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It is the fundamental right of every citizen of this country to freely exercise his franchise and vote the person of his or her choice to represent him or her in the House of Parliament.

Apart from those disqualified to vote as specifically listed in the Constitution, provisions that make them ineligible to cast their vote at any election, all of Lanka enjoy this privilege as part and parcel of their untrammelled birthright: The right to vote.

D. S. Senanayake: No A’ Levels but Father of the Nation

Nowhere in the Constitution or in the general law of the land is that right restricted by want of an A/Level educational qualification. One can be a double PHD, an emeritus professor, a distinguished academic with the whole alphabet of letters following his name or an ignoramus, a stupido, the village buffoon, a voter buffalo, but all become levelled at the hustings and made equal before the ballot box.

That is the stuff of democracy that makes no distinction between the highly educated and the downright fool. All that matters is that one is a citizen of eligible age to vote. One’s race, one’s caste, one’s creed, one’s intelligence quotient and one’s educational qualifications do not matter at all. Whether scholar or fool, whether paragon of virtue or disgraceful humbug, the tenet guarantying freedom of the franchise holds true for all citizens.

That same Sri Lankan citizen who has the untrammelled right to vote the person of his or her choice to parliament also possesses the unfettered sovereign right to present himself — as an innocent stag presents itself before a hunter’s gun to receive a hail of bullets — as a willing target to receive the ballots of his adoring kinsfolk to be elected to the House.

Be he from the top echelons of power, wealth and ancestry or be he from the grassroots of poverty, impotency and obscurity, they both share the singular right to present themselves before the public gaze and scrutiny to contest the elections and enter parliament if the people so will it: Solely on their popularity.

Apart from those disqualified to contest Parliamentary elections as specifically listed in the Constitution, provisions that make them ineligible to contest Parliamentary elections, all of Lanka enjoy this privilege as part and parcel of their untrammelled birthright.

What’s true for the voter holds doubly true for the contender.

The right to contest and represent the people — and whether a person has an A/Level pass in biology or some aesthetic subject — has nothing to do with it at all.

A want of education should not, must not barricade their aspiration to give voice to the people’s plight, to muffle it from resounding in the chamber of the august House of the people.

Premadasa: No A’ Levels but self-taught

But, alas, aghast as to the descent of Parliamentary standards to its nadir in these last four years moved the Colombo elite to seek its cause.

Beginning with Wimal Weerawansa’s despicable act to destroy the sanctity of the people’s temple by turning the hallowed well of the House to a night club where songs were sung, liquor drunk and a midnight orgy of decadence was held throughout that night on April 23,  2015 to protest against the 19th Amendment being enacted, right unto the violent scenes that took place on November 16 last year when the nation witnessed shocking scenes of SLPP MPs usurping the Speaker’s chair, assaulting the police escort brought by the Speaker to give him maximum cover, throwing constitutional books, even the Hold Bible by Johnston the then Minister of Christian Affairs no less, at their UNF opponents and throwing fire water – water mixed with chillie powder – at UNF members placidly seated on their seats like sitting ducks awaiting a drubbing, the educated, the professionals, the social pundits sought the answer and arrived at the often flapped view that this was all because half the MPs did not have A/Level qualifications. Eureka. It was all put down to lack of education and the cry arose that henceforth a law must be brought which prohibited anyone who did not have an A/Level qualification should be banned from seeking the people’s mandate to represent them in the House.

Even the vacuous though beautiful butterflies who flit from fancy cocktail to fancy cocktail flapping their wings in colourful dress dutifully echoed the elite sermon, insisting, with cocktail in hand, that the degradation of Parliament is because we have let the uneducated into the House and that the only solution to prevent the mud slide was to insist upon an A/Level pass to adorn the Chamber of the House. Only then will the rot stop, the growing chorus  sang.  Really? They couldn’t be further away from reality. Had they but watched the TV news on the night of November 16 last year which showed scenes of MPs running amok in Parliament, they would also have seen Dr. Mrs. Sudarshani Fernandopulle, an educated medical doctor no less, hijacking the Speaker’s chair and giving a helping hand to drag it away from the parliamentary chamber to God knows where: they may have learnt that education alone is not the be all and end all that will guarantee Parliamentary decorum and ensure good behaviour. Had they but condescended to bend the knee and keep the ear to the ground to hear the heartbreak of those in the humblest hamlets of Lanka, they would have discerned how it palpitates differently from district to district; how strong the pulse beat in Colombo and in major urban towns and how it weakens to a melancholic faint in rural areas.

True, education is free in Lanka and its fount open for all to imbibe. But are the circumstances that surround each student’s life the same?

D.B. Wijetunga: No A’ Levels but simple ways

Already the nation has officially recognised it is not. Hence the discrepancy in the cut-off marks system to enter university. Whilst a Colombo student has to score well over 160 or so to enter campus, a student in Moneragala has only to score approximately 70 or so to walk in the groves of academy. But despite that recompense to adjust the imbalance there are other factors which may well prevent a poor student from pursuing his course of study. Though it’s the proud boast of politicians to say that Lanka is now 95 percent electrified and that the darkest hamlet is now ablaze with light, the reality of the situation is whether those who dwell therein can afford to keep it lit for long due to the cost of electricity? Student in those rural areas still have to study by candle or kerosene light or not at all. Some of them have to walk miles to school on dirt tracks and return exhausted. The opportunities afforded to the country student cannot be compared to those available to their town brethren.  Furthermore fate can strike. The father, the breadwinner of the family, may suddenly die, forcing the elder son in the family to sacrifice his education and seek a job to keep the home fires burning and his mother and his younger siblings above the starvation line and the wolf from the door. These and a hundred more compelling reason may exist why a student is unable to continue with his studies and why he is forced to give up half way not because he or she is wanting in spirit but is driven by poverty to do so. To prevent them from contesting for parliament on the basis that they do not have an A/Level qualification is to heap a further injustice on them. For what better place than parliament to air the grievances of their sad lot? Only those who have suffered hardship know the pain and can best advance the interest of their kin, far better than the armchair critics can ever do.

Poverty, fate and lack of opportunity are no reason to shut the door on them, deny them the fundamental right to espouse their cause in the nation’s highest chamber and represent the people if they so wish to do so. For those who say that a person must have at least an A/Level qualification to enter Parliament, the question must be asked: whats so big about an A/Level pass? Does it bestow upon one a certificate of high intelligence? Does it bestow upon one a good character certificate that guarantees good behaviour in parliament?  Merely because one flaunts an A/Level certificate does not mean one’s a genius and a person of good character. Merely because one has none to show doesn’t mean one’s an oaf and a blackguard to boot. If the nation’s constitution had imposed such a limitation and insisted upon an educational qualification to enter the House, the country would have lost some of its greatest leaders.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike: No A’ Levels but world’s first Woman Prime Minister

Take for instance the nation’s first Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake who did not pass the London Matriculation examination equivalent then to the present A/Levels, who preferred the playing fields of S. Thomas College Mt Lavinia than to be confined to the musty college library deep in study.  Today his statue lords over Independences Square with the inscription below hailing him as ‘The Father of the Nation’. He did not earn his colours in the political battlefield by following the Royal motto Disce Aut Disce De, Learn or Depart but stuck fast to the motto of his alma mater the Thomian ‘Esto Perpetua’, Thou Art Forever, and emerged to gain his rightful and honoured place in Lanka’s history with no academic qualifications to boast.

Take President Premadasa who emerged from lowly ranks to become the nation’s president. His proudest boast was that he was not only self made but self taught and confessed that he had learnt the rudiments of the law by reading outdated law books thrown into his garden at Sucharitha in Colombo 12 by Hulftsdorp lawyers. Or take D. B. Wijetunga who succeeded Premadasa on the latter’s premature death. Wijetunga made no boast of his academic qualifications but attributed the success of his caretaker tenure as president to the simple ways of life he had learnt at his home town Pilimathalawa due to which he is today regarded as a role model for present and future presidents to follow.

And above all take Sirimavo Bandaranaike who did not survive grade nine at St. Bridget’s Convent Colombo 7 but emerged from the kitchen upon her husband SWRD Bandaranaike’s assassination to take the reins of government and to become the world’s first woman prime minister. Though lacking a formal education, she made do with her intrinsic talents and cut a significant figure not only on the national scene but on the world stage, highly admired, respected and honoured by world leaders.

Elections are no job interviews where one’s curriculum vitae should contain details of one’s academic qualifications. It’s a popularity stake and anyone who captures with charisma the public imagination and garners the most number of votes wins. To put an educational disqualification is not only to trample upon the freedom of a citizen his or her fundamental right to contest Parliament but also to trample upon the fundamental right of the voting public to choose the person of their choice to represent them.

For those who feel queasy, uneasy of allowing the uneducated into the House without their academic qualification proceeding their entry, the answer lies not in agitating for an educational qualification but in demanding the political parties to follow the PAFFREL Code when it comes to giving nominations to those, though they may be armed with an A/Level certificate, possessing a questionable background, with an unsavoury track record with a reputation of corruption, violence and fraud.

At the end of the day, it’s not an A/Level certificate that will ensure Parliament’s proper decorum and a nation’s adherence to the tenets of democracy. Only one’s breeding, one’s class and, most of all, one’s own moral compass will make one fit to adorn the House of Parliament as an honoured representative of the people. And that’s where the nation should be looking at. Not at a scrap of paper, certifying one has passed his A/Levels.

Why a degree must be a must for state corporation bosses Even as Maithripala Sirisena celebrated the fourth anniversary of his election to the presidency on Wednesday, what are the outstanding feats of accomplishment he can boast of during his tenure at the tail end of his office? Well, standing like a solitary palm in a barren desert given to sand storms and ever shifting sand dunes, is his welcome enactment of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution which, as he himself proudly said, was the first time a sitting president voluntarily clipped his own wings. Anything else? Oh yes. During these last four years his singular achievement has been to strengthen the independence of the judiciary. As the Sunday Punch commented on October 28 last year, two days after the constitutional coup took place, “if there’s one blessed thing that he has done during these past four years, it is to have used all the four chances that presented before him to appoint the nation’s chief justice with great sagacity.  To have chosen the best for the task, irrespective of his own political agenda. To have restored the independence of the judiciary and salvaged the respect from the depths which, in the public eye, it seemed to have fallen during Rajapaksa times.” His appointment of three Supreme Court Chief Justices was done solely on the basis of seniority and merit; and even his political foes could scarce forebear to clap or find any iota of fault or political bias in his appointments. First it was Justice Sripavan and on his retirement Justice Dep and on his retirement Justice Nalin Perera. The trilogy stands to Sirisena’s everlasting credit. And has contributed in immense measure to restore public respect and confidence in the independence of the judiciary. Sirisena may have failed in many aspect, but one must give credit where credit is due. And last week saw him declare his intention to do his second blessed act. He issued a presidential fiat declaring that henceforth all chairpersons and directors of state corporations and state institutions must hold a degree from a recognised university. In an exclusive report published in the Sunday Times last week, it was revealed that the President had issued a directive that state enterprises chiefs, including directors, who will be appointed by the new United National Front Cabinet will be able to remain in office only if they have a degree from a recognised university. Also contained in the directive were the following: an age barrier of 70 years the requirement that the chairperson or the Chief Executive Officer serve full time. the CEO will not be eligible to be a director. Age restrictions will not apply “for distinguished professionals or managers.” Directors of public enterprises will have a term of three years and will only be eligible if they are on the boards of not more than three companies in the private sector. annual evaluation of appointees. Those considered having a conflict of interest in their areas of activity will be debarred from serving. debarred are persons declared by courts as insolvent or a person found guilty by court for moral turpitude, corruption or any other serious crime. annual evaluation of appointees. Those considered having a conflict of interest in their areas of activity will be debarred from serving. Also debarred are persons declared by courts as insolvent or a person found guilty by court for moral turpitude, corruption or any other serious crime. This is most welcome. Far too long both UNP and SLFP governments have used people owned state corporations and institutions as national playgrounds to indulge their party supporters with chairmanships and directorships, irrespective of their academic qualifications and proven track record to perform the onerous duties such posts entailed. Party hacks have been bestowed these national institutions as their personal fiefdoms, to enjoy a hefty salary, to enjoy its perks and privileges, to travel in state owned luxury vehicles, to fly to foreign lands at the corporation’s and thus the people’s expense – in short to have a whale of a time, enjoying to the utmost the thrills and frills and the spins of corporate office, answerable to none. Three examples will suffice. During the Rajapaksa regime Sumanadasa, an astrologer from Galle was appointed as a director of the National Savings Bank. His qualification for the post: He is a close friend of Mahinda Rajapaksa and his personal astrologer. Sumanadasa also received a car for his personal use valued at over Rs. 8 million from Mihin Lanka on a directive from the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa Pradeep Kariyawasam was made the Chairman of the National Savings Bank by Rajapaksa. He was a planter. His qualification to head the bank: He was the husband of the then Chief Justice Shiranthie Bandaranayake  and in Mahinda’s own televised words ‘one of us’ whom I shaped’ when Kariyawasam was accused of fraud. Nishantha Wickremesinghe who was a planter was appointed Chairman of Srilankan Airlines. His qualifications: He is Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother in law, the brother of Mahinda’s wife Shiranthie. Those presently serving as chairmen and directors have been asked to step down so each case could be examined by an official committee headed by former Presidential Secretary W.J.S. Karunaratne. Good. The sovereign people of this country have the sovereign right to elect whomsoever they wish to represent them in the House of parliament irrespective of their educational qualifications. But those they elect have no sovereign right to appoint their catchers to head state institutions as they wish. Even as President Sirisena appointed three Chief Justices solely on their seniority and merit, Ministers of the cabinet must only appoint chairmen and directors to state institutions based solely on their academic qualifications and past track record. Such a directive by President Sirisena will do well to keep out the riff raff, the political cronies and see public institutions headed,  governed and directed by qualified personnel and placed on a professional footing, professionals whose target must be to turn these giant white elephants into giant profit making enterprises for the people’s benefit; not political cronies whose aim is to suck the udders dry for their personal gratification. UNF House Leader and Public Enterprise, Kandyan Heritage and Kandy Development Minister Lakshman Kiriella has questioned the president’s move to imposes a degree qualification to be eligible to hold the office of chairman or director in a state owned institution. He asked whether the move was legal. He told the Sunday Times that, “the usual practice is that subject ministers make the appointments. We don’t know the legality of this.” Well, if it’s not legal, isn’t it time to make it legal for the weal and welfare of all Lanka. And make mandatory by law, not only for the present but for the future that all who head public enterprises must be armed with a degree qualification from whatever field before they can chairmen or be directors in public institutions. For unlike entry to parliament which is a popularity contest and a citizen’s freedom irrespective of his academic qualifications, those appointed by those elected to run state owned business must have the necessary education to run them efficiently. What may be sauce for the parliamentary gander must not be sauce for the state corporation’s gander.

THE WAY THEY WERE AND THE WAY THEY ARE NOW: Chandrika and Maithripala at the event to commemorate the 122nd birth anniversary of SWRD Bandaranaike The four-year fallout How time changes. How fondness turn to bitterness. How trust turn to mistrust and how loyalty turns to treachery. Not even four and a half years ago they were co conspirators, keeping secret rendezvous in the cover of darkness for a nation to meet its tryst with destiny. Making secret phone calls at night on Viber so no one could tap or eavesdrop on their after dark secret conversations. She was the mentor and he the protégé and even after springing upon the nation the surprise of the century on November 21, 2014 to announce his intention to contest the January 8 presidential election and be the David in Goliath’s den, even after his election as president, he still respectfully addressed her as madam. Now no more. Four years on, on the eve of his fourth year as president, they meet again to commemorate the 122nd birth anniversary of her father S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, the founder of the SLFP. They sit next to each other, not even a foot away. But they are miles apart. An iron curtain of ice has fallen between them. Not a single word of pleasantry is exchanged, no eye contact is made. The total ignore. And the silence tells the story of the princess who kissed the frog and made him king and the fallout that made them not live happily thereafter. Storm Heaven SUNDAY PUNCH ODE By Don Manu Storm Heaven! And with rage ask why Its blessed mercy to thou deny; For what sin done on earth this birth Must thou endure infernal hurt *** Taunt Heaven! For the hopes it rest Upon thy puny human breast, That makes thou believe thou art blest When on thy knees thou gods attest *** Scorn Heaven! And with wrath reveal The sham that fosters devout zeal To bear with calm life’s myriad ills For promised bliss beyond the hills *** Search Heaven! If answer there be To free thou from thy misery: The enigma’s wrapped in mystery, And thou, not heaven, hold its key