By
Don Manu
Greater hypocrisy hath no men than this, that men lay themselves down on the plush red carpeted floor in the Well of Parliament and have a rollicking good midnight feast, singing songs, playing cards and doing a spot of mimicry whilst ostensibly keeping an all-night vigil of protest in the name of their fallen leader. If the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep, this was the white fleeced sheep’s way of sacrificing their sleep, bleating for the return of their shepherd who had lost his footing and gone over the hill.
Monday night’s unprecedented degradation of Parliament’s inner sanctum by UPFA MPs to stage a saccharine sathyagraha on the pretext of objecting to the Bribery Commissioner serving summons on Mahinda Rajapaksa to answer an allegation of bribery, made a mockery of the edifice wherein lay enshrined the sanctity of a people’s sovereign will.
Whilst the nation clamoured for their elected representatives to debate the 19th Amendment Bill as was listed in the Parliament’s agenda for Monday and Tuesday, the opposition, which had earlier agreed to take it up, found in the Bribery Commissioner’s procedural action, a welcome last straw to defer the all-important Bill. They bore no qualms; they showed no remorse and lost no time to make an issue out of the summons and to use it as an excuse to fling the duty twenty million Lankans had placed on their shoulders to amend the nation’s constitution.
On behalf of the people, in the interest of the nation, in the furtherance of democracy, they were solemnly called upon and presented with the opportunity and charged with the duty in the main to repeal the obnoxious 18th Amendment, to appoint constitutional councils which would check the president’s arbitrary powers, to empower the people with an enforceable legal right to governmental information, to restore the disqualification for a twice-elected president to contest again and, amongst others, to restore the independence of public institutions.
By discharging their duty they would have reduced the draconian powers the President enjoys today. These were the powers that Maithripala Sirisena swore in his manifesto to abolish within 100 days of being elected to office; and, true to his word, steadfastly strove to see abolished or diminished.
But it was not to be. Many SLFP members had enjoyed great privileges, ministerial positions and many opportunities to make hay while the Rajapaksa sun shone; and now faced allegations of corruption, faced the ordeal of enduring a spell sprawled on the anti-corruption rack and even the prospect of a long-term in prison. They thought otherwise.
On the narrow ledge of self-interest upon which they had placed their twisted priorities, their declared purpose to secure a guarantee from the Government to end what they termed ‘the political witch-hunt against Opposition politicians including former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and ex-defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa’, took precedence and ranked above the public demand to enact the 19th Amendment to dawn greater democracy to Lanka and thereby touch the lives of 20 million Lankans for the better.
What Lanka required, what her people demanded were of no concern to them. They couldn’t care less nor give a fig for public opinion. Thus, like a musth struck herd of rogue elephants they ran amok, causing a stampede over an issue that did not warrant the frenzied response that turned Parliament to pandemonium.
The Speaker had no choice but to adjourn sittings for the day. But the crisis could not be pre-empted that easily. Seizing the moment and eager to extract the maximum benefit out of it, Opposition MPs and some ministers of the UPFA commenced a hunger strike, a fast until their demand was met, in the Well of Parliament.
Wimal Weerawansa put the opposition’s stance succinctly when he appeared before the media and said, “It can be the 19th or 20th or 25th Amendment. It is not important. What is important is that this political hunt against the Rajapaksas must stop immediately and we will carry on our protest throughout the night and even tomorrow night until our demands are met and it is stopped.”
These are the men and women who did not lose a wink of sleep when the freedoms, liberties and fundamental rights of the Lankan people were being trampled by the Rajapaksa regime of which they were proud to be ‘honourable’ ministers and the favourite political lackeys. These are the men and women who did not blink an eye or lift an eye lid but instead raised their hand and voted for the draconian 18th Amendment which consolidated power in Mahinda Rajapaksa.
When people in Rathupaswala took to the streets and protested over their chemically contaminated drinking water, when fishermen in Negombo protested over their livelihood and were fired upon indiscriminately resulting in deaths, these are the men who kept their eyes shut and their mouths dumb, preferring instead to kiss the ground their leader walked on and, even as Pavithra Wanniaarachchi shamelessly did publicly, prostrate in worship at the feet of the former President.
When a team of UNP MPs paid an inspection visit to Hambantota Port and were met by a stone pelting, egg throwing mob led by the pistol brandishing SLFP Hambantota Mayor, did Wimal Weerawansa, Bandula Gunawardena and company forego a single meal in protest or make even the mildest appeal to the then president to secure the safety of their parliamentary colleagues? Did Dinesh Gunawardena speak then as he did on Tuesday of the need to maintain the “dignity and decorum of the House and MPs at every affair related to them”?
By their irresponsible behaviour on Monday, the SLFP-led opposition members have lost their legitimacy to represent the people who elected them five years ago. They stand accused of gross dereliction of duty in their unforgivable failure to consider the national interest first. By placing self before country, they have abdicated their sacred responsibilities; they have passed beyond the pale of political redemption.
With them pursuing an agenda which is totally opposed to the national interest, it is evidently clear that the nation cannot move forward, the Government will be held to ransom at every turn. The President has no alternative but to dissolve the House and call for a fresh general election with new SLFP members nominated, whether or not the 19th Amendment is passed this coming week. Come what may, the situation cannot get any worse. Only better.
Courtesy:Sunday Times