Jumping and jumping, all for the love of the country!

By Chandani Kirinde, Our Lobby Correspondent

When JVP Polonnaruwa MP S.K.Subasinghe told Parliament last week that people visiting betting centres were no longer betting on horses but on which MPs would be changing sides prior to the vote on the Budget tomorrow, it illustrated the dismal depths to which the image of elected representatives have fallen in recent years.

While both the Government and the main Opposition UNP were busy baiting MPs ahead of Monday’s crucial vote, two actual crossovers took place--Wijeyadasa Rajapakse crossed the floor of the House on Wednesday to take a seat in the opposition while UNP Ratnapura district MP Mahinda Ratnathilake pledged his support to the Government the next day.

While rumours flew around of prospective parliamentarians waiting to do the “jump”, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) too got entangled in the crossover drama after media reports said that four monk MPs were about to join the Opposition. They hurriedly summoned a news conference to say there was no truth to these claims and alleged that some UNP members had approached them to change sides for money. As to who offered the bribes, they would not tell the media but, the monk MPs would do well to lodge a complaint with the Bribery Commission because offering a bribe is as criminal as accepting one. By the end of the week, the crossover drama grew to such proportions that when MPs met each other in the Lobby in the Chamber, the most asked question was “Who is crossing over?

Since President Mahinda Rajapaksa took office in November, 2005, MPs changing sides has become a common occurrence and the mandate given to the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) which included the JVP to run the country, has been largely disregarded. The JVP which was voted into office to sit in Government has chosen to sit in Opposition while nearly 40 MPs elected on the UNP ticket who the people decided should sit in Opposition for the next six years are now sitting in Government. The composition of the present Government is by far not a true reflection of the mandate given by the people in the 2004 general election but with a majority of members more interested in serving themselves than the people, the trend is likely to continue and voters continue to get duped as a result.

It is obvious that Sri Lankan legislators have no qualms about changing sides when they please, and despite their ad nauseum claims that their decision to do so is because of their love for the country, such moves have only made people more distrustful of politicians.

Sadly the crossover drama of the past week also distracted many from the actual debate on the Budget and led to many personal attacks on fellow Legislators with each side eager to score points at this crucial time.

By and large, the views expressed by Government and Opposition MPs were predictable. The Government MPs view was that that the Budget was intended to strengthen the local industry and defeat terrorism hence it was a “patriotic” Budget while the opposition view was that it failed to address the escalating cost of living and curb waste and corruption in the state sector. How the government expected people to practise austerity while it maintained a jumbo Cabinet and enjoyed a extravagant life style was the question raised by many opposition MPs.

Former JVP MP now turned Independent legislator Nandana Gunatilleke’s voice was one of the few sane voices among the cacophony of partisan politics that has become all too common in Parliament. While maintaining that it mattered little if this budget was presented by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe orPresident Mahinda Rajapakse, Mr.Gunatilleke said that what is needed is to lead the country by example with both the government and opposition MPs discharging their duties in an exemplary manner.

Practising austerity is definitely not one of the Government’s strong points because as Wjeyadasa Rajapaksha revealed in the statement he made soon after crossing over in Parliament, the Government has allocated Rs. 960 million for 1.9 million Samurdhi recipients next year, while Rs 1.8 billion has been allocated for the upkeep of a Cabinet of 108 members.

The JVP which likes to take a moral high ground on all issues has done the same in this Budget debate as well. While supporting the Government’s fight against terrorism it came down hard on its inability to curb skyrocketing costs, corruption and waste.

But the Party has once again put off revealing how it would vote on Monday knowing well that they hold the trump card on how the vote would swing. How ethical it is to vote for a Budget they have dismissed using the most colourful terms in the inimitable JVP style, they will have to explain if they decide to prop up a flagging Government. If they decide to vote against it, which could in turn lead to the Government falling, they would have to contend with facing fresh elections.The stakes are high for all sides ahead of tomorrow’s vote and it is little wonder that both the government and the UNP are pulling all the stops to see that the vote goes their way. Sadly their eagerness to see success seems to be driven more by their love for power and self interest than for the love of the country and its people.