Events from the past with lessons for the future
View(s):The old Parliament situated on the seafront in Colombo Fort was totally different from the new modern parliamentary complex in Kotte. There was a great feel for, and sense of history inside the old Parliament. It had witnessed proceedings from the days of the old Legislative Council, the State Council, and then the Parliament of Independent Ceylon. During that period, most of the proceedings were conducted in English, and it had witnessed great parliamentary speeches and historic debates. There were great orators during that time. The members of Parliament and before that the State Council represented largely single member constituencies. Each M.P represented a designated constituency, and they were answerable to those constituents. This was in the tradition of the British Parliament which also had this kind of constituency system. There was a famous M.P. Walter Bagehot who prided himself that he was the M.P. for Bristol, and that he spoke for the constituents of Bristol. With the change of the constitution in 1978 from a parliamentary to a presidential system, the constituency relationship with an individual M.P. was lost, with a new electoral system based on districts, and not individual constituencies. M.Ps no longer represented individual constituencies. So the shift in Parliament from Colombo Fort to Kotte signalled a radical change in the system of electoral representation.
Nihal Seneviratne (affectionately known to all as Galba) is the foremost authority on Parliament in Sri Lanka today. He had a career of 33 years under the Parliamentary and Presidential system. He belonged to the generation of the 1950s of Peradeniya University and after graduation, he opted for the most unusual career for graduates of that time. Our generation from Peradeniya became administrators, teachers, lawyers, bankers and so on, but there was only one who joined the parliamentary staff. Joining as a Clerk Assistant, he worked under the redoubtable R St L P Deraniyagala who was then the Clerk to the House of Representatives and rising later, under the presidential system to be the Secretary General of Parliament. One of his great contributions was in facilitating a smooth transition for Parliament from a parliamentary to a presidential system of government. The author became an authority on Parliamentary practices and was a close confidant of successive Speakers. Nihal had other interests, and after 75 years of being involved with Royal College, he is the iconic old Royalist, active in college affairs through the Old Boys’ Union. Nihal is synonymous with Royal.
Nihal has written a delightful volume, and it is eminently readable, not high politics, but one which offers many insights into parliamentary affairs. The volume consists of 23 brief chapters and it covers some of the highlights of parliamentary occasions. His chapters on the attempt to impeach President R. Premadasa, the imposition of civic disability on Mrs. Bandaranaike, and the select committee to inquire into Ms Bandaranaike’s conduct regarding a gift of a car bring back memories of headline events of long ago. There is an interesting chapter of how the government of Mrs. Bandaranaike lost a no confidence motion by one vote leading to the dissolution of parliament. In discussing his various subjects, the author is reticent in going behind some of the key events which he describes. He is the impartial public servant and he is not inclined to come out with the juicy stories behind these events which would have been lapped up by a discerning public. He always sees the more emollient side of parliamentarians. I also would have preferred a more chronological narrative of the events he describes. But these are minor cavils in what is altogether a fascinating volume.
Nihal describes his school days and his time at University at Peradeniya in the 1950s. He was at Royal College, and many of his contemporaries have distinguished themselves in public life later on. His principal at Royal was E.L. Bradby (the rugby shield is named after him) and Aubrey Collette, the famous cartoonist was his form master. Nihal belongs to the 1945 Royal College Alumni Group. His university group which read law was equally illustrious as his college contemporaries, and Prof. T. Nadaraja was his mentor. His days in the legal profession were brief. He was initially going to Harvard to read international law but when the job in Parliament was offered to him, he had to make a choice whether to go to Harvard or go to the House of Commons and learn his parliamentary trade. His future boss Mr. Deraniyagala told him that international law will not be of much relevance for his new tasks. But before all this and a little after that, Nihal had more than his fair share of family tragedies. His father, who was the Police Surgeon in Colombo, died when he was at school and he tells of the shock that he experienced on this occasion. Then his brother Nissanka who was a leading physiologist died at the age of 55.
Let me now take up a few of the important issues which the author has described. One is the chapter on the “Death of Dudley Senanayake and the Lake House Scandal”. “The government of the day were rather concerned and disturbed about the publicity given and began to wonder if the Lake House Group were actively involved in bringing back the United National Party back to power”. This led directly to the takeover of the Lake House Group. To justify the takeover, the government also made other allegations of financial irregularity against the group. The issues that the author raises had ramifications much later. Although the author does not say it, it was the LSSP which spearheaded the campaign against Lake House, and there was a feeling at the time that the SLFP and the Prime Minister herself were pushed hard to agree to the takeover.
The chapter on “Speaker Anura Dias Bandaranaike’s Historic Ruling” describes one of the landmark events in the history of Parliament. The author is one of the very few who had firsthand knowledge of it. The question was basically who was supreme- Parliament, or the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had issued a Stay order restraining the Speaker from appointing a select committee to inquire into the conduct of the Chief Justice. As the author says, “this very unprecedented move by the Supreme Court to intervene and interfere with the proceedings of Parliament had to be ruled on.” At this time, the author, having retired, was an advisor to Speaker Anura Bandaranaike. The Speaker’s ruling was that the Supreme Court had no business to intervene in parliamentary proceedings. That was a great, historic ruling. It is intriguing to note that the Speaker sought the advice of an eminent counsel who was his friend, and not that of the Attorney General, in this matter.
“Why Have Parliamentary Standards Dropped?” asks the author in a chapter of immediate relevance to current affairs. He offers several reasons for the decline. The first is the leaders of political parties have failed to exercise strict control on the conduct of members of Parliament. The second is a failure to choose candidates who are honest and educated, and are men of integrity. Thirdly, the present system of district constituencies has led to financial corruption as one way of raising funds for elections. He also stresses the importance of the role the Speaker in ensuring discipline within the House. Although the author does not refer to it, has television played a role in declining standards? Do members act in a way to gain the attention of a wider public? This chapter is a fine analysis of the reasons for falling parliamentary standards. It is appropriate to ask as to why standards were high in the old Parliament. There was a different class of person taking to politics. They were largely English speaking and well educated. There was a premium placed on incorruptibility. To fight an election did not require massive financial resources. Issues raised by the author in this chapter require wider publicity and extensive discussion.
To conclude, this slim volume by Nihal Seneviratne is a significant contribution to the discussion of the role of Parliament in Sri Lankan affairs. It has discussed many important issues of the past. But what he says has a resonance for the future. The author in his chapter on the shift of Parliament to Kotte offered us some interesting insights as to how the decision was made to build the new Parliament in Kotte. One gains the impression that the last thing in the minds of the decision makers in locating the Parliament was whether it was good for Parliament and not for a few politicians. The decision was made on political grounds. Would it not have been better for Parliament to have remained in Colombo Fort, with refurbished buildings and taking over the old administrative secretariat for its expansion, or some adjoining property? Major decisions of historic importance are made without much thought or inquiry.
| Book facts | |
| A Clerk Reminisces by Nihal Seneviratne. Published by Livinro (Pvt) Ltd. 97 pages. (2017). Price Rs 850. Reviewed by Leelananda De Silva
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