations for future elections. Of what use are parliamentarians who do not attend Parliament?
If an ordinary public worker gets caught scooting from his or her work place and clocking in late, he or she runs the risk of facing inquiries or even being nabbed by flying squads. Parliamentarians paid by the public cannot consider themselves more equal than other State employees.
Speaker Rajapaksa on Thursday took exception to a warrant issued by a judge on an MP, who could not turn up in court because he had to attend Parliament on that day. The Speaker held that an MP`s right to be present in Parliament took precedence over everything else and the judiciary could not overrule the legislature. Such being the importance attached to parliamentary attendance, party leaders must do everything in their power to ensure that their MPs are present in the House. However, that alone is not sufficient to help Parliament regain its lost dignity and restore people`s faith in it.
Action is called for to maintain decorum in the House and improve the quality of parliamentary debate. If party leaders take the trouble of handpicking law-abiding, honest, educated people to contest elections, this problem will not arise. They cannot sow grass seeds and expect a harvest of paddy. The problem boils down to one thing they have been fielding misfits at elections. GIGO garbage in, garbage out! It behoves them to put their heads together and find a way out.
Let`s have a round of applause for Opposition Leader Wickremesinghe, who has spoken for all of us.
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AnuD
Senior Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 59839
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 11 Jul 2012 04:54:40 GMT Report for Abuse
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IT is the same old bunch of crooks governing the country since JRJ's time.
Good politicians were those before JRJ's time.
What happens now is the cumulative effect if JRJ, Pemadasa, and CBK all running the govt and more.
I think, Speaker is an old guy who should live the retirement age. There are many more like that called senior ministers who should retire but still live in the parliament as leaches.
See that DMK Jayarathane is in the hospital but he is still the prime minister. |
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