The Island Editorial

Speaker’s plight

13 March 2017

 

It is jokingly said that madness is hereditary; you get it from your children. Similarly, one wonders whether madness is also communicable. Else, how can one explain why some senior parliamentarians who were once known for their exemplary conduct in the House and respect for parliamentary traditions are now stark raving bonkers, so to speak? They have begun to behave just like other misfits needing psychiatric treatment.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya is in an unenviable position. When he was elevated to that position we asked whether someone wanted him punished. He never has any peace of mind. He draws flak from the Opposition, which claims he is partial to the ruling coalition and the government MPs cavil at his ‘partiality to the Opposition’!

Last week, Speaker Jayasuriya found himself in the same predicament as a skipper, engaged in a desperate struggle to steer a battered schooner through the maw of a typhoon amidst a mutiny on board. An otherwise amiable, tolerant Karu, visibly miffed about Joint Opposition (JO) Leader Dinesh Gunawardena’s refusal to obey the Chair flashed the red card. Gunawardena was suspended from Parliament for one week.

The main grouse of the JO was that it had not been given time to discuss the Speaker’s position that Wimal Weerawansa’s National Freedom Font (NFF) couldn’t be allowed to function as an independent party in the House. But, the JO big guns shouldn’t have let their tempers flare up. When the Speaker gave the JO time the following morning, the UNP MPs staged a walk-out against what they called the allocation of more time to the JO. Parliament was adjourned.

Ironically, the JO politicians, who once unflinchingly abused their power to suppress dissent both inside and outside Parliament, are today calling for fair play and respect for parliamentary traditions. The government leaders came to power, promising to run Parliament al la the Licchaivs, who in keeping with the Buddha’s advice, met, deliberated and dispersed peacefully. Sadly, they are practising the very obverse of their pledge. Intolerant of dissent, they shamelessly manipulate parliamentary process to their advantage. Thus, we have two groups of hypocrites—one troubled by political cold turkey and the other intoxicated with power—trying to take moral high ground.

President Maithripala Sirisena has recently deplored the misconduct of politicians. He conducted himself properly in Parliament and, therefore, has a moral right to condemn others who have brought the national legislature into disrepute. But, how does he propose to tackle the problem of the rapid deterioration of parliamentary standards? Mere words won’t do. Action is called for.

The most effective way of addressing the problem of the deterioration of political institutions is to end the deplorable practice of nominating unsavoury elements to contest elections, which they win by spending a fraction of their black money to bribe voters. The blame for this sorry state of affairs should be apportioned to all political leaders including President Srisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and former Presidents Chandrika Kumaratunga and Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Let the political party leaders be urged to clean up the mess they themselves have created; they ought to introduce selection criteria for candidates in time for the next election instead of beating their chests. It is popularly said that you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. There are enough and more educated, intelligent men and women of integrity, capable of helping the country achieve progress. The challenge before the political parties and their leaders is to enlist their help to hoist the country from the morass of corruption, indiscipline and inefficiency.

Meanwhile, political leaders must rein in the unruly elements in their parties to prevent Parliament being thrown into turmoil with monotonous regularity. We are against enhanced salaries, allowances and perks for parliamentarians. But, we suggest that Speaker Jayasuriya be paid a special allowance for risking his sanity.