Sunday Times 2
Where have all the killers gone? Short time ago, short time ago
View(s):A person who was sentenced to death by a Sri Lankan court was sworn in as a parliamentarian on Sept 8. A Member of Parliament is a legislator of the country. In such a circumstance it is ironical that a person who has been sentenced to death by the law of the land is represented in Parliament as a legislator of the country. This may be the first time in the history of the world that such a thing has happened. It is common knowledge that even the Attorney General expressed his contrary view in regard to this issue.
One would expect the people to ponder the adverse effects of this on law and order when such people have become lawmakers. This, though the worst of its kind, is not the first time the people have voted those tainted as killers, to govern the country.
Killing is not a disqualification for public office when it comes to legislators. Bribery and corruption are no less ineligible to hold such public office. Waste and defalcation all follow in its train. In fact many other forms of misdemeanour have been vindicated in the political life of many in Parliament.
It is idle to even think of persons with such disqualification holding public office in the Police, the Public Service, and the Judiciary. Even a questionable reputation of a remote distant relation of a candidate to public office was unacceptable to hold office. Promotions in public service depended much on the reputation of the aspirant, apart from efficiency. The reason is that their social background was important in law and in society. It is impossible to think of killers, bribe takers and wastrels in our public and police service, since they cannot discharge their functions with such a murky character background. Even the law and the courts and simple public opinion and social acceptance stand in the way of recruitment to public office.
But none of this is held against the public servant that the legislator is! In Parliament all is different. Questionable conduct is even a proud distinction; it is a qualification. This explains the reason why none of the Government MPs who would claim a clean sheet, stood up when dared to do so, and risk his/her conduct being exposed in Parliament. They just sat tight on their seats showing only a sheepish grin contemptuous of those who accused them.
Behind that silly grin was an explanation given in Parliament itself to clarify why the public ‘HATE’ (the very word used in Parliament) the politicians. The reason given was that the public did not like politicians because politicians enjoy subsidised meals in Parliament, at a cost far less than the ordinary man spends in their canteens. Jealousy was the reason given. This reminds of the apple with which the snake tempted Eve, and Eve shared with Adam, with the same reasoning — jealousy. It is only in Parliament that such stupidity can be displayed.
The issue here is one of dignity. Dignity in public office is respected the world over, but blatantly not in our Parliament. The opinion of the Attorney General is simply the regard for dignity. But that regard is not held in all spheres.
In the run-up to the Presidential Election, many allegations were levelled against Gotabaya Rajapaksa (GR) about the ‘white van-missing persons’, about the killing of journalists Lasantha Wickrematunge, the disappearance of Prageeth Ekneligoda, the attack on Poddala Jayantha and the Thajudeen murder. Constitutional lawyer and investigative journalist J.C. Weliamuna had a narrow shave when a bomb was hurled in to his house. He has found asylum in Australia. The vast majority, however, voted for GR.
In the parliamentary election that followed, the allegations were thrown against the Rajapaksas, and the people were warned of dire consequences. But the party led by them was voted in with a two-thirds majority, making them still more powerful.
The phenomenon that baffles the mind is not the fact that all kinds of questionable characters enter the legislature, but why people in such majorities vote for them over others who have unblemished records and are far more qualified to be legislators.
Yet, the answer is not far to find. The people know it is only such elements that have no respect for rules and regulations that would bulldoze their way to get things done.
The fault boils down to the system where money talks over everything else. It shows how deeply the influence of ill-gotten filthy lucre has eaten into our social fabric. Now the 20th Amendment to the Constitution is in the offing.
It is to give the President all the powers curtailed by the 19th Amendment, and his actions will not be justiciable! These powers include appointments to the judiciary. This has been described as “a particularly virulent form of Presidential power.”
(The writer is a Retired Senior Superintendent of Police. He can be contacted at seneviratnetz@gmail.com)