House of shame: The parliament we deserve

By Gamini Abeywardane

Recent brawl in the parliament between the members belonging to the joint opposition and those in the government benches was one of the worst of its kind. It, perhaps for the first time in the history of the Sri Lankan parliament, resulted in hospitalization, though for a day, of one of its members.

Brawls in the parliament are not a new thing. Many an argument has ended in pushing around or fisticuffs even in the good old days when most of the people’s representatives were educated men and women of a different background.

Dissention and even fighting in places where opposing views are debated, is a common feature in any society. What makes it different this time is the severity and brutality of action which has resulted in physical injury.

Views have been often expressed in our country to the effect that general quality of the parliamentarians has come down drastically. It is also significant that the worst brawl has taken place at a time a draft Code of Conduct for the parliamentarians is awaiting approval before the parliament.

Despite education being broad-based, the gradual deterioration of the quality of our people’s representatives is a shame on our democracy which is one of the oldest in Asia. Theoretically speaking, when education levels grow and people become more exposed to the rest of the world through the media, they should become more conscious of their rights and should elect better quality members as their representatives.

Then, the question arises as to why quality of the people’s representatives is going down. The main reasons are the proportional representation system of election which has been in force for nearly four decades and the continuance by the key political parties to nominate unsuitable people as their candidates.
After all, parliament is the highest echelon in the country for debate and resolution of vital issues faced by the people. Quality of debate increasingly has been coming down and it is becoming a place where differences are ironed out through fisticuffs.

PR system has made it worse as people now have lessor choice in a situation where money plays a vital role in deciding who enters parliament. When bad people are included in the nomination lists, people have to elect someone out of the bad lot and one’s ability to throw money becomes a key factor in getting elected.

At least some reasonable background and educational qualifications for all those nominated as candidates for elections in the future is a must, if we are to have a decent parliament.

Quality of the members we return to the parliament is material and the final responsibility, anyway, lies with the people who are electors. However, one must not forget that in a democracy people get the government (parliament) they deserve.

 

 

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Necessity for being security conscious

By Gamini Abeywardane

Several security related issues have surfaced in the north in the past few months including discovery of some arms and ammunition in several locations followed by the arrest of several ex-LTTE leaders. Though not connected to terrorism another controversial issue arising from the north has been the alleged unauthorized entry into an army camp by a team led by the Opposition Leader R Sampanthan.

The incident, though technically was not a real security threat,  caused much rumpus in political circles. A mature and senior politician of Sampanthan’s caliber could have well avoided the controversy as he had all the possibility of obtaining prior permission to do so. The criticism is that this type of improper practices, if continued by other VIPs too, could eventually pose a security threat.

All this shows the importance of national security and alertness despite absence of war and that terrorism has been almost wiped out from our country. In this age and time where terrorist groups are powerful enough to shake even mighty nations, emergence or re-emergence of terrorism could be a matter of time. So, the mere fact that the war is over in our country should not be a reason to be complacent about national security.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe recently emphasized the need for Sri Lanka Navy to be prepared for enhanced regional responsibilities which would include protecting sea routes across the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the sea off Banda Aceh and the Straits of Malacca

These ambitions go well with Sri Lanka’s future prospects of becoming a shipping hub and the claims she is prepared to make for enhancing the her territorial seas.

With a history of insurgencies, terrorism and war running into well over three decades, Sri Lanka can ill-afford to ignore the need for strengthening its armed forces and intelligence services. This will become more relevant as the country grows economically and increases its asset base – industrial installations, power stations, ports and airports etc.

In the context of current internal and regional developments, it is likely that terrorism will continue to remain an eternal threat in the foreseeable future. No country can afford to be lax on matters of security and some of the recent happenings are a grim reminder for the necessity of being security conscious.

 

 

 

 

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